November 29, 2011
No, not Santa, but yes, Greg Palast is coming to town
Old friend of Fighting Bob Fest and BBC investigative reporter Greg Palast is coming to Madison tomorrow, November 30, for a 7:00 fundraiser for WORT at the Barrymore. (View the Palast video recorded at Bob Fest 10 below!) Greg's new book is Vulture's Picnic. He will also discuss it with you at Dobhan restaurant from 4 to 6 on Wednesday.
Hope you can be there.
Walker setting a trap? To recall Walker, there must be 540,208 petitions signed and turned in to the GAB. The executive director of United Wisconsin, the group heading the recall effort, wisely announced that United expects to get between 600,000 and a million petitions signed and turned in to the GAB just to be safe and to provide a cushion. Okay so far, but yesterday a professor friend called to say that when he was asked to sign a recall petition he told the person soliciting that he had already signed one. That person responded "you can sign as many as you want." The professor assumed this was a dirty trick not unlike Walker in the supposed conversation with a Koch brother when "Koch" told Walker he should consider planting trouble-makers in the crowd to stir it up. (You know, agents provocateurs.)
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports that GAB won't have the staff necessary to verify signatures and will not check for duplicates! Yikes! United Wisconsin announced that the petitions will not be turned in to GAB until the last day of the recall, January 17, no matter when they were signed. Whoa Nelly! That would guarantee that GAB would not have time to verify signatures or eliminate duplicates. If it is obvious to us that you can bet the ranch the Walker folks are sitting back waiting. Trap set--into court.
My professor friend was astounded at the suggestion he could sign as many as he wants. I think it is quite possible that Walker supporters are trying to get as many as possible to refuse to sign or to have thousands with duplicate signatures. The Koch boys are smart. They will demand that the petitions are signed and duplicates eliminated, or ask the court to force a count no matter how long it takes.
There is time to straighten out the GAB staff shortage and plenty of time to make it clear that "one person one petition" is the rule for Democrats. Anyone heard to say "you can sign as many as you want" should be turned in and told to play elsewhere. The key to a solid result is to play by the rules and rely on the voters to check-mate the Walker supporters who would have cried foul all the way to the Supreme Court. Wisconsin Democrats had better stay out of traps.
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Grounds for prosecution??? Tampering with an election? Imprisonment??? Evidently no actual proof. Good idea to "get watching what's going on." Where are the attorneys on these kinds of issues... Vague stories of election tampering have been floating around the state from the gov's election to court election. As well, it is way past time to demand "truth in advertising" from Republicans....the lies that they throw on the screen cannot be substantiated, but where are people to press charges??? Or are there no longer any laws on the books to protect the majority from outright liars and robbers in disguise as the "righteous pretenders?"
-mjh | Madison | November 29, 2011
Too bad no one thought of preaddressed postcards for collecting signatures. Collect them on the spot or mail them in. Much easier and probably anti-GOP agenda.
-Pietr Haikuu | Hurley, Wisconsin. | November 29, 2011
I do remember reading the Wisconsin State Journal where it was stated that you could sign more than one petition. But the petitions were supposed to be from diffrent organizations, so maybe this is where some of the confusion came in.
I do expect to see every dirty underhanded trick played by those in power, I guess we already have seen a few tricks, but just wait as the saying goes you ain't seen nothing yet.
-Michael Reinfeldt | Reedsburg WI | November 29, 2011
I was trained to collect signatures by the Dems. The message should have been that signing more than one time does not disqualify a signer. Indeed if a signature ends up being shredded by a false operative then there would still be valid signing. There's a good chance that this was simply a misunderstanding. To be sure ask for credentials. I was given a volunteer card to I.D. myself. Those considering trying to scam legitimate signers should be aware they are committing a felony.
-Jim Limbach | Stevens Point Wisconsin | November 29, 2011
There's evidence that Dems and liberal groups have been telling people they can sign more than once, so it seems unlikely that this is a right wing trap. It seems more likely that paranoia is starting to take its toll on the anti-walker forces. It was, apparently, concern about petitions being destroyed that started the idea that people could sign more than one petition.
-Steve Carlson | Trego, WI | November 29, 2011
Seriously? Cognitive Dissonance did a *far* better job on addressing your non-issue about the recall petitions - http://cognidissidence.blogspot.com/2011/11/right-wings-complaints-highlight-right.html
Maybe you'd like to try again?
-mominjanesvile | Janesville | November 30, 2011
Who are you addressing, anonymous mom in Janesville?
-Steve Carlson | Trego, WI | November 30, 2011
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