RECAP -- WITH SPOILERS AND QUESTIONS
A
Woman Scorned, directed by Tony Goldwyn, aired May 2, 2013. Mellie, the president's wife, is the woman
scorned. Her ultimatum to President Fitz does not win. He goes to Olivia and sits
out the ultimatum time with her. Has Mellie set up James, husband of Chief of
Staff Cyrus, for the nationally televised interview where she tells the country
about Fitz and her separation and his cheating on her? Or is he in on it? Is
James the mole?
Abby says that Defiance is over. How
does she know that? Is Abby the mole?
In the meantime, Charlie (a hired
CIA assassin) has the computer belonging to the court stenographer for the Grand Jury for
Defiance. This
is Case 12-T-566. Charlie has been courting her to get the computer; he does so
by stealing it. So Defiance
is not over for Charlie. Who is right, Charlie or Abby?
Meanwhile, a shadowy
figure (played by Joe Morton) working for the CIA and presumably the head of
B613, wants Jake to take out Charlie. Does this have to do with Defiance? Is Jake the
mole? Or more likely, is the CIA operative played by Morton the mole?
Or none of the above?
Kudos to Shonda Rhimes because it is really very hard to know.
In an interview with The
Hollywood Reporter Shonda
Rhimes said, "When we revealed who the mole was to the cast, cast
members literally got up from the table and ran around the table screaming,
which was hilarious. Then when we revealed the twist on the twist of who the
mole was, I thought I'd have to sedate cast members because people were freaking
out, which was awesome. It's not just who the mole is, it's who the mole is
working with and what's going on there that's even bigger than just who the
mole is. We're really proud of who the mole is, that's a pretty surprising
twist but it's even bigger than that."
So, is it Olivia?
REAL LIFE BACKSTORY -- TWO MAJOR NEW PROBLEMS FOR
RIGGED ELECTIONS LURK ON THE HORIZON
On Scandal Defiance, Ohio showed a very real way to rig an
election. I have written about that here
and here.
Now there are two new important developments happening that will make the
rigging of elections even easier.
1. MAIL-IN-VOTING
Recently,
the Colorado Senate passed the Voter Access and Modernized Elections Act.
The House had already passed it. I am concerned with the section of the bill
stating that every eligible voter will be mailed a ballot, whether they request
one or not. Mailed in ballots are one of the best ways to rig an election.
Think the zip code is from a democratic neighborhood? Get rid of the envelope.
There is no way to protect the chain of custody. Ballots can be lost, stolen,
destroyed, not counted. Who would ever know? Furthermore, voting-by-mail destroys
the privacy of the voting booth. Someone at home with the voter can intimidate
a person to vote for a candidate not of her/his choice. Oregon state already has total vote-by-mail voting.
Who will be next? Work and organize to make sure it is not your state.
Bev Harris reports
that a Washington
state judge has ruled that bar codes used in mail-in-voting are illegal. The
ruling by Judge Eaton is included in her press release. In another article she cites that
election officials in Malaysia,
April 26, 2013, were caught recording serial numbers of mail-in ballots before
they were mailed. It is feared such recording can easily lead to the
identification of voters. We must maintain the secrecy of the ballot.
2. INTERNET VOTING
Many
lawmakers and election officials are talking more and more about internet
voting. Alex
Halderman and his team from the University
of Michigan easily hacked into an internet
voting test pilot in Washington,
D.C. A recent and excellent report by Jim Soper on April
17, 2013, "Internet Voting Risks," is must reading. Verified
Voting has put out a comprehensive statement warning of the dangers of
internet voting. Michael
Agresta writes in The Wall Street
Journal about why we should not vote on line. Read here
an account of the "biggest cyberattack in Internet history," April
2013, Natalie
Tennant, Secretary of State in West
Virginia, still wants to use online voting, despite
Halderman's famous hacking and all the caveats by computer experts against it.
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
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