Monday, July 10: The beat goes on. Georgia’s attorney general is appealing a court order blocking the voter ID law.
Saturday, July 8: Hube tells me that the National Education Association opposes the Georgia voter ID laws generally but requires ID for its own elections. (The NEA didn’t comment on the Georgia law specificially, but Hube said it is opposed to voters showing ID. It’s still hypocrisy no matter what distinctions the NEA may draw.)
Update (7/7 @ 4:31 p.m.): A judge has decided that blacks in Georgia (use BugMeNot to bypass reg.) are too helpless to go to the DMV and obtain a free state-issued ID.
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Even if I lived a thousand lifetimes, I don’t think I’ll ever understand why there aren’t more black people outraged by the implication that blacks are ignorant and helpless. Every time I hear or read about some white liberal arguing for lower academic standards for black children, supporting set-aside programs for black-owned businesses, and blaming “racism” for crime and other pathologies, I want to vomit.
But I retch alone.
As I’m sure most of you know, Georgia legislators recently passed a “controversial” law requiring voters to show state-issued identification before voting. When I first read about this “news,” I was confused. Of course people must show ID before voting. I thought that was standard practice. Showing ID is a basic and common sense requirement. Yes, the unscrupulous will always get their hands on fake IDs; some states even issue driver’s licenses to illegal aliens. But requiring ID is at least a step in the right direction, right?
Wrong. According to white liberals, requiring voters in Georgia to present state-issued identification is discriminatory to “elderly, low-income and minority voters.” That’s code for black people, and, thanks to lax immigration enforcement, illegal aliens. (The “elderly” can get out to vote, but they can’t go to the DMV to get ID?)
Last year, a group of black politicians in Georgia walked out of the Capitol building after the law was passed. Walked out because their colleagues passed a law to protect the integrity of the voting process and to make sure those eligible to vote are voting. And they invoked Jim Crow, that repugnant system of government-mandated segregation based on skin color.
They fought the law, and the law won. For now. Last month the Department of Justice approved the law, but black liberals and their white enablers are still fighting it. What a noble cause!
Such silliness conjures up images of the poor ignorant darky caricature, too unrightously indignant to realize he sounds like a shameless fool, too ignorant to understand simple instructions or ask for help, too lazy to get up and go down to the DMV to get a FREE state-issued ID, too ingratiating and bent low to see all the white folks laughing at his sorry, indignant, ignorant, lazy, unmotivated butt.
Angry. Insulted. Disgusted. These words are too weak to convey how I feel about people (especially whites) who think blacks are too stupid to follow the rules like everybody else.
I’m just…
Related post: Voting Rights Act of 1965
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La Shawn,
Your thinking on this is crystal clear. There is absolutely nothing discriminatory about requiring identification to establish who you are, in order to preserve the sanctity of the voting process.
I often wonder if those who are so adamantly opposed to something so simple as requiring a state issued ID for voting, are not really trying to encourage vote fraud. Perhaps all the hand wringing and indignation are really covering up the true motive which is to continue a practice of entrenched voter fraud that they have come to depend on as a little added insurance for their continued election when things are a little close.
Why, if an ID is required, all the convicted felons, illegal aliens, and legitimate voters who follow the old adage “vote early and vote often” (with emphasis on the “often”) would be disenfranchised, or at least for some, limited to one vote.
I think the “so-called” black leaders a la Al Sharpton are just creating more conflicts that resolving issues.
Funnily, comedienne Wanda Sykes said that everytime she sees Sharpton on TV, she worries (paraphrasing what she said on a talk show) “oh my God, what is he gonna say this time, Please don’t embarrass us”
I was laughing out loud because I say the same thing whenever I see them on TV.
I was watching the movie remember the titans with Denzel Washington, he played a very though coach Boone. His assistant coach Yoast questioned his coaching practices of being too hard on the boys.
Boone angrily told Yoast that “by being nice and catering to their every needs, he’s crippling them for life”
That’s my feeling sometimes about how some liberal black politician act, they are crippling an entire generation.
Yes, racism still exists and probably will always exist, but I think it’s more of an individual/personal experience than hatred against an entire group/race/community IMO.
As for the having an idea, all I say is that people never realize the opportunity they have until they loose it. Many places on this planet, people would be dying to have the right to vote freely. It just annoys me that many of the people I know take this right for granted, don’t participate in politics and just don’t care. These same people who don’t vote would be the first ones to protest if the right to vote is revoked. and we’re here worrying about the requirement to have an ID. When I see how many p That’s common standard, just like you need an ID to cash a check.
The people opposed to an ID requirement fall into several categories:
1. Cloying and disingenuous white liberals (the worst of the bunch).
2. Illegal alien facilitators.
3. “Civil rights activists” who ignore the fact that good citizenship requires responsibility.
4. Members of the Victim Culture who have been conditioned to believe the garbage spewed by the 3 groups above.
You know, this relates to a discussion with UNK on another topic. You really wonder if these “white liberals” actually have good intentions with such efforts because the effort lacks so much in common sense. The same goes for the black politicians you refer to. I think that is more a case of pandering with little regard to the implications. They simply want to give the impression of supporting the minority population whether they are actually doing so or not. With the black politicians, it is just the continued obsession with fighting racial “oppression”. I think that defines black politicians and if they are not fighting some type of perceived racial oppression, then they don’t feel that they are doing their jobs.
If no officials complained about this law, the general public, black, Hispanic and white, would probably not have cared. Heck, a person who doesn’t make the effort to get a free state ID (are you sure they are free, because they are not free where I am) will probably not make the effort to vote.
LaShawn,
I live in Atlanta, and my wife and I (You correspond with her occasionally), were shaking our heads in disbelief. Liberals are in an uproar over an ID being needed to vote. But check this out.
When the law initially passed 2 years ago, there was an uproar over the 10.00 charge for the ID. The state said some would qualify to have the fee waived. It was still ruled unconstitutional. So the state passed a new one, waived the fee, and implemented servies to ensure people could get the IDs with minimal hassle. They sent converted several school buses with ID making capability into poor areas, that resulted in little to no turnout for the free IDs. Even the AJC (Atl Journal-Const.) ran an article commenting on the low turnout for the buses. (trying to find the article without paying archive stacks fee. I’m a cheap bastard!)
Anyway, I think this whwole issue bogus. In 2006, it’s hard to believe that many people don’t have ID’s. Even poor people need an ID to set up entitlement benefits. Someone mentioned the homeless. I doubt they will stand in line to vote, but I’ll give the critics that one. The elderly needs ID’s to obtain perscription meds, and other medical benefits. I’m not sure, but I think some entitlement recipients get EBT cards, that may require an ID.
I would extend the deadline till the end of next year to get a free ID, to vote in the 2008 election, just to nullify the excuses and complaining.
But since many consider us (Blacks) too weak and incompetent to perform the most basic tasks, this voter ID thingy may be traumatic as well
You don’t have to be literate to get the card, it’s free, and they come to your area to give to provide one to you. Yup…That’s pretty racist and oppressive.
La Shawn:
Even the “third world” Mexicans have a better voting process than Americans.
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=ODhlMDk0YjcxZTUwNTJkMzUzZmMwNDQyYmFmOTJiZDU=
There is NO “absentee registration” for absentee voting.
ID, fingerprinting, and indelible ink is required.
Rep John Lewis and his friends are “stuck in the 60’s” when guilty Whites let him and others get away with such nonsens.
No way Mexicans are any wealthier than Blacks were in the 60’s. The difference is that Mexico doesn’t have a class of “Guilty Whites” with shoulders to cry on like Americans do.
Having spent the last 10 years in GA I can tell you they (crying Liberals of all races) never stop crying.
Like Bush’s election, they are ticked that Republican Sonny Purdue won the governor’s spot. (First Republican to win it in over 100 years.) So no matter what Republican’s propose they claim it’s racist.
But just like the Civil Rights Movement of the 60s used media to show the foolishness of White racists, today’s broadcasts are showing how foolish Liberals in GA are in protesting photo ID be used for voting.
And what’s really funny, is that those Black Liberals rarely take the South GA Democrats to task for being the biggest racist in the State House!
But even the white politician liberals, at all the democratic events where they speak, you can always tell how puzzled and a bit uncomfortable they are when Sharpton starts to speak in a “what is he gonna say this time?” kinda way.
It’s funny, they then start applauding, but if you truly observe their facial expression you can guess what they must be thinking.
You would think, in this 21st century, people could see each other as – people! Particularly in this country. And since 9/11, it should be clear to us (even liberals) that we are ALL threatened, whatever the color of our skin or our political or religious affiliations. That should be a unifying factor – and it worries me and breaks my heart that it is not.
As usual, La Shawn is correct. Requiring identification for EVERYONE seeking to vote is simple common sense. What about this is difficult for the ACLU to grasp?
What’s odd is that you need an ID to enter buildings nowadays, but no one is whining about that.
Of course people must show ID before voting. I thought that was standard practice.
Not in Texas. If you have your voter registration card, you don’t need an ID.
It sounds like what these guys are mad about is that they wont be able to get illegal immigrants to vote.
Hilarious.
Why don’t we also open the voting up to Europeans and Asians? If the Chinese and the Norwegians want to vote in a Georgia state election, I say let em.
Heck lets give Iraqis and Al Qaeda that right too.
After all, we as Americans can vote in the mayor election for Oslo, the school board election in Shanghai, etc…
Seriously, when are one of these black liberals going to prtest about the problems of their own community? When? What would it take for them to care about black on black crime, illegitimacy, or too many blacks not caring about education?
Of topic just a bit, but Stepin Fetchit (real name was Perry something, I think) was a smart guy, a talented actor and a respected writer. He played a character in films that was the perfect likeness of what white liberals expected (the soft bigotry of low expectations), but he could laugh up his sleeve all the way to the bank.
Miss La Shawn,
Nice write up! I totally agree. I thought you would find that link I sent you yesterday to be alarming. It’s tough to take a man seriously who presses his hair (even when he ran for President).
Al Sharpton(I can’t even address him as Reverend anymore) continues to be in bed with the devil. The devil being the homosexual agenda, Planned Parenthood and the ACLU.
This whole issue with the IDs for voting is joke. I have always had to show ID when I voted in California. This upcoming election will be my first in Atlanta. I don’t see what can prevent those who actually plan on voting to get to the polls or to get a free ID if needed.
The whole uproar regarding the Voting Rights Acts is totally overblown. Obviously, Al Sharpton doesn’t have a real understanding of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The 15th Amendment guarantees our right to vote. But the Act didn’t guarantee Blacks the right to vote; we already held that right since the ratification of the 15th Amendment 95 years earlier. The Voting Rights Act provided for enforcement of that right. (But do you think Al and Jesse know this?) The Voting Rights Act authorized the federal government to send federal registrars to counties where local registrars refused to accept the registration of Black voters, to send observers to monitor elections and ensure that Blacks were allowed to vote (and that their votes were actually counted), and to mandate that certain areas obtain the approval of the Attorney General before making changes to their voting requirements or procedures. The Act was never intended to be in force permanently, but Al doesn’t either realize it or is too stupid to realize it. It was initially effective for a period of 5 years; that period was later extended for another 5 years, then another 7 years, and finally for another 25 years, ending in 2007. Even if the Act is not extended again in 2007, this will not mean that the right to vote will “be taken away” from us — it will simply mean that the federal government will no longer require states to seek federal approval before changing their voting laws. I see it as a positive. Just as our State is requiring IDs to vote and doesn’t need to ask the feds if it’s okay.
My opinion of Al and Jesse is that they constantly preach that we are too stupid, too slow and always need hand-outs. I would support the Religious Right anyday over the liberal God-less left that Al and Jesse obviously support.
Bottom line, liberals are a joke because they have an excuse for everything.
So, LaShawn, I suppose you are against the ballot being presented in Ebonics as well!
Have you no compassion?
>>…he could laugh up his sleeve all the way to the bank.>>
Kind of like Dolly Parton. Makes you wonder who’s the fool!
Shade, the ID’s in Georgia are free. Previously they were not, although you could get the fee waived. The fee was the problem with the first ID law Georgia passed, so they went back and changed things up a little, so that state ID’s are now free to all Georgia citizens (this is what got around the “poll tax” protest over the previously required fee for an ID).
Chris Gill mentioned the homeless might be an exception but that most people have some form of ID just to function in society. I would submit that even being homeless requires an ID. Working part-time at a local shelter, I know that an ID is usually asked for of new intakes and most can provide one. Those who do not, get a 3 day grace period because they are required to get a tuberculosis test within that time, to stay in or even eat at the shelter. (Off topic, but do you know why TB has become a big problem for most shelter operations? Illegal aliens bring it across the border, since they arrive unscreened as opposed to legal immigrants who undergo screening for such things, and illegals often stay at shelters as they move about the country.) In addition, many chronically homeless receive government assistance of one form or another and consequently need ID to establish bank accounts (which a surprising number have) or at least to cash their checks at check cashing establishments.
Another off topic illegal alien trivia item is that we accept deportation hearing paperwork (which has the person’s mug shot on it thus qualifies as a photo ID) for ID purposes! The ones I have seen here in Oklahoma usually are for immigration court in San Antonio, after they were caught coming across the border and released pending their hearing (you can bet that if they’ve made it all the way to Oklahoma they’re not going back to San Antonio only to be sent home). Oh wait, I forgot, we don’t do catch and release anymore.
People in Afghanistan walked hours in the heat and the sun just to vote. I just don’t understand what there is to whine about if the only obstacle between me and a ballot is a little piece of plastic that establishes my identity–especially when it’s so easy to get. If transportation or fees are a problem (in Georgia, it’s free, but in Wisconsin, I think it’s $5), I know of many many people, including myself, who would gladly drive a person to the DMV and help pay for his ID.
Disenfranchised my bum. If my vote is canceled out by an illegal/repeat voter, then I’m the one who is disenfranchised. ID checks would fix a lot of that.
Interesting tidbit, LaShawn. I worked as a poll watcher in Maryland a couple of years ago (I live in New Carrollton, although I was poll watching in Silver Spring). We were told we could only ask for ID if we thought the person didn’t match what info. we had for the individual (birth dates, mostly). If someone named Mary showed up looking more like a Mario, we could ask for ID. Or if someone who looked 22 showed up as someone with a birth date of 1929. I will say that most of the voters who arrived had ID in hand, even without being asked.
What I DID find interesting is that my sister was asked for her ID when she went to vote in Potomac. Now, she’s lived at her address–& voted in every election at that same precinct–for over 10 years. So why would she have been asked for ID? Well, the person asking for her ID was the Democratic poll watcher–& my sister was registered as a Republican. Now she couldn’t raise a stink–she’s a white Republican, but we poll watchers knew (implied but never specifically told us) that we couldn’t/shouldn’t ask Black voters for ID. THAT would be racist or harassment. A Democrat harassing a Republican for ID–well, in Maryland, that’s all in a day’s work.
Kind of like Dolly Parton. Makes you wonder who’s the fool!
I think that misses the point. The character he portrayed promoted a very negative stereotype, regardless of how much success it brought him or the type of person the actor really is. Rappers who sport gold teeth, bling, pants hanging low, etc. are likewise laughing all the way to the bank, especially when some of them actually came from middle class.
Maybe they’ll prefer the system used in other countries – a national identification with thumbprint. That way, if you don’t have yours when you go vote, you just use your thumb!
Honestly this is the most backwards protest I’ve heard, unless of course they want those inelegible for voting to actually vote.
True enough, Shade.
I can’t disagree at all with the negative stereotype that Stepin Fetchit portrayed, but what were the options for a black actor in that era? He opened a lot of doors for those who followed. I think he deserves a great deal of credit for working within a horribly unfair system and succeeding, just as folks like Bill Robinson, Hattie McDaniel and the Step Brothers did.
But today’s rappers have no outside constraints, and therefore no excuses for perpetuating negative stereotypes.
The issue for the whiny liberals here in Georgia was the change from allowing other identification (utility bill, voter registration card, etc.) to requiring photo id. Previously, one had to show a passport, license, and about 10 other types of id to vote. The issue of voter was used as a reason and the question was asked by democrats about fraud prevention for absentee voting, which the GOP pushes and requires no id but a signature. The politics on the GOP side gets lost in these discussions. There has been no effort to control fraud for absentee ballots, while there were no cases of voter fraud reported in the past several elections.
The legislators walked out after negotiations with the GOP majority failed. It was a political disagreement. While it makes for a good rant, there is more substance to the issue than just a bunch of liberals thinking blacks are too dumb.
LaShawn is correct to retch about the patronizing assumptions, but she is missing the larger problem.
Aided and abetted by the mostly liberal media, the Demunist Commiecrats have learned that they can get away with just about anything if they cry, “Waah! Racism!” loud enough, no matter how bogus or phony:
–voter fraud (here)
–academic cheating (nationwide)
–theft and corruption (Marion Berry, Gus Savage, William Jefferson, Cynthia McKinney)
–certain “hate crimes” (Crown Heights, Reginald Denny, The MEChistAs “Reconquista”)
–even MURDER (O.J. Simpson)
It would seem, based on the wording of the article in your Update, that this decision was not reached due to a conflict in the federal Voting Rights Act, but rather a conflict in the State Constitution. It would seem then that there is at least hope, that if Georgia REALLY wanted to, they could amend their state constitution to add the requirement.
>>If my vote is canceled out by an illegal/repeat voter, then I’m the one who is disenfranchised.>>
Good point, Vida! Maybe if there’s a major problem in the next election with the possibility that there are illegals voting, those of us who are legal should sue because our rights being tromped upon!
>>The character he portrayed promoted a very negative stereotype.>>
Hmmm. What you say about Stepin Fetchit is true – it _was_ a very negative stereotype, but when Dolly Parton came to fame, the stereotype she used was also negative – the dumb blonde with gigantic boobs(hers?) that fulfilled every man’s wildest dreams. Maybe not as offensive to you, but I found her objectionable. I found her embarassing until I realized she was dumb like a fox.
What’s even worse as far as I’m concerned is that the stereotypes they both promoted have been adopted and exaggerated until neither one seems nearly as bad as they were originally.
I do understand your sensitivity, though. It’s not unjustified. We’re just sensitive to different things.
The worst type of racism is not the red-neck, “I hate all _____________.” types. It is actually the paternalistic do-gooder who somehow has arrived at the conclusion that a minority cannot cope with the demands as others do. They see the minority as a lesser person. They genuinely feel good about their efforts on behalf of minorities and have never confronted their true feelings that drive their actions. They have no idea that THEY are racists. This explanation doesn”t apply to politicians because they constantly exploit any source of tension they can to achieve their objectives.
Hazel,
You say there were no cases of fraud reported in the last election, but how would anyone know? Here in California they aren’t allowed to ask for ID, and it’s pretty obvious there’s a large number of illegal aliens voting. But nobody can prove it because there isn’t enough of an audit trail.
when Dolly Parton came to fame, the stereotype she used was also negative – the dumb blonde with gigantic boobs(hers?) that fulfilled every man’s wildest dreams.
I have personally never seen any role Dolly Parton played that impressed me as being a “dumb blond”. The only impression Dolly’s roles have given me is one of a comical country girl who happens to be rather voluptuous. She has only been in a handful of movies and I cannot recall one where she is portrayed as dumb. She has never stripped in front of the camera and has never been in a sex scene (unless I missed something). She was sexually harrassed by her boss in 9 to 5, but she resisted him. Even her role as a madame was not a stereotypical “dumb blond” role in my opinion.
“a person who doesn’t make the effort to get a free state ID (are you sure they are free, because they are not free where I am) will probably not make the effort to vote. ”
Since most people have figured out that that their one vote is very unlikely to change the election results – virtually no elections are determined by one vote – even white people will often not vote. It’s called the paradox of voting. Some academic calculated that the odds of being run over by a car on the way to vote is larger than the odds of one vote changing an election.
It takes social pressure and get out the vote campaigns to get both Republicans (vote or the gays will marry) and Democrats to turn out in number. And any slight disincentive will reduce turn out.
Of course, some ID may be needed for fraud.
I would wonder more what kind of lives (homeless, jobless, not able to cash a check, wanted by the police where an ID be used against you) people are leading where they don’t need an ID???
Even Paris Hilton of Vote or Die did not bother to vote.
“a person who doesn’t make the effort to get a free state ID (are you sure they are free, because they are not free where I am) will probably not make the effort to vote. ”
Since most people have figured out that that their one vote is very unlikely to change the election results – virtually no elections are determined by one vote – even white people will often not vote. It’s called the paradox of voting. Some academic calculated that the odds of being run over by a car on the way to vote is larger than the odds of one vote changing an election.
It takes social pressure and get out the vote campaigns to get both Republicans (vote or the gays will marry) and Democrats to turn out in number. And any slight disincentive will reduce turn out.
Of course, some ID may be needed for fraud.
I would wonder more what kind of lives (homeless, jobless, not able to cash a check, wanted by the police where an ID be used against you) people are leading where they don’t need an ID???
Even Paris Hilton of Vote or Die did not bother to vote.
It may have been done on purpose to go with the “Georgia Darkies†title, but that photo of black people dressed in black with a black background is anexample of how to blend into your background.
Which reminds me of another gripe of mine. If you are black and wear black cloths late at night, don’t jaywalk in the dark. But I am sure this is a self-selecting group of the less advantaged.
“All right, you can vote…but we won’t let the Irish!” If you don’t get this quote, go rent “Blazing Saddles”.
That blacks need to be led and treated like helpless children is an assumption that had its genesis on the plantations. I guess Democrats are being true to their root beliefs, wrong as they are. That might mean that Al Sharpton and JJackson and company are suffering from Stockholm Syndrome. I hope they get over it.
As for the Wanda Sykes line, now you know how I feel every time Howard Dean opens his trap!
“how I feel about people (especially whites)”
Yeah I get racism from white and black people.
Because I’m white and take kids out to the countryside on organized camping trips, I get accused of being a do-gooder. It’s often the same kind of people who say this. Projection and denial. They wouldn’t dream of having fun with their neighours because they don’t trust them. So they project their distrust on to my motives and deny the reality.
I like camping. I like having fun with people. I also hate seeing kids stuck watching TV all day long. So do their parents. So we go.
Now I find that doing something positive about that is ok if the kids and parents are all white (our local scout group). BUT, if they are black…I’m an evil lying liberal racist do-gooder…
No-one cares about the fact that the parents of these kids (usually single parents) who are both white and black, indian, afro-carribean, Indian, etc. To me they are just people the same as me.
Yet because I have acquired enough outdoor skills (in the scouts and the air cadets) to ‘lead’ their kids in activities.that makes me worse than a redneck who ties people from trees?
Well, sorry, I’ll continue my vile racism and show kids how to cut wood properly, while them good ol’ boys show ‘em how to tie nooses.
Y’see, race isn’t the issue with me…but if I give a starving man a bowl of soup and he happens to be black, I get branded a vile racist worse than the Klan. Worse still a godless liberal. But I can deal with labels. They don’t mean squat. It’s not like people treat me differently because I’m white (sarcasm)
Someone said here:
“especially the whites”
Well I’m white and I refuse to join in a generalizing hate-fest because I genuinely believe I’m better than that. I’d prefer to treat my neighbours with any respect they deserve more than I would like to hang them from trees OR give them ’special’ treatment. I’d hope they do the same for me. However, when all the ills of society get blamed on ‘do-gooder whitey’ makes me feel I want to be careful who I’m smiling at.
I completely agree with LaShawn that this ID fiasco smacks of segregation. We should all follow the law regardless of race. And we should all question the law if it can be shown to be unjust. In this case, it’s a shame again that politics is getting in the way of the blame game!
Regards,
John
Apologies for the rant, but I’m getting tired of the it’s the whites! It’s the blacks! it’s the white liberals! it’s the black wingnuts totality of it all.
What ever happened to the individual?
La Shawn, the Donks cannot win in the arena of ideas, so they have to preserve their ability to cheat at the ballot boxes. I lived in New Mexico, with the same sort of insistence on ID’s not being shown, and heard people on radio talk shows brag about voting 3 or 4 times! I tried to show my voting registration card in the election of 2000, and the poll worker held up his hands like Dracula seeing the Cross! I’m so happy to be living in Texas now! We’re required to show, sign and initial validity at the polls!
It’s hard to quarrel with requiring a photo ID at the voting booth, except that it may be a lot of money for very little gain. In New York, we don’t require ID (we do require a signature, which should match the one on the book at the polling place). There don’t seem to be many complaints. Or rather, we have complaints, but they are about other things. How does the MVD make sure you’re eligible to vote before issuing you the ID? Or is that someone else’s responsibility?
In 1974, my dad was offered $5/precinct to ride a bus around Chicago and vote for…some Democrat candidate whose name I’ve forgotten. At each stop, everyone would be given their name and address for that location. He passed, but the story has me convinced someone with my name and the address on my birth certificate has been voting straight-ticket Democrat in Cook County, IL, I turned 18 in 1993 (for reference, my family moved to Iowa in 1977, and I haven’t lived in IL since).
At the U of Iowa in 2004, there were campaigns by anti-Bush student groups to get university students to request absentee ballots at their parents’ address and then register to vote “live” on campus, giving them two votes (probably in two states, since most UIowa students are not from Iowa).
I now live in Milwaukee, where more people voted on Election Day 2000 and 2004 with no ID and fraudulent addresses than the number of votes Gore and Kerry won WI.
Since winning is more important than winning fairly–or because these candidates and their backers know they can’t win in a fair election–and there are moneyed organizations devoted to registration fraud, I’m afraid a “photo ID” requirement would merely be a gold mine for the fake ID makers.
And I don’t know how to stop college kids from registering two addresses when they legitimately receive mail in more than once place.
OTOH, ink is cheap. I’m willing to walk around on Election Day with a purple finger if it means the DNC vote machine has to recruit more winos for their buses.
As long as the photo id is free and the means of getting one is easy, I don’t understand the fuss. When there was a cost to it, as first proposed, I saw the fuss. In MD, voter registration is free.
But, it always struck me as odd as things like this tends to get “the right” worked up when voter fraud is most likely to happen with absentee ballots.
I can’t speak for anyone else on “the right,” but my problem is the implication that black people don’t have enough sense to obtain an ID for whatever purposes. The reasons for presenting ID before voting – preventing fraud, tracking terrorists, whatever – are not what I’m focusing on in this post. Again, I’m speaking for myself, not for other members of “the right.”
John is right. In 1960, racism was a group issue. In 2006, I don’t think we should make racism into a black vs whites kinda thing. It’s more of an individual thing. You may have a neighbor who’s racist, but that doesn’t mean that the whole race of that neighbor is racist or shares the same views on race. 100 years ago, people from the same group shared the same views on race about people from another group. But today it isn’t the case anymore.
One interesting quote I read from someone years ago stated “blacks were hated as a group in the south, but loved as individuals, blacks were loved as a group in the north, but hated as individuals”
Again, I haven’t done any research, but I’ve lived in various parts of the North East region and I’ve also visited various places in the south. My own personal conclusion is that race relations are better in the south than it is in the north based on what I’ve observed.
As for what John is saying about giving a bowl of soup to a starving man. That’s what I feel, especially when it comes to issues of affirmative actions and welfare programs to help.
I think you create more divisions by only catering to the needs of one particular group. I’m a firm believer in helping each other and building each other up. But poverty isn’t a black issue, it affects various racial groups, if the goverment is going to have programs of assistance, they should make it for everyone who is in need of assistance. I do believe that the goverment should assist people in need of, but let’s include everyone. I don’t believe in spoon feeding people, but helping people rise up. I’d rather see a program that helps a pregnant teenage girl get back on track in terms of education and programs to give her some working skills so that she could get another chance (we all make mistakes)through some short term assistance, than a check every month for her to do nothing and sit back and have more babies.
I always think of Harriet Tubman, when she was free, she could have stayed in the north, but she went back and risked her life to free more slaves. I think it’s our duty as human beings to help one another rise up. It’s the christian thing to do, as long as we’re building people up, not spoon feeding and crippling.
Maureen Lynch Said: “A Democrat harassing a Republican for ID–well, in Maryland, that’s all in a day’s work.”
SteveDinMD: That’s the least of our problems regarding poll integrity in the “Peoples’ Republic of Maryland.” My friend Chris, in the 1994 Gubernatorial election, attempted to vote at his specified polling place 30 minutes before the polls closed. A registered Republican, he was DENIED the opportunity to vote. The poll workers claimed that he wasn’t registered, and that his name was probably removed because names are routinely purged when a registrant hasn’t voted in 2 election cycles.
For his part, Chris had voted in EVERY election since arriving in MD in 1986, and had the actual paper poll receipts (given to him after casting his vote in every election) to prove it. The next day, Chris called the MD Board of Elections to inquire whether someone had voted in his name. The person he spoke to insisted that such inquiry be made in writing, so the next day he sent a letter to the Board by registered mail. In their reply, the MD Board of Elections refused to specify whether or not anyone had voted in Chris’ name, claiming that such voter information was “privileged,” and illegal for them to divulge.
Suffice it to say that Democrat Parris Glendening was declared the winner over Republican Ellen Saurbrey. This was despite the fact that provably more DEAD people voted than the purported total margin of victory, and despite the fact that Maryland law required that the election be re-done under such circumstances. The fraud was MASSIVE — so bad in fact that the Maryland Attorney General (a Democrat, by the way) was himself proven to have voted TWICE — but it didn’t matter. More recently, the Democrat-controlled General Assembly has worked to eliminate what few poll integrity measures that had been in place, rendering elections in this State a complete joke. We might as well just specify that all ballots be filled out by workers at Democrat Party Headquarters and do away will any remaining veneer of integrity.
#46 SteveDinMD: Isn’t the Maryland motto: “Vote early and vote often”?
Heliotrope: It’s a well-known fact that the Democrat Party of Maryland buys votes at a price of $10 or $20, depending on precinct and other considerations. The method used is known as “The Voting Chain.” In Maryland, ballots have for some time been cast using Op-Scan forms — filled out by making a dark mark on a page which is then read by an optical scanning machine. When a voter presents himself to a poll worker, he signs his name and receives a blank form to fill out in a privacy booth, and which he would then insert into the scanning machine as he exits the polling place.
When running a Voting Chain fraud, the Democrat Precinct Boss would enter the polling station when it first opens, get his blank OP-Scan form, and fill it out so as to vote for the Democrat ticket. Rather than turning the form in, however, the Precinct Boss would exit the polling station with the completed form tucked under his shirt. Working from a nearby house or apartment, the Precinct Boss would then have each of his Chain Voters sequentially enter the polling station, collect his blank ballot, cast the Democrat Pary Line ballot, then leave the polling station with the blank ballot tucked under his shirt. The Chain Voter would then get paid once he delivers the blank ballot to Precint Boss, who would fill it out for the Democrat ticket and repeat the process ad nauseum.
This mechanism works equally well with either legitimately registered voters or fraudulent voters, ensuring that the Democrats get the votes they pay for. New, computerized polling machine used on a trial basis, didn’t produce any paper record, thus jeopardizing the time-honored Voting Chain. What did the Democrats do? They went to court to compel the exclusive use of voting machines that produce permanent, paper records of whom each voter cast his ballot for, to be given to each voter as a receipt. Fraud is alive and well in the People’s Republic!
La Shawn,
Being comment #49 I may not be seen or heard by many (especially since you’ve already blogged again), but I think this problem you’re complaining isn’t isolated to just racism. I blog about disabilities, specifically AD/HD, Depression, and tic disorders. The point I try to drive home is that you don’t necessarily need medications to overcome your disabilities. We can use other coping strategies, such as Cognitive Behavior Therapy or, in my case, attitude and humor and a trusty PDA. This message is both hailed and reviled. Some people agree with me and likewise have taken control of their lives with will, discipline, and a large arsenal of tips, tricks, and techniques to manage their problems. Others really buy into the party line, believing that only medications can provide their salvation. But instead of agreeing to disagree, the detractors go further. They declare that I can’t have real problems if I’ve dealt with them without medications – that I’m delusional. Others get mad at me because they feel I’m trying to make them feel bad for using medications.
How this relates to the issue you’ve brought up is that it seems to me that some people are simply more comfortable with having somebody else to blame for their troubles. And like pharmaceutical companies preying on the infirm and weak, politicians are more than happy to take advantage of this attitude.
Of course, there are reasons things are the way they are. Programs have been put into place to help those who seemingly couldn’t help themselves, but now the momentum seems to have carried the “Help” into a position of enablement, not empowerment. Depressives, for example, don’t want to be told they can learn to think differently to improve their outlook. And some blacks don’t want to be told they alone are responsible for their individual success. The problems are deep rooted and ingrained over decades. It will take quite a bit of education to reverse the damage.
Douglas Cootey
The Splintered Mind
Heliotrope: It’s a well-known fact that the Democrat Party of Maryland buys votes at a price of $10 or $20, depending on precinct and other considerations.
Always asserted, never proven.
I’ve voted in Baltimore City, Montgomery County, Howard County, and Anne Arundel County.
The method used is known as “The Voting Chain.†In Maryland, ballots have for some time been cast using Op-Scan forms — filled out by making a dark mark on a page which is then read by an optical scanning machine.
Not true.
The last time I voted in Baltimore, it was using the old fashioned voting machines.
In Montgomery County, it was a “chan type” form.
In Howard County it was Op Scan form which was read on site.
In Anne Arundel it was Op Scan form read on site and “chad type” form.
DarkStar: Actually, election fraud was positively proven in 1994. As for specific allegations of vote buying, it’s widely acknowledged to be true in political circles. A former co-worker’s spouse, who is extremely active in Democrat Party politics in Baltimore City, has admitted as much to me. She claims to be disgusted by endemic corruption in the Party, and is supposedly working internally for reform.
I, myself, have voted in every MD election since 1986 in the following counties: Prince Georges, Anne Arundel, Howard, and Carroll. Op-Scan forms were used in every instance except the 2004 election at my polling place in Carroll County. Computerized voting was used this last time out as part of a controversial trial program — controversial because no paper record was returned to the voter. I don’t know how many precincts were so equipped. As for old-fashioned voting machines, which are less susceptible than Op-Scans to certain types of fraud, I don’t know a single person who has seen one in at least the last 20 years. Everyone I know has cast his/her ballots via Op-Scan forms, exclusively, up until 2004. To me and my circle at least, your experience would seem to have been extremely unusual.
A question to SteveDinMD: I understand that one of the vote lodes that is being mined in Maryland is at the nursing homes. As I understand it, party operatives get oldsters registered and then “help” them complete their absentee ballots. Apparently, people who are totally out of touch with reality can vote if those who provide care do not enter an objection.
What is your information on this?
Heliotrope: I have no specific information on this in Maryland, but it seems possible, even likely. A few years ago, a Democrat Party operative was arrested in Bridgeport, Connecticut for an election fraud focusing on nursing homes. As I recall, it was alleged that after registering the nursing home residents as absentee voters, he personally collected the blank ballots and filled them out himself. What tipped off authorities was the fact that hundreds of absentee ballots were mailed in bulk at a single location. Examination of the ballots revealed that each absentee voter was a nursing home resident, and each ballot was filled out exclusively for the Democrat Party ticket. I don’t know the outcome of the case.
I often visit a particular nursing home, and the overwhelming majority of residents are obviously incompetent to cast a ballot. Some ARE competent, but, alas, most are not, and I don’t know what criteria exist for establishing/verifying voter competence. Suffice it to say that this is an area ripe for fraud.
SteveDinMD: As you well know, there are many “homes” where the owner has become a full time “care giver” for a few elderly at less than the prevailing rate for nursing home care. Every one of the 50 states has problems finding and regulating these places. In many instances, they stay in business engaging in all sorts of political shenanigans.
I have been told by a source I respect that party operatives in and around Baltimore have helped a number of these “homes” stay in business in exchange for participating in the absentee ballot scheme. That is to say, fraudulent votes are more valued than minimal care of an aged human being.
#14 So what Al presses his hair , if he had an afro, locks,jerri curl, baldy, you would have a problem with that also?
We don’t need id to vote here, we just need more people to care and show up to vote. Maybe a lot of people don’t want to vote or get a free id. Get yours and do your thing, they will have to live with who ever we put in office.
We can’t help if people think blacks are too whatever to do whatever.
If we, as citizens, do not insist on establishing stringent measures to ensure poll integrity in EVERY jurisdiction, we will most assuredly lose the franchise — and our freedom. We must ensure that only bona fide citizens vote, vote freely, and vote only ONCE!
Purported attempts to increase voter participation by diluting such assurances are misguided at best, and are mostly likely veiled schemes to undermine poll integrity. If a person is too lazy or stupid to cast his ballot, then the prospective benefit to society from his participation in the political process are too meager for us to pursue. Do we really want to aggressively introduce such random noise into what should be a thoughtful civic process? I think NOT! As a society, we have far more pressing concerns than the political whims of fools and layabouts.
I was reminded of this by some NBA player’s pet cause, but if you get an ID, you can also become an organ donor and help someone else out.
DarkStar: Actually, election fraud was positively proven in 1994.
No it wasn’t, it was alleged but never proven.
As for specific allegations of vote buying, it’s widely acknowledged to be true in political circles.
It’s never proven. It would be a violation of eleciton laws if done. I keep hearing the allegations with the statements that it’s easily shown, but nothing is done.
A former co-worker’s spouse, who is extremely active in Democrat Party politics in Baltimore City, has admitted as much to me. She claims to be disgusted by endemic corruption in the Party, and is supposedly working internally for reform.
Then, she should drop the dime. But, again, since it doesn’t happen, it’s all alleged.
I’m dead serious here. If the allegations are that bad, they should be sent to the court system to be played out there.
I, myself, have voted in every MD election since 1986 in the following counties: Prince Georges, Anne Arundel, Howard, and Carroll. Op-Scan forms were used in every instance except the 2004 election at my polling place in Carroll County.
Montgomery County had “chad like” voting where you slip the card into a machine, align it with the ballot choices, make your selection, and push down on the lever, punching a hole in the card. If there were enough questions and positions, you turned the card over and did it again.
Everyone I know has cast his/her ballots via Op-Scan forms, exclusively, up until 2004.
Glad to meet you. Now you know someone who didn’t.
To me and my circle at least, your experience would seem to have been extremely unusual.
Yeah, me and the entire county before the last election.
SteveDinMD said: Actually, election fraud was positively proven in 1994.
DarkStar said: No it wasn’t, it was alleged but never proven.
SteveDinMD: Yes, it WAS proven. In the investigation following the election, the Democrat Attorney General of Maryland was proven to have voted TWICE. That’s FRAUD, plain and simple. Also, more DEAD people were proven to have voted than the total purported margin of victory for Democrat Parris Glendening. That’s FRAUD again. Case closed.
Now that we have conclusively established that there WAS willful fraud in the 1994 Maryland Gubernatorial election, lets examine its significance. First, I don’t personally believe that the MD Attorney General himself voted twice in the election. He actually moved his residence (and by implication his polling place) in the interval separating the 1994 election and the one preceding it. That said, SOMEONE cast his ballot for him, in his absense, at his old polling place. Understanding this point is the key to understanding just how massive the 1994 fraud was.
Now think of those several hundred (I forget exactly how many) dead voters. The Democrat Party news machine in Maryland argued that these PROVEN improper votes represented but a small (though their number exceeded the margin of victory in the election) anomaly. That’s simply not so. Think not of the several hundred dead voters, but rather think of what they REPRESENT. In actuality, they’re a perfect, statistical sample from which we can estimate the magnitude of the 1994 fraud. The number of votes cast by dead voters can be used as a proxy for estimating the total number of votes fraudulently cast on behalf of voters who never went to the polls on election day.
This is what we can surmise happened to the MD Attorney General. He properly cast his one vote at his new polling place. Back at his old polling place, however, he didn’t show up, yet his name was still on the register. When it came time to stuff the ballot box, the Party hacks back at the old polling place simply ascribed the additional, fraudulent ballots to whomever on the register didn’t show up to vote. Not recognizing the prominent name, and having no way of knowing that he’d voted elsewhere, the fools voted on behalf of the Attorney General. This is also presumably what happened to my friend Chris and many others, who were turned away from the polls when they attempted to cast their ballots near closing time. Unbeknownst to them, the Party hacks had already voted on their behalf, not expecting them to show up.
How massive was the fraud in 1994? One quick way to come up with an estimate is to determine what percentage of dead people on the register voted in the election. This is a proxy for the percentage of ALL voters who had ballots fraudulently cast on their behalf when they didn’t show up at the polls. Multiplying this number by the total number of registered voters who did NOT vote in the election yields a rough order of magnitude approximation of the total number of fraudulent votes. Though I offhand forget the precise numbers, the few attempts to scientifically analyze the returns that I read about all put the total number of fraudulent votes cast at over 100,000. Glendening not only lost the election in 1994, it wasn’t even close. He was nevertheless innaugurated Governor on the strength of perhaps the largest provable American election fraud of the 20th Century.
Miss La Shawn,
You are right on the money. You’re not alone, of course, but I am also continually surprised at the lack of outrage against the bigotry of lowered expectations.
If a critical mass of blacks ever figure out that the Democrats have sold out their kids’ futures in favor of teachers’ unions, condemning them to whatever life awaits the under-educated, the Democrats would either have to reverse their priorities, or they would never win another election anywhere outside of the Northeast.
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