DU'ers - time to take a close look at Jim Dyke - head of Communications RNC

[phoebe]

http://www.dykeassociates.com/aboutus/jdabio.html

snip

Dyke is a seasoned communications expert who has helped shape the public policy landscape both in and outside of Washington for over a decade. He has served in the Bush Administration, worked on three Presidential campaigns, managed a congressional campaign, and worked in the private sector. In the fall of 2005, Dyke served as President Bush’s communications advisor during the nomination of Harriet Miers to the United States Supreme Court.

Prior to starting Jim Dyke & Associates in 2005, Dyke served as Communications Director of the Republican National Committee (RNC), where he spearheaded a successful communications strategy that helped re-elect President George W. Bush in 2004. He was responsible for creating innovative earned media campaigns that garnered significant national attention. Dyke’s signature accomplishments combined an innovative Internet component with aggressive outreach to maximize coverage in all mediums. Among these was his organization of the RNC’s “counter-convention” during the Democratic National Convention in Boston and the “Kerry on Iraq” documentary, which was viewed by more than 10 million Americans.

Prior to the 2004 election, Dyke served as Press Secretary and Spokesman for U.S. Commerce Secretary Donald Evans, and later as Press Secretary for the RNC. He was quoted extensively in the national press in both capacities. Prior to joining the Bush Administration in 2000 Dyke worked at Quinn Gillespie & Associates, where he built successful coalitions and developed communications strategies for clients that included Americans for Computer Privacy and the Tax on Talking Coalition.

---

There are a number of red flags here - to my mind specifically Americans for Computer Privacy - a classic Rovian/Orwellian set-up

http://www.cdt.org/international/cybercrime/001115acp.shtml

snip

Re: Comments of Americans for Computer Privacy on the Draft Council of Europe Convention on Cybercrime (2000)

Dear Mr. Beier:

Americans for Computer Privacy (ACP) is pleased to offer the following specific comments and suggested textual changes with respect to Articles 16, 17, and 18 of draft 22 of the Council of Europe Convention on Cybercrime.

ACP's changes clarify, consistent with assurances we received recently from U.S. government officials, that nothing in the convention is intended to authorize or empower governments to require private-sector parties: (1) to retain data (as opposed to preserving data they ordinarily collect and store in the ordinary course of business when ordered to do so by the government); and (2) to develop, adopt, or deploy particular technologies to collect or record content and traffic data (i.e., the convention is not intended to promulgate an international CALEA approach to computer communications).

As you know, ACP is a broad-based coalition of companies, associations, interest groups, and over 6000 individuals that focuses on issues at the intersection of electronic information and communications, privacy rights, law enforcement, and national security. We worked with you and others in the Administration to bring forth a new encryption policy that included significant relaxation of export controls on American products. We also have focused on critical information infrastructure protection (CIIP) more generally.


ANyone else find this interesting?

[BOSSHOG]

1. The biggest red flag I see

is that he is associated with the rnc. No one who is honest or has any integrity or cares about our country has anything to do with that great big septic tank chock full of conservative value turds.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

2. Very interesting, indeed.

[solara]

3. Very Interesting

:kick: & rec


INVESTIGATE IMPEACH INDICT IMPRECATE INCARCERATE :banghead:

[aquart]

5. Imprecate?

[solara]

7. Imprecate = Condemn

:hi:

At one time I had added Impale and Incinerate, but those words got me in trouble :cry:




INVESTIGATE IMPEACH INDICT IMPRECATE INCARCERATE :banghead:

[aquart]

9. Not with me they wouldn't.

[phoebe]

4. more on the ACP ideals..from 2000

http://www.cdt.org/international/cybercrime/001207acp.shtml

As we described in detail in our November 15, 2000 letter to you, ACP is committed to several principles that should guide governmental decision-making with respect to cybercrime and critical information infrastructure protection (CIIP). Two of the principles most relevant to the convention are that computer security and CIIP are best accomplished through private-sector, market-driven, and industry-led solutions, and that governments must not dictate to industry the choice of technologies or mandate technical standards or business processes.

Given the time urgency arising from the advanced stage of the negotiations, we offered certain specific comments in our November 15th letter. Based on our reading of draft no. 24, ACP remains concerned that the convention will not fully reflect the changes suggested in our November 15th letter. With the next round of Council of Europe negotiations rapidly approaching, ACP now offers the following additional specific comments based on the discussions during our November 30th meeting, the December 1st general industry-government meeting, and the December 6th meeting between industry and Henrik Kaspersen, Chairman of the Council of Europe's Committee of Experts on Crime in Cyberspace, and Peter Csonka of the Council of Europe's Directorate General I (Legal Affairs).

ACP regards the issues raised by the convention to be of great importance and directly within the purview of its principles. ACP will continue to follow closely the course of the negotiations here and in Europe to ensure that the whole draft strikes the proper balance among industry, government, and privacy considerations.


Data Preservation (Articles 16 and 17)
The convention text needs to state that it does not impose a data retention requirement. We appreciate your clarification that the convention does not mandate data retention. We also note that the last sentence of footnote 23 states this point explicitly. However, ACP believes that this statement is of such critical importance that it should be elevated to the text of the convention itself, specifically at the end of Article 16.1. Furthermore, ACP recommends that the sentence be altered in order to state clearly that the convention does not mandate retention of any data. Accordingly, the following sentence should be removed from footnote 23 and added to the end of Article 16.1:

It This convention does not mandate retention of all any data collected by a service provider or other entity in the course of its activities.

The convention text needs to state that it only applies to information that a company normally preserves in the ordinary course of business. We reiterate our comment from our November 15th letter that the data preservation requirement should specifically state that it applies only to information that a company normally preserves in the ordinary course of business. The restriction of data preservation to data preserved in the ordinary course of business comports with the spirit of Mr. Kaspersen's comment regarding Articles 20 and 21 (as discussed in Section III below), that the convention is not intended to require governments to mandate that companies develop any capabilities or technology that they do not already possess.

Specific textual changes. In sum, the text of Article 16 should read as follows:

1. Each Party shall adopt such legislative and other measures as may be necessary to enable its competent authorities, in connection with a specific criminal matter, to order or similarly obtain the expeditious preservation of data that has been stored by means of a computer system in the ordinary course of business, in particular where there are grounds to believe that the data is particularly vulnerable22 to loss or modification23. This convention does not mandate retention of any data collected by a service provider or other entity in the course of its activities.
2. Where a Party gives effect to paragraph 1 above by means of an order to a person to preserve specified stored data in the person's possession or control that the person has stored in the ordinary course of business, the Party shall adopt such legislative and other measures as may be necessary to oblige that person to preserve and maintain the integrity of that data for an adequate period of time to enable the competent authority to seek its disclosure.


ACP is quite specific on the way they want this treaty to be written..

[phoebe]

6. Jim Dyke and the American Center for Voting Rights

which did/does nothing whatsoever to assist Americans with their voting rights

http://press.arrivenet.com/politics/article.php/677299.html

snip

Cleveland Identified As No. 5 Election Fraud 'Hot Spot' In America, Says American Center for Voting Rights Legislative Fund

Distribution Source : U.S. Newswire

Date : Tuesday, August 02, 2005



To: State Desk

Contact: Jim Dyke for the American Center for Voting Rights Legislative Fund, 843-532-1192

WASHINGTON, Aug. 2 /U.S. Newswire/ -- In a report released today, the American Center for Voting Rights Legislative Fund ("ACVR Legislative Fund") identifies Cleveland as the number five election fraud "hot spot" in America. The report, "Vote Fraud, Intimidation & Suppression In The 2004 Presidential Election," is the most comprehensive and authoritative review of the facts surrounding allegations of vote fraud, intimidation and suppression made during the 2004 presidential election. The report lists the top five election fraud "hot spots" in the country based on its findings and the cities' documented history of fraud and intimidation. ACVR Legislative Fund calls for immediate attention to these areas.


"Election after election, political parties, election officials and the news media act surprised when fraud, intimidation and suppression activities occur. Now everyone is on notice that there's a problem in Cleveland and those who don't participate in a solution will be held accountable," said Brian Lunde, ACVR Legislative Fund board member.


snip

ACVR Legislative Fund sent a letter to national political party chairmen Howard Dean and Ken Mehlman today calling on them to identify issues of concern in Cleveland and other "hot spot" cities by October 1, 2005. ACVR Legislative Fund also called on the national political parties to adopt a zero-tolerance policy against vote fraud and intimidation that commits them to pursuing and fully prosecuting individuals and allied organizations who commit vote fraud or who seek to deter anyone eligible from participating in the election through fraud or intimidation.

"No amount of legislative reform can effectively deter those who commit acts of fraud and intimidation if there is no punishment for the crime and these acts continue to be tolerated," said Mark F. "Thor" Hearne, ACVR Legislative Fund Counsel. "We must put a stop to vote fraud, intimidation and suppression in Cleveland for people to regain confidence in our electoral process."


This is a prime example of the strategies being uncovered in the e-mails

[phoebe]

13. server address on Pickwick Lane in Dallas - hasn't that come up before?

http://www.commongroundcommonsense.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=24314

snip

Crashing The Party?
Mystery Surrounds ‘American Center For Voting Rights’ Group

COLUMBUS, Ohio — A new voting rights group appeared last week, just in time to testify at U.S. Congressman Bob Ney’s (R-Ohio) House Administrative Committee hearings on the 2004 presidential election in Ohio. That state was fraught with voting inconsistencies, as documented by Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) in reports to Congress earlier this year.

Investigator Brad Friedman, who sponsors a website at BradBlog.com, last week interviewed Mark F. (Thor) Hearne, II, who provided testimony at the Ohio hearings from the upstart American Center For Voting Rights when it was learned that the speaker had been the National General Counsel for Bush/Cheney ’04 Inc. and that hundreds of other, more well established, voting rights groups were not invited to testify.

Friedman, who is propelling an initiative known as the Velvet Revolution, Divestiture for Democracy (VelvetRevolution.us), noted on his website that during the hearings, Hearne failed to mention his “high-level connections to Bush/Cheney and his long history of working with other powerful Republican officials all the way back to his time working for the Reagan Administration.”

snip

Friedman claims that when he asked the name and location of the company that designed AVCR’s website, he was told it was done by a company in Dallas, but Dyke couldn’t remember the name of the company. Friedman published the Internic record of AVCR, whose domain name is ac4vr.com, where he says that Dyke is listed as both the administrative and technical contact for the domain and the address is listed as 8409 Pickwick Lane 299, Dallas, which Friedman says is a post office box at the UPS Store located there.

Said Friedman, “They claim to be a not-for-profit, non-partisan, tax exempt 501©3 organization, but have neither produced the paperwork for it as required by law, nor do they seek donations from the public on their website.”


Hasn't this domain address come up before on DU recently as a server??

[phoebe]

14. and more on ACVR

http://www.pdamerica.org/articles/news/baker-carter-commission.php

The Half-Baked Baker-Carter Commission
By David Swanson
So, Jimmy Carter and James Baker are sitting at a table, and Carter starts talking about the disastrous election of 2000 in Florida... It sounds like the start of a joke. It was actually the start of the first meeting of the Baker-Carter Commission on Federal Election Reform in Washington, D.C., on April 18th. Baker didn't do much bragging about his role in Florida. In fact, there was more than one occasion during the meeting on which Baker notably kept silent. But, more on that later.

The primary question in the minds of many people I spoke to in the meeting and outside it was: "What the heck is James Baker doing on a commission to reform elections?" Former President Carter said more than once that Baker had been his first choice to co-chair the commission and was his second favorite Republican (second to Gerald Ford). Carter and Baker once worked together on monitoring elections in Nicaragua. Baker said he was encouraged to participate by President Bush and Republican party leaders.

Some background on the creation of this odd-couple commission can be found on Brad Blog, which reports that a group called the American Center for Voting Rights appeared out of nowhere on March 17th, was the only voting rights organization to testify at a U.S. House committee hearing on the 2004 election on March 21st, and praised the Baker-Carter Commission on March 24th just 24 minutes after its creation was announced to the surprise of real voting rights groups. ACVR, as Brad Blog reports, was created by Jim Dyke, the Communications Director for the Republican National Committee and Mark F. (Thor) Hearne, the lead National Counsel for Bush/Cheney '04 Inc. The group's tax status is 501c3, which requires that its activities be non-partisan, and its representative never mentioned in congressional testimony its relationship with the RNC and Bush/Cheney.

Those involved in voting rights issues are aware that, unlike Republican-chaired hearings in Washington, hearings held in Ohio in the months following last year's election included many points of view and resulted in a 102-page report on election fraud in that state. The driving force behind those hearings and the subsequent January challenge to the Ohio results in Congress was Ranking Democratic Member of the House Judiciary Committee John Conyers.

and more

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/s_360812.htm

'Study' is political fraud


By Dimitri Vassilaros
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Monday, August 8, 2005


The supposedly nonpartisan American Center for Voting Rights -- which purports to expose voter fraud -- is a fraud.

[starroute]

16. Don't forget this one

http://rawstory.com/exclusives/alexandrovna/carter_baker_electoral_reform_controversy_414.htm

The contact for ACVR is also a Republican operative, former communications director for the Republican National Committee Jim Dyke.

Dyke pioneered “astroturf” letters, or letters to the editor that appear to be written by constituents but instead are drafted by political operatives. During the 2004 election, Dyke traveled the country creating what appear to be front groups to disseminate anti-Kerry disinformation. He was also the source of many of the registration irregularity complaints generated in Ohio, and recently set up a Social Security lobby group.

As a spokesman for the RNC, Dyke commented on the Purple Heart bandages he helped distribute: “Democrats continue to try and hide their own candidates’ many positions on the same issue (Iraq) by attacking the president’s leadership.”

[peacetalksforall]

8. Yes, if I'm understanding even a tiny bit. It sound like they are talking

about international routing, but I wish to project ahead and listen to him at a table in the hearing room explaining what he does to Leahy and others, about whether he has consulted with Rove or anyone associated with the WH or the RNC or consulting firms or contractors and whether he has helped them contact and work with anyone who could advise the above people about mail management stuff to avoid archiving, destroying, filtering, rerouting as if to launder - especially overseas.

Friend of George, probably also a friend of Rove and Dick.

But, maybe it's innocent?

[aquart]

11. If it's innocent, they don't bother to do it.

Ever.

[Straight Shooter]

15. aquart, I really wish you would stop taking words out of my mouth and posting them.

:D

[aquart]

17. GMTA.

[peacetalksforall]

10. Could the WH e-mail issue be from diversion? Could it be connected to development by

the DOD (+?) to establish a second/alternate internet private network. I don't have insight, knowledge - I just remember being disgusted with Rumsfeld who seemed to be named in the news about it. Just looked on the Net and there is a lot of stuff out there - this from 2004 was interesting -

http://www.techweb.com/wire/story/TWB20040324S0001

about IPv6 peer-to-peer separate network from what we know and use.

[phoebe]

12. Dyke + Blackberry and 50 e-mails an hour habit

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A30405-2004Dec27?language=printer

snip

The 35-year-old Arkansas native is starting Jim Dyke and Associates (the associates will come later, he hopes) in Charleston, and he intends to remain a capital player through conference calls and BlackBerry messaging.

Dyke, known as "Bear," is seeking a familiar mix of work in public relations, marketing and public affairs. But his plans show how veterans of President Bush's machine keep promoting his agenda even after they are off the payroll. To push Bush's proposal to add private accounts to Social Security, Dyke is making one of his first projects the creation of a group called Save My Investment, aimed at 25- to 45-year-olds.

snip

During the Democratic National Convention in Boston, Dyke filled acres of cable-news time as part of his party's "Dems Extreme Makeover" counterconvention.

Dyke and his wife, Dawn, have a daughter, Emily, who will be 2 next month. Dyke said he knows only four or five people in Charleston but was charmed by the Colonial seaport on a recent visit. He said his initial conversations with South Carolinians have shown him that his 50-e-mails-an-hour pace can be curtailed.