What's happening in America now, regarding the supposed "voter fraud protective laws" no longer qualifies as "oh, it's just politics" any longer, imho. Criminal, yes; immoral? Most definitely. Unconstitutional? Oh yeah, but Politics? NO.
How can we continue to stand by and allow people to steal an election by attacking our right to vote? And come on
- surely even Republicans (the ones who must still exist somewhere?)
have noticed how this effort in certain states coincides with
battleground states for this year's election? And I have to believe not
all Republicans have their heads so buried in the past, so afraid of the
future, that they too are angry at their state's tactics, ie; purging
voters, changing laws on everything from ID's "now required" - to
taking away early voting (or lessening the amount of time for early
voting), to doing away with longer hours on voting day - and even
closing polls in rural areas, thus forcing the residents to find some
way to get to a larger city in order to vote.
Please tell me people are paying attention and doing something about it?
The
media (sans Fox) reports about the new and ever-changing voter laws -
but then show us how Obama still leads in the polls. Hello? WAKE UP,
News People! Obama could lead by 50 points but if people aren't allowed
to cast their votes, he LOSES. I want to see what people in the effected states are doing for their fellow voters who may be left out in the cold.
Sure,
some states are fighting the new laws, but right now, with only a
little over a month until voting day, the citizens of the battered swing
states don't know what they'll be able to do and what they won't. So
what's happening ON THE GROUND? Are people forming groups to tackle
transportation for those who can't drive but now have to travel further
to vote? Are funds being pooled to help citizens pay for newly required
ID's and/or the $ required to get a birth certificate (if one even
exists)? Are employers (who know they've got men and women
working two or three other jobs, thus dependent on the early voting and
extended hours that are disappearing), going to offer to pay their
employees on voting day so they can actually VOTE? And if not, are funds
being collected in those swing states to help reimburse what will be
lost (and can ill-afford being lost) in wages because these people now
have to go stand in very long lines all day to vote?
Are any
capitol buildings being surrounded to STOP these laws? Are people out in
the streets, or in their own capitol buildings to protest, and if any
of the above is happening in a large way (as opposed to the one or two
'single' stories we've been told about), I'd like to hear it - and if
not - WHY THE HELL NOT?
Shouldn't we all fight protect this
right, for EVERYONE, even if they're going to vote for the opposite
party? Shouldn't Mitt Romney, for whom all this is being done, take a
stand AGAINST it? At every speech, in every swing state, shouldn't he
stand up and be counted as an American who is SICK of this crap? Oh,
wait, then he'd actually have to 'take' a stand on something and then
he'd have to reverse it the next day. Sorry, got a bit snarky there.
Senator
John McCain may have lost the election in '08 to Obama, but I remember
how he reacted at stump speeches when audience members maligned Obama
(not on issues) by declaring how they wouldn't vote for him because he, "wasn't an American, was a Muslim and a terrorist and evil....".
McCain was truly shocked that the whole tactic of making America
believe he might not be American had taken such a WRONG and destructive
turn and reacted immediately by telling people that none of that was
true. Unfortunately, that McCain no longer exists. *shakes head
sadly* Instead, we have a very bitter man who now sings to the tune of
the Tea Party and seems to have lost all his principles in the process.
But oh, how I wish the older, smarter, wiser McCain was still out there
right now, because that McCain would have stood up against this voter crap.
The newest news now is out of North Carolina, where a group called The Voter Integrity Project (a Tea Party group - duh), want
30,000 voters purged because they claim they're dead. And if they're
dead, someone could steal their identity in order to vote. *looks
puzzled*
Yeah, because isn't that why people steal identities? To VOTE?
Sure. Right.
NOT.
Of course, I realize the number of
voter fraud acts in North Carolina, where a dead's person identity was
stolen so they could vote, must be huge. Right? Or not so much.
According to North Carolina, they've had exactly... ZERO voter fraud.
As in NONE.
And
yet, that group still believes there must
be a lot of dishonest people in North Carolina; so heinously dishonest,
they'd steal a dead person's identity to vote (as in vote
for Obama, of course), so they're sending out letters to folks telling
them they may not be able to vote because they're...dead. D.E.D.
According to TRMS, at least one person who received one of those letters turned out to be, you know, like, alive. She responded that she's been voting since '67 - and btw: also just happens to be black, a senior, and oh yes, a registered Democrat.
Surprise!
But is this possible purging in North Carolina really going to cause a problem?
YES.
Early voting has already begun (and absentee voting) and people are
very confused - and it's only going to get worse the closer we get to
November 6th - not to mention the fact that North Carolina is a
swing state for the '12 election - gosh.
But you know what really gets my goat? That while the story's being reported, the implication
isn't; that being that the only way a black President could have been
elected in the first place - was voter fraud (and early voting. And
extended voting hours). In other words: Democrats are thieves and
dishonest to the point that we'd cheat to get a black man into the Oval
Office! And because we're cheats, obviously there's a need to shorten
early voting; shorten voting hours; disband voting polls in rural areas;
and require new ID's in places they've never been required before. I
guess doing all that will also stop us thieving Democrats
from...thieving votes? As opposed to suppressing the rights of
minorities, the poor, the elderly, the disabled and students. As opposed
to making it nearly impossible for people who would and have, voted for
Obama - to vote this year.
Because we Democrats are terrible people and thieves.
It doesn't even seem to matter that it's been proven over and over again that voter fraud anywhere
in the US is basically non-existent (so maybe we Democrats aren't such
voting thieves after all?). But then, this isn't really about politics,
is it? No, I suspect it goes beyond mere party affiliation. This whole
voter fraud crap may go to the heart of a disturbing change in our
country, a change that scares the HELL out of me and should probably
scare all of us, no matter what party we've chosen.
I think - pray - hope,
that deep down, every person, Republican, Democrat, Independent,
Libertarian, Green or whatever, knows that if the 30,000 people in North
Carolina were all white and registered Republicans, no one would
consider purging them.
But whether they do or not - this voter suppression is likely to work. And I don't say that because I plan to vote
for President Obama, either. I say it because the very idea that a man
may become our leader not because of the number of people who voted - but because of the number of people who could not vote. That's not only scary, it's horrific.
So
where does all this voter crap leave us come November? Will some folks
in those critical swing states, most of whom are minorities, students,
the elderly, the disabled and the very poor, even know if they'll
be eligible to vote? Will they need that new ID they not only can't
afford - but also have no way of getting? Will their voting place be
closed, forcing them to travel; something they're also unable to do?
Will the early voting they've depended on for years (because they have
to work two or three jobs just to survive), end? Will the extra hours
they've also depended on for the same reason, still exist? And if they do make it to their polling place,
A) how long will they have to wait in line because of shortened days and hours, and
B) will they discover they've been purged? Or,
C) will they discover they have the wrong ID, because a week prior, their state pulled another fast one?
And how much of impact would all of the above have this year? Well, in 2008, Obama won North Carolina by 13,692 votes:
Obama: 2,123,390 votes or 49.9%
McCain: 2,109,698 votes or 49.5%
So if 30,000 people are purged - or even half that number - North Carolina goes to Romney.
Feel
free to play this game yourself with the current states considered
'swing' states for 2012, all of which Obama WON in '08. They're below,
in the color representing its historical voting record in the last 10 Presidential elections.
Red=Republican, Blue=Democrat. (If a state has one letter in a
different color, it means they've mostly voted the primary color but
have strayed a couple of times but only Iowa has an historical 50/50
split):
Colorado
Florida
Iowa
North Carolina
New Hampshire
Nevada
Ohio
Virginia
Wisconsin
Just based on the above, you can see how voting changes could change the election.
BTW: There 14 states that have already enacted laws limiting voting rights and those 14 control 171 Electoral College votes for this Presidential election - or 63% of the 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidency.
BTW, Part 2: Most experts consider 12 states to be 'swing' or critical, as opposed to the 9 above - and they are, with their electoral votes:
Pennsylvania 20, Georgia 16, Oregon 7, Arizona 11, and New Mexico 5
Of the 12, five have already passed vote-limiting laws and are considering doing yet more, with pending legislature in two other key states.
NOTE:
I'm not sure why Wisconsin doesn't make most swing state lists, unless
they think the choice of Paul Ryan was enough to give that state to
Romney?
So, now does the above information scare you? Does knowing that someone may become our leader not because the number of People who voted - but because of the number of People who weren't allowed to vote, chill you to your bones?
In closing, here's an article about the right to vote that says it all for me.
No comments:
Post a Comment