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Politics : The Obama - Clinton Disaster -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: GROUND ZERO™ who wrote (79332)	10/1/2012 8:50:13 PM
From: John	4 Recommendations Read Replies (4) \| Respond to of 103300

I fully agree, GZ. Today, word comes that the Obama Administration is actively working very hard to deny military service members, who traditionally vote Republican, the right to cast absentee ballots in the forthcoming election. Where are the Republicans in Clowngress on this issue? Why aren't they aggressively shedding light on Obama's actions every time someone shoves a microphone into their greedy faces? Have the owners of the world's central banks told them to keep their mouths shut and allow Obama to win a second term, in exchange for a continuation of an easy lifestyle for themselves and their families? -nfg- foxnews.com excerpt: Requests from military voters for absentee ballots have dropped significantly since 2008, according to newly released statistics, prompting claims that the Department of Defense is dragging its feet in enacting a law meant to boost military voting. The drop in the battleground states of Virginia and Ohio is among the most pronounced. According to statistics released Monday by The Military Voter Protection Project, the number of absentee ballot requests by both military members and other overseas voters in the two states has dropped 70 percent since 2008. Virginia had nearly 42,000 total requests in 2008, compared with a little more than 12,000 this year, according to the MVP Project. Ohio had more than 32,000 in 2008, compared with 9,700 this year. The number of military voters specifically -- as opposed to military and overseas voters -- was not broken down in the latest set of statistics, but military-only numbers released by the MVP Project in August documented a similar drop-off in applications. At the time, military ballot requests in Virginia were down 92 percent. Several other states showed a precipitous drop since 2008, including Alabama, North Carolina and Florida. "We need to make military voting the highest priority. ... and we need to do it now," MVP Project founder Eric Eversole told Fox News. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said the numbers mark a "serious failure" by the Pentagon. "This is an unacceptable failure by Pentagon leaders to comply with the law and ensure our service members and their families are able to exercise one of the most fundamental rights for which they sacrifice every day," he said in a statement. A spokeswoman with the Defense Department, though, stressed that total numbers will not be available until after the election. Further, Cmdr. Leslie Hull-Ryde noted that 2012 is much different than 2008, in that the 2008 cycle had contested primaries for both Democrats and Republicans. This year, only the Republicans had a contested primary -- and the Defense Department has adamantly defended its voter outreach to date. The department claims that compared with 2004, the last time an incumbent president was running, the number of absentee ballots downloaded from the central military website is similar. "We are in complete compliance with the law," Hull-Ryde said in a statement. "(The Federal Voting Assistance Program) strives to ensure that every absent military and overseas citizen voter has the tools and resources to receive, cast and return an absentee ballot and have it counted -- regardless of who they vote for." Absentee ballot voting is critical for members of the military, many of them stationed overseas or away from their home state. The MVP Project estimates that roughly two-thirds of servicemembers need to vote absentee -- though as of late August, the group reported "an incredibly small percentage" of them was requesting the ballots. Across Virginia, North Carolina and Ohio, the group reported that less than 2 percent of eligible voters had requested ballots as of August. "The absentee ballot data for 2012 paints a bleak picture for military voters," an earlier MVP Project report said. The updated figures on military and overseas absentee ballot requests, based on statistics from the states, were released by the MVP Project on Monday. In most cases, absentee ballots have already been sent out to military voters, as required by federal law. The MVP Project claims the Department of Defense has fallen short, though, in implementing the 2009 law known as the Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment Act (MOVE). The law required absentee ballots be sent out no later than 45 days before an election -- but also required "voting assistance offices" be set up on most military installations. The MVP Project claims that in some cases, these offices were not only set up after a November 2010 deadline passed, but were also located in areas not associated with the check-in process -- meaning servicemembers could be less likely to visit them. "This data should sound an immediate warning bell for military voters," the group's August study said.

To: GROUND ZERO™ who wrote (79332)	10/1/2012 10:14:25 PM
From: lorne	2 Recommendations Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 103300

What's up? Special Ops on move Jets, tankers, gunships, helicopters, drones all under orders by F. Michael Maloof Monday, October 01, 2012 wnd.com WASHINGTON – Large, unusual movements of U.S. special operations equipment, including combat planes and gunships, recently have been tracked departing the U.S. and heading east, and various sources believe the movement could be associated with crises brewing in the Middle East and North Africa, according to Joseph Farah’s G2 Bulletin. The aircraft reportedly include the C-130N Combat Shadow, used to refuel special operations helicopters; HC-130P Combat King, used for personnel recovery; and the AC-130U Spooky and A-10 Thunderbolt, for close air support. According to the open-source intelligence group Stratfor, the aircraft are used primarily by special operations. In referring to its spotters, Stratfor said some 12 U.S. Marine Corps F/A-18 Hornet fighter aircraft also are on the move, possibly for the Middle East. There reportedly are a number of what Stratfor describes as superiority squadrons involved, including a stealthy F-22 Raptor squadron. Sources say the movements may be in response to requests for training in Iraq, to have military forces ready for action in Syria or Libya, to back up Israel should it attack Iran’s nuclear facilities or to help Gulf Cooperation Countries concerned about an Iranian retaliation to an Israeli strike. Iran also has threatened to attack U.S. bases in the region should its nuclear facilities be attacked. “The deployment of this kind of aircraft, along with the unusual presence of AC-130U gunships, special operations helicopters, drones and tankers, could be the sign that something big is going to take place in the coming weeks,” according to David Cenciotti in the Aviationist. These combinations of aircraft could be used for any assortment of missions in the Middle East and North Africa. If Israel is to launch a pre-emptive military airstrike against Iran, for example, it will need the long-range inflight refueling that the C-130N would provide. Israel isn’t assessed to have the long-range refueling capability required to send and return its jets the long distance between Israel and Iran. There also is the prospect that the U.S. is gearing up for a retaliatory strike against concentrations of al-Qaida affiliates in Libya. Elements of al-Qaida now have been identified as initiating the terrorist attack on the undefended U.S. consulate in Benghazi on Sept. 11, according to the U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence. The ODNI pointed out that the attackers “were linked to groups affiliated with, or sympathetic to, al-Qaida.” The attack resulted in the deaths of U.S. Ambassador Christopher J. Stevens; Foreign Service Information Management Officer Sean Smith; and two former U.S. Navy SEALs, Glen Doherty and Tyrone Woods. One U.S. intelligence source tells WND/G2Bulletin that Doherty and Woods, who were not part of the ambassador’s protective service, actually were with the Central Intelligence Agency.