And the Voter Suppression Begins

Here we go. Make up bullshit rules, and even if they're deemed illegal and unenforceable, the mass confusion it causes will deny arguably hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of eligible voters across the country their Constitutional right to vote.

Reports of voters being turned away because they declined to check a box asking them to verify U.S. citizenship have been coming in from several areas of [Michigan] state.

Michigan Radio first became aware of the situation when talking to Michigan Campaign Finance Network's Rich Robinson who said he was refused a ballot because he would not check the box. He refused because it is not legally required... 

...When Rich Robinson went to the polls in East Lansing this morning, poll workers refused to give him a ballot because he would not check a box declaring he was a U.S. citizen. Checking that box is not required under law. Robinson works for the Michigan Campaign Finance Network and is familiar with election law. He says he wonders how many others are being denied the right to vote today because local election officials are misinformed.

“If the information couldn’t travel accurately five miles down Michigan Avenue from the capitol to the East Lansing City Clerk, what’s going on in Ontonagon or Monroe or points in between."

And all of this is due to the decision of Republican Secretary of State Ruth Johnson to add the citizenship box on the ballot after the bill requesting that provision was vetoed by Governor Rick Snyder. You know, because voter fraud and freedoms.

This doesn't even begin to tackle the subject of voter ID laws tantamount to poll taxes and what will be considered legal ID in the differing eyes of thousands and thousands of volunteer percent workers. I don't know about you, but I've seen the people manning my voting booths, and I don't think they're capable of filling out a postal service change of address form, let alone figure out what's a real ID and what isn't.

The American People Have Spoken

How many times have we heard House Speaker John Boehner say, "The American people want..." or "The American people sent us here to..."? How often do you think he'll use that phrase after yesterday's election results?

Well, I'll use it. If yesterday's election results have shown us anything, it's that the American people don't like hypocrites. They American people have spoken in their rejection of Ohio's collective bargaining/anti-union law. The American people have spoken in their rejection of an attempt by Mississippi Republicans to redefine "personhood" as the point of which an egg becomes fertilized. The American people have spoken in their re-election of Kentucky's Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear with 56% of the vote. The American people have spoken in their recall of Republican Arizona Senate President Russell Pierce, the author of the harsh immigration law that had been adopted in Grand Canyon state. The American people have spoken in their addition of a New Jersey Democratic Assembly member as they've cooled off of a Chris Christie love affair. The American people have spoken against voter suppression by repealing Maine's two day voting registration law and restoring same day registration.

The American people have spoken. And if the Congressional members of the Republican party refuse to listen and continue on the path of "Just Say No" to President Obama's every attempt to get the country's employment situation and GDP jump started, they're in for a rude awakening in November of 2012.

Stupid Is As Stupid Does - Part the Third

Elisabeth Hasselbeck:

"I find it completely then repulsive to then - if we want to look at spending - see how Barack Obama now is going to spend what $3 million on two thirty minute ads that are going to run this week."

So Hasselbeck considers it "repulsive" spending money on ad buys with the economy being what it is. Hmmm... Think about that for a minute. Hasselbeck considers buying ad time repulsive, but she'll defend Sarah Palin and the RNC on the $150,000 spent on her wardrobe in a month. Not to mention the $20,000 spent on a make up artist for Palin in about two weeks. Yet, Obama's 30 minute time block is "repulsive." I wonder if she would find it repulsive had it been McCain and Palin buying that ad time. I'm thinking not.

Hey Elisabeth, do you find the New Mexico GOP's voter intimidation tactics against hispanic voters "repulsive"? How about the fake flier being circulated in Virginia "informing" Democratic voters to cast their vote on November 5th, the day after the election in order to ease the load at the polls? Do you find that "repulsive"? What about attempting to suppress voting and registration for college students? Is that repulsive, Hasselbeck?

The thing I find repulsive is that Elisabeth Hasselbeck continues to open her piehole. Stick to the nipple talk and the virtues of breast pumps, Elisabeth, and leave the serious talk for serious, intelligent people.

Must Reads

Bob Herbert: She's Not Ready

Digby: The Lists You Have

John Cole: Doughy Pantload's Awesome Spin ("Is there anyone dumber than right wing bloggers?")

Addition - Anne Kornblut: Palin Did Not Visit Iraq

Enthusiam Gap Dummies

I was at a ball game the other day with a friend of mine and when you're in a space with a concentrated group of people, like a stadium or a bus or subway train, you can't help but hear their conversations. And then when I see or hear stupidity it triggers this underlying thought that I have every now and then.

That thought is this: I consider myself of average to slightly above average intelligence, but when I'm in those group situations and look around me and hear what's going on around me, I feel like I'm probably in the top 10% in terms of intelligence. Try it sometime. Go to a ball game or a concert. I'll go to a Mets game and sit in my normal section and I'm probably Einstein compared to some of these neanderthals. How do I know? Because of news like this:

The Republican National Convention has given John McCain and his party a significant boost, a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll taken over the weekend shows, as running mate Sarah Palin helps close an "enthusiasm gap" that has dogged the GOP all year.

McCain leads Democrat Barack Obama by 50%-46% among registered voters, the Republicans biggest advantage since January and a turnaround from the USA TODAY poll taken just before the convention opened in St. Paul. Then, he lagged by 7 percentage points.

An "enthusiasm gap"? Are you fucking kidding me? They can exaggerate, distort the truth, flat out lie and not explain any detailed policy proposals, but as long as you can chant "Drill, baby! Drill!" and "USA!" to raise the fucking "enthusiasm gap" within your party and appeal to the lowest common denominator - the uninformed and ignorant who flip out over a pig¹ in lipstick - you can make what should be an obvious choice, a coin flip.

Then you have these so called "pundits" to give their opinion who are nothing more than political operatives. Don't believe me? The next time you hear Pat Buchanan open his mouth, take a close listen. He's not there to give you his informed, objective opinion of both sides, he's there to repeat talking points he was told to repeat. Flip to any channel and you'll get the same exact wording. That is not a coincidence.

When you have Republican "strategists" like Mike Murphy and Peggy Noonan praising the Palin pick on camera, but calling it "political bullshit" and "cynical" off camera, what is the point of having them on? It's not to inform us, it's to dupe us - to pull the wool over our eyes - it's equivalent to a shill at the three-card monte game.

When that asshole Michael Steele, Lieutenant Governor of Maryland and chairman of GOPAC makes an appearance on Bill Maher (9/5 episode transcript not yet available) and says that McCain's acceptance speech was rife with details while Obama's lacked any substance, look out for the wolf that's sneaking up behind you and about to rip off your scrotum. Talk about through the looking glass! Guys like that really piss me off because here's a man who's definitely smarter than I am, but shows contempt for my intelligence by feeding us bullshit lines like that. That and the fact that he chanted "Drill, baby. Drill!" as well. Fucking asshole.

When pigs like Sarah Palin demean the work of community organizers in her comparison to Barack Obama (as if that's the only thing he's ever done), but while Obama was community organizing, Palin was running for Miss Alaska, someone has to call the bullshit out for what it is.

So go out there and spread the truth because we need to do everything we can this November to win the three-card monte game of voter suppression, electronic voting machines, absentee and mail-in ballots and caging lists. Did you get an e-mail from someone calling Obama a Muslim? Fact check it and send it back not only to the person that sent it to you, but to every person on the forwarded list. I've done it multiple times and have yet to get a argumentative response, mostly thanks for the information. Did you hear someone praising Palin at the local Starbucks? Ask them why they like her in an inquisitive, non-threatening way and let them know what she's said, debunk her lies (like the bridge to nowhere, pork, trooper-gate, Iraq War is a "task from God") and see what they have to say. Will they act surprised or blow you off because they're a wingnut? Either way, perhaps you've spread the seed of doubt to the uninformed and maybe stirred them to actually look up information on their own instead of watching Fox News.

We have to fight back, and fight back hard. (I'm loving Joe Biden's speeches and appearances, but it's time to start toning down the preemptive praise of McCain.) So the next time you're in a public place, look around. Do you think you're in the top 10% of those around you in pure brain cell count alone? You probably are. Then inform them.

_________________
¹ - That's not a mistake. After her display at the RNC, I don't consider Sarah Palin a "pitbull in lipstick" I consider her a "pig."

Clinton Campaign Trying To Control Texas Caucus

Well, it looks like someone is pulling something "right out of Karl Rove's playbook."

As reported in the Dallas Morning News:

Hillary Clinton and her campaign is pushing for precinct captains for Texas' 8,000 Democratic polling places. They need to train folks to lead the caucus sessions that will determine more than 60 delegates after the primary voting is over.In training materials being handed out by the Clinton campaign, it is clear that they want to control those caucus sessions.

The materials say in part, "DO NOT allow the supporter of another candidate to serve in leadership roles."It goes on to say, "If our supporters are outnumbered, ask the Temporary Chair if one of our supporters can serves as the Secretary, in the interest of fairness."

The control of the sign-in sheets and the announcement of the delegates allotted to each candidate are the critical functions of the Chair and Secretary. This is why it is so important that Hillary supporters hold these positions."

As Glenn Smith writes at BurntOrangeReport.com:

Now there can be only one purpose in trying to control the tally of votes under circumstances in which a campaign knows it's outnumbered, that it will lose an honest counting of the votes: to alter the true vote. To cheat. To steal. To suppress the votes of Texas caucus attendees and subvert the caucus process.

The phrase, "if our supporters are outnumbered," means, in simpler language, "If we lose the vote, take control of the vote tally and change the numbers."

So shame on you, Hillary Clinton! It is time you ran a campaign that is consistent with your messages in public. That is what Democrats around the country expect from you, not voter suppression.

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