Hack. What a wonderful word. One that's both a noun and a verb--I love transgender words--and one which can mean such disparate things.
Google "hack" and you will see what I mean about meanings: cut; cough; chop; manage; enter somebody's computer; a dull writer; a terrible politician; a drudge; a horse; a taxicab; lower half of a divided door; able to do a job; and something or other to do with bricks, falconry, and cheese. What a word!
Anyhow, this is the year of the hack, and almost all of the definitions apply. We have a hack politician, with a hacking cough, supported by hack journalists, hacking away at our institutional credibility and national security, dogged by hacked emails, showing that she can't hack the job . . . and for all I know involved with falconry, bricks, and cheese-making.
OK, now let's get to the point.
I am very uncomfortable with all this email hacking. But first: I think that Snowden is a treasonous SOB who has done great damage to our national security and that of our closest allies. He is not a hero campaigning for your civil rights. He was a spy for Russia and perhaps China, and was willing to give away the baby with the bathwater. He should get the Rosenberg chair treatment as far as I am concerned. Sorry for not expressing myself more clearly.
This breaking into the DNC's and Powell's emails makes me very uneasy. It's a violation of all rules of privacy and has a very powerful chilling effect on frank discussion.
OK, the hacking into the DNC showed what we all know: the DNC was rigging the process for Hillary and selling ambassadorships and other key positions for contributions. Powell had some choice words to say about both Trump and Clinton, which he would have certainly preferred remain private. But, no. While those of us who want Hillary to lose and Donald to win might enjoy this go-round of "hacks," the great wheel will turn, my friends, and those who laugh now, well, they might not be laughing tomorrow. The hacker cometh for us all . . .
I have said before (here, for example) that were I an election observer I could not certify US elections as free and fair. I have written a lot about this and won't repeat it except to say that our system is ripe for abuse. Illegal and legal aliens vote, lots of people vote more than once and often in different locations, etc. Now we have the prospect of Russian or other hackers getting into the electronic machines that count our votes and monkeying with the results. Just great.
We need common sense in our voting process. Voter ids that establish voters as citizens and paper ballots with number 2 pencils would be great starts to re-establishing confidence in that voting process. Too much to ask?
Until then, I will be reading up on and chortling over the latest hacker leaks from the DNC . . .
I've heard of only a sole, documented and "due processed" case recently of voter fraud in the United States from ... you guessed it;
ReplyDeletehttps://archives.fbi.gov/archives/littlerock/press-releases/2012/four-crittenden-county-men-charged-with-conspiracy-to-commit-election-fraud
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Good Lord anon that link you've provided illuminates!
Delete"Hallum further told Carter that $20 to $40 was too much to pay for one vote, but that this amount was acceptable to pay for the votes of multiple members of a household. On that same date, Hudson Hallum also told Carter, “We need to use that black limo and buy a couple of cases of some cheap vodka and whiskey to get people to vote.” Two days later, Carter and Kent Hallum spoke with an individual in Memphis, Tennessee, about getting a discounted price for the purchase of 100 half pints of vodka for the campaign."
Where do they get those people?
Oh yeah. Nevermind.
Common sense when it comes to voting? You're so funny, Sr. DiploMad.
ReplyDeleteJust because it takes more identification to board an airplane or open a bank account than it does to cast a ballot -- that's no reason to repress Democratic votes, is it?
I'm a lot more worried about ballot-stuffing for Hillary and her down-ballot cohorts than I am about Russian hackers. (Maybe I'm a bit sanguine about the Russians because where I live in Florida, paper ballots and non-erasable ballpoint pens are now required.)
And I'm worried about Hillary ballot-stuffing because when just about anyone can walk into a polling place and vote on their own say-so, we've got trouble.
That and when Virginia's execrable Democratic governor, Terry McAuliffe, has defied both the legislature and supreme court of his state in order to restore the voting rights of all of Virginia's released felons. Take a guess on how they're going to vote.
Who needs the Russians to swing the outcome when the Democrats will outdo them at every turn?
It really is Tammany Hall revisited; if indeed it ever really ended. Profoundly depressing.
ReplyDeleteSomehow, we Americans cannot believe polar opposites can exist at the same time. Snowden should be given the Medal of Freedom ... right before he is placed in front of the firing squad.
ReplyDeleteI agree on Snowden and the wheel of fate. All his revelations will do is drive conspiracy in government further underground. Besides the salutary effect his punishment here would have on system at large, he now is suffering a worse fate in his mind, the dreary end of a Philby.
ReplyDeleteIn his mind I bet he's thinking if he could just get back here he could become a cause celebrity and wiggle out of his dilemma.
As for the Democrats, they have had it their way for so long (excluding Bush) that they became careless in their security and their propaganda. Don't expect that to continue.
James the Lesser
Ps. You could say (literally) they've been reading and believing their own press.
I am not so concerned about what has been revealed by hacking. I am more concerned about what we have not seen and probably will never see.
ReplyDelete"Another major issue brought up by the latest leaks is the media blackout on the content of what was released. Politico, The New York Times, and several other news outlets opted to report solely on the fact that there was a new leak—citing a statement from DNC Chair Donna Brazile, who claims the DNC is the victim of a Russian cyber-attack—without delving into the specifics of the content."
Deletehttp://observer.com/2016/09/wikileaks-guccifer-2-0-obama-sold-off-public-offices-to-donors
For instance, perhaps MK, and noticeably absent, save Snowden, from discussion of "THE HACK", is the recent howling by BO's button man, Jeh Johnson, who conjures up the spectre of an existential electoral threat to America, by none other than bunker-hardened Putinesque Computer Attack Forces. A massive looming threat to 'Democracy', so vast and dangerous, that only empowering Homeland Security to SERVE and PROTECT our Ballot Box can save the USA! Scares me!
ReplyDeleteOn Watch~~~
"Let's Roll"
Upon further review, I do note that our Most Deplorable Host did assert at the bottom of par 8 that:
Delete"Now we have the prospect of Russian or other hackers getting into the electronic machines that count our votes and monkeying with the results. Just great."
And evidently, as usual with those "prospects" comes the opportunity for the Progressives horde to prey on the perceptions, and energise Big Brother to PROTECT US, and our inalienable RIGHTS.
OW
Let us not forget Sam Snead gazing out upon a golf course, watching 'grazing herds of hack'. Pretty sure he meant folk like me, wandering about, club in hand, endlessly pursuing a small round orb intent on making itself scarce.
ReplyDeleteWhen will people realize that the internet is a public space because, when you send a message, you do not control where it goes. It is effectively broadcast. It is the way the internet is designed to work. It may be regarded as a weakness but in fact it is the source of it's strength.
ReplyDeleteI despise the hacking especially since all my info given for security clearances have been compromised because of this sorry government; they seemly can't protect us from anything. Unfortunately it now requires hacking to expose what is happening in government. FOIA requests mean nothing with this administration. The rule of law has collapsed.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteCan we please outlaw vote by mail for all except those serving overseas and the seriously disabled? You want to talk about an easy way to steal elections, vote by mail is likely the easiest. And in some cases, voters don't even get a chance to say if they want it or not. I really miss being able to go to a polling place and cast my ballot.
ReplyDeleteIn Oregon, vote by mail has been the only option for 15 years. They are completely corrupt. We have motor-voter, just to MAKE SURE the demonrats own the day. Sad thing is, if you could remove all the votes from Washington, Clackamas and Lane counties, we would be 95% conservative.
DeleteThe system is indeed rigged...
I'm across the river from Portland. Same thing pretty much in WA state. We have ballots that come to one of our properties for a tenant that used to live there. It is such a temptation to vote for him. I can resist it but I know that others don't.
DeleteI remember a small community in that area called Battleground. Always enjoyed being there.
DeleteAhoy Teri!
DeleteIf you should go up above to that first comment above on this thread postdate @ September 15, 2016 at 1:37 AM with a link to the FBI's archives you'll find precisely, your concern regarding vote by mail to wit:
"According to the felony information, Hudson Hallum and Kent Hallum tasked Phillip Wayne Carter, Sam Malone, and others with identifying absentee ballot voters within District 54; obtaining and distributing absentee ballot applications to particular voters; determining when absentee ballots were mailed to absentee voters by the Crittenden County Clerk’s Office; and making contact with recipients of absentee ballots to assist those voters in completing the ballots. Once such absentee ballots were completed, the absentee voters typically placed their ballots in unsealed envelopes, which were retrieved by Carter, Malone, and others and then subsequently delivered to either Hudson Hallum or Kent Hallum for inspection to ensure that the absentee ballot votes had been cast for Hudson Hallum. After inspection by Hudson Hallum or Kent Hallum, the absentee ballots that contained votes for Hudson Hallum were sealed and mailed to the Crittenden County Clerk’s Office. If a ballot contained a vote for Hudson Hallum’s opponent, it was destroyed."
So your Teri, "You want to talk about an easy way to steal elections, vote by mail is likely the easiest" I take it might be rhetorical?
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The Dems have an unknown number of "outlying" cemeteries at their disposal.
ReplyDeleteTainted by Suspicion
ReplyDeleteOld times are the best times. Current times are the worst. To be sure, I liked Ike. But Washington is full of happy people. On 4 March 1801, there was no happier man than the cantankerous John Adams, who packed up his troubles in his carriage that morning and turned America over to new management. At the end of a particularly noisome secret election campaign, with nothing at all on TV, between an unprincipled polecat and a sociopath of uncertain heritage, the issue had finally been decided, after 63 ballots in the House of Representatives, and a new American President was inaugurated that afternoon. John and his two personal slaves were already over the hill. America was left a fine mess.
The new President quickly purchased Louisiana, and the Western Lands of Ohio became Midwestern flyover country. There were problems introducing everyone’s new Great White Father, but unhappy souls met up with Mr. Winchester. America was on a roll again.
John Quincy Adams stole the whole country in the electoral college in 1824, and Andrew Jackson had to wait four more years to claim his Presidency. He did use the time advantageously to buy and sell Indian lands, and become quite wealthy.
Today, we are in familiar territory. But worse. This time, America is on her deathbed. This election appears to be a humdinger. At this writing, we have 70 days to go. At least we have TV so we know everything. It turns out, we’ve had humdingers before. America has survived, and prospered. You can make history yourself. In 70 days. Then we merely await certification by the electoral college, and presentation of their report. Fred Lucas’ Tainted by Suspicion is a very entertaining review of the turmoil of American political life, especially the complexity of tabulating a vote properly, reminding us of forgotten times, and discussing occasionally ‘What if the vote had been tabulated correctly?’
I asked my friend, ‘Should we really pray to God for every little thing, or just the Big Things?’ My friend replied, ‘In your Life, in the Sight of God, do you have any Big Things?’ Please send your thoughts and prayers for America to God. And Go Vote! And Read a Book!
It would appear that the jay-vee team has once again outplayed the Jeh Johnson all-stars.
ReplyDeleteThat man epitomises the description of hack.