Lawless

[paft.livejournal.com]

As I was saying:

Republican Wisconsin State Senator Scott Fitzgerald on what Walker’s union busting is REALLY all about:

If we win this battle, and the money is not there under the auspices of the union, Obama is going to have a much more difficult time winning this election and winning the state of Wisconsin.

Democratic Representative Peter Barca, as the Joint Conference of Committee rams through the bill stripping public sector unions of most of their collective bargaining rights:

This is a violation of law. This is not just a rule. This is the law.

This attack on public sector unions is not about being fiscally responsible, any more than “voter fraud” laws supported by Republicans are about respecting the vote.

This is about breaking the unions, defunding the Democratic party and making it difficult for President Obama to be elected. It is about the raw exercise of power, regardless of the law. It is about establishing what amounts to single party rule.

I draw a direct line to this moment from our willingness, as a country, to countenance what happened during the 2000 presidential “election,” when Florida’s Republican Secretary of State, Katherine Harris, deliberately disenfranchised several thousand legal voters. Afterwards, the leadership of both parties told those of us who objected to sit down and shut up about it, as if valid American voters being turned away from the polls were nothing to make a fuss about.

The Republican Party learned they could win by openly and illegally subverting the will of the people and trashing the constitution and rule of law. Nobody should be surprised that they’ve escalated this tactic over the years. A large voter turnout is a liability to the G.O.P., and they know it. Their agenda directly and adversely affects too many voters – minorities, women, gays, union members, and lately, the middle class in general.

They don’t really need or desire a lot of voters anymore – just a nasty core of astro-turf supported yellers, and corporate buddies to funnel money into their campaigns.

And we, as a country, have allowed this to happen.

I stand behind pro-union demonstrators in Wisconsin. I wish them luck. I hope the tide of protests doesn’t recede. I hope that every single one of those Republicans who are ramming through this law find themselves confronted with hisses of “shame” every time they step out into public. I hope that recalls send as many of them as possible packing in the next couple of years.

But to every one of those protesting people who voted for Scott Walker, or those other Republicans I also say, “elections have consequences.” By voting for people who have nothing but contempt for you, you threw away freedom with both hands.

Good luck getting it back. And I mean that sincerely.

Crossposted from Thoughtcrimes

Comments

[paft.livejournal.com]

Paft: Does the fact that most black residents of inner cities vote Democratic mean that Democrats will have the power to do anything they want in the inner cities? Really?
d: if they have no power, then who does?

I didn't say they had "no power." I questioned whether or not they have "the power to do anything they want in inner cities." The fact, for instance, that black precincts voted overwhelmingly for Democratic candidates did not prevent many of those same black precincts from seeing massive voter suppression in Florida in 2000. The people calling the shots about the poll lists were not Democrats, but the Republican state attorney general and her people.

d: how exactly does the republican party suppress voters in democrat strongholds?

Voter caging, removing names from the voter rolls, sometimes sending out deceptive flyers to black neighborhoods, assigning a deliberately low number of voting machines, or making sure the machines shipped to those districts are badly maintained and prone to breakdowns...

Do you understand how voter suppression works?

Paft: Is it your contention that Black Americans are, as a group, stupid and gullible and consistently vote against their own best interests?
d: most voters are stupid and gullible, full stop.

Are black voters, as a group, more stupid and gullible than white voters?

[debergerac.livejournal.com]

I didn't say they had "no power." I questioned whether or not they have "the power to do anything they want in inner cities."

nobody nowhere has the power to do whatever they want, but they have as much power as the people of any other city.

The fact, for instance, that black precincts voted overwhelmingly for Democratic candidates did not prevent many of those same black precincts from seeing massive voter suppression in Florida in 2000.

move them goalposts! we're not talking about florida 2000, we're talking about the plight of inner city blacks in cities run for and by democrats.


The people calling the shots about the poll lists were not Democrats, but the Republican state attorney general and her people.

who cares? this isn't the topic of discussion.


Voter caging, removing names from the voter rolls, sometimes sending out deceptive flyers to black neighborhoods, assigning a deliberately low number of voting machines, or making sure the machines shipped to those districts are badly maintained and prone to breakdowns...

"democrat stongholds" have the majority. any voter suppression would more likely be against non-democrat voterss.

Do you understand how voter suppression works?

yes. and contrary bto your implications, it's a tactic used for centuries by political parties past and present. it's also irrelevant to the topic at hand.


Are black voters, as a group, more stupid and gullible than white voters?

already asked and answered.

[paft.livejournal.com]

d: Nobody nowhere has the power to do whatever they want, but they have as much power as the people of any other city.

Not when their own party isn't in charge of how voter polls are handled on the state level.

PFT: The fact, for instance, that black precincts voted overwhelmingly for Democratic candidates did not prevent many of those same black precincts from seeing massive voter suppression in Florida in 2000.
dd: move them goalposts! we're not talking about florida 2000, we're talking about the plight of inner city blacks in cities run for and by democrats.

And the 2000 election provides a well known example of how precincts run by Democrats are victimized by voter suppression.

PFT: The people calling the shots about the poll lists were not Democrats, but the Republican state attorney general and her people.
d: who cares? this isn't the topic of discussion.


Given that we're discussing how voter suppression works, it most certainly is on topic.

Paft: Voter caging, removing names from the voter rolls, sometimes sending out deceptive flyers to black neighborhoods, assigning a deliberately low number of voting machines, or making sure the machines shipped to those districts are badly maintained and prone to breakdowns...
d: "democrat stongholds" have the majority. any voter suppression would more likely be against non-democrat voterss.

In other words, you don't have a clue about how voter suppression works. It's not the local precincts that determine who gets on the voter rolls, what voting machines get assigned, or how many. Nor do they have the power to prevent Republican operatives from sending out deceptive mailers to local residents.

Paft: Are black voters, as a group, more stupid and gullible than white voters?
d: already asked and answered.

No it wasn't, and you know it.