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Newsletter of the Green Party of Ohio
June 09, 2006
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CAMPAIGN UPDATES
Our Candidates for Governor, Lt. Governor, and Secretary of State submitted
over 10,000 signatures per campaign to gain access to the November ballot.
This is twice the 5000 required by law. The current secretary of State,
Ken Blackwell, has until July 15th to process the signatures.
Tim Kettler wrote a letter to Mr. Blackwell in response to reports from
his office that it could take us that long to find out. Following the
letter we learned that a directive was issued by Blackwell for a report
from the local boards to process the petitions and get the results back
by the 23rd of June. That is where we stand now.
Dave Kovacs, candidate for State Board of Education, is proceeding with
his petition effort and has until August to gather his signatures. Contact
Dave at - http://www.voteKovacs.com/
Don Lesiak, State Candidate for Auditor, was unable to gather the required
number of signatures to get on the ballot. Thanks for your effort, Don.
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A word from the Kovacs campaign:
Things are really stepping in to high gear in the Kovacs Campaign! We
are continuing to gain support and achieving victories in our cause to
better
the education environment for our children. We have started to raise some
money, but not enough to take on the powers entrenched in Northeast Ohio.
To keep the momentum going, your continued financial support is needed
to spread the word further. Your tax deductible donations will assist
us with
printing fliers, business cards, bumper magnets, and yard signs. Help
us fight the good fight, donate today!
Please consider sending ten dollars, fifteen dollars, or whatever amount
you can afford to:
Kovacs for Ohio Board of Education
1050 Ellsworth Dr
Akron OH 44313
Remember, the first fifty dollars you contribute will become a tax-credit
on your taxes next year.
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Volunteers Needed
Contacts
Fitrakis campaign- http://www.bobforohio.com
Kettler campaign- http://www.sostim06.com
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EVENTS
Comfest - June 23, 24, 25 Goodale Park, Columbus, Ohio - "A three
day respite from worry, a sanctuary of sun-dappled lawns where wildly
diverse
audiences enjoy world-class performances for free, along with a street
fair overflowing with premium crafts and intriguing new perspectives.
And all of
it built by the power of the people: almost 1,500 volunteers make this
festival happen, from planning to delivery. There’s no scroll of
corporate
sponsors, no barrage of logos or flashing electronic signage when you
walk onto this turf." The Green Party will have a booth at Comfest
again this
year.
A number of us will be campaigning at the Yellow Springs Street fair this
weekend, June 10th from 9AM - 5PM. Contact nteti@clover.net for meeting
time and place. I will have Campaign T-shirts to distribute.
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FROM OUR CANDIDATES AND OFFICE HOLDERS
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TIM KETTLER - Candidate for Secretary of State
Tim wrote the following letter to Ken Blackwell in response to the delay
in certifying Green Party Candidates for the November ballot.
May 11, 2006
J.Kenneth Blackwell
Ohio Secretary of State
180 East Broad St.
Columbus, Ohio 43215
Sir,
On May 1, 2006 I filed a declaration of candidacy and nominating petition
as an independent candidate for Secretary of State. Also filing petitions
at that time were Robert Fitrakis for Governor and Anita Rios for Lt.
Governor. These filings were processed by Pat Wolfe. Nominating petitions
from a number of independent candidates for statewide office were also
filed prior to the May 1, 2006, 4 p.m. deadline.
After accepting the petitions and the filing fee Ms. Wolfe informed us
that the certification of the petitions would not be completed until the
end of
June, possibly into July. I find it both incomprehensible and unacceptable
that such a level of disparity exists between the certification of independent
candidates and those of the two major parties. Results of the May 2, 2006
primary election for statewide candidates were determined in a timely
manner other than perhaps those from Cuyahoga County. These results were
immediately made available to the major party candidates that they may
now confidently proceed with their campaigns for the general election
of November 7, 2006. This places independent candidates at a significant
disadvantage. By allowing their ballot status to remain uncertain you
are hampering their ability to raise funds and organize. The July 15th
deadline permitting the Secretary of State to delay the certification
of nominating petitions by independent candidates for sixty to seventy-five
days is
unreasonable. Such a timeline will be seen as obstructionist and contrary
to the principles of equal protection.
Restrictive provisions demanding inordinate amounts of signatures on behalf
of independent candidates, versus the minimal requirements set for
major party candidates for the same office, create an unfair advantage
for those major party candidates and arbitrarily delaying the certification
of
nominating petitions by independent candidates is not in the interests
of enhanced voter education, political stability or integrity of the ballot.
By
complying with the deadline for submission of nominating petitions with
the requisite amount of signatures, an independent candidate has cause
to seek fair and equal treatment.
In keeping with your commitment to empower candidates to become civically
engaged in positive, community-building efforts, it is reasonable to
expect the Office of the Secretary of State, in a timely manner, be willing
and able to certify both the nominating petitions for independent candidates
and the results of the primary election held May 2, 2006.
The delay in certifying the petitions of independent candidates for statewide
office, as defined by Ms. Wolfe, is in conflict with the State’s
purpose of insuring fair and honest elections and most certainly must
be challenged. In the interests of the people of the State of Ohio, specifically
those registered voters who signed nominating petitions for independent
candidates, I demand that a timely certification of those independent
candidates be immediately pursued to reflect procedures consistent with
equal protection under the law and that no advantages be afforded to major
party candidates.
I await your response in regards to this matter,
Timothy J. Kettler
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BOB FITRAKIS - Candidate for Governor
Robert F. Kennedy says in a Rolling Stone article that Ohio's election
was stolen.
http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/10432334/was_the_2004_election_stolen
Bob Fitrakis comments on criticism of the article.
They Stole It Blind
by Bob Fitrakis
RFK, Jr. wrote to my good friend Harvey Wasserman this quote from pollster
Lou Harris: “’They stole the Democrats blind in the exurbs
and rural
counties. It’s obvious what they did – they stuffed the ballot
box.’” Coming from a pollster with the credibility and experience
of Lou Harris, this is an astonishingly powerful indictment.”
Farhad Manjoo, denialist for salon.com fails to note similar quotes from
Harris that appear in Kennedy’s Rolling Stone article. The fact
that a pollster of Harris’ stature would go on the record is precisely
what’s new in the Kennedy article and of major significance.
As a Ph.D. in Political Science, I find the “reluctant responder”
hypothesis by Warren Mitofsky implausible, as does pollster John Zogby.
Basically,
reluctant responders tended to be extreme third party candidate supporters,
or voters for a major party candidate in an area dominated by the other
major party. Mitofsky would have you believe Republican woman only became
too shy to talk to pollsters only in the late afternoon and only in areas
where people voted in a majority for Bush. This mythology fits into the
Rovian spin that fundamental evangelical raced to the polls at the very
last
second to save W Bush. Local newspaper accounts and eyewitness observers
reported no such surge.
The data from the Moss v. Bush election challenge in Ohio, the exit polls,
the statistical analysis by Dr. Richard Hayes Phillips and the bizarre
illegal behavior in Auglaize, Miami and Warren counties all point to voter
theft in these counties.
Below is a Free Press article revealing obvious ballot tampering in Warren
County. The Free Press has already published a map drawn by a Warren
County Board of Election worker showing where the ballots were illegally
diverted in that county.
Free Press uncovers evidence of ballot tampering in Warren County, Ohio
April 19, 2006
After locking out all media observers and declaring a Level 10 Homeland
Security Alert, the Republican-dominated Warren County, Ohio reported
the
vote tally in the wee hours of the morning on November 3, 2004 —
and gave George W. Bush a surprising 14,000 vote boost. Two election workers
told the Free Press that the ballots had been diverted to an unauthorized
warehouse where they had been possibly stuffed. That is, punched for Bush
only. Maps were supplied to the Free Press showing the locations of the
warehouse and the Board of Elections.
Warren County officials refused to allow the Columbus Institute for Contemporary
Journalism to handle the ballots, but they did allow us to
photograph a few. Richard Hayes Phillips, Ph.D., has analyzed the ballots
for the Free Press and concluded that there is evidence of fraud in Warren
County. The ballots as photographed with Dr. Phillips’ commentary
below each ballot are included here for the first time.
The Free Press predicted early on that the ballots would be found punched
only for Bush in Warren County. The Moss v. Bush lawsuit pointed to
Warren, Butler and Clermont Counties as the three counties that provided
more than Bush’s entire margin in the Buckeye State: Bush won Ohio
by
118,000, and 132,000 votes were supplied in these three southwestern Republican
counties.
No Due Diligence
by Bob Fitrakis
People have asked me to respond to what they perceive as Ohio State Law
professor Dan Tokaji’s “balanced” analysis of Robert
Kennedy’s Rolling
Stone article about the stolen 2004 election. Tokaji’s piece is
entitled “Back to Ohio” and he has a section called “A
Grain of Salt” that deals with the Mighty Texas Strike Force. Let
me suggest that you take Tokaji’s writing with a grain of salt as
well. When I talked to Professor Tokaji, he informed me he relied only
on the Conyers Report for his analysis and no additional research. What
Professor Tokaji did, and I say this as a graduate of Ohio State Law School,
was fail in his “due diligence,” that requirement drilled
into every first year law student that one should meet reasonable expectations
and put forth efforts ordinarily exercised by a person before they put
forth certain statements or claims.
Below is a direct quote from Tokaji’s article:
“A Grain of Salt”
“There are other aspects of Kennedy’s report that would be
very disturbing if true, but appear to rest on somewhat weaker evidence.
For example:
“* Kennedy describes a group of Republican operatives known as the
“Mighty Texas Strike Force” which allegedly “us[ed]
pay phones to make
intimidating calls to likely voters.” Kennedy’s source for
this allegation is a report produced Democrats on the House Judiciary
Committee in January
2005, entitled “Preserving Democracy: What Went Wrong in Ohio,”
also known as the Conyers Report, which quotes a statement made by an
unidentified hotel worker. While this allegation is what we lawyers would
call hearsay — actually, it’s triple-hearsay, since the Conyers
Report was
relying on a statement made at a hearing by someone other than the hotel
worker — if true it’s obviously very troubling.”
Now had Tokaji done a five-minute Google search, he would have found the
following:
* The Mighty Texas Strike Force - http://www.freepress.org/departments/display/19/2005/1177
* With new legislation, Ohio Republicans plan holiday burial for American
Democracy - http://www.freepress.org/departments/display/19/2005/1607
* Down to the Wire - http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6420969/site/newsweek/
* Lone Stars to the Rescue - http://www.humaneventsonline.com/article.php?print=yes&id=5914
* Texas Federation of College Republicans “The Mighty Texas Strike
Force”. - http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~gop/newmexico.html
Here’s what Tokaji could have written: “Kennedy describes
a group of Republican operatives known as the “Mighty Texas Strike
Force” which
allegedly “us[ed] pay phones to make intimidating calls to likely
voters. Kennedy’s source for this allegation is a report produced
Democrats on the
House Judiciary Committee in January 2005, entitled “Preserving
Democracy: What Went Wrong in Ohio,” also known as the Conyers Report.
The
Report is also backed up by a 911 report on file with the Columbus, Ohio
police and an affidavit prepared by Jim Branscome, the night clerk at
the
Columbus Holiday Inn who witnessed the activities of the Mighty Texas
Strike Force. Linda Byrket, who documented the long lines at polling sites
in
Franklin County on Election Day in “Video the Vote” taped
Branscome’s statement as well. Branscome described himself as a
“conservative” and
said that the Mighty Texas Strike Force was using lists of names to make
phone calls from pay phones.
“‘Look, I know you got out of prison about’…X
amount of months ago…I can’t remember how many months he gave,
but it was earlier this year, the
year 2004, and he said, ‘It’s illegal for you to vote in this
state, and if you show up tomorrow at the polls, we’re going to
have the FBI there waiting for you, and we’re going to haul your
ass right back into the slammer’ he told him or into the ‘can’
or something like that.”
–From a videotaped interview with Robert Fitrakis and Linda Byrket.
The night auditor at the hotel showed the Free Press records confirming
that the Strike Force rooms had been paid for by the Ohio Republican Party.
The Mighty Texas Strike Force was contacted by the Free Press, and while
no wrong-doing was admitted, they did concede they were in Columbus,
Ohio two weeks prior to the election and that their actions were directed
by Karl Rove at the White House. Both WVKO 1580AM radio and the
Columbus Dispatch radio reported calls during this period directing voters
to the wrong polling site. Numerous callers to WVKO, the city’s
oldest
black-owned radio station, reported calls from unidentified people telling
them they would be arrested if they attempted to vote.
Tokaji uses the term “triple hearsay” to discredit Kennedy.
Instead, he could have easily included the readily available facts. He
knew from the
Conyers Report that the statement came from me. He could have called me
and asked what our evidence was on the Mighty Texas Strike Force.
Also, it would be interesting for people to call Mr. Tokaji to ask who
funds the Election Institute at the Ohio State College of Law where he
works. We
know that his boss, Professor Ned Foley who served as State Solicitor
under a Republican governor, is the Jones-Day endowed chair. Hence, a
direct money flow from one of United States’ largest corporate law
firms. Call Tokaji and ask him for the facts.
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DENNIS SPISAK
If we are looking for radio station call in talk shows let me suggest
WKBN-570AM in Youngstown.
They run local talk shows and interview political candidates. They have
3 daily local shows:
Robert Mangino- 6am-10am: Mangino is a member of the Liberterian Party.
He probably would be the one host who would give our candidates a good
amount of air time to discuss our views without interruption or
arguments.
Dan Rivers 10am- 11:45am: Rivers is more conservative. Was a Vietnam
Vet. Anti-Union. Would probably try to "beat up" our candidates...
that's his style.
Ron Verb and Casey Malone- 3pm-7pm: Both lean more towards the Democratic
side....Malone's father was a long-time Democratic politician in the
valley. Verb's wife is a nurse....he is very pro-union...supported the
UPS strike and local nurse's strike. Is probably a Strickland
supporter...Verb wants a "local" guy in the governor's mansion...and
Strickland is the one local congressman from the area. Verb and Malone
are both anti-Taft and Blackwell.
More information about the station can be found at www.wkbnradio.com
The station's signal covers most of northeast Ohio..can at times be
heard in Columbus...even as far as Dayton. Many times local state reps
driving to Columbus for house sessions have called in from the road
while traveling south on I-71.....
Dennis Spisak
Green Party Member
School Board Member Struthers Ohio
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DAVE KOVACS - Green Party Candidate for State Board of Education
TEACH INTELLIGENT DESIGN—BUT NOT
IN BIOLOGY CLASS!
By Dave Kovacs
When I was in my first year as a philosophy student in college I took
a class called Philosophy of Science and Religion. The topic of my term
paper
was "Evolution and Intelligent Design: Reassessing Compatibility."
My point was that the theory which we now call Intelligent Design can
be traced
back to the earliest philosophers and is better known as the Teleological
Argument. In the history of philosophy and science in general, the ntelligent
Design argument was never seen as a theory as to how things come about,
but why.
Darwin’s theories, in their modern form, are biological theories
that seek to explain how things come about. No evolutionary biologist
claims to be able to give a metaphysical explanation for the origin of
life; nor does any philosopher claim to be able to describe how life has
developed.
In biology classes, we should learn biology theories. When Deborah Owens
Fink and others on the Ohio State Board of Education have attempted to
insert Intelligent Design into biology classes they have shown their ignorance
of the division of sciences. Those groups that believe students should
have an opportunity to learn the Teleological Argument should adopt this
strategy: Push schools to offer electives in philosophy. In a good philosophy
class students will learn theories about whether there is an Intelligent
Designer that have ranged from Plato to Thomas Aquinas, who felt there
was such an Author, to Hume and Kant who believed the evidence was insufficient.
In biology classes, why should a standard and accepted theory be scrutinized
anymore than Relativity theory in a physics class or valence bond theory
in chemistry? When Deborah Owens Fink calls for “academic freedom”
she isn’t trying to protect teachers or students; she is trying
to appease certain factions who object to evolutionary theory on religious
grounds. These people are known as “creationists.” The difference
between creationism and Intelligent Design is that creationism seeks to
replace the modern, scientific understanding of the development of species
with a religious and mythical model; Intelligent Design is silent on whether
or not evolution occurs, it is instead concerned with a question that
falls under the realm of philosophy and theology.
At the January meeting, when Fink responded to plans to delete Intelligent
Design from the biology curriculum by saying she was “having a hard
time
controlling her emotions,” perhaps she should have stopped to ask
herself whether she understood the difference between biology and philosophy.
Had she done this, rather than fighting to put Intelligent Design into
a biology class, perhaps she would have seen the opportunity to increase
classical learning in Ohio Schools by offering philosophy classes. But
then again, some of those who support creationism and the Deborah Owens
Fink plan don’t really like the logical and rational basis for philosophy,
either.
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IMPORTANT WEBSITES
Bob Fitrakis and Anita Rios campaign web site - http://www.bobforohio.com
Tim Kettler campaign web site - http://www.sostim06.com/
The Ohio Green Party - http://ohiogreens.org/
The US Green Party - http://gp.org
A list of Green Party sites throughout the world - http://greens.org
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The Green Party of Ohio Newsletter , GreenBeat, is published by the Green
Party of Ohio.
Paid for by the Ohio Green Party, 8832 Nairn Ct., Dublin, OH
43017 Paul Dumouchelle, Treasurer www.ohiogreens.org
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Editor reserves the right to publish or not publish any such letter and
edit them to fit the newsletter format. The Green Party of Ohio Newsletter
does not represent official GPOH policy unless specifically stated. The
Green Party of Ohio Newsletter operates under the guidance of the State
Coordinating Committee Media Committee, which can be contacted through
the State Party Website. Paid for by the Green Party of Ohio Political
Action Fund (OH1066) PO Box 754 New Albany, OH 43054
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