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He wanted to help and quietly did his job and made a difference

ArchPundit May 17, 2004 No Comments

Just Because:

The last time Spec. Casey Sheehan talked to his parents, he mentioned Kuwait’s sweltering heat and said he was on his way to mass. A deeply religious soldier, Sheehan took his Bible and rosary on his Iraq deployment and hoped to serve as a field minister.

Sheehan, 24, of Vacaville, Calif., died April 4, when his convoy was ambushed outside of Baghdad. The specialist, who was assigned to the Army’s 1st Battalion, 82nd Field Artillery Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division, had been in Iraq fewer than two weeks when he was killed.

Sheehan, the oldest of four children, was shy and quiet. But what he had to say was generally funny or thoughtful, said his father, Pat.

Growing up, Sheehan served as an altar boy, was active in his church youth group and spent weekends maintaining a ranch given to his parish. He enjoyed the camaraderie of the Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts, and he eventually earned the rank of Eagle Scout.

He enlisted in 2000 and served as a Humvee mechanic. After his death, his parents learned he had volunteered to go on the convoy in which he was killed to help rescue a group of soldiers, said his father.

“That’s typical of his whole life,” said his father. “He wanted to help and quietly did his job and made a difference.”

Keep Your Eyes Open

ArchPundit May 17, 2004 No Comments

Carl Nyberg not only post on Collective Interest, but also at Kos and From the Roots.

And a new blog Progressive Illinois

Both will eventually get up on the blog roll, but I’m a bit behind with the weekend….

And remember at From the Roots one can post diary entries on the Senate Races–a great place to post for Obama supporters who don’t want to fuss with their own blog.

The Duty of Democrats

ArchPundit May 17, 2004 1 Comment

Is to ensure that all get a fair chance to vote and have their vote counted. As I’ve often complained this has not been done well and in Illinois, it probably cost the Democrats the 1982 election—

Here are some probably more than fair use sections of an Eric Zorn column on the subject:

The tendency of punch-card balloting to underrepresent votes in low-income communities “could easily swing a close presidential election from a Democratic candidate to a Republican candidate,” said Joanne Alter, former commissioner of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District.

What distinguishes Alter’s prediction from those of other observers of the ongoing election mess in Florida is that she made it nearly 11 years ago.

Punch-card voting “has effectively disenfranchised poor voters by the tens of thousands,” she wrote in a 48-page report titled “Lost Votes.” The “disparities between the number of ballots cast and the number of votes counted for presidential candidates,” she wrote, “are vastly greater in poor and heavily Democratic areas of the county than in wealthy and heavily Republican areas.”

and more

A key finding in her report was that if the lost rate in city precincts had been the same as it was in the suburbs for the 1982 Illinois gubernatorial race, Democrat Adlai Stevenson probably would have beaten Republican James Thompson by 12,000 votes instead of losing to him by 5,000.

But aside from a 600-word story inside the Tribune, Alter’s crusade received little media attention and curiously little support from minority leaders. She finished last in the primary and has not run for office since. The reforms she proposed, including a full-scale study of lost voting, voting mini-courses in high schools and vastly improved signage at polling places, have gone largely ignored.

Because it would be too expensive and we still haven’t fixed the system. Some claim HAVA will fix the problem by 2006, but the reality is that most election officials are looking for the easiest system, not necessarily the most accurate and secure. While caustic in writing, I’m generally a friendly guy in person. Writing is always more direct than speaking, but a few weeks ago I was in a conference with a local election official who was primarily concerned with how hard his job was. Needless to say he didn’t like me and some colleagues were surprised by a guy who in conferences is known to laugh when criticized, actually got angry. The vote isn’t something to think of as a convenience and those officials who think it is need to find a new line of work.

Schilling for Candidates

ArchPundit May 17, 2004 No Comments

Yes, I’m schilling again… Jeff Smith is having a fundraiser in Chicago next Tuesday. Please consider attending if you are able.

Williamson to the UN

ArchPundit May 17, 2004 No Comments

I may have missed this becoming moot, but Michael Sneed reports 1992 and former GOP Party Chair Rich Williamson is in line to become ambassador to the UN. He’s been serving as a top aide to Negroponte.

Anyone is better than Negroponte, but the surprising thing is that Williamson was a McCain guy and most of McCain’s supporters are persona non grata in the Bush administration.