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WHO IS MARK RITCHIE? A COMPLETE BACKGROUND
By Michael B. Brodkorb | November 12, 2008
As I wrote yesterday, no blogger or reporter in the entire world has written more posts or stories about Secretary of State Mark Ritchie other than yours truly. I am still reviewing the hundreds of posts that I have written about Ritchie and will be posting updates to this post over the next 24 hours.
I want to thank the dedciated reader of Minnesota Democrats Exposed who sent me the picture above from Team Franken’s Flickr page of “non-partisan” Secretary of State Mark Ritchie speaking at a DFL event earlier this year. Don’t you love that Al Franken sign? It’s a great picture for my post detailing Ritchie’s hyper-partisan past.
I appreciated your patience and please check back to Minnesota Democrats Exposed for more information.
UPDATE: Liberal supporters of Secretary of State Mark Ritchie are trying to defend him from the accusation that his candidacy had been promoted by the Communist Party USA. As the blogger who broke the story about his candidacy being promotion by the Communist Party USA, please see the links below to my original posts.
WHO IS MARK RITCHIE?
I wrote my first post about Mark Ritchie in September 2005, and I have since published close to 200 posts about Ritchie on Minnesota Democrats Exposed. Click here for a listing of every post about Ritchie on Minnesota Democrats Exposed. Below is a partial summary of my posts about Ritchie.
RITCHIE’S CANDIDACY PROMOTED BY COMMUNIST PARTY USA PUBLICATION
Mark Ritchie’s campaign for Secretary of State was promoted on Communist Party USA website.
RICHTIE’S WRITINGS PUBLISHED BY NEWSPAPER WITH “A SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP WITH THE COMMUNIST PARTY USA”
Ritchie’s writings have been published by newspaper with “a special relationship with the Communist Party USA.”
RITCHIE CONNECTION TO COMMUNIST PARTY USA MENTIONED IN STAR TRIBUNE
Click here for my post that highlights the Star Tribune mentioning Ritchie’s connection to the Communist Party USA.
RITCHIE CONSIDERED “THOUGHT LEADER” OF WTO PROTEST IN SEATTLE
Click here to read Paul Hawken report on the protests of the WTO in Seattle. He lists Ritchie as a “thought leader” of the protest. Click here for my original post from 2006.
RITCHIE’S CONNECTION TO THE RADICAL ECO-TERRORIST GROUP EARTH FIRST!
Click here for my post that with information that connects Mark Ritchie to the radical eco-terrorist group Earth First!
MEET A MARK RITCHIE CONTRIBUTOR: PRO-CASTRO, COMMUNIST SYMPATHIZER SANDRA LEVINSON
Click here for my post on Sandra Levinson, the executive director of the Center for Cuban Studies, who contributed $250.00 on March 27, 2006 to Mark Ritchie’s campaign.
MEET A MARK RITCHIE CONTRIBUTOR: FINANCIER OF ULTRA-LIBERAL ACTIVISM DRUMMOND PIKE
Click here for my post on Drummond Pike, the founder and president of the Tides Foundation, who contributed $500.00 [joint contribution with wife Liza] on September 2, 2006 to Mark Ritchie’s campaign.
MEET A MARK RITCHIE CONTRIBUTOR: RADICAL ENVIRONMEMTALIST WENDY GORDON ROCKEFELLER
Click here for my post on Wendy Gordon Rockefeller, who contributed $150.00 on September 2, 2006 to Mark Ritchie’s campaign.
MEET A MARK RITCHIE CONTRIBUTOR: FINANCIAL CONTRIBUTOR TO ULTRA-PARTISAN LIBERAL GROUPS, GEORGE SOROS
Click here for my post on George Soros, who contributed $250.00 on September 2, 2006 to Mark Ritchie’s campaign.
“NONPARTISAN” SECRETARY OF STATE RITCHIE DOES SOME PARTISAN REDECORATING
Click here for my post exposing the partisan redecorating Ritchie did to the Secretary of State’s office after he was elected.
“NONPARTISAN” SECRETARY OF STATE RITCHIE SPEAKS AT EVENT HOSTED BY LEFTIST ORGANIZATION
Click here for my post about Ritchie, who promised to be “nonpartisan“, attending a forum hosted by the leftist organization People For the American Way [PFAW].
“NONPARTISAN” SECRETARY OF STATE RITCHIE LAUNCHES PARTISAN ATTACK ON MDE DURING AIR AMERICA INTERVIEW
Click here for my post about “nonpartisan” Ritchie launching a partisan attack on me, live on air during an interview on Air America.
STAR TRIBUNE ARTICLE DETAILS CONFLICT BETWEEN REPUBLICANS AND RITCHIE
In February 2007, the Star Tribune published an article about the growing battles between Secretary of State Mark Ritchie and Republicans. Click here for my post.
MAN WHO CALLED NEW YORK CITY “HYMIE TOWN” IS FEATURED ON OFFICIAL SOS WEBSITE
Click here for my post about Secretary of State Mark Ritchie putting quotes from Jessie Jackson, who once referred to New York City has “Hymie Town”, on the front page of the Secretary of State’s official website.
Topics: Mark Ritchie |
November 12th, 2008 at 1:32 pm
Great photo! It says it all.
November 12th, 2008 at 1:37 pm
The House needs to open up investigations into what went wrong with nearly all of the optical scanners in the state that they couldn’t securely transmit data on election night.
Mark Richie needs to account to the People as to how his office could fail so miserably in ensuring a clean accounting of election results.
November 12th, 2008 at 1:38 pm
Yep. Mary Kiffmeyer was terribly non-partisan.
http://www.kiffmeyer.org/Photos/mary%20and%20steve.jpg
November 12th, 2008 at 1:43 pm
Leroy, are you saying that she can’t share a joke with another politician? Hard to see how that picture is congruent with the blatant electioneering that Richie is doing in the MDE photo.
Still, I couldn’t care less about the “partisanship” charges. Those are a waste of time.
I want to know how Mark Richie could so badly fuck up the basic function of his office.
November 12th, 2008 at 1:50 pm
OMG HAHAHAHAHAHAHA MARK RITCHIE WAS A DFLER WHO KNEW???? AMAZINGZ
November 12th, 2008 at 1:57 pm
[...] In honor of Michael Brodkorb’s hit piece on Mark Ritchie, I’m promoting this post back to the top. Originally published at 8 [...]
November 12th, 2008 at 1:58 pm
Kyle, settle down. Hennepin County is the only one in the state that attempts wireless transmission. Their backup system is the one everyone else uses.
Hennepin’s transmission bug was known to bipartisan election judges in a public test 10 days before the election.
See:
http://www.minnpost.com/braublog/2008/11/11/4538/recount_doubt_watch_hennepin_county
November 12th, 2008 at 2:00 pm
“Their backup system is the one everyone else uses.”
So there are cars running around with their trunks stuffed with ballots all over the state??
Tell us more, David.
November 12th, 2008 at 2:03 pm
Short version, Tom -
Yes. State law mandates that absentee votes come into an election center such as a city hall, and be counted in precincts.
So unless they are teleported a la Star Trek or hand-carried or flown by carrier pigeon, they are driven from election center to precinct all over the state!
Sorry to bust your bubble.
November 12th, 2008 at 2:09 pm
Dis-credited, partisan hack David Brauer bleats:
“Hennepin County is the only one in the state that attempts wireless transmission.”
Huh. Tell that to the kind folks in Iron Mountain who confirmed that their machines were among the state-wide machines unable to transmit their results election night.
Who said wireless? I said secure, electronic. The optical machines with electronic transmission capabilities are used across the state, not just in Hennepin County.
How did Mark Richie fuck this up so badly?
November 12th, 2008 at 2:12 pm
Short answer, Swiftee -
Yes. State law mandates that absentee votes come into an election center such as a city hall, and be counted in precincts.
So unless they are teleported a la Star Trek or hand-carried or flown by carrier pigeon, they are driven from election center to precinct all over the state!
Sorry to bust your bubble.
November 12th, 2008 at 2:18 pm
Kyle, Mark Ritchie is a huge improvement from the former occupant of the office, Mary Kiffmeyer. Among Kiffmeyer’s many failings were the following:
1. A new voter-registration system that took hours and hours for county officials to update, which she promptly blamed on the county officials themselves.
2. Warning voters to watch for unattended packages, vehicles “riding low on springs” and “homicide bombers” during the 2004 election.
3. Sending voters the wrong information about DFL caucuses in 2000.
That, of course, is just the tip of the iceberg. Thank god for Mark Ritchie.
November 12th, 2008 at 2:31 pm
Mary Kiffmeyer never screwed up an election the way this one has been screwed up. Mary Kiffmeyer never used her office to support her campaign efforts. Mary Kiffmeyer never lied once, much less lie multiple times, in writing, in the newspaper.
I’m not surprised that a Democrap would admire Ritchie’s tenure, it’s exactly what you’d expect from a Scrub.
November 12th, 2008 at 2:33 pm
I couldn’t give two shits about a comparison to Mary Kiffmeyer, Jeff.
Mark Richie is a fuck up on his own. How could he so completely fuck up the core function of his office?
November 12th, 2008 at 2:36 pm
Michael Brodkorb’s hyper-lame existence! Pajama Parties with Sarah Janacek! Cry baby reps provide post-election hilarity for the weary!
November 12th, 2008 at 2:53 pm
Does the Minnesota Republican Party have anything similar to the DFL Founders Day event?
If they do, and Mark Ritchie was invited and refused to speak, maybe you would have something. But as it is, all you have is similar to what I provided, a picture of a politician speaking to an audience that shares his political party affiliation.
November 12th, 2008 at 3:15 pm
“So there are cars running around with their trunks stuffed with ballots all over the state??”
Moonbat Swiftee keeps spreading this BOLD FACED LIE!!
Carry on Pffffft Muhwahahahahaha
November 12th, 2008 at 3:16 pm
WOW! Great find. I didn’t know Mark Richie was a DFLer! There has never been a SoS who participated in partisan events, never before! Not Mary Kifmeyer at least.
http://www.kiffmeyer.org/Photos/appreciation.jpg
http://www.kiffmeyer.org/Photos/SoS/Carletonstudents.JPG
Those are just her pals. Not partisan Republican leaders, right? She would never have appeared in a video of the Republican Party, right?
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2006/02/27/samesex/
November 12th, 2008 at 3:46 pm
Karl,
Seriously, are you really trying to compare those rediculous Kiffmeyer photos with the FACT Mark Ritchie, the supposed guardian of fair and transparent elections in our state, is campaigning for and standing right in front of the sign for the candidate whom is embroiled in the controversy and that same candidate who has been reaping the statistically rediculous benefits of the newly found ballots?? You are clearly residing in the State of Delusion…
November 12th, 2008 at 4:18 pm
Mikey has a big old man-crush on Mark Ritchie. It’s inappropriate, but cute.
November 12th, 2008 at 4:22 pm
Um, yeah! “Wingnut” Flash keeps talking the crazy talk. Go Flash!
November 12th, 2008 at 4:39 pm
Flash was gargling his kool-aid, so he missed an important part of my post…”??”
Those are called question marks, Flash. Means I was asking David to clarify his statement that everyone was using the same back up system (a car trunk of a Democrat city employee) as Minneapolis.
You are jumping the gun, little moonbat. You have to wait until a statement is made before you jump in and call it a lie.
You moonbats are pretty jumpy…I’m guessing the guilt is beginning to wear on you. Have another glass of kool-aid and calm down.
November 12th, 2008 at 4:45 pm
Looks like LakevilleDad has been spending time in Cheeto boy’s basement.
That’s nasty dad…real nasty. What are the kids gonna think?
November 12th, 2008 at 6:06 pm
Not as nasty as drunk driving though, is it SwifteeBoatee?
November 12th, 2008 at 7:41 pm
Ritchie was put in office as part of a project by Moveon.org…specifically t osteal close elections.. Moveon head George Soros want ed partisan SOS’s in place in battle ground states just for this reason..to steal elections
November 12th, 2008 at 7:47 pm
Brauer was a lameass on KSTP years ago..and he still is
November 12th, 2008 at 9:24 pm
How many women died or does Kennedy and Kennedy junior still hold records 1 and 2 along with the Ambien defense?
“Not as nasty as drunk driving though”
November 13th, 2008 at 9:24 am
[...] the nearly 200 posts on Minnesota Democrats Exposed about Secretary of State Mark Ritchie. Click here for the updated post on Ritchie’s [...]
November 14th, 2008 at 4:01 pm
[...] (Just take a look at this picture and tell me if you don’t think the guy who you just saw lash out, then lie about it, can be trusted to protect the vote in Minnesota. ) [...]