by TChris

TalkLeft has chronicled the antics of judges in Louisiana, including those who are drunk on the bench or impaired by drug use, and those who take bribes or extort campaign contributions. The latest Louisiana judge to misbehave is Timothy Ellender, who appeared at a Halloween party wearing blackface, an Afro wig, handcuffs, and a prison jumpsuit.

Ellender has admitted he wore the racially charged get-up last Halloween at a Houma seafood restaurant, but insists he meant no harm. The longtime Terrebonne Parish judge had asked that his punishment be limited to public censure, while the state Judiciary Commission recommended suspension for one year and one day without pay.

While Judge Ellender insists that he didn't mean to stereotype the people who come before him for sentencing, that is the unmistakable message that his costume conveyed. Does a man with such poor judgment deserve to be a judge?

In a huge win for grass-roots activism, Sinclair Broadcasting has issued a statement in response to demands made by its shareholders in a letter underwritten by Media Matters, that it will not air the entire anti-Kerry film Stolen Honor without fair time for reply on the eve of the election. [Note: Sinclair back-pedals a bit by saying it never intended to air the entire film but Reuters and CBS Market Watch are more credible. More CBS here.]

As what Media Matters contends is a direct result of the uproar against the broadcasting network's plans, which would have resulted in the airing of the film to 25% of the country's view public, the station saw advertisers pulling ads and its stock tumble 17%, costing shareholders $105 million.

A group of shareholders threatened to file suit unless the company's stations gave equal time to the opposition.

As part of a voter scam in Philadelphia, college students have had their party affiliations switched:

Calling for the legalization of marijuana can have an unintended side effect, students at Montgomery County Community College are finding out. It can turn you into a Republican. County elections officials confirmed yesterday that an undetermined number of students had their voter registration switched to Republican when they signed a petition supporting the legalization of medicinal marijuana in September.

"I felt filthy," said Democrat Micah Edwards, 18, of Glenside, when he learned what had happened.

And how about this?: At least two Ohio voters have received absentee ballots without John Kerry's name on them. [via Left I on the News.]

Here are five ways the election could end up in court again. And from Independent Media TV , Any Means Necessary: The War Against African-American Voters.

Update: Skippy follows the Nevada shenanigans.

Via MyDD:

"We are about to launch IraqDraft adding to the Internet rumors about the truth; tomorrow, we should have the video ad that's being placed throughout Ohio beginning on Thursday through the election. Also, I'm getting lots of nasty emails from wingers in Oklahoma about the [BlogPac]Coburn Mess ad-- a testimony to it's effectiveness."

What's Blogpac?

Do you need another reason to vote against George Bush? Please pass this one on. It needs wider dissemination. Robert Scheer in the LA Times writes today of the Bush Administration's cover up of information vital to our national security for political purposes. This alone should tell people that Bush does not deserve re-election.

The Bush administration is suppressing a CIA report on 9/11 until after the election, and this one names names. Although the report by the inspector general's office of the CIA was completed in June, it has not been made available to the congressional intelligence committees that mandated the study almost two years ago.

"It is infuriating that a report which shows that high-level people were not doing their jobs in a satisfactory manner before 9/11 is being suppressed," an intelligence official who has read the report told me, adding that "the report is potentially very embarrassing for the administration, because it makes it look like they weren't interested in terrorism before 9/11, or in holding people in the government responsible afterward."

Help get the word out by alerting your local media. [Talent Show is particularly eloquent on this news.]

Finally, a little publicized secret document from the Selective Service calling for a contingency plan to draft medical personnel is getting attention - in the New York Times, no less:

The Selective Service has been updating its contingency plans for a draft of doctors, nurses and other health care workers in case of a national emergency that overwhelms the military's medical corps.

In a confidential report this summer, a contractor hired by the agency described how such a draft might work, how to secure compliance and how to mold public opinion and communicate with health care professionals, whose lives could be disrupted.

The Selective Service acknowledged the plan to the Times:

Richard S. Flahavan, a spokesman for the Selective Service System "We have been routinely updating the entire plan for a health care draft. The plan is on the shelf and will remain there unless Congress and the president decide that it's needed and direct us to carry it out."

The Selective Service System plans on delivering about 36,000 health care specialists to the Defense Department if and when a special skills draft were activated," Mr. Flahavan said.

The Selective Service went so far as to conduct focus groups on the draft issue:

The ACLU has refused over $1 million in grant money from the Ford and Rockefeller foundations because of restrictive language that could compromise its ability to defend civil liberties.

Anthony D. Romero, the A.C.L.U.'s executive director, said the language of the contracts governing the Ford and Rockefeller grants was broad and ambiguous, leaving them open to interpretation that could impede free speech and limit advocacy work not only at his organization but also at other nonprofits.

The ACLU statment is here.

The Baytown (Texas) Sun -- a daily newspaper with a long history in a very conservative coastal town -- on Sunday voted 4 to 1 to endorse. Here is their Editorial. [hat tip to Kathryn Kase]

Like the other Texas papers we mentioned this morning, the Sun is highly critical of Bush, concluding:

Based on his record, President Bush does not deserve re-election.

Does Bush have an FBI surveillance file? The FBI isn't saying. But it is not complying with a California activist's FOIA request to produce it.

Michael Petrelis, who says he placed a Freedom of Information Act request for the President’s file July 6, says he has not received the file. He made a request that the request be expedited due to the presidential election, but it was denied. The FBI confirmed to RAW STORY today that it had received Petrelis’ request July 28. In their letter denying an expedited release, the bureau said that the request had been placed in their regular processing queue.

The FBI would not confirm or deny whether they kept a file on Bush.

“Based on information you have provided, I have determined you have not demonstrated any particular urgency to inform the public about the subject matter of your requests beyond the public’s right to know about government activity generally,” wrote Records Management Division Section Chief David M. Hardy. “Accordingly, your request has been placed in our regular processing queue.”

Now the FBI says you can't put in a FOIA request for a living person. But others say that's a "simplification."

Yeterday I announced a new comment policy on TalkLeft, in addition to that stated on the front of the site.

First casualty: Jeff Harrell, who has intentionally violated the policy by posting 8 comments so far today and 6 yesterday, after learning of the new rule. Any additional comments he makes today will be deleted. His last three comments have been deleted. If he persists, he'll be banned permanently.

I am also going to delete links to his weblog so that obtaining traffic from TalkLeft will not serve as a motivator for him to continue being a chatterbox here.

Update: Dr Ace posted 15 comments today. 11 have been deleted.

Update: Iran endorsed Bush for President today. [Via Oliver Willis.

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This is so outrageous, I'm reprinting it in full. I haven't been able to find a working link to an online action site, but I'm sure one will appear soon. A news article confirming the details below is here.

The fundamentalism regime of Iran is planning to stone a 13-year-old girl, Jila [also spelled Zhila], in the city of Marivan in coming days. Jila was raped and impregnated by her brother and Iran’s clerical judge has sentenced her to death by stoning. According to the Iranian regime's penal code, stoning is the punishment for those who commit adultery. Jila did not commit adultery; rather she is a victim of rape.

Stoning in Iran is carried out as "the condemned are wrapped head to foot in white shrouds and buried up to their waists. “ The misogynous regime of Tehran even details the difference between the stoning of men vs. women. “The female condemned are buried up to their neck to prevent their escape.” Furthermore, "the stones are specifically chosen so they are large enough to cause pain, but not so large as to kill the condemned immediately. They are guaranteed a slow, torturous death. Sometimes their children are forced to watch.” No other government in the world practices stoning as the Iranian regime.

TomPaine.com reports on voter suppression in Philly...and Michigan.

Nevada has some funny busines going on as well.

District Judge Valerie Adair on Friday denied the Democratic Party's request to reopen voter registration to voters whose forms might have been destroyed by a Republican-backed organiza- tion.

In denying the Democratic Party's petition, Adair said extending registration could "open the floodgates" to allow people not affected by the purported fraud to register. Such a move would be inviting "additional fraud and manipulation," she said.

Update: Colorado Luis, and the Rocky Mountain Progressive Network outline suppression attempts in Colorado. Also see Krugman today.