Choice Point Digs In For The 2008 Election

Site of Reference: http://www.choicepoint.com/choicepoint/news.nsf/(webhotbox)/1DDB31277A7A07A585256FBE00478C9C?OpenDocument

If you closely followed the elections of 2000 and 2004 or if you read Greg Palast’s reports in the Guardian you might know that Choice Point in Georgia was hired to validate the votes. A chance look at Choice Point’s website this evening reveals something quite interesting. Now as you know if you do work for the Bush White House you are like the mafia, you are immediately welcomed into the family and are treated with the kind of perks you might expect for laying down with vermin.
I will quote their press release; “ChoicePoint (NYSE: CPS) today announced the appointment of Carol A. DiBattiste, currently Deputy Administrator of the U.S. Transportation Security Administration, as the company's Chief Credentialing, Compliance and Privacy Officer. She will report to the company's Board of Directors Privacy Committee.” A member of the Bush team is now in a prominent position with a company that is paid to do work for the U.S. government to verify votes and who knows what else. So when you saw quite a few people leaving the Bush cabinet everyone said to himself or herself, “Gee, I guess they don’t want to serve with Bush.” Wrong. These former employees of the Bush team have been sent out to take key roles in the private sector. It doesn’t do the conservative agenda any good to have more of them in think tanks or as fellows of a University; it does their pattern of deceit much better to keep their hands in the game. What is the game? Our lives are the game, yours and mine.
The next section of this report or release is very interesting, "Recent events where criminals were able to become customers have led us to take this strong action in order to regain the trust of consumers that their information is being used only for their benefit, or the benefit of society at large," noted Privacy Committee chairman Dr. John Hamre. " To regain that trust, we need a strong voice outside the day-to-day business that is responsible for customer credentialing, compliance and privacy. Having a person of Carol's stature join us is vital to our efforts to have the kind of policies, procedures and compliance programs that build confidence as well as set a standard for the industry.”
What they do not say is particularly interesting as well. What Carol brings to the company is the kind of knowledge of privacy only the Patriot Act can offer. Another thing Carol can do for us is enable a careful study of tax records of our competitors through the IRS. Last of all Carol is very good at following orders, she has worked for the Karl Rove think tank called the Bush administration.
Choice Point also offers to us the background of Carol A. Dibattiste, “A former Undersecretary of the Air Force, DiBattiste also served as Director of the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys, Deputy U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Assistant U.S. Attorney, and was one of the Air Force's top prosecutors.” There it is. Did you get it the first time you read it? Deputy U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and she is going to work for a company that aids in the counting of votes in the presidential election? Score another for the Republican Party. A show of hands now, who thinks the Republican Party will get the most votes counted in the 2008 presidential election? Anyone? Anyone?

- Chris Mansel