Ohio And A Shadow Called Rove

August 23, 2012 in Montana

by lizard

Todd Akin has stirred up a real shit storm, exposing the rift between the extreme right and the larger power centers of the GOP, like Karl Rove.

Todd Akin has also enraged, and rightly so, sane people who can’t believe there are more than a few nutjobs who could actually believe what he said about rape and pregnancy, probably because it’s unbelievable someone thinks this way.

While the Akin controversy takes up all the oxygen in the room this week, a segment on Democracy Now with Craig Unger reminded viewers about how destructive the shadow called Rove has been for American democracy.

For more, Truth Out archived Goodman’s interview with Mark Crispin Miller, which opens with Amy saying this:

A top Republican internet strategist who was set to testify in a case alleging election tampering in 2004 in Ohio has died in a plane crash. Mike Connell was the chief IT consultant to Karl Rove and created websites for the Bush and McCain electoral campaigns. He also set up the official Ohio state election website reporting the 2004 presidential election returns.

Connell was reportedly an experienced pilot. He died instantly Friday night when his private plane crashed in a residential neighborhood near Akron, Ohio.

Michael Connell was deposed one day before the election this year by attorneys Cliff Arnebeck and Bob Fitrakis about his actions during the 2004 vote count and his access to Karl Rove’s e-mail files and how they went missing.

Velvet Revolution, a non-profit investigating Connell’s activities, revealed this weekend that Connell had recently said he was afraid George Bush and Dick Cheney would “throw [him] under the bus.” Cliff Arnebeck had also previously alerted Attorney General Michael Mukasey to alleged threats from Karl Rove to Connell if he refused to “take the fall.”

Think a stolen Ohio election can’t happen again? Then maybe you should read this piece by Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman, titled Four Ways Ohio Republicans Are Already Stealing the 2012 Election.

If I was Akin, I would avoid flying in planes until after November.