-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger
Although Sen. Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) does not believe “there is any particular evidence of polls barring African Americans from voting,” there is plenty of evidence that States are making it more difficult for African Americans to vote. Paul is using a strawman argument to recast the voting issue to one in which African Americans are prohibited from voting. Preventing African Americans from voting is the intended result of Republican efforts in numerous states. Using analysis of voting habits, Republicans have passed laws that intentionally create voting difficulties for groups that traditionally vote Democratic. Jim Crow has been dressed up a little, to become James Crow, Esq., but statistically speaking, the results are the same.
In Florida, minority voters waited to vote nearly double the time of white voters, as shown by this graph. 
Statistical analysis of voting patterns showed that 61.2 percent of all early voting ballots were cast by Democrats, compared with 18.7 percent by Republicans. The Republican solution: delete six days of early voting and extend voting hours to accommodate those voters who have jobs. A GOP consultant noted that “cutting out of the Sunday before Election Day was one of their targets only because that’s a big day when the black churches organize themselves.” Although not directly targeting African Americans, the intention is to reduce African American voter turnout.
Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker closed down DMV offices in predominately Democratic areas after passing a voter ID law. In Ohio, Republicans curtailed early voting from thirty-five to eleven days, including the Sunday before the election when African-American churches historically rally their congregants to go to the polls.
In North Carolina, voter suppression has been taken to new levels. Among the new measures are:
- The end of pre-registration for 16 & 17 year olds
- A ban on paid voter registration drives
- Elimination of same day voter registration
- A provision allowing voters to be challenged by any registered voter of the county in which they vote rather than just their precinct
- A week sliced off Early Voting
- Elimination of straight party ticket voting
- Authorization of vigilante poll observers, lots of them, with expanded range of interference
- An expansion of the scope of who may examine registration records and challenge voters
- A repeal of out-of-precinct voting
- A repeal of the current mandate for high-school registration drives
- Elimination of flexibility in opening early voting sites at different hours within a county
North Carolina now has the strictest voter ID law in the country. US military ID cards will be accepted, but IDs from students at state colleges will not be accepted. In the election of 2012, 1.4 million voters voted straight-ticket Democrat, while just 1.1 million voted straight ticket Republican, so that feature is gone. During the first seven days of early voting in the 2012 election, now eliminated, 458,258 Democrats used in-person early voting, while just 240,146 Republicans did so. Although not directly targeting African Americans, the intention is the same.
There doesn’t appear to be any help from the Constitution which states:
The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations, except as to the Places of chusing Senators.
In a 2007, the Brennan Center for Justice reported (pdf) that “by any measure, voter fraud is extraordinarily rare.” If Republicans can’t win by getting more votes than Democrats, they’ll lessen the number of Democratic voters and achieve an identical result.
As President Lyndon B. Johnson said in 1965 regarding the right to vote:
Every device of which human ingenuity is capable, has been used to deny this right.
H/T: Tom Anstrom, Dara Kam and John Lantigua, Ian Millhiser, Washington Post, Associated Press, Charles P. Pierce.
Michael Murry: “Until the United States grows a genuine left-wing-socialist Student-Labor-Farmer Party it will never have a political “center.” ”
****
The Wobblies were on their way to unifying the workers in the industrial north and the agrarian workers and farmers of the Midwest and West when WWI was used to suppress and eventually destroy the movement by jailing the leaders and imposing fines that bankrupted the organization. They wanted all of labor under one tent.
I read a book about 30 years ago and unfortunately can’t remember its name (or I’d re-read it) but it left me with two bits of information to consider:
the Republican politicians and industrialists agitated relentlessly for an entry into WW1 not because of any foreign policy advantage to doing so but because it would be the springboard to destroying the domestic labor movement that was poised to become a successful 3rd party and, failing that, usurp the Democratic party;
and later:
the industrialists and bankers in America hated Hitler, just hated him, not because he was a beast and monster but because he jumped the gun and gave fascism such a bad reputation that it set their own plans back 30-40 years.
In any event, here’s a link you might ind interesting:
http://www.independent.org/newsroom/article.asp?id=1207
VestalV: OMG, I live about 40ish miles from there in East Texas, so this has been on the news a lot. It’s very sad. They will go to jail for this stuff. Another thing that happens is all the porn has really poisoned the expectations of a lot of guys my age and younger. They want a bunch of sick stuff, which is why I just said to hell with them. That and the cheating stuff. Which is why I don’t understand all the people who think that the sex is going to be hygienic, and people can just do whatever they want and there won’t be any consequences. Nope. Not gonna happen.
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
“I live about 40ish miles from there in East Texas”
Everything you ever wanted to know about Squeeky.
Squeeky,
Heterosexuality at its finest!
http://www.shreveporttimes.com/article/20130807/NEWS0304/308070040/Friend-Firefighters-gave-disabled-man-condom-watched-sex-act
Vestal Virgin
VestalV:
I know. I had a friend in college who was a part-time dominatrix. She said it paid more than straight hooking, and was a whole lot safer for her healthwise. Oh my, the stories she would tell!
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
“I know. I had a friend in college who was a part-time dominatrix. She said it paid more than straight hooking, and was a whole lot safer for her healthwise. Oh my, the stories she would tell!”
Sociopaths make excellent dominatrices. The “I had a friend” ploy is usually used in place of self-confession. A distress about sexuality generally can be soothed by assuming a dominant position and getting ones’ sexual pleasure from humiliating the sub. Squeeky’s sex life no doubt.
Squeeky,
With regard to your poem, here are some links with stories about heterosexuals:
1. http://www.ctpost.com/local/article/College-sex-and-hookup-culture-debated-4741003.php
This article says there are 20 million new STD infections every year, but that “many young people don’t seem to have preventing disease at the top of their minds” because there’s a prevailing belief that they are “immune”.
2. http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/aug/12/police-man-sex-gun-ankles-gwent
There are certainly a ton more where these articles came from. One story I found talked about a heterosexual woman holding two heterosexual men captive at gunpoint and refusing to release them until one of them agreed to have s ex with her.
I guess there are all kinds in every crowd.
Vestal Virgin
Reality is it doesnt matter who gets into any office. they will be owned by the elites before long either willingly thru bribery or forcefully thru blackmail. the voter fraud and laws are just a distraction to make the people think their votes really do count..
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5ut6yPrObw&w=420&h=315]
@michaelm:
I agree there is not a whole lot of difference between the parties. The Democrats at the higher levels are much more interested in staying in power, than doing anything constructive. The Republicans are more honest in their disregard for people, but basically as stupid as the day is long. Choosing between Obama and McCain you either got an educated idiot who never held a steady job in his life, or an old fart who didn’t even know how many houses he had.
Romney gave people a much better choice, as they now has the option of electing somebody who knew how to solve financial problems, no matter how many people got trampled, versus Obama, who doesn’t have a clue how to solve financial problems insuring people will get trampled.
IMHO, the deciding factor is trying to decide which party’s extremists are the most stupid. Because these are the “party faithful” who will get a lot of the agency jobs.The Republican extremists promote religion, family life, and financial independence no matter where you begin in life. While dull, and usually unrealistic, these things don’t kill societies. The Democratic extremists promote sexual extravagance, imaginary family constructs, generalized impracticality, religionlessness, funky environmental craziness, and financial dependence forever. These things do tend to crap up societies.
Where all this crap will probably end is when the markets finally crash, and the country has to get off the “borrowed” money concept, and just start printing currency, which will force them to get back to re-establishing societal norms like families, jobs, and responsibility. Wall Street will have to have a stake put through its heart. The other way that “common sense” will reassert itself is too bad to contemplate.
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
“I can hire one half of the working class to kill the other half.” – Jay Gould financier & tycoon
“It is not enough that I succeed. Everyone else must fail.” — Attila the Hun
@Squeeky,
The least you could do when getting your butt handed to you is give it back.
In order to get votes, the Democrats claim to champion the disadvantaged, when they don’t.
In order to get votes, the Republicans deny stomping on the disadvantaged when they do.
Somehow, no matter which right-wing party wins elections in the United States, the stomping on the disadvantaged continues and gets worse. This happens in countries like the United States where only right-wing parties can contest elections and voters have only the “choice” between the greater or lesser right-wing evil. Until the United States grows a genuine left-wing-socialist Student-Labor-Farmer Party it will never have a political “center.” The right-hand shoulder of the road doesn’t have a “center,” so meaningless has that word become. Personally, I find it tedious and unrewarding to debate the difference between one shade of crony-corporate fascism and another. One bought, one rented. Whatever….
Let’s hear it for:
Leading from Behind
(what we used to call “pushing”)
“Something wicked this way comes.”
We’ve seen it before. We’ve marched to the drums
Then over the edge of the cliff we did go
With out leaders behind shouting “go, people, go!”
Michael Murry, “The Misfortune Teller”
99guspuppet, If what you say is true I hear Somalia isn’t big on voting or social services if you’re thinking of becoming an emigre. Just say’n.
Nal,
War on student voting next step for NC Republicans
Nick,
Just hit another interesting comment. You say Chicago is the voter fraud capitol of the US. And how are you feeling about Rince Priebus? He says Wisconsin is riddled, let me repeat, riddled, with vote fraud.
But I’m sure I can rest easy. No doubt you are hard at work at cleaning that up, Lamont.
@michaelM:
Nice poem! Speaking of presidential banalities, here’s mine, occasioned on Obama’s comments to Jason Collins:
The Pride of the Yankers
(America’s post-lingam cave to Plato’s Retreat???)
Melvin, in his mother’s basement
Found his favorite issue,
And then began to “stimulate”
Ending in a tissue.
Obama said, “I’m very proud!
Let nobody “diss you!””
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
And why would a libertarian support the imposition of all these governmental regulations that make it difficult (and impose a cost) to vote?
Nick,
Above, a woman documents nasty, ugly voter suppression in Milwaukee, WI., Your state, as I recall. Do you belong to the Ross Barnett Club? Or perhaps the Joe McCarthy Klan? A friend of mind tells me Scott Walker belongs to both. That will suffice as proof, right?
Now if you will be kind enough to provide a reason why voter fraud would be necessary in strongly Democratic Chicago along with some supporting documentation that Chicago is the voter fraud capitol of the US. Otherwise, STFU.
Your “histories” anecdotes and mindless snarks grow tiresome.
I wish no one would be allowed to vote…… most people vote for the candidate they think will give THEM the most stolen goodies from taxpayers plus they vote to regulate behaviours they don’t like
Democracy is mob rule 99guspuppet
@dredd: You said,
Yes, I guess the type of people who don’t ask questions are very impressed with it. The emotional type. The intellectually stunted type. Which ain’t me!
Plus, I prefer this version. Very easy to dance to:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-B2lzs9Ebs
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
Elaine M.,
I agree that the comment you referred to made no sense whatsoever. Even more to the point, though, the earlier ones that did seem to make sense only weakened the case of those making it. We can more often dispose of a bad argument made clearly than one cleverly camouflaged by inarticulate babbling — see the deliberately dyslexic career of George “Deputy Dubya” Bush for a peerless example:
Boobie Conference Calls
(from Fernando Po, U.S.A., America’s post-linguistic retreat to Plato’s Cave)
We see them in their meeting room:
The bumbler and the creep.
The lips of one move awkwardly
While English speakers weep;
And snores emerge from Dubya’s mouth
As Cheney falls asleep.
Michael Murry, “The Misfortune Teller,” Copyright © 2006
Rachel Maddow video:
War on student voting next step for NC Republicans
Nal, Rand ‘market forces would have ended slavery’ Paul aside the new restrictions on voting target protected groups, African Americans, Hispanics, old folks, the handicapped and the poor which is a designation that encompasses many of those same constituents.
I asked the question before and didn’t get an answer so I’ll ask it again: back in the day when I did EO work the legal standard wasn’t ‘intent’ driven, it was ‘effect’ driven. Is that still the case or has that been changed? Because if it hasn’t changed then it looks to me like there is a prima facie case that these new laws are discriminatory and the Justice Department ought to have active investigations in every stated that has changed, and tightened, their voting requirements in the last 5 years. It’s not as if the JD had anything else on its plate, like putting corrupt bankers in jail. 🙂
I remember when we used to have professional propaganda trolls.