In the company of thieves

Anybody who feels that Bush represents their values should consider the fact that he seems more than happy to hire and rehire folks accused and/or convicted of election fraud. There's good ol' Larry Russell, who had to resign due to a scandal in SD (investigations still underway) and is now heading up Bush/Cheney get-out-the-vote activities in OH. Then there's Jim Tobin, who is at the heart of a 2002 voter fraud case (several coworkers already convicted of felonies) involving jamming the phones of a Democratic phone bank, but is now the regional chair of the Bush/Cheney campaign in New England. Is the Administration appalled by these antidemocratic activities? Well, they're trying to get investigations pushed back until after the election, and they've promoted these guys to key organizational positions, so you make the call!

Update: Krugman summarizes all the foul play by Republican operatives in the last few years. (NYT registration [or BugMeNot] required.)

The important point to realize is that these abuses aren't aberrations. They're the inevitable result of a Republican Party culture in which dirty tricks that distort the vote are rewarded, not punished. It's a culture that will persist until voters - whose will still does count, if expressed strongly enough - hold that party accountable.

Reality check: I guess that election fraud is small potatoes, relatively, when you realize that these guys are also rewarding the man in charge of Abu Ghraib at the time of the torture abuses . . .
Oh, and the officer who was in charge of that prison is being made head of the Army's intelligence school. What are they teaching these days, eh?