Is it About the Vote?

[paft.livejournal.com]

What moved GOP Governor Jan Brewer to sign the Soviet-style show-me-your-papers law is the exploding number of legal Hispanics, US citizens all, who are daring to vote -- and daring to vote Democratic by more than two-to-one. Unless this demographic locomotive is halted, Arizona Republicans know their party will soon be electoral toast. Greg Palast, Gregpalast.com

Greg Palast has hit on what may be the method behind the madness of Arizona’s recent anti-immigrant law – voter suppression. Even if the law is overturned eventually, it can still be used in the short term to prevent thousands of legal Hispanic voters from filling out a ballot.



Governor Brewer, Palast points out, has a history of this. A very recent history. As Arizona’s Secretary of State. she oversaw a purge in which at least 100,000 voters were purged from the rolls, most of whom were Hispanic.

A Texas lawmaker is now planning to introduce a bill similar to Arizona’s.

The fact is, the right has long had a problem with the vote and all those people who actually get to do it. The typical assumption seems to be that if someone trying to vote is dark skinned, there must be some sort of dishonesty going on.

Rush Limbaugh Why, why this furious reaction to the Arizona immigration law? I’ll tell you why, that’s why I am here and you are there. The left, the Democrats, Obama, recognize that this notion of proving one’s identity is a lethal blow to their agenda….It’s regards the vote. Illegal voting, illegal voters is the only hope the Democrats have of retaining power….You see, the Democrats are betting everything on their ability to maintain vote fraud.

Beck even seems to have a problem with the very concept of “Democratic election.”

Glenn Beck
Democratic elections. You’ll hear this when they talk about the “Democratically elected leader of Iran. The democratic leader Chavez. Democratically elected you know! Castro, democratically elected, Hitler, democratically elected.” It’s code language.

The right wing is edging ever closer to coming out and simply saying that the franchise should be limited to their kind of voters – people of a certain income level, of a certain ethnic and religious background, of a certain viewpoint. That's the only way they can be sure that elections will come out they way they want them to.

As Tom Tancredo put it a tea party gathering just a few months ago:

Tom Tancredo, February 2010
Because, uh, I think we do not have a civics literacy test before people can vote in this country, (wild applause) people, people who could not even spell the word ‘vote’ or say it in English, (cheers) put a committed socialist ideologue in the White House. His name is Barack Hussein Obama.

Comments

[underlankers.livejournal.com]

Since when is taking over a country by armed force the way Castro did a democratic means of election? I suppose by that standard the Bolsheviks won the election years of 1918-1922? Hitler *was* elected but by properties of Parliamentary governments that would never translate to here.

That said, this bill reminds me rather too closely of the Grandfather Clause....

[underlankers.livejournal.com]

BTW, if I may-this is one of your better recent posts....

[mahnmut.livejournal.com]

Under-L sez:

- Bolsheviks: check.
- Hitler: check.

Thus, the world is saved and the Sun shall rise again tomorrow morning. One more victory for Obscure Historic References & Demokrrssy. Yay!

[paft.livejournal.com]

What has Palast said in the past the qualifies him for the tin foil hat brigade?

[gunslnger.livejournal.com]

As I noted in the mirror post to this, she's found someone as paranoid as she is.

[telemann.livejournal.com]

Arizona Republicans have a long and proud history of challenging minority voters, going all the way back to William Rehnquist, who was a part of "Operation Eagle Eye," a group of Republicans that went to minority dominated voting districts to challenge voters.

Obviously Fatboy Rush is concerned with the possibility of over 300,000 illegals in Arizona gaining the right to vote, as a glance at the 2008 election results will show:

[paft.livejournal.com]

He's concerned with the possibility of over 300,000 legal HISPANIC voters voting.

The notion that masses of illegal immigrants are marching to the polls to vote in our elections is a myth.

[badlydrawnjeff.livejournal.com]

Greg Palast? You ain't gonna get far with that.

[paft.livejournal.com]

What in his piece is factually wrong?

[readherring.livejournal.com]

Nice post. But I believe that the Arizona law has more to do with reckless passage of populist legislation than with voter suppression. I'm sure that this law will anger many Hispanic and non-police-state voters to go to the polls to vote against the law's supporters. And I'm sure that the Arizona politicians took that into consideration before they proposed the law, and figured they'd get more populist support from it than they would get angry protests.

It's furiating, because I see them as trashing American rights and freedoms just to cash in on the current anger over immigration. I hope this whole thing blows up on them, and I'm frightened that it won't.

[paft.livejournal.com]

Well, Brewer's history indicates that she has an interest in suppressing the Hispanic vote. This law, even if its overturned, is a golden opportunity to prevent legal hispanic voters from getting to the polls.

[debergerac.livejournal.com]

funny stuff. janet napolitano was governor and democrat during all that time, and guess what, she was twice elected, the second time by a wide margin.

but i love how people give latinos so little credit. i also love how they're always assumed to be "dark-skinned". ah the racial stereotypes.

[paft.livejournal.com]

You consider complaining about the suppression of latino voters is giving them "so little credit?" Why?

[telemann.livejournal.com]

Funny stuff: the Arizona State Dept is in charge of elections, voter registrations and policies, not the governor. Republican Jan Brewer (2003-2009) was the Secretary of State and had nearly 100,000 (primarly Latino) voters removed. Even more funny stuff: Napolitano was only elected in 2002 by only 20,000 votes; since most governors are typically re-elected (as was Jan Brewer) anway, your points are meaningless (as usual).

Now have some cautus tea.

[devil-ad-vocate.livejournal.com]

I was wrong. I thought the Republican Right had alienated every possible group - I forgot about baseball players:

"The Major League Baseball Players Association opposes this law as written," the union's executive director Michael Weiner said in a statement. "We hope that the law is repealed or modified promptly. If the current law goes into effect, the MLBPA will consider additional steps necessary to protect the rights and interests of our members."

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/2010/04/30/2010-04-30_players_union_exec_blasts_arizonas_new_law.html#ixzz0mcV5NC1W

What do you expect...

[sophia-sadek.livejournal.com]

... from organized labor? Those unions simply have no respect for Rednecki rights and privileges. If it were up to them, labor would no longer be cheap and fugitive. You gotta hand it to those Republicans: they sure know how to take their slaves from neighboring nations.

[op-tech-glitch.livejournal.com]

Republicans? Steal elections????

Oh, the OUTRAGE!!!!!!!!! [/sarcasm]

[devil-ad-vocate.livejournal.com]

"A Texas lawmaker is now planning to introduce a bill similar to Arizona’s."

She will introduce it - that's as far as it will get. Gov. "Goodhair" Perry has already said he doesn't feel 'it's right for texas'.

Let me sum this up

[mrbogey.livejournal.com]

Everyone who opposes you is racist.

Anyone who believes that the ballot box needs to be secured is racist.

Republicans hate democracy because they get upset when Democrats steal elections.

There. That covers all your points perfectly.

Re: Let me sum this up

[sophia-sadek.livejournal.com]

Good point. If a Republican has been excluded from his rightful office, then he's been robbed of his place. Why don't the Republicans simply form the righteous nation of Redneckistan on a formal basis and stop belly aching about stolen elections.

And here I thought liberals were supposed to understamd nuance

[rasilio.livejournal.com]

typical Democan - Republicrat squabbling. Neither side actually listens to the other and turns everything into a referendum on something. For the Democans it is typically race or class, for the Republicrats it is typically the Constitution or taxes.

Here is the thing. When Republicans talk about "stolen elections" they are not in fact talking about legal residents voting. In fact were it not for the race bating by the Democans the Hispanic voters of this country would quickly realize that ideologically they had far more in common with Republicrats than Democans. No, what they are referring to is Democan voter fraud which almost always revolves around dead people and those not actually registered or legally allowed to vote casting ballots anyway (this is not to say Republicrats do not also engage in vote fraud, they just typically chose different avenues) .


No on the root of your accusation. No Palast is an idiot of the first order. First, exactly how can this cause legal residents of any ethnicity to vote? Intimidation? I'm sorry, of you're going to vote you should friggin expect to have your identiy verified and really how stupid would you have to be to show up at a polling location without a Social Security card in your possession? What he really is doing is typical Democan Race Baiting by inflaming a non issue into a big deal just to make the republicrats look bad and keep those minorities locked on the Democan plantation.

No for more lessons in nuance.

See, someone being opposed to ILLEGAL immigration is not the same as someone being against immigration or even the same as someone being prejudiced or bigoted against Hispanics. The main reason why Republicrats oppose ILLEGAL immigration is because it is ILLEGAL, not because it is immigration or Hispanic. In fact the overwhelming majority of Republicrats would be perfectly ok with much easier immigration laws but much stricter punishments for illegals.

What is more it is the Republicrats who actually have reasons for supporting LEGAL immigration as they more often represent the management side of corporations who love to see an influx of low cost labor, on the other hand, just ask the boys over at the Teamsters or AFLCIO (Staunch Democans all) how they feel about filthy mexicans stealing their jobs.

The simple mindedness of the argument that Republicrats = Racists and Democans = Non Racist is exactly that, the argument of someone so simple minded they make George Bush look down right Confuscian. Are there racists in the Republicrat party? Certainly but then there are just as many in the Democan party and neither party has a lock on truth or fairness.


No, if you want to oppose the Arizona law there are plenty of perfectly good reasons to do so (like it goes way too far in instilling a police state) but making up reasons that have absolutely nothing to do with it just makes it look like you really have no ideas of your own and merely want to attack the Republicrats.

Re: And here I thought liberals were supposed to understamd nuance

[debergerac.livejournal.com]

in his own, stupid, and typically conspiratorial way, palast accidentally did a us a real favor. he flashed the spotlight over one of the real issues. an issue hidden the past few days under layers of third reich comparisons, probable kgb-style interrogations and racism accusations.

it is and always has been largely all about the vote. hispanics have sadly been reduced to the category of voting block. congratulations, amigos. welcome to america. but first, vote for me!

[root-fu.livejournal.com]

Its not about immigration, its about politics. Good call.