Did I really write that?

Hi friends. This is the real me, Cynthia L. Butler, Esq. I am really an attorney in Washington, and a bit of an activist on issues about which I care. Voting Rights is one of them. Shouldn't we all care? Some have doubted my existence, others have put up posts on sites attributed wrongly to me or just totally misappropriated my information. Some folks have even figured out how to cut and paste information and add sentences, delete phrases, etc. Attributing it wholly to me. Kind of annoying but I don't take it personally (except when Identity fraud shows up on my credit report)- I sometimes champion causes others seek to either champion or torch. (It's a bit like the internet equivalent of telling people that they can vote on Wednesday if too many people show up.)
I thought I would in the interest of truth and candor to the tribunal give anyone who wants to verify a posting a place to go to see whether I really wrote that or if its really me. So I opened this Butler Blog so anyone can get a hold of me to talk about whatever issues they care about or to verify a posting.
I can also be reached at my office (202-466-0998) and will call back reasonable sounding people.
I will occasionally use this to let people know if I have run across anything interesting in Washington that might be worth paying attention to. It's not a daily thing- just when life gets interesting.
This week was pretty eventful.
We had the Take Back America Conference and the American Constitution Society (ACS) Conference in one week.
Hillary Clinton spoke at both. John Kerry spoke at the Take Back America conference along with a whole host of who's who in Democratic politics. Joe Wilson (Valerie Plame's husband) walked up to a group I was chatting with at the coctail hour with a glass of red wine in my hand. Life gets wierd in Washington when people you see on CNN walk up to you at coctail hour.
I could write journals on what happened at each event- but two things require strong action that I want to report:

1. The Voting Rights Act is up for a vote for renewal in Congress. Is there a person in America who doesn't know or understand the importance of renewing the Voting Rights Act?
There is a movie called "Iron Jawed Angels" about the Women's Suffrage movement I highly recommend renting. (It's still at Blockbuster.) I recently met one of the Directors Robin Forman. Seriously, rent it. You will partly see what it took for women to be able to vote in this country.
Does anyone need to be reminded about what it took to get full African American suffrage in the country--a century after slavery was abolished? This is one to call your Congresspeople about. Write me back if you need more information on it. It's one of those "goes without saying" points that we should fully and strongly support those seeking to renew the Voting Rights Act.

2. Hillary is proposing legislation on a major Privacy initiative which will create private litigation rights over stolen identity information and electronic violations of privacy issues. I applaud her loudly. So might you.

3. John Kerry still wants a debate on whether the war should end soon.
The war should end soon. Give him your best argument.
An independent movie called "WarTapes" was shown in which three National Guardsmen were given cameras which they took to the Fallujah frontlines. It is coming to a theatre near you. See it. You will then understand why John Kerry still wants a debate on whether the war should end soon.

4. The debate on Election Fraud is gaining momentum. Robert Kennedy's Rolling Stones article which was rebutted and defended by detractors and champions alike has kept alive the inquiry regarding whether we are operating under an E-COUP. The Saturday morning ACS Plenary panel on Election Integrity issues included none other than John Podesta, Clinton's Chief of Staff, attorneys involved in the Gore v. Bush recount, Gore's 2000 Campaign Chair Donna Brazille, a Yale law professor and other notables. I distinctly heard John Podesta indicate that he is concerned that the use of electronic voting machinery creates the potential for security vulnerabilities (to paraphrase). In his understated way, I was assured that they are aware of the problem.
In the audience was notably Peter Peckarsky, Esq. the Chief Trial Counsel for Moss v. Bush, the suit brought in the Ohio Supreme Court to challenge the count in Ohio as fraudulent and stop the Ohio Electoral College vote from being validated and sent to Washington. The Republicans tried to shut him up with a Sanctions motion that was dismissed after he and a team of top election attorneys filed roughly 1,000 pages of evidentiary findings on election fraud in Ohio.

At the Take Back America Conference, Congressman John Conyers, author (with contributions from Peckarsky and others) of the famous "Conyers Report" indicated that the issue is far from dead and he as Minority Chair of the House Judiciary is taking a serious look at all elections in 2006 with the information gathered concerning electronic hackery, suppression and other such tricks of the trade.

Unless you were asleep in 2004 you know that Blackwell, Secretary of State of Ohio who is now running for Governor was at the time in 2004 also the Chair of the Bush-Cheney Ohio re-election committee. The point was raised at the above Plenary Panel that the people who are in charge of partisan campaigns should also not be the people administering the same elections. Duh?
We in fact are the only industrialized nation that lets this happen. Perhaps we need a neutral totally non-partisan election administration system (how exactly that would work and how it could possibly be non-partisan as a practical matter is a discussion for another day.)

John Conyers gave an open invitation to any like minded people running for Congress who would like him to come help their campaigns to just call his office to invite him. He will come.

Thanks for checking in here- and just to re-iterate- I really wrote this.

You are all great Americans.

Joie et Paix,
Cynthia