Item 1: In Nov. 2000, Katherine Harris stated that she had to follow "the letter of the law" in the recount. Now it seems she (a candidate for the U.S. House) doesn't even know the law. "... She did not follow state elections procedures regarding her candidacy and, after realizing the oversight, was forced today to do a bit of damage control.

Florida's "resign to run" law requires that elected officials seeking another office submit a letter on the day of qualifying for the upcoming race stating when they intend to resign. If they do not, their resignation becomes effective immediately. Ms. Harris, whose office enforces state elections law, said she did not realize that the law applied to her." Read more here (NYTimes reg. req.)

Item 2: Noon last Friday was the filing deadline to run for office in Florida -- a bunch of candidates the evening before sent their paperwork on a FedEx plane to arrive in Tallahassee on time -- well the plane crashed and the paperwork was lost, leaving the candidates scrambling.

Item 3: The Dems have little chance of knocking off veteran Congressman Michael Bilirakis -- but further damaged them by choosing an former male stripper, Chuck Kalogianis, to be the candidate. He danced in a group called "Men in Motion" in Boston. "... The act began with Kalogianis wearing a Big Bird suit that masked his rugged face but exposed his toned and tanned legs. It ended with him doing a chicken dance, tearing off the bright yellow costume to show his French bikini thong and shaking his booty as women threw $1 bills at him."

Wurm -- please please please -- find a pic!!

[edited to give Ms. Harris her correct first name ...]

[ August 02, 2002: Message edited by: DCBucky ]

What an idiot, she doesnt even know how to resign.

My understanding is that it IS unclear as to whether the law applied to Ms. Harris. Once her term ends, the position of Secretary of State stops becoming an elected office (she was elected) and becomes an appointed office. Her explanation for the foul-up seemed reasonable on its face, but I'll want to find and read the statute for myself and make that decision.

Now, on to the more important issue: Chuck Kalogianis. He's not just a male stripper. He's a lawyer who stripped (some) to pay his way through law school. He is a practicing attorney now in Florida, so his candidacy is not THAT ridiculous. And I give him points for being willing to list the former job on his campaign bio.

FoxNews ran a picture of Candidate Kalogianis in his past glory as a stripping Big Bird. Here's the current obligatory familial campaign photo:

No full-montys on first search, but this one might be a lead ... note the ramp and stage lights

Liberals have the weirdest ideas about Sesame Street.

[quote]Originally posted by DCBucky:
Item 1: In Nov. 2000, Kathleen Harris stated that she had to follow "the letter of the law" in the recount.

---

Who's her campaign manager, "Nicole" Bush? (If you don't get it, search for "cuz".) Her name, I believe, is Katherine Harris. Maybe this is some joke I don't get.

She is the head of the agency that oversees elections, shouldnt she know what the law is?
It seems like if anyone would know it should be her. It seems Ms. "letter of the law" is confused, call it "fuzzy" law I guess!

[quote]Originally posted by William1865:
Her name, I believe, is Katherine Harris. Maybe this is some joke I don't get.

---

You're absolutely right -- but no joke involved -- just a liberal typo on my part!

And now - Katherine Harris - ECDYSIAST!!





Let me Cook your Ballots
Let me Make you smile

Let me do a few tricks
Some dirty and some crude tricks
I'll make votes reconcile

And if you're named Bush
I'll absentee push
I want that seat in the House

So let me cook your ballots
And we'll have a Republican time, oh yeah!
We'll... have.... a GOP crime!!!!


-> Edited to remove original image because the site tried to install some type of image viewer

[ August 02, 2002: Message edited by: Wurm ]

Nice photo! Maybe a little more makeup might be in order.

The law required to be followed by Katherine Harris is Fla. Stat. § 99.012. According to subsection (4) of this law:

"(a) Any officer who qualifies for federal public office must resign from the office he or she presently holds if the terms or any part thereof run concurrently with each other.
( The resignation is irrevocable.
© The resignation must be submitted no later than the date upon which the officer qualifies for office.
(d) The written resignation must be effective no later than the earlier of the following dates:
1. The date the officer would take office, if elected; or
2. The date the officer's successor is required to take office."

Simple, staightforward law. Surprisingly unambiguous and reasonable. The meaning is very clear. "Qualifies for federal public office" has to refer to candidate filing. It does not mean election, as that would be a simple word choice if that was the intent. "Officer" is defined at Fla. Stat. § 99.012(1)(a) to include both elected and appointed officers, so the original explanation from Ms. Harris (at least as reported in some media sources)that the confusion resulted from the change of status for the Florida Secretary of State from being an elected office to an appointed office is: BOGUS.

The section that is biting Ms. Harris is this one, Fla. Stat. § 99.012(4)(f)(1), which states: "The failure of an officer who qualifies for federal public office to submit a resignation pursuant to this subsection constitutes an automatic irrevocable resignation, effective immediately, from the office he or she presently holds."

She did not resign concurrently with her candidate filing as required by Florida law. She admits this. If she had done this properly, she could have remained as Florida's Secretary of State until January 3, 2003, when she is due to be sworn in to Congress. Instead, by operation of the law, she has resigned effectively immediately.

As I read the statute, the situation is even worse than the media are reporting. According to Fla. Stat. § 99.012(6):

"The name of any person who does not comply with this section may be removed from every ballot on which it appears when ordered by a circuit court upon the petition of an elector or the Department of State."

Not only is Ms. Harris's temporary "appointment" as acting Secretary of State unethical, and it is, it could/should result in her name being stricken from the ballot under Fla. Stat. § 99.012(6). You could argue that this would be an unconstitutional state-imposed restriction on the qualifications for office of a candidate for federal office ... and you probably would win ... BUT ...

Much as I love Katherine Harris, she's plain wrong on this one. She should do the ethical, moral and legally correct thing and leave the office of Secretary of State effective immediately. (This is not the conclusion I wanted to reach, but the law's the law.)

[quote]Originally posted by William1865:


Who's her campaign manager, "Nicole" Bush? (If you don't get it, search for "cuz".) Her name, I believe, is Katherine Harris. Maybe this is some joke I don't get.

---

Jawohl, William!

She couldn't do worse with little pill-popping and stealing NOELLE Bush! What an IDIOT!

And since this is Florida she just may get elected. I'd voter for the (other?) stripper in a heartbeat.

[ August 04, 2002: Message edited by: fantomas ]

[quote]Originally posted by Charlie in the Trees:
The law required to be followed by Katherine Harris is Fla. Stat. § 99.012. According to subsection (4) of this law:....

---

--snip--

Thanks for looking that up. This could get interesting.

As for the wannabe Congressman and his stripping past....I saw a picture of him in his Big Bird stripping costume, and boy did he have incredible legs! Unfortunately it was on the AP picture wire, not something that can be linked. There was another picture with his wife, and it just seems rather forced/staged to me--but who the hell knows?

He had to know as a law student then, and certainly when he ran now, that stripping for 2 years would come out. Even if he didn't. So why not be proud of it?

As for Katherine the Near Great, she's a piece of work of a different stripe altogether....although I do think she could have taken fashion tips from Mr. Big Bird stripper himself.

Life without Google wouldn't be worth living.

http://www.azcentral.com/offbeat/articles/...te-past-ON.html



Also try the amazing http://www.picsearch.com/ .

Edited to add: I just did, and Picsearch came up emptyhanded.

[ August 03, 2002: Message edited by: twin58 ]

twin -

Is that beak loaded, or .......

Let's just make sure he gets past Kabuki Harris and then we can find out!

[ August 04, 2002: Message edited by: fantomas ]

In the "Kabookey" vein.....
to the tune of "Chrysanthemum Tea"
With apologies to Stephen Sondheim,


Dubya:

It's the Year of the Rat, Kathleen
Gore is winning in the court
And the Palm Beach chads won't sort
And our racial fix is clear, Kathleen
They know the counts are queer, Kathleen


Kathleen:

Have some votes, Dub-ya,
Have some doctored absentees
They are good forgeries
from those precincts out at sea

Is my Dubbie feeling better
Good!
Now what about this letter
Do you see, what it says, Dub-ya?
With our case disappearing
Might we benefit from hearing
The Supremes are interevening
Dub-ya -
Dub-ya??

...

The father fell after term one
It looks the same for the one son
All things, .... fall......

Damn, I am ready to move so I can vote for him. He has legs!!!!!!!!!

And now more ballot problems for the Dems: they filed a suit "... to change the wording of the Sept. 10 primary ballot for governor, which it says may be confusing. The ballot instructs voters to "Vote for One Pair," meaning they should choose an entry for governor and lieutenant governor.

Pointing out that none of their candidates for governor had yet chosen running mates, Democrats said the wording could lead some people to make two choices for governor, which would void their ballot."

Here's an email I got from Katherine Harris:

August 5, 2002

Dear Friend,

Together, we have passed precedent-setting election reforms, boosted literacy across the state, and dramatically enhanced Florida's economy through trade.

Last week, I stepped down as your Secretary of State, in accordance with Florida law, when I discovered I made a procedural error, the same mistake made by Florida's chief legal counsel, Attorney General Bob Butterworth.

My action does not affect my campaign for Congress, or my commitment to protect Social Security and Medicare, to provide access to affordable prescription drugs, to preserve our precious environment and to champion a world-class education for our children.

I addressed this situation quickly and directly. By law, my resignation took effect the day I qualified. As you know, I'm a stickler for the rule of law.

I sincerely appreciate your support and understanding, and I am committed to working full-time to earn your confidence.

Long ago, my parents taught me to do the right thing. And I promise I will always work to live up to that standard.

Thank you for your continued support, counsel and friendship!

Sincerely,


Katherine Harris

[ August 06, 2002: Message edited by: William1865 ]

She's a "stickler" for the law when it benefits her or her party.

[quote]Originally posted by RazorbackTX:
She's a "stickler" for the law when it benefits her or her party.

---

As we all should be.

The Maharani of Mascara might have been more attentive to mundane office manners if she hadn't been out in San Diego for a fund raiser on a rich person's private yacht off the coast of La Jolla.... (source: San Diego Union-Tribune).

Hmmm..... neglects her duties to the citizens of Florida, and shows that the concerns of the people in her Sarasota district will be the full focus of her concern in Washington ...... sounds about "right"

Just so I'm up-to-date: Why is it bad for a woman to wear make-up?

Makeup (in and of itself) - not necessarily bad

Makeup (when delivered monthly by oil tanker) - not so good

Maybe she went to the Tammy Faye Baker school of Make-up art????

Yeah, but she flunked out. Even Tammy Faye thought she wore to much.

Couldn't find a reference for it, but heard on NPR this morning that Florida has (will have?) a law requiring unwed mothers to publish the names of their sex partners, among other personal information, in newspaper ads to locate the fathers.

Doesn't this seem a little extreme? Isn't there a better way to find the father than public humiliation of mom?

Will the representative proposing this also require that the fathers publish their previous sex partners names to find other children he may have sired?

Would he publish his own sexual history if someone had an "overriding interest" in who he has slept with in his past?

BTW: I obviously consider this more important than election shenanigans

[ August 08, 2002: Message edited by: sportinlife ]

sportin - that very subject was discussed during the first half of yesterday's edition of the CNN show on which the "Jim/Outsports and Billy Bean" discussion occupied the second half. The transcript link posted in the other thread has the full hour's information.....

[quote]Originally posted by sportinlife:
Couldn't find a reference for it, but heard on NPR this morning that Florida has (will have?) a law requiring unwed mothers to publish the names of their sex partners, among other personal information, in newspaper ads to locate the fathers.

---

This law is being pushed by the "father's rights" lobby ... generally a group of whack-jobs who view their children as property to be equitably distributed in a divorce.

I'm an extremist on both privacy issues and anti-abortion attitudes, and I'm equally incensed on both counts. What an extreme invasion of privacy. And what'll it accompish? A lot more abortions, as you don't have to divulge your entire sexual history if you abort. An unmarried pregnant woman would have two choices ... abort in secret or publish your sex life publicly.

It takes an incredibly sick mind to think such a law would be progress in a civilized society.

And it's sexist too ... if you needed an additional reason to hate such a law. Why not require men who want to maintain the ability to assert paternity at some point in the future to maintain a registry of all the women with whom they've had sex? Sex would be defined in the Clitonian sense ... oral sex would not be sex. And, of course, it would have to be under penalty of perjury for falsely claiming to in fact have had sex they did not have as guys do tend to exaggerate their number of "conquests.

Put me down as a "no" vote.

I'm sure these guys would have been really fair to Republicans in a recount:

Florida Election Video Altered After Republican Complaints

The word from Florida today: "Numerous voters reported problems in scores of Miami-Dade and Broward polling places" this a.m. "as they tried -- and often failed -- to participate in the first statewide election" since the 2000 "debacle."

Some polling places opened late "due to malfunctioning touch-screen machines," with "a few" precincts closed "for many hours after" the polls were set to open.

Poll workers "had trouble activating machines because of mechanical malfunctions or poor training." And, in some cases -- "especially in Broward" -- precinct clerks and other key workers "failed to show up, paralyzing those precincts." Voters also reported registration problems "and other confusion."

It "was not immediately clear how widespread the problems might be" -- whether they "represented fleeting glitches" or the "tumultuous start of another electoral horror show."

Ex-U.S. AG Janet Reno's (D) campaign called on Gov. Jeb Bush ® "to extend the voting by two hours" -- until 9 pm -- in Miami-Dade, Broward "and any other counties that experienced significant trouble."

Even Reno was delayed in casting her vote because of machine trouble in Miami-Dade. Some local election officials "considered making the same plea." There was "no immediate response"

[from Miami Herald]

At 12 Midnight EST, in Miami-Dade County, the repeal effort is failing by 55% against repeal of human rights and 45% for repeal of human rights with 65% precincts counted.

Regarding the governor's race in the Democratic primary, Janet Reno is capturing 38% of the statewide vote compare to Bill McBride is taking 49% of the vote; however, the urban counties of Miami-Dade (65% counted), Broward-Ft. Lauderdale (58% counted), Palm Beach-West Palm Beach (24% counted, Hillsborough-Tampa (has not reported), Orange (63% counted), and Duval-Jacksonville (67% counted) have not counted all of their ballots. In summary, we are going to have a long night before a winner is declared.

This election has to go down in history as the 2nd biggest mess next to Ms. Harris and Ms. Lepore's screwup in 2000. My mother waited 3 hours to vote today in Miami because they did not have enough of pollworkers to watch the new touchmatic machines. Voting was extended until 9 PM because of the long delays.

It is a MESS! They have not counted all of the ballots in Miami-Dade, Broward-Ft. Lauderdale, Palm Beach-West Palm Beach, Hillsborough-Tampa, and Orange-Orlando as of 8 AM EST this morning.

On the human rights amendment, it is too close to call as the amendment is winning with 53% against repeal and 47% for repeal. Hopefully, this result would be a big message to the rest of the country in protecting human rights and promote diversity.

On the Governor's race in the Democratic primary, it is too close to call. Bill McBride might have the biggest upset since Sen. Bob Graham's upset for governor in 1979 and President Truman in 1948.
He is leading 45.7% to Reno's 42.5% in the primary. This year, there is no runoff in Florida as it was in the past. The voters changed the state constitution back in 1998 and eliminate the runoff primary.

Here is a link to the story and results from the Miami Herald (aka the Mullet Wrapper)

http://www.miami.com/mld/miami/4047847.htm

I wonder why that state cannot get it right. If there is a silver lining, it is that the issues surfaced during a primary election and not a general one.

Some of these issues are kind of unacceptable, it would seem. You need to know that your voting machines work before you use them. You need to train your polling staff before they are asked to do their jobs. You need to test things enough to have confidence in the process. These are basic kinds of concepts.

I know that Florida should have the financial resources to perform these functions better than this. I guess it comes down to who is in charge and making sure things run smoothly. They have a couple of months to fix the process. Can you see the headlines if Jeb Bush gets reelected in a controversial vote counting situation?

I think it is a travesty that we send young people overseas to fight to protect our way of life if we can't hold a fair election here. Florida may be in the spotlight but the problem occurs elsewhere as well.

Why should people vote when they see obvious unprosecutable deterants placed regularly in the path of voters.

Why is the red herring of privacy preventing universal registration and national election reform? Does any one really believe that a country that has a computer system that monitors communications across the planet is either incapable of holding a universally fair election or seriously concerned about complete privacy of individuals?

I think there is a serious two-party failure here. And I would not be surprised if even additional parties would not solve the problem. How can we have honest politicians who are truly interested in having the mandate of a true majority of an eligible voting population?

It is time for the disenfranchised citizens of Florida to stage the equivalent of the Bush-financed "Brooks Brothers Riot" that set the stage for W's selection. The standards [sic] at the polling places are an abomination.

Post-USA PATRIOT Act, I'm not sure what "way of life" the military is being mobilized for, besides oil dependency.

The article posted doesn't go into a lot of detail about what happened voting-wise. Here's one that does:

Adventures in Voting

Weren't all these changes supposed to save us from the butterfly ballots and chads? Whatever. Just proves that lots of government spending doesn't solve problems. Anyway, this doesn't seem like so much of a Florida problem as a South Florida problem. I haven't heard of any massive problems in Pensacola or Jacksonville or Orlando. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that a significant number of South Floridians either barely speak English or are barely alive, what with the 80-90 years worth of wear-and-tear.

Or perhaps Florida voters, or at least South Florida voters, are just terminally inept. Like my grandmother used to say: Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

OK folks enough with the attacks on my homestate and town. First, the MAJORITY of people in Miami-Dade County not only speak english, but are considered fluent... secondly, the problems were not limited to just South Florida, problems arose throughout the state, I do not know why they are just picky on us. I great deal of the problems have been with being able to gets the votes back out of the voting equipment... the equipment has a back-up harddrive that is allowing a manual pull of each harddrive and thus a slower count, but a count none-the-less.

After spending $32 million dollars they still cant get this right. What moron runs this state??
What idiot is in charge of overseeing elections??
Oh, never mind.

OK folks enough with the attacks on my homestate and town. First, the MAJORITY of people in Miami-Dade County not only speak english, but are considered fluent... secondly, the problems were not limited to just South Florida, problems arose throughout the state, I do not know why they are just picky on us. I great deal of the problems have been with being able to gets the votes back out of the voting equipment... the equipment has a back-up harddrive that is allowing a manual pull of each harddrive and thus a slower count, but a count none-the-less.

[quote]Originally posted by RazorbackTX:
What moron runs this state??

---

Obviously Jebbie doesn't believe the saying "The buck stops here." He blames the latest problems solely on the Dems in South Florida.

Sometimes, believe it or not, something can be a Democrat's fault. It happens, really. If, however, we want to look at the Florida elections as a referendum on Jeb Bush's leadership, I think you will find the majority of Floridians cast their ballot without sinking into some sort of vortex of chaos and confusion. I think most races were decided with relative ease.

Also, keep in mind that since it appears she lost, it is Janet Reno's best interest for her campaign to expose and even exagerate voter confusion so as to demand some sort of recount, or maybe even a revote.

No doubt the Dems. deserve the lion's share of the blame here ... they afterall control Miami-Dade and Broward counties, where most of the problems occurred on Tuesday (the same counties with most of the problems in Nov. 2000).

Yet they were ill-prepared, providing poor training to election staff -- some of whom failed to even show up, didn't know how to boot up the machines ...

Jeb Bush, however, should show more leadership on his watch -- and the real referendum on that will come in November. Go McBride!!!

Ok ... people ... here is the truth with elections in South Florida ...since I was heavily involved in politics back in my hometown, Miami, back in 80's and 90's. Interim Sec. of State, Jim Smith, does hit it right on the bullseye when he said "I frankly think, what in the hell have they have been doing for two years?"

Besides the Banana Republic of South Florida's (Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach) voting screwups, they did have problems in Orange/Orlando, Hillsborough/Tampa, and Duval/Jacksonville counties with the precincts opening on time, workers who were not properly trained, and malfunctioning equipment with no testing of the equipment before the election. In this election, 61 out of 67 counties did conduct a good election but the famous six counties claimed the headlines again.

Regarding past elections, Florida has had other screwup elections before Ms. Harris' 2000 mess. Here is a list of some HALL OF FAME elections.

1. In 1986, Jim Smith, who is now interim sec of state, lost a closed election in the Democratic primary for governor by 7,300 votes due to late election returns from Palm Beach County. Guess who was involved? Theresa LaPore! Suddenly 23,000 votes came in from Century Villages precincts (aka Cemetry Village) in Boca Raton and Delray Beach around 3 AM on the next day.

2. Miami-Dade County has had some doozy elections including the famous City of Hialeah's election back in 1988 which cost a U.S. Senate's seat for Buddy McKay.

3. In 1991, Hialeah had 3 elections in one year because of massive vote fraud on both sides including multiple voting. fake addresses, and absentee ballots scams.

4. Then, we have the 1997-98 City of Miami elections where Xavier Suarez's fanatics pulled all kinds of stunts including 18 registered voters living in one 3 bedroom house in the Roads area. Also, the famous dead guy voting from the cemetry. If you don't believe me, just email Dave Barry or Carl Heisen at the Miami Herald for confirmation.

4. Since 1981, we have the same supervisor of election in Miami-Dade County, David Leahy, who does not take any action to correct anything because the Miami's political power structure benefits from this confusion and fraud.

6. In this election, we have Mr. Strong Mayor, Alex Penelas, who is going to be term limited out of office, and his stooge, County Manager Steve Shriver, claiming that this election would be the cleanest election in Miami-Dade County history.

7. However, Alex is playing the Katherine Harris' role in this election as he endorsed Bill McBride last week because he was a strong candidate to run as McBride's running mate as lieutant governor. Guess who oversees the election supervisor and the election department .... Mayor Penelas.

8. All three officials (Penelas, Shriver, and Leahy) apologizing for this mess but no one is taking responsiblity. This is the biggest coverup since Watergate.

9. In Broward County (Ft. Lauderdale), you have an incompetent elections supervisor, Miriam Oliphant, who did not have any background in running elections. She gave herself a B+ grade for this election but Broward experienced several problems including poll workers abandoning their posts at 7 PM unaware they were supposed to serve voters for another two hours.

10. Palm Beaches' problems are another post in this board with its slow count of its ballots. It was the last county to report its ballots in Florida.

WHO LOSES ....

1. Good candidates like Jim Smith, Janet Reno, Buddy Kay, and others because of the massive vote fraud.

2. The black community is not allow to participate and decide their future because its voice is disfranchised when obstacles are created in the voting process.

3. Good progressive reformers who tried to fix the system but all of the good in the world can not solve it. Why? Because the people who created the problems are still serving in office.

4. New voters, who are participating in the election process for the first time, would not participate in future elections because of the long delays and confusion at the polls.

5. Our next generation will not participate in a process that is broken.

Maybe we should ask Jimmy Carter to come on down and supervise elections in South Florida.