Category Archives: Voter Suppression

A Message To Tea Party “Patriots.”

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There’s simply no nice way of saying it. You are a bunch of self-serving, gun-toting, conspiracy promoting, anti-intellectual, anti-education, anti-evidence, anti-American nitwits.

You call yourselves Tea Party Patriots, but you’re neither patriotic nor even a party. You are the lunatic fringe. You wrap yourselves in the flag and spout quotes from a select few of our Founding Fathers all the while undermining the very principles they stood for. You say you’re strict Constitutionalists, but it’s apparent that the only part of the Constitution you’ve read is the Second Amendment (and you can only quote half of that). The other principles you attribute to the Founders are actually from the Articles of Confederation, the document our Constitution replaced.

You didn’t have the guts to stand on your own, so you decided to backdoor the Republican Party. Your angry rhetoric and Koch brothers’ millions managed to drive most moderate Republicans from office. As a result, you and your wealthy supporters have destroyed the party of Lincoln.

Now you’re trying to destroy our nation.

Your economic theories not only defy economics, they defy logic. They’re hurtful to children, the elderly, the poor, even veterans. You claim to be worried about the national debt, yet you sat idly by while the previous administration ran up enormous deficits through two ill-conceived wars and the collapse of our economy. Then you blamed President Obama for our economic ills. You watched as President Bush expanded the size of government by creating the government’s second-largest agency, the Department of Homeland Security, then screamed about the growth of government when the new administration took office.

You ignored the bailout of “too big to fail” banks, which saved the jobs of Wall Street millionaires and the assets of billionaires. But you howled in disgust when President Obama loaned money to US automakers, saving tens of thousands of jobs for middle class workers. You whined that you are “Taxed Enough Already” and blamed President Obama for raising taxes, even though tax rates were at a 60-year low.

You claim that you’re not racists, yet every single one of your rallies includes blatantly racist depictions of our democratically-elected president. You call him a Muslim, a socialist, a communist, a fascist and worse. You compare him to Hitler. You have even called him the leader of al Qaeda.

When you’ve failed to win elections, you’ve tried to change the rules. You have tried to suppress the votes of minorities and your political opponents. You have tried to deny women the right of equal pay for equal work. You have tried to deny women the right to control their own bodies. You have held our economy hostage in order to get your way. You have undermined democracy through use of the filibuster and gerrymandering. As a result, our nation now suffers from tyranny by the minority.

Thanks to your tactics, Congress has been turned into a venomous body devoid of compromise. Thanks to your representatives, the approval rating of our duly-elected Congress is lower than that of cockroaches. Thanks to your policies, the very wealthy have become wealthier while the rest of our citizens have suffered. Thanks to you, our nation is on the verge of becoming a plutocracy.

All of that is bad enough. But your real “triumph” is that you have made millions of Americans fearful of their government and of each other. Thanks to you, according to a new poll, 44 percent of Teapublicans now believe that an armed revolution against our government may be necessary…our own democratically-elected government!

Your entire movement is based on lies and meanness.

That said, it’s difficult to determine who is most at fault…you…or those who tolerate you, especially the media that give you undeserved credibility. One thing is certain…your movement would be more accurately called the Tea Not-Really-A-Party Traitors.

A Warning To Democrats:

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From recent polls showing, among other things, that 13% of Americans believe the president is actually the Antichrist, you may correctly assume that the Republican Party is full of a bunch of crackpots (aka the Tea Party). You may rightly believe that the GOP platform is akin to something coming out of the north end of a southbound bull. You may also believe that Americans will figure this out and hand the next election to Democrats.

On the last point, you are most likely wrong!

You assume that most Americans actually follow the news and politics. (They don’t.) You assume the media will expose Teapublican ideas for what they really are. (They won’t.) You assume that voters will realize the superiority of Democratic ideas. (Unlikely.) And you assume that minorities, most especially Latinos, will recognize that Democrats best represent their interests. (Not necessarily.)

Too many Democrats are content to allow Teapublicans to define the Democratic Party and Democratic principles.

We cannot sit back and expect independents, union members and minorities to turn the country blue. All across the country, the GOP is hard at work trying to rewrite voting laws to ensure control of the House and the Senate in 2014, and the White House in 2016.

Even though the Great Recession was caused by Republican infatuation with deregulation, and even though our slow economic recovery is the result of Teapublican abuse of the filibuster and a refusal to compromise, it’s all too likely that voters will hold the White House accountable.

Democrats need to be working to register voters, working to fight voter suppression, working to fight gerrymandering, and working to fight attempts to change the Electoral College. We need to refine our message to make it clear that Democrats support fiscal responsibility, real job growth and the interests of all working people. Also, it wouldn’t hurt for Democrats to make it abundantly clear that we better adhere to the actual teachings of Christ; to show compassion for the poor and powerless; to resist the temptation of greed; to resist the calls for war.

That’s not a religious message. That’s a philosophy that has been largely abandoned by those who claim to be followers. And it’s a philosophy that is appealing to the largest portion of our population.

Democrats also need to make it clear what GOP stands for – Guardians Of Privilege. The GOP supports ever larger tax cuts for the rich and obscene profits for multinational corporations, along with diminished salaries for working people. These GOPstoppers have shown that they are against civil rights, women’s rights and religious freedom. While decrying big government, they want to enforce their own brand of “values” in the bedroom and every other aspect of our society.

Democrats, we’re at a critical juncture. Even if you reject this message, you must understand that we are now in a perpetual campaign cycle. We can’t afford to wait.

The GOP’s Continuing Attack On Voters, Workers, Women And The Constitution.

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Still stinging from its losses in the 2012 election, the Grand Old Party is becoming a Grand Old Pain In The Ass.  Not just for Democrats…for everyone.

While opposing a bill that would raise the minimum wage, the GOP is attacking labor unions across the nation and successfully ending defined benefit pension plans.  Now the GOP is pushing a bill that would loosen the rules for overtime, allowing corporations to overwork and underpay employees.

Famously, the Ryan budget, which was passed by the House, would drastically cut Medicaid, repeal Obamacare and turn Medicare into vouchers.

Although 94 percent of Americans want comprehensive background checks for anyone purchasing a firearm, Teapublican senators are threatening to filibuster any bill that would limit the sale of guns.

In states across the nation, the GOP is pushing a variety of voter suppression laws through state legislatures under the guise of preventing voter ID fraud, a problem that has been proven to be non-existent.   After gerrymandering districts to all but guarantee a Teapublican-controlled House far into the future, the GOP now senses a way to control presidential elections by changing the Electoral College.  The idea is to end the “winner-take-all” approach to electoral votes for states and, instead, award each electoral vote district-by-Teapublican-controlled-district.

If successful, this would almost certainly ensure an endless reign of GOP presidents.

In North Dakota, Arkansas and elsewhere, GOP legislatures are attempting to make abortion illegal. (Of course, the bills will not actually end abortion.  They’ll just drive it underground, making doctors and patients criminals.)  Under the guise of religious freedom, they also want to eliminate contraceptives from health insurance plans and block sex education in public schools.

In Arizona and numerous states of the Old South, a variety of so-called nullification bills have been introduced in the state legislatures.  If passed, these bills would ostensibly give the states power to ignore any federal law the GOP deems unconstitutional.  (Of course, this power is reserved for the Supreme Court and the bills are in direct defiance of the Constitution’s federal supremacy clause.)

Finally, a bill introduced by North Carolina Teapublicans will allow the GOP-controlled state legislature to name an official state religion in defiance of the Constitution’s establishment clause.

Does anyone else get the feeling that the GOP would be happier if our Constitution didn’t exist?

Supreme Attack On Voting Rights.

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Today, the Supreme Court took up a challenge to the Voting Rights Act of 1964 which was renewed in 2006. If you’re not familiar with the Act, it was passed by Congress to prevent many of the states of the old Confederacy from denying African-Americans representation and the right to vote.

For many years, in the Jim Crow South, blacks were denied the vote through a combination of literacy tests, poll taxes, outright violence and intimidation. To end, or at least reduce, those practices, Congress demanded that southern states present any changes in voting procedures and redistricting to the Department of Justice for prior approval. Frustrated by the restrictions, Shelby County, Alabama challenged the law in court with the backing of the Republican Party.

It’s no surprise that Republicans would want to repeal the Voting Rights Act so they can better gerrymander congressional districts and suppress minority votes. After all, African-Americans voted overwhelmingly for President Obama.

Why wouldn’t they? Barack Obama is the first president with African-American heritage in our nation’s history. Moreover, since the Republican Party embraced the Southern Strategy, it has consistently supported policies that discriminate against minorities. GOP economic policies have been particularly damaging to minorities.

According to a new study by the Brandeis Institute on Assets and Social Policy, the wealth gap between blacks and whites has accelerated since the early days of Trickle Down Economics in 1984. Over a 25-year period, the median net worth of white households has grown to $265,000 compared to just $28,500 for black households!

If Justice Scalia has his way in deciding the Voting Rights Act, things are bound to get worse.

During oral arguments before the Court, Scalia said the act represents the “perpetuation of racial entitlement!” Say what? Exactly how does this pompous right wing apologist think African-Americans are entitled? Entitled to less representation than they already have? To be denied the right to vote? To even less wealth?

After hundreds of years of slavery and discrimination, it is likely to take many more generations of protections for African-Americans to level the playing field. At the time of emancipation, very few were literate and most had no property or assets of any kind. They were denied adequate wages for back-breaking jobs. They were segregated into slums with inferior schools. They were denied the right to vote. More recently, they have seen multinational corporations ship their jobs overseas.

Unfortunately, African-Americans and other minorities still need help to end the cycle of poverty and violence. They still need help achieving equal representation. And they need help to fend off win-at-any-cost politicians from marginalizing their representation and denying them the right to vote.

What they don’t need is a fat white man in a robe making insensitive and racist comments before voting to limit the few protections they have.

Preparing To Steal Elections.

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On Monday, Teapublicans in the Virginia State Senate used the absence of a Democratic senator (who was attending the Presidential Inauguration) to ambush Democrats by calling for a vote on a bill to redraw senate districts. The bill gerrymandered the state to ensure that Teapublicans would enjoy a virtual permanent advantage.

This is but the most recent effort by Teapublicans to prepare for the 2014 elections. It appears that they no longer believe they can win based on ideas. So rather than modify their ideas to make them more attractive to a majority of Americans, they have decided to cheat. They are in the process of gerrymandering wherever possible and passing laws that will make it more difficult for minorities and Democrats to vote.

Even Joe Scarborough, a former Republican Congressman, noted the other day that Republicans wouldn’t have retained control of the US House of Representatives if they hadn’t “cheated” through gerrymandering.

Another Teapublican attack involves remaking the electoral college. Currently, all but two states follow the nation’s original winner-take-all approach to electoral votes. In other words, if a presidential candidate wins the state’s popular vote, all of that state’s electoral votes go to that candidate.

But Teapublicans want to change that. They want the electoral votes to be awarded by district. Therefore, by gerrymandering the districts of the states, they hope to change the outcome of elections. The plan would make it far easier for a candidate to lose the popular vote and still win the election.

These tactics may represent the greatest threat to our nation’s democracy since the British invaded Washington, D.C. in the War of 1812. The only question is, will voters allow these anti-American thugs to get away with it?

The Party Of Lincoln?

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Republicans are fond of calling themselves the “party of Lincoln.”

Of course, it is true. At least it used to be.

But if you watch the Steven Spielberg movie, Lincoln, you discover how far the party has strayed from the principles of its most revered member.

Lincoln saved the Union. Today’s Republicans are trying to tear it apart. Lincoln abolished slavery. Today’s Republicans are trying to abolish the right of the slaves’ descendants to vote. Lincoln was a liberal. Today’s Republicans hate liberals. And Lincoln was horrified by war. Today’s Republicans glorify it.

But there still could be hope for the party. If today’s Republicans attend the movie this holiday season, they just might realize how far they’ve strayed from the past. They might realize that President Obama has more in common with Lincoln than their home state of Illinois.

Of course that would require that they are willing to be open-minded and to check their hatred at the theater door. Oh, never mind.

GOP Racing Toward Oblivion.

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According to Fox News Channel and conservative hate radio, President Obama only won a second term because the majority of Americans wanted free stuff and they believe Democrats will give it to them.

(In other words, they’re assigning blame to the 47 percent as described by Mitt Romney.)

In a remarkable show of cluelessness, Teapublican pundits ignore the fact that their party did everything in its power to deny minorities the right to vote; that they want to deny millions access to healthcare; that they want to balance the budget on the backs of the poor and the middle class; that they want to eliminate safety nets such as Medicare and Social Security; that they want to eliminate taxes for the rich; that they want to impose their religious values on everyone; and that they want to deny civil rights to minorities, women, gays and lesbians.

It’s a surefire winning strategy…for Democrats.

Let’s hope Teapublicans continue to pursue this strategy. Wouldn’t it be great if all future political contests were between Democrats and the Green Party?

GOP Strategy: Lie, Cheat, Steal, Suppress And Spend.

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Think I’m exaggerating?  Consider this:  For months, we’ve been bombarded with commercials from Republicans and their SuperPACS based on pants-on-fire lies, such as Romney’s latest gem that Chrysler is planning on moving the production of Jeeps to China.  Never mind that the Chrysler CEO immediately denounced the commercial as a blatant lie.  Mitt the Twit has continued to air it.

Mitt has also continued to air commercials stating that President Obama has cut $716 billion from Medicare (he hasn’t); that President Obama began his first term with an “apology tour” of the the Middle East (he didn’t); and that Mitt recommended the same steps to save the US auto industry as President Obama (he didn’t).

In the primaries, Mitt ran as a “severe conservative,” stating that he would sign a bill to end legal abortion; that he believed all abortions should be outlawed even if the pregnancies were the result of rape or incest; that he would dismantle the EPA and the Dept. of Education; that he would cut taxes for everyone, including the wealthy; and that he would spend billions on our military that the Pentagon hasn’t even requested.  Despite all of this, he claimed that he would somehow pay down the national debt.

But when it came to the first debate, he denied almost all of those statements.  He has now portrayed himself as a centrist.  As a result, we don’t know where he stands on any issue.  We don’t know his economic plan, assuming he actually has one.  What we do know is that he is a serial liar.  And despite his slogan “Believe in America,” we know that, instead of investing his millions in the US, Mitt has dodged taxes by stashing his money offshore in Switzerland, the Cayman Islands, Bermuda and Luxembourg.

As for Mitt’s party, we know that it has spent the past four years blocking virtually every bill and presidential nomination.  Republicans have used the filibuster hundreds of times – not just for big items, but for ordinary business, in hopes of making President Obama a one-term president.

Instead of trying to sell their plutocratic vision of America, Republicans and their billionaire supporters have spent billions attacking President Obama and other Democratic opponents.  They have also looked for new ways to suppress the vote of those who might disagree with them.  We’ve already seen the impact of their efforts in Ohio and Florida where early voting has been limited forcing people to stand in line for hours.  Of course, this has been especially true in counties with large minority populations.

Election day is almost certain to be worse.

Let’s hope that a majority of the electorate has recognized the Republican strategy and makes them pay.

Race And Politics In America.

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When Barack Obama was elected the 44th President of the United States in a veritable landslide, many Americans believed it signified a post-racist US.  But instead of marking the end of racism, Obama’s election revealed it.

Look at what’s happened over the past four years.

Even before the election results were counted, white right-wingers questioned Obama’s citizenship and, thus, his right to be president.  They claimed that the election was stolen through voter fraud by minorities with the help of ACORN. The Southern Law Poverty Center, Homeland Security and the FBI noted a spike in the number of racist domestic terrorism groups.  Gun sales soared on baseless fears that our first black president would take away our guns.  And an all white group of Republican politicians made it their priority to block every Obama-backed bill and nomination in order to make him a one-term president.

And that was only the beginning.  The racist assault on this president was carried out in many other ways.

For example, during the 2009 State of the Union speech, a white congressman broke protocol to shout “you lie.”  White parents and politicians tried to block the president’s address to schoolchildren for fear their kids would be “indoctrinated.”

When President Obama authorized loans to US automakers, an almost entirely white group of angry citizens demonstrated with undeniably racist signs portraying our president as the Joker, calling him a communist, a socialist, a fascist and even a racist.  The focus of their wrath allegedly was that they were overtaxed, despite the fact that their taxes were the lowest in 60 years.  They called themselves the TEA (Taxed Enough Already) Party and threatened to “exercise their Second Amendment” rights.  They called themselves “patriots” and the President a “Kenyan.”

Backed by the billionaire Koch brothers, the Tea Party verbally assaulted President Obama’s healthcare plan (a plan originated by Republicans and signed into law by former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney).  Much of the anger was directed against non-existent “death panels” and fear that illegal immigrants might be helped by the plan.

In the 2010 mid-term elections, many Tea Party members were elected to Congress, mostly from southern states that once had been part of the Confederacy.  Undeniably, race played a very large part in their elections.  Tea Party candidates won by creating fear of our “illegitimate, un-American” president and of anyone who looks like a Latino immigrant.

There have been videos of racists, including some cops, taking target practice with photos of President Obama as the target.  Racists have regularly flown the Confederate battle flag from the back of their pickups to show their hatred of our president.  There have been a host of racist bumper stickers and T-shirts attacking our president.  Republicans even ridiculed First Lady Michelle Obama’s efforts to improve the health of children through exercise and better nutrition.  Not because it’s a bad idea, but likely because she’s not white.

Leading up to November 6, race continues to play a large role in the 2012 elections.  Republicans have passed voter ID laws in order to suppress Democratic votes in minority-dominated areas.  There have been attempts to intimidate and mislead minority voters.  Republicans have tried to limit poll hours to make it more difficult for working minorities to vote.  At the same time, Republicans have resurrected anti-gay marriage propositions in states in order to excite their most highly-prejudiced base.

Throughout many parts of the nation, yard signs and campaign materials for President Obama’s re-election have been stolen or vandalized with increasing frequency.  Opponents shout racist threats and obscenities at those who display their support for the president.  A racist was admitted to a rally for Mitt Romney with a T-shirt reading “Put the White back in the White House.”  And, in the most telling example of racism, Colin Powell’s thoughtful endorsement of President Obama was ridiculed merely because they’re both of African-American heritage.

Think about that.  Should we then dismiss any Romney endorsements made by white people?

What Lessons Will Be Learned From This Election?

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If Romney and the Teapublicans win this election, it will have been demonstrated that you don’t have to offer better ideas to become president.  You can merely lie, cheat and buy your way into the White House.

If Romney wins, it will have been shown that the road to the White House begins with questioning your opponent’s citizenship and patriotism.

Future candidates will be encouraged to lie about the incumbent’s every intention and motivation.  They will see the value of encouraging their party to block every proposal the incumbent puts forward, even if their own party recommended it; to block the majority of his nominations and appointments; to blame the president for their own party’s failures; to provide few details about their plans to govern; to constantly change positions to match the audience; to use every means possible to suppress votes; and to use unregulated SuperPACs to buy the election.

Of course, there are two other lessons to be learned; that what you have said and done in the past don’t really matter; and that you can hide your money offshore without consequences.  Some people will even call you a patriot for evading taxes.

Ask yourself:  Is this what our Founding Fathers intended?  Are these the lessons you want to teach your children and grandchildren?