Blog Posts
The 20 latest Blog Posts
- New Book: A History of Hate in Ohio
- Fraudbusterbob.org Moved To here! Fitrakis.org Archived
- The Other Side of the News April 26, 2019 Nuclear Plants Plus
- LaRose knows not to purge
- Historical Digitization Hundreds Of Tapes Fitrakis Archive.org
- Historical Digitization Hundreds Of Tapes Fitrakis Archive.org
- Four Still Dead in Ohio
- Dr. Bob Speaking With Thom Hartmann About Alabama Election
- Bob Fitrakis speaks as an election attorney and political scientist who talks about the suspension of the laws of physics for exit polling only not working within the borders of the U.S.
- 10/7/2017, in Berkeley, Dr. Bob Fitrakis, Peter Peckarsky speak about voter exit polls and the massive issues American voters are facing
- The Other Side of the News October 6, 2017 – An interview with Ajamu Baraka
- Closing Statement At Summit County Ohio State Meeting
- Solartopia Green Power and Wellness Hour – 08.24.17
- 20170813 – anti fascist rally and march in support of charlottesville – web
- ORANGE IS THE NEW ORANGE: The President should be behind bars
- ORANGE IS THE NEW ORANGE: The President should be behind bars
- The Other Side of the News July 28, 2017 – Trump and the ACA
- Bob Speaks Out About Police Arrests At Portman’s “Private” Office
- Columbus Police on the Attack Again: Disabled demonstrators arrested
- Bob Fitrakis On WVKO Radio Columbus Series Audio 2012 Archive, Youtube Bonus at end
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Hackwell’s Cloak of Privacy
To understand the character of Ken Hackwell, you need to understand his policy in running the secretary of state’s office. After reviewing the video of Monday’s scuffle with security when the statewide Ohio Green Party candidate petitions were filed, I see that the security guard was really clear: no one may take a photo of candidates in the plaza outside in front of the building unless they’re pushed off to a public sidewalk. The only person who gets to decide who may hold a press conference at the Ohio secretary of state’s office is the Borden Building management and the secretary of state’s office. Anyone else must call the secretary of state’s office or the Borden Building management, who are paid by Hackwell to lease space to the secretary of state’s office.
As usual, Hackwell doesn’t see any conflict of interest here. Remember the procedure: Hackwell can hold a press conference in front of the Borden Building and secretary of state’s office by calling himself, and asking if he can have a press conference. All his political rivals must call a private company to which Hackwell’s public office pays a small fortune to every month. Or, call Hackwell’s office.
Read more
Public Functions in Private Spaces
Yesterday, when the Fitrakis/Rios for Ohio Governor and Lieutenant Governor campaign turned in our final tally of 10,960 signatures, we were told by one of Secretary of State J. Kenneth Hackwell’s employees that we probably won’t be approved for the ballot until late June, or early July, hence impairing our ability (and that of other third parties) to raise money as ballot-approved candidates for the fall 2006 election. Because a few members of the entourage took photos outside the Borden Building, the privately-owned building housing the secretary of state’s office, building security pushed a camera into the face of one of the photographers and called the police on us.
This is how the game works. Instead of building a state building, which would belong to the people and which could be sold during hard times as an asset, Hackwell pays a ton of our tax money to the private owners of the Borden Building. That way, Hackwell and his staff can play “good cop” while the private security company harasses his political opponents. Recall that Hackwell had former U.S. Congressman Dan Hamburg arrested in December 2004 while he sat at a table at the café in the Borden Building. Also, Hackwell had private security forces harass black activist Judith Powell when she went to his office with WVKO 1580AM Radio talk show host Charles Traylor to talk about voting irregularities.
The only thing the Democrats and Republicans can agree upon is that it is OK to harass.
From Propaganda to News
The squirrelly little nonprofit called Election Science Institute (ESI), with perhaps one of the most Orwellian names in existence and whose director lacks any graduate background in statistical analysis, is at it again. ESI received nearly a quarter million dollar contract yesterday from the Cuyahoga County (Cleveland) Commissioners to reassure the public about the new wave of e-voting machines. In 2005, ESI received a contract from the Franklin County Commissioners, led by Mary Jo Kilroy, to come in and cover up the 2004 election fiasco. ESI’s director has long-standing ties to the military industrial complex and has no credentials to independently audit the machines.
The game that is now being played is for election officials to take out advertisements which say that the machines are federally certified or state certified or independently audited. In fact, Columbus’ daily monopoly (the Dispatch) ran a four page insert ad from the Franklin County Board of Elections on how wonderful, safe and secure the voting machines are, then a few days later, their “Insight” section ran an above-the-fold virtual word-for-word propaganda piece with pictures detailing how the voting machines are “designed for security and accuracy,” as if it was new news material.
Essentially the Dispatch plagiarized the Franklin County BOE propaganda. For example, the ad read: “Each machine stands alone and is not connected to the internet or any other electronic device, except its printer.” The Dispatch wrote: “Each machine stands alone with no wireless devices or modems. It can connect only to a printer.”