The Issue Is ELECTION FRAUD

Dan Gardner has an excellent question:

Somebody using the ruling party's database tried to subvert an election. Why isn't the country on fire about this? huffingtonpost.ca/2013/05/28/rob…

— Dan Gardner (@dgardner) May 30, 2013

Let's turn our tiny, distractible minds away from the Senate train-wreck and the escalating Ford fuck-up.

The Contempt Party of Canada cheated to win its 'strong, stable majority'.

And doesn't seem the least bit concerned that their own database was used to commit fraud.

Asked about the database breach, Conservative Party spokesman Fred DeLorey said: “We take security very seriously.”

He refused, however, to elaborate on the CIMS’ safeguards. Sources have told HuffPost, however, that the CIMS’ safeguards include passwords for need-to-know access and tracking of individual accounts.

Chris Selley:

The Federal Court refused to overturn any election results from 2011 because the onus of proof was on the plaintiffs to prove that an actual outcome was altered. And the plaintiffs, quite honestly, did a sorry job of this. But the court did affirm that election fraud had taken place, fraud almost certainly perpetrated by someone having access to the Conservative CIMS (Constituent Information Management System) database. Moreover, Justice Richard Mosley castigated the Conservative MPs defending the suit for attempting to “block these proceedings by any means” and making “transparent attempts to derail this case.” He actually used the phrase “trench warfare” to characterize their attitude.

The Tories don’t seem too worried that CIMS has been compromised, which would be their single worst election-readiness nightmare not involving an alien attack or dirty bombs. They are not even pretending to tell us how they intend to guarantee that this sort of election fraud will never happen again. The general attitude of their defenders outside caucus seems to be, “Ha ha, we introduced a horrifying dirty-tricks virus into Canadian politics and got away with it.” But, sure: ain’t that Senate terrible?

Yo! Fucking Useless Opposition®! THIS is the issue.

And FFS, stop calling it Robocall.

Say it ain't so, Joe!

So, was the charity auction of the thrilling prize of dinner with Sarah Palin rigged?

You betcha!

AKMuckraker who blogs at The Mudflats first describes one of the leading bidders at the time, a man named Ken Morris, as 'Wall Street whiz, trader-turned-financial-thriller-novelist'. The very reasonable reasons he cites for his bid include asking Sarah some questions about healthcare equaling socialism, palling around with terrorists, etc.

AKMuckraker then cites the auction rules

Governor Palin reserves the right to refuse dinner with a winning bidder if, in her sole discretion, the winning bidder is not a suitable bidder based on her subjective standards of suitability, professionalism, background and other factors. In the event the high bidder is rejected for this reason, the high bidder's bid will be refunded, if paid, and the next highest bidder shall be notified, and thereafter, until a suitable match is determined.

and concludes that Morris would get nixed.

That brings us to our second candidate, dubbed c***i by the Ebay alias assignment team, and known to those in the outside world as Joe McGinnis. McGinnis, also an author by trade is best known for his books The Making of the President about Richard Nixon, and Going to Extremes, about Alaska, oil and the 1970s pipeline boom. McGinnis is an outspoken critic of Palin, evidenced most recently by his article for Conde Nast's Portfolio entitled Pipe Dreams, which cast a critical eye on Palin's handling of the ever-elusive Alaska gasline. McGinniss is currently working on a book whose focus will be the ex-governor herself.

Nearing the end of the auction, he had the highest bid -- $60,101.01. But then his identity was revealed. When he returned to Ebay to up his bid, he found out that he had been dis-pre-approved.

Hmmm.

The actual winner, Cathy Maples, is described as 'the owner of a defense contracting company in Alabama', who thinks SP 'is pretty swell'.

Remember that the winner would have to pay his or her own expenses to travel to the undisclosed location of the dinner.

Then, something else odd happened. The location was revealed -- it's Alabama!

Hmmm.

McGinnis wrote Ms Maples a nice note and Morris says he'll make a donation to the charity anyway.

Now, that's classy.