Plutocrap

A lot of people still hang on everything Ralph Nader says, quoting him when he rails about corruption in Government and the electoral process.

And he’s right, to be sure. But Nader complaining about corrupt practices in the electoral process is a bit like a vulture criticizing a pig’s eating habits. Nader very willingly involved his Presidential campaigns in Rushpubliscum voter-suppression efforts in both his 2000 and his 2004 campaigns. And his involvement in disenfranchising American voters (for me at least) erases the good works he was responsible for in the past.

As you may recall if you’ve read this rag for awhile, one of the key players in the Rushpubliscum/Nader joint disenfranchisement effort was a guy named Nathan Sproul. Sproul had a two-pronged approach to making sure potential Democratic voters never got their ballots cast; he’d falsely submit signatures to get Nader on ballotsd nationwide on the one hand, and he’d send operatives out to collect registration forms in likely Democratic-voting areas, which he’d then shred, on the other hand. Sproul’s felonious trickery kept the Democratic candidate in 2004 from receiving a lot of votes he may well have gotten otherwise.

I hadn’t thought too much about Sproul lately, although in this climate I probably should have. A guy this rotten is quite likely to pop up again, after all.

And pop up again, he has indeed. Looky looky, who Sproul is working for in 2012.

And be damned careful if you get approached by someone wanting to “register” you.

Republic Report has covered how political money can corrupt government by influencing the actions of elected representatives. But professional hacks can also disrupt democracy by interfering with the voting process itself.

Late last year, Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign began paying Nathan Sproul, a political consultant with a long history of destroying Democratic voter registration forms and manipulating ballot initiatives. Sproul, who changed his firm’s name from Sproul and Associates to Lincoln Strategies, has received over $70,000 from Romney’s campaign. Much of the campaign coverage has focused on the rhetoric of surrogates and the role of high-priced television advertisements. But if Sproul continues to play a role in the campaign, and if his previous work is any guide, his firm may have an impact on key swing states.

ThinkProgress covered Sproul and his work for the coal industry. The post, which is partially reprinted below, goes through his greatest hits, including evidence that his firm systematically suppressed Democratic overs on behalf of the Bush-Cheney 2004 presidential team and deceiving voters during registration drives in 2006:

- In Oregon and Nevada, Lincoln Strategies — then known as Sproul and Associates — was investigated for destroying Democratic voter registration forms. The Bush-Cheney 2004 presidential campaign paid Sproul $7.4 million for campaign work. [CNN, 10/14/04; KGW News, 10/13/04; East Valley Tribune, 09/07/06]

- In Nevada, people who registered as Democrats with Lincoln Strategies — then known as Sproul and Associates — found their names absent from the voter registration rolls. [Reno Gazette-Journal, 10/29/04]

- During the 2006 midterm elections, Wal-Mart banned Lincoln Strategies for partisan voter registration efforts in Tennessee. The Republican National Committee had hired the firm. [Associated Press, 08/24/06]

- In Arizona, Lincoln Strategies employed a variety of deceptive tactics — including systematically lying about the bill — to push a ballot initiative to eviscerate the state’s clean elections law. [Salon, 10/21/04]

- Lincoln Strategies, then employed by the Republican Party, was behind efforts to place Ralph Nader on the ballot in states such as Arizona. [American Prospect, 06/25/04]

 

If Willard’s inability to take and keep a position on ANY issue wasn’t enough to make you walk away from him, it seems to me that the company he keeps ought to be more than enough. So let’s recap, for those who may not have been following closely.

Willard has actively sought out, and brags about,  the endorsements of a multiple business failure/racist with a squirrel glued to his head and a draft-dodging coward with bowel and bladder problems (who is also a pedophile, by his own admission.)

Now, we find that Willard has hired one of the most vile of criminal traitors to aid his campaign.

Need I say more?