DUmmie FUnnies 12-17-04 PM Edition ("At last!!! Bev Shows us the Money!!!!!")

Bev Harris has finally “come clean” with how much money she has scammed from the DUmmies and their cohorts, most likely because of public pressure from Randi Rhodes to do so. I put “come clean” in quotes because the amount Bev listed, “about $300,000” probably doesn’t even include the uncashed checks she is holding which, from reports, is a substantial sum. Read Bev’s “financial statement” and your jaws will drop. Not only from the vagueness of that statement but also from the follow up DUmmie comments where many of them still place their clueless faith in St. Bev the Con Artist. First we lead off this edition of the DUFUs with Bev’s STATEMENT. Then read in amazement the DUmmie THREAD titled, “At last !!! Bev Shows us the Money !!!!!” Both Bev’s “statement” and the gullible DUmmie commentary on it are in Bolshevik Red. The commentary of your humble correspondent, who is guessing that Bev Harris will be indicted on Jan. 20, is in the [brackets]:

About 20 people wrote to me with questions after the Randi Rhodes show. I spoke with one of Randi Rhodes’ producers this morning, and had a very good conversation. There was a misunderstanding, and we discussed ways to deal with it.

[A “misunderstanding?” Um, yeah, I guess you could say that, Bev. We can't understand how someone who conned over $300,000 can’t afford workable answering machines or telephones. And we can’t understand why you weren’t in Ohio where all the “vote fraud” action was. Of course, I think I can understand the latter when looking at the weather reports. Why freeze your considerable butt in Ohio when you can luxuriate in warmth in sunny Florida in 5 star hotel suites? But continue…]

Some of Rhodes’ listeners asked for an accounting of donations. Here is more information:

I founded Black Box Voting in June, 2004, and to provide its seed money, I donated my revenues and the rights to the Black Box Voting book. In addition, I persuaded two benefactors to provide $10,000 each. This yielded just under $30,000, and the entire organization survived on that for many months -- two full-time salaries, supplies, travel, investigations, press conferences, web site development and all.

[Strange that you don’t name those two “benefactors” but continue, Bev…]

I knew it would be a tough go of it to take an organization with almost no funding (and therefore no infrastructure -- no administrative support, no equipment, no development director, no business manager, no secretary) and turn it into a viable long-term organization to do consumer protection for elections.

[And STILL no workable answering machines or telephones despite raking in over $300,000 but continue, Bev…]

We believed that our organization would survive, because in the 12 weeks before and after the election, interest would peak and we could, hopefully, obtain enough donations to put in an infrastructure and get some basic computer and telecommunications equipment, in addition to some administrative staff. We are also aware that for our organization, this kind of fund raising will happen only every four years, and it will be a challenge to stay alive in the mean time.

[We got the point, Bev. You had to put up some seed money to pull off the con, please continue…]

From September through November, members of our organization did over 300 interviews, including international wire service stories and TV spots on CNN, MSNBC, CNBC, NBC, and many local stations. We also provided interviews for over 100 print media outlets, like newspapers and magazines. Five members of Black Box Voting conducted interviews, many of us nonstop for months on end. Randi Rhodes was one such interview, and of course I appreciate what she did to fund raise.

[Over 300 interviews in September and November. And yet for the few interview requests you got in the past few weeks, your answering machine goes mysteriously dead and your telephone won’t record the incoming calls coincidentally coming from the area codes of Keith Olbermann and Randi Rhodes. Continue…]

One thing that caused a miscommunication, I think, is that I did not know that Randi Rhodes was going to do the fund raising. I learned about it after it started, when I was in a meeting, when to my astonishment my phone lost its mind. Apparently my cell phone number was being given out over Air America.

[Damn that Randi for getting the suckers to send in all that money!!! Keep on this tale of woe, Bev….]

The fund raising was specifically for Freedom of Information requests, and was never for the purpose of overturning an election. I am confident that Randi Rhodes was accurate about that, because the letters we got with donations had notes saying "heard about you on Randi Rhodes, this is for the FOIA."

[Nice touch. Get that bit in there to satisfy your non-profit status requirement. Continue…]

American people were hurting, because they saw that the election was not transparent or accountable. Some people began to hope that Black Box Voting would reverse the presidential election.

[That’s strange. I’m an American and I wasn’t hurting. But it’s nice to know you felt DUmmie pain. Continue…]

Now, let's look at this idea for a moment: John Kerry literally ran away from the idea of doing any auditing or recounts, and only grudgingly agreed to be involved at all. He invested none of millions that he had raised from his donors was "to make sure every vote counts."

[Hey, we can’t blame Kerry for tossing his campaign money away on lost causes. He has to keep that $15 million in campaign cash from being wasted on “vote fraud” or paying his campaign staff.]

Instead, our small organization, with just two full time employees and a volunteer, were supposed to bootstrap our way into overturning a presidential election -- without the support of the candidate himself -- something that has never been done in history, and an activity that our nonpartisan nonprofit 501c(3) status specifically prohibits.

[And yet the DUmmies did send you the money to overturn the election. Good con on your part, Bev, to let the DUmmies fool themselves into thinking that while maintaining your “nonpartisan nonprofit” status. However, it doesn’t really take much skill to con the gullible dummies. Also I like how you are shifting the blame for you getting NO RESULTS onto the back of John Kerry. Continue…]

I hear the angst in America, from people who know this election was not trustworthy. I do believe that the person most responsible for failure to get an accountable election is John Kerry himself.

[Great drama queen shtick there with that “angst” bit. Yes, blame John Kerry. He will be the scapegoat for your failure when the DUmmies finally come to their senses about how you conned them Bev. Continue…]

A handful of people mailed us checks with the words "for a recount" on them. I think this was due to the proximity, I’m sure accidentally, of news about the Ralph Nader recount with news about Black Box Voting’s FOIA request and auditing.

We were careful to identify those checks, and made arrangements for these to go to Help America Recount, a 527 organization that is set up for this purporse. Our nonprofit status does not allow us to become involved in recounts.

[How honest of you, Bev. And how much did those checks you turned over to Help America Recount add up to? $300 out of $300,000? Funny you didn’t mention the amount. Continue…]

I am also confident that most people donated for exactly what we do, because most checks -- when they say anything -- say "for auditing" or "for the FOIA" or "help restore clean elections."

[Somehow I think the vast majority of the checks said that or least you claim they said that. Continue…]

Our financial statements will be released with a precise accounting, but here are interim figures as of the end of November:

[WHEN do we get that “precise accounting,” Bev? Just after you are indicted?]

Donations tagged to Randi Rhodes show: $23,800
All donations, some of which we have allocated to building infrastructure and off-election funding droughts:
About $300,000.

We have spent or committed about $19,000 of the $23,800 Randi Rhodes money. This was for FOIA requests and related legal expenses.

[$300,000 and you still have cheap crappy answering machines and telephones? Screw honest work! I think I’m going to scam DUmmies for a living. It has a HUGE payoff and they are so easy to con. BTW, how do you know only $23,800 was Randi Rhodes money? You mean you are able to channel the folks who got suckered by Randi and know that the money came from listening to her show? Continue…]

(By "committed" I mean that Palm Beach County has assessed $4,400, but is now saying we can't have all the records, so of course we haven't handed over the money yet, and Snohomish County, which wants $2500, suddenly got caught up in a hand recount for the governor's race and couldn't deliver some of the documents).

[UNBELIEVABLE!!! Out of the $300,000 you admit to scamming from DUmmies & Co., you only spent $19,000 of it. BUT WAIT!!! You didn’t even spend that relatively paltry sum. You merely “committed” it so you haven’t even handed over the money which means you NEVER will, Bev. Just tell me, Bev, how you have managed to stay out of jail this long. Continue...]

- Our board of directors has taken no compensation at all.
- Kathleen Wynne -- bless her! -- has taken no compensation at all, though she has devoted week after week of 14-hour-a-day work specifically for our organization. We have offered her a position. She has more than earned it!
- My salary is $60,000 per year, about half what I was making before I took on this mission.
- Andy Stephenson was making $48,000 per year.

[Kathleen Wynne, bless her little heart, hasn’t taken a cent from the slush fund. However, she does sound every bit as crooked as you, Bev. I know. I heard both of you on the Steve Kane radio show. As to Andy Stephenson, you conveniently neglected to mention you publicly fired him in a most humiliating way on the Web for all to see. This firing was memorialized in a previous edition of the DUmmie Funnies.]

We are replacing the Associate Director position with two people: A media specialist/investigator and an administrator, and we will incur considerable expense in our end of year accounting. We are putting in infrastructure, including more permanent office space, a decent phone system, a decent computer system, a high speed scanner to get the FOIA documents on the Web, and a much better Web site under new hosting.

[A decent phone system? You haven’t had a decent phone nor answering machine in weeks despite swimming in a pile of cash. How much would that cost you, Bev? A hundred bucks? Out of $300,000 not exactly a considerable expense. And why do you need PERMANENT office space for filing FOIA requests? You can do that with just a $40 filing cabinet. Even cheaper if you buy a used filing cabinet at the flea market. Infrastructure? Yeah. 5 star hotel suite “infrastructure.”]

This will add one salary, and will add fixed cost for office space and additional accounting. In addition, we need to bring in a development director to write grant proposals and set up a permanent fund raising structure.

[Yeah. Fund raising is what your con is all about, Bev. Too bad that your sources of funds have just about dried up. But don’t worry. There is still that con about the documentary you are NOT making that you can pull off.]

In our travels, I have learned that this is truly a nonpartisan issue. Everyone wants clean elections, and everyone realizes that having a wholly independent organization, completely funded by the grass roots for the purpose of acting as a watchdog for elections, is a very important thing to do.

Now, as to why I did not travel to Ohio: I have testified in front of the legislature many times. Each time, I was asked to do so. I was not asked to go to Ohio and testify, and I certainly wouldn’t just barge in without an invitation. I did let people of influence know that I would be happy to go to Ohio to do whatever is needed. I am not printing their names here, because that seems like an invasion of privacy. One is a lawyer who has been helping with the recount, one has been involved in strategy, and one is a leading Ohio voting integrity group head.

[The reason you did not travel to Ohio is that the weather sucks there, Bev. Also why waste a $200 plane trip to Ohio when people there actually expect results from you? Too risky.]

I remain willing to go on Randi Rhodes show, go on Keith Olbermann’s show, or go to Ohio for the hearings, but I do need an invitation to do so.

[You need a working answering machine and telephone to receive their calls or so you claim. The hundred bucks or so you would have to shell out for this “high tech” equipment would eat too deeply into that $300,000 mountain of cash you have stashed away.]

I hope this answers at least some of your questions.
Have a blessed day,
Bev Harris

[I have one more question, Bev. Just where the HELL has that $300,000 gone? Infrastructure? That is a pretty vague description. It could mean anything from full body massages to 5 star hotel suites. We already know you didn’t waste any money going to Ohio where the center of the “vote fraud action is. Anyway, let us now hear how the gullible DUmmies reacted to this statement by Bev.]

Call me crazy...but just $23,800 of $300,000 tagged to Randi's show seems a bit low to me. I didn't mention Randi's show in my donation, and i gave them $50.

[You sent $50 to Bev? Yeah, I’ll call you crazy. And I’ll also call you a sucker.]

This is not an accounting of funds. It's a vague description, and the gratuitous slam at JK is more than a little disconcerting.

It is a huge task to maintain a 501(c)3 and track all the money, file all the reports to the IRS, keep exactive accounts..... not to mention doing the actual work the organization purports to do. However, it would be nice to find time to report a little to the donors. Of course, that might swell the problem to a million dollar problem. By the way, I notice that election fraud has grow to a big industry online, with the collection basket out in force. Some sites seeking donations seem to be even more stagnant than blackbox.

[You bet election fraud has grown into a big online industry. Now that I see how much loot can be easily conned from you DUmmies, I’m going to get in on the action. BTW, do you know I am just $10 away from proving that the 2000 election was stolen from Al Gore. Just send that amount in (or even more) and I can guarantee that Al Gore will be retroactively sworn in as president. Oh, and don’t use the term, “retroactively” because I trademarked it and will sue your ass if you type that word on your keyboard.]

but she's the one with $306,000 of other people's money in her acct. Ya know, you bevborgs all have the same explanation for Bev's irrational behavior..."it's stress."

Anyone can throw numbers around! How about a spreadsheet? At the very least a little bit of proof somewhere.

[You want accountability from Bev? A little late for that, DUmmie. And how much did she scam YOU for?]

Well, Bev, I do believe that some of us on this board are absolutely correct that you are a limelight hog and no friend of the Democratic party. It's all about you, you, you, you, you.

[Bev cons you out of $300,000 (actually a lot more) and your main concern is that she is stealing the limelight from you?]

I feel like I'm on a citizen jury of sorts, and until all the evidence is in, I'm not going to judge John Kerry as a failure at anything. As for Bev, she reminds me of a witness that is so unappealing personally, it's hard to separate the testimony from the person.

[Well, you certainly aren’t going to separate Bev from that money. It’s all GONE. Kiss that dough goodbye. You will never again see the money that Bev conned from the DUmmies.]

BEV has sealed her position as a suffer of a serious personality disorder. this make you happy progressiveboston?? think of all the people, myself included that feel foolish for having given bev $.

[BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Thanx for the belly laugh! And I’m sure I’ll get more laughs when the next con artist pops up and scams you out of even more money!]

Well, what about a status report. A clear accounting of where she is going and what she has accomplished thus far. It seems so jumbled to me. What about the lawsuit against Lepore?

[Hey DUmmie! You got SCAMMED and you’re actually still wondering about how Bev is spending that $300,000 on your dopey cause?]

I gave up a day's pay to stay home and make signs -- freeway blogs -- to lead people to her site when she was "talkin' trash" from Florida. I thought that was important information to share with my corner of the world. I made the signs, drove around and hung them, tended to them for weeks, replacing them when the weather had taken it's toll, hanging more that I carried in my car, etc. Then the drama started. The statements that she placed on her site when she was tombstoned here, now the conflict with ARR and RR, firing Andy, the "theories" about her forum, ... the list could go on for ever!

All those things were played out on her FRONT PAGE. Not some little disclaimer that you had to know was there or look for to find, but right there for ALL visitors, new and old alike to see. It so overshadowed the WORK she was doing that I went out and took down my signs for her site. I was embrassed to leave them. Anyone stumbling onto that site from one of my signs would have thought that I, too, was a loon even if I didn't know them. When the drama became more interesting than the effort and the supporting evidence I could no longer support her site.

Now, she is posting her donation info on the main page and we still haven't seen the evidence that she says she has. What's the point?

I never directly gave her any money intentionally. I did, however, donate without realizing it. At our rally last Sunday, they were passing the "jug" for donations. I put money in the bucket assuming that it was going to the group that organized the rally. Only after the jug had passed by me did they announce that the money they were raising was to go to Bev. I felt sick.

I am one of those that was referred to in an earlier post today about being three paychecks from homeless... only I am tetering on more like a days pay from homeless sometimes... especially with kids at christmas time. I didn't put that much in that jug, but if I could have snatched it back out of that jug I would have with no remorse.

So, I gave something that I can never get back... TIME and a belief that I can get the message out to others with confidence that what I am supporting deserves someone else's consideration.

When the person becomes more important than the movement we have a martyr not a leader. She was a player, no doubt about it, but the drama makes us all seem like we have followed a rat charmer out of the hamlet never to be believed again.

Shame on Bev for that. Rise above it Bev. Those that have supported you would appreciate some professionalism. I would rather hear about the issue on legitimate terms rather than gossipy he said/she said front page distractions.

[DUmb DUmb DUmmie!!! You admit Bev scammed you and you still come back again like a DUmmie wanting “professionalism” from her? How many times do you have to be conned for the truth to finally sink in?]

It appears she gave these numbers now to temporarily satisfy people who requested this info after Rhodes show. I say wait until this "precise accounting" is released before making further accusations. It's in Harris's best interest to have the official precise accounting done as soon as possible. People are very doubtful of her as of late and her behavior has totally taken everyone away from what really matters, fixing our voting process and exposing the crooks that are part of it.

[DUmb DUmb DUmmie!!! You need to sit around and wait for “precise accounting?” By the time that happens, Bev will be sitting in the jailhouse cell.]

If she cared, she'd exit. She has harmed the cause of bbv reform far more than she's helped it. At this point, she should pass the torch to someone else.

[DUmb DUmb DUmmie!!! Yeah, like Bev is really going to turn that BBV gravy train scam over to someone else.]

And HOW do we verify what she reports about money anyway? For what we know, the 3 family members on the board of directors are sucking up a bunch of it for a vacation in FL and calling it "executive travel"...

At least there will be something more official to go by. Rhodes mentioned she helped raise at least $50,000, Harris says $23,000. Who's being more accurate or truthful? BBV is something Harris started so no one can tell her to step aside. Those that gave money did so on their own judgment. Harris has caused a black eye to this serious issue and people should speak out against it by no longer contributing if this is what the feel. We don't know what Harris has collected in way of proof but those that have and will continue to donate should be asking her of this. Have Harris be more approachable and show what she has been doing. Pressure her to except Olberman shows. Without donations Harris wouldn't be where she's at now and owes accountability to those that have helped her along the way.

[You want Harris to show what she is doing? How many times do you have to be slapped across your DUmmie face before you wake up to reality?]

I donated $50 to Bev. Maybe it was money down the toilet, maybe not. I don't see why we can't wait and see if anything develops from the work she's done in Florida. We are all anxious to have this resolved quickly, but maybe it won't happen as quickly as we'd like. I definitely want to see something before I'd ever donate more, that's for sure. But I'm not so concerned.

To Bev, if you're reading this ... do the right thing. You sit in a unique position to make a real difference in history. Let this be larger than the desire to strike back. Don't let your ego stand in the way, it's not necessary. By giving credit to the work done by others, you will increase your image to the public. Be honest at all costs or you'll lose credibility. Apologize for any previous actions that were either distorted, not truthful, or inappropriate. Remember everyone is ready to forgive when a genuine effort is made.

You will only achieve your place in history by setting aside your ego and petty quarreling. Get the help you need. Have one of your new employees handle the press arrangements and most importantly the phone for the organization.

To everyone else, put the past behind you. I know it's hard but consider it as your contribution to the cause - so end the Bev Bashing that casts a cloud on everything and everyone.

It's almost Christmas. Let the spirit fill everyone with love for one another.

With only two full-time employees how can anybody expect her to keep precise track of the money given to her? A story to illsutrate: early on this summer I contributed some money to BBV and sent money for 10 copies of her book to pass out among people I knew (profs, a local newspaper editor, friends, etc.). She failed to send it for a long time. I had sent a contribution exceeding the cost of the books along with the request for the books ($100 for 10, a special rate for those who like me wanted to be involved and give the book circulation). After a month or so, I got a letter from her apologizing for not having been able to respond before then. She sent along 20 books instead of the 10 asked for, saying I didn't need to pay for them since I'd had to wait a long time as it was. Now look: everybody's a little bit cuckoo in some way or other and maybe I'm the only one who fails to see a problem with Bev (maybe I'm cuckoo that way) but I think she's trying her best to achieve the aim of transparent and fair elections. She likely is a little paranoid, as I think almost anybody would be who tried to buck the voting machine vendors. Why not support her and do everything in your individual power to achieve the same end? If she has offended people needlessly, that's her karma. She'll have to meet it. Why make bad karma for yourself and diminish the good that could be done by bad-mouthing somebody with idealistic goals and a lot of courage?

I still say she's an f'ing FRAUD, an f'ing EGOMANIAC, an F'ing Drama Queen, and an F'ing Joke.

After January, I personally will be asking for my money back. I suggest everyone does. Perhaps we should all pull a Bev on her and sue her ass if that's possible! I wish someone who's been on DU for a long time would explain to me how this woman gained so much cred from so many people for so long, despite her obvious display of a markedly advanced borderline personality disorder. She is a crazymaker, she thrives on drama and causes it to happen, all to draw attention to herself. When the attention dries up, she pulls out the long knives. What a trainwreck.

[Maybe so but that “trainwreck” was still able to easily sucker you out of your money which I don’t think you will be seeing anytime soon…or ever.]

Wait A Second, DO YOU MEAN TO TELL ME "Donations tagged to Randi Rhodes show: $23,800
All donations, some of which we have allocated to building infrastructure and off-election funding droughts:
About $300,000. We have spent or committed about $19,000 of the $23,800 Randi Rhodes money. This was for FOIA requests and related legal expenses."

That out of 300,000, she only spent 19,000 of it on what we donated it for? And she spent the rest on "infrastructure" such as a bigger refrigerator to store her food and expanded ceilings to contain her ego?

And what off-election funding droughts. WTF does that mean? If you put it in layman terms does it mean "hey, you, yeah you, please donate to me for a deceptive cause so I can pay my late bills?"

Show the damn video Bev, whether it's yours or not I'm sure you have some influence, and it has been said you had your own video of that day. And release the damn poll tapes too you f***ing fraud.

It keeps looking more and more like everybody has been scammed. About 6.3% of the money has actually been spent on doing something productive (FOIA requests/legal expenses) and the rest paid her salary and for a nice month-long vacation in Florida. A few thousand bucks probably went toward web hosting for a few months, and a few hundred to her evidently very poor cell phone service. It's now mid-December and I have a feeling that those in charge have had plenty of time to cover up all evidence of a rigged election.

[What do you mean EVERYBODY has been scammed? What’s this “we” business, Kemosabe?]

Actually, my source in BevBot central says that the number is around a cool million (raised in November). Curiously, bbv.org has no accountant and I am also told documentation of expenditures could be a problem as detailed records are not being kept.

[I don’t doubt that figure. This post above was made by plan9_pub, who is David Allen of Plan 9 Publishing. Although he has a screw loose for merely being a DUmmie, his information on Bev Harris has been generally accurate since he also worked with and, inevitably, got burned by her.]

Well, she'd better save that missing 700K for the IRS investigation that will surely follow. I am sure that more than one pissed-off BBV donor will report her to the IRS; and fighting the IRS can become very expensive very quickly.

[I’m figuring the Bev Harris indictment will be coming down on Jan. 20. And the best thing about her trial will be that it exposes just how easily she was able to con the DUmmies….and Randi Rhodes.]

My faves from this thread . . .

BEV, Inc.'s comments about the paltry sum "spent or committed" [i.e., not spent] on what the money actually was given for; her repeated references to "infrastructure" [i.e., slush fund]; and the hilarious "off-election funding droughts" [i.e., perpetuating the BEV, Inc. lifestyle]:
Donations tagged to Randi Rhodes show: $23,800
All donations, some of which we have allocated to building infrastructure and off-election funding droughts: About $300,000. . . .
We have spent or committed about $19,000 of the $23,800 . . . for FOIA requests and related legal expenses. . . .
(By "committed" I mean that . . . , so of course we haven't handed over the money yet. . . .)

And the DUmmyRat admission:
. . . we have followed a rat charmer. . . .

So the story goes something like this?

DUmmies donate 300k with delusions of getting the election overturned. Now they're getting really panicky as the Electors have already voted and the inauguration is fast approaching. (Tick, tock, tick, tock...)

Meanwhile, slick Bev is living the carefree life, basking away down in Florida...courtesy of senseless DUmmies.

When Bev's escapades end in Florida, she's forced to finally hear it from the DUmmies mouthpiece, Err Amerika. The DUmmies want to know where Bev has been hiding for the past month.

Bev thinks that the DUmmies will buy a story that her phone lines were manipulated by a group of Republican operatives. They don't buy it when she has no explanation as to why she also doesn't answer her e-mails - oops!

Bev has to scramble so she puts out a statement on her website. It is liberal speech at it's very finest. (I had the best intentions, don't look at my results and besides...it was someone else's fault)

I had the best intentions - "...our small organization, with just two full time employees and a volunteer, were supposed to bootstrap our way into overturning a presidential election"

Don't look at my results - "The fund raising was specifically for Freedom of Information requests, and was never for the purpose of overturning an election...Some people began to hope that Black Box Voting would reverse the presidential election."

It was someone else's fault - "John Kerry literally ran away from the idea of doing any auditing or recounts...I do believe that the person most responsible for failure to get an accountable election is John Kerry himself"

Some of the DUmmies fall for the good liberal explanation, leave DU to join Bev's message board and continue to fund the gravy train.

This is just too rich!

The way FOIA requests work are:

(1) You send in your request asking for everything in the government agency filing cabinets.--Cost at that point--0.

(2) After a few weeks they send you back a nice letter telling you what they can do for you and how much it will cost you. Usually there is a cost per page for printing or xeroxing, a cost per hour for research, and a (hilarious and antiquated) cost per minute of computer time.

(3) Then if you were an honest non-profit you would have an exact dollar figure to meet and you could raise funds accordingly.

I am convinced that I could accomplish more working part-time out of my home using my webtv than Bev has done will her 300K or 1M or whatever.

PJ has had her number from day one--she is a total and complete fraud.

Let me see if I've got this. Bev makes 60k. Someone else makes ~50k. She has collected over 300k (admitted). Seems she has enough money to float her through to the next elections (off year in '06). After salaries, she will have somewhere near 100k left over through '06.

I especially liked the statement about web hosting costing several thousands. BS. I own a business and have a web site. It costs me less than $300/yr. Bookkeeping expenses. Buy a copy of Quickbooks for ~$200.

----I spoke with one of Randi Rhodes’ producers this morning, and had a very good conversation.----

==========

"Hello, Air America! May I help you?"

Yes, I'd like to speak to Ms. Rhodes, please.

"Would this be about the stolen presidential election that Karl Rove won with his supernatural mind-control powers for that damn idiot George Bush and about how Republicans are inbred hicks who should die die die die die?"

Why, yes! How did you know?

"Lucky guess. Look, Randi would be happy to speak to you, but first I'd like to ask you something. Would you, by any chance, have an extra $150,000 to spare?"

Excuse me?

"Yes, we ask all our callers about that before putting them on the air. As you probably know, Air America has to buy all of its airtime because no stations will agree to carry our shows otherwise. All the potential advertisers we approached when we were setting this thing up said 'thanks but no thanks'. So as you can understand, we're kind of strapped for cash and we have to pick up what we can wherever we can. So, you got that 150 grand on you? We take Visa, MasterCard, American Exp--"

Gosh, I'm sorry, no; I've been unemployed for six years and donated my last twenty bucks to the Spotted-Owl Distemper Awareness Fund....

"Oh well, that's all right then. We'll put you on the air anyway. Just be sure to speak clearly and make your points concise and straightforward. You're going on.... now."

Oh thank you, thank you! Hello, Randi?

(**Dial tone**)

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