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Subscribe to RSSFrom a continuing series of articles, Who Can Vote? , a News21 investigation of voting rights in America. The series began with the article, New database of voter fraud finds no evidence that photo ID laws are needed.
By AJ Vicens and Natasha Khan
News21
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Discuss this series of stories on the Facebook page for Open Channel, the NBC News investigative blog. |
As Jamila Gatlin waited in line at a northside Milwaukee elementary school gym to cast her ballot June 5 in the proposed recall of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, she noticed three people in the back of the room. They were watching, taking notes.
Officially called “election observers,” they were white. Gatlin, and almost everyone in line, was black.
“That’s pretty harassing right there, if you ask me,” Gatlin said in the hall outside the gym. “Why do we have to be watched while we vote?”
Two of the observers were from a group based more than 1,000 miles away, in Houston, Texas, called True the Vote, an initiative that grew out of the Houston branch of the Tea Party known as the King Street Patriots. The stated goal of True the Vote is to prevent voter fraud, which the group and founder Catherine Engelbrecht claim is preventing “free and fair” elections.
Back in April, at True the Vote’s second national summit in Houston, more than 300 people from 32 states were transfixed by Engelbrecht and an array of conservative speakers.
“You have all been chosen because you are all warriors,” the 42-year-old mother of two said to cheers at the Sheraton Houston Brookhollow Hotel.
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Who can vote? A national News21 investigation of voting rights in America. |
A few people wore $20 True the Vote T-shirts showing Martin Luther King Jr.'s image over the quote, "Peace if possible, truth at all costs." The quotation is widely credited online to 16th century theologian Martin Luther, not the civil rights icon. However, Mark Edwards, senior adviser to the dean of the Harvard Divinity School, told News21 he could not be sure the quote was Martin Luther's.
Few minorities heard Engelbrecht say “the time has come for a national call for election integrity,” but about 100 minority protesters were outside, protesting True the Vote and a national trend of tougher voting regulations.
The protesters, mainly blacks and Hispanics from a coalition of Texas minority rights groups, came to the Not In My Houston protest with their mouths covered in bright blue tape and holding signs that read, “We will not be silenced" and "Stop voter suppression!"
Natasha Khan/News21
A protester from the "Not in My Houston" campaign, a coalition of civil rights groups, stands outside the Sheraton Brookhollow Hotel in Houston where True the Vote held its second national summit in April. The groups accused True the Vote of trying to silence minority voters by sending observers across the nation to minority polling places.
In just three years, True the Vote has moved beyond Texas and established itself as one of the political right's fastest growing and most controversial groups.
With its model of poll-watcher training and voter-roll analysis used in at least 20 states, True the Vote is part of a national movement to tighten regulations on early voting and voter registration and to require that voters show ID at the polls in the name of fighting voter fraud.
Since 2010, 37 state legislatures have passed or considered such laws, championed by conservative activists, including True the Vote. Critics claim these new restrictions could suppress the votes of millions of people, especially minorities, across the country.
Engelbrecht testified in favor of the photo ID law in the Texas Legislature in 2011. The U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division blocked the measure in March, claiming it could disproportionately suppress Hispanic votes. A three-judge district court panel in Washington heard arguments in the Texas case in July.
“For every fraudulent vote that is cast, a valid vote is disenfranchised,” Engelbrecht told News21, saying that the only way to trust elections is to make sure “only legitimate votes are counted to begin with.”
While Engelbrecht says her group is about fighting election fraud, Democrats and civil rights activists say True the Vote and related organizations target black and Hispanic polling places to hold down minority votes.
“You don’t have to beat up people up or chain them to keep them from voting,” said Terry O’Rourke, an attorney in the Harris County, Texas, Attorney’s Office in response to the King Street Patriots and True the Vote’s 2010 activities.
Engelbrecht and her supporters can point to little evidence of voter fraud prosecutions, relying on anecdotes and news reports alleging fraud.
Still, she says True the Vote will train 1 million poll watchers nationwide, leaving “no polling place unmanned” to stand guard against election fraud in November.
Labor, civil rights and voting rights groups, including the AFL-CIO, NAACP, National Council of La Raza, also are coordinating poll watchers.
Others, including Demos and the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law, plan to educate election officials on what poll watchers can do.
With President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign and civil rights groups expected to mobilize their own armies of lawyers and poll watchers, and True the Vote’s efforts, thousands of poll watchers could face off in November.
“We are concerned about groups that exaggerate claims of voter impersonation in order to organize efforts that can lead to intimidation of eligible voters,” said Eddie Hailes, managing director at the Advancement Project, a Washington D.C., civil rights group.
True the Vote was active in Wisconsin for weeks before Walker and five Republican officials faced a labor-backed recall after the state limited the collective bargaining rights of public employees. True the Vote trained about 500 poll watchers, mainly through Web sessions, and recruited volunteers from across the country.
A week after Walker beat back a labor challenge to keep his office — which True the Vote called “a victory” — the group joined with conservative government watchdog Judicial Watch to sue Indiana elections officials over the state’s alleged failure to maintain accurate voter rolls according to federal law.
News21 is a program of the Carnegie Corporation of New York and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation that is helping to change the way journalism is taught in the U.S. and train a new generation of journalists capable of reshaping the news industry. It is headquartered at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University. Since 2006, nearly 500 top journalism students in the U.S. have participated in the landmark national initiative.
Through multiple email blasts, True the Vote urged support for Republican Florida Gov. Rick Scott’s effort to remove thousands of suspected non-citizens from the state’s voter rolls. What has become known as the “purge” faced several lawsuits that claimed Florida tried to strip eligible voters, predominantly minorities, of the right to vote. The group also joined Judicial Watch in a federal suit backing Florida against the federal government.
The activities of the King Street Patriots and True the Vote have attracted two lawsuits and a state ethics complaint in Texas since 2009. In a lawsuit brought by the Texas Democratic Party, a judge ruled in March that True the Vote was acting as a political action committee, violating state campaign finance law by providing illegal contributions to the Republican Party in the form of trained poll watchers and Republican-only candidate forums.
Texas Democratic Party general counsel Chad Dunn said he doesn’t buy the group’s grassroots image.
“Nobody gets to know what they are doing. They are the one and only political operation in Texas that isn't disclosing its donors,” he told News21.
Engelbrecht said her groups raise most of their money by passing around an old felt cowboy hat at weekly meetings at King Street’s headquarters.
The group raised $64,687 in 2010, according to federal tax documents, reporting it all as gifts, contributions and grants. After initially offering to provide its 2011 tax records to News21, Engelbrecht later declined.
Engelbrecht ran a small oil-field services company with her husband Brian, out of public view, until 2009, when she got into politics after hearing CNBC personality Rick Santelli’s call for a Chicago tea party.
Wanting to do more direct action than other Houston-area tea party groups, Engelbrecht formed King Street Patriots in 2009, naming it for the Boston site of a bloody confrontation between British troops and American colonists in 1770. True the Vote, formed next, is the poll-watcher training and voter-roll purging effort.
Engelbrecht, who has called poll watchers the “eyes and ears of the republic” who “preserve a free and fair process,” has been working hard: True the Vote already has hosted two national summits and drawn thousands into its work.
Natasha Khan/News21
True the Vote grew out of the Houston Tea Party, also known as the King Street Patriots. The organization sold $20 T-shirts with images of Elvis Presley, Ronald Reagan and Martin Luther King Jr., promoting the group's mission of "free and fair" elections during a national summit in Houston in April.
She has surrounded herself with influential conservative advisers including former Justice Department lawyer J. Christian Adams, who accused his agency of bias against whites for failing to pursue voter intimidation criminal charges against the New Black Panthers in 2008. Another adviser is the conservative think tank Heritage Foundation’s Hans von Spakovsky, one of the right’s leading voter ID advocates.
Lawyer James Bopp -- who successfully argued the Citizens United case, in which the U.S. Supreme Court allowed unlimited spending on campaigns by corporations — is one of the attorneys representing the King Street Patriots and True the Vote in the Texas Democratic Party lawsuit.
Engelbrecht and True the Vote volunteers, in interviews at the group’s summit in April 2012 in Houston and in Wisconsin, describe themselves as the front line in a war against voter fraud.
Engelbrecht’s poll watchers claimed to witness election workers telling voters how to vote in Houston in 2010, and submitted 800 reports of irregularities to the Harris County Clerk’s office in Houston. Nothing came of the complaints.
“Just being in the poll and having a presence in the polling place is a deterrent,” said Cathy Kelleher, a Maryland real estate agent who started poll watching and voter-roll inspection efforts after getting involved with True the Vote in 2011. “We’re there so people don’t try to do anything fishy.”
Kelleher also takes part in True the Vote’s other initiative, which allows volunteers to scour voter registration records for irregularities. True the Vote provides volunteers with a database to compare voter rolls with other public records, and any potential problems are forwarded to local election officials for investigation.
True the Vote won’t discuss the quality of its database, and volunteers have to sign a confidentiality agreement.
Kelleher said she’s used the database extensively in Maryland with her group, Election Integrity Maryland. In a little more than a year, she claims to have found thousands of cases of people who’ve left the state but still are on voter rolls, and dead people listed as active voters.
“We’ve made no assertions thus far that voter fraud has been committed,” Kelleher told News21. “All we’re saying is that there has been nothing done to prevent it.”
Alisha Alexander, the elections director in Prince George’s County, Maryland, said Kelleher could be helpful if she understood legal requirements for removing people from voter rolls.
“I’m not sure that this group does understand the state law,” Alexander said. “Because a group comes out and says these individuals (should be off the rolls) based on research from Facebook and LinkedIn, that’s just not an acceptable source.”
Kelleher said some of her volunteers have used social media, but only after using other public records and websites such as whitepages.com, veromi.net and peoplefinders.com.
“Certainly, based on (Facebook and LinkedIn), we don’t expect someone to be taken off the voter rolls,” Kelleher said. “But we do expect the Board of Elections to do more than they’re doing now.”
Texas Democrats accused Engelbrecht’s poll watchers of intimidating minority voters during the 2010 election in Harris County. The county attorney's office and the U.S. Department of Justice looked into the allegations,but no charges were brought, according to O'Rourke and Douglas Ray, another attorney in the office.
The U.S. Department of Justice won’t discuss specifics but a department official told News21 that federal monitors were present during the 2010 election and the May 2012 Texas presidential primary.
Engelbrecht, who said True the Vote has not harassed or intimidated anyone, insists it is nonpartisan and does not target minority voting areas.
“When you look at where there is need for people to go and work at the polls,” she told News21 in a phone interview, “the fact of the matter is, there are fewer volunteers working in minority locations.”
True the Vote claims its volunteers are diverse. However Engelbrecht denied News21 requests for a demographic breakdown of her volunteers.
Voting rights groups say white poll watchers in minority areas can have a disenfranchising impact even if there’s no direct interaction.
“In a community where voter participation is not very high and where folks are not as politically active, any barrier that prevents you from getting to the polls or that discourages you from getting to the polls is potentially a problem,” said Nic Riley of NYU's Brennan Center.
Chandler Davidson, a professor for nearly 40 years at Houston’s Rice University and an expert on minority voting rights in Texas, sees the King Street Patriots and True the Vote’s activities in a historical context.
“We have a long and sad history of efforts by the white majority in the state of Texas to prevent or cut down on the ability of minorities to vote and to elect candidates of their choice,” Davidson told News21.
If it isn’t racism, Davidson said, the goal is to suppress Democratic votes.
Ray, of the Harris County Attorney’s Office, has talked with the King Street Patriots about rules governing poll watchers, and has heard complaints about them from the community. He said there’s no problem if Engelbrecht and her groups follow the law and respect people’s right to vote.
But, Ray said, the way True the Vote goes about its mission creates tension.
“The problem is not the actual act, but what the act is representing,” Ray said, citing that the group’s advisers, speakers at its summits and language on its website.
“If you listen to all their rhetoric, it's clear what their intent is,” Ray said. “Their intent is to try to act out on this belief ... they have that the only reason Barack Obama got elected is because a bunch of ‘those’ people cheated on their ballot.”
Echoing the reaction to True the Vote at the northside Milwaukee polling place and the Houston protest, Ray said, “If you have people standing around and falsely accusing you of doing things that are innocent, then you quickly come to the conclusion that there’s one reason that they’re doing that.
"I mean why aren’t they going to" a white part of town "and doing the same thing over there?”
AJ Vicens and Tasha Khan were Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation Fellows this summer at News21.
Discuss this series of stories on the Facebook page for Open Channel, the NBC News investigative blog.
Leave a Comment:
Same thing happened to me when I went to the post office most clerks were black, then I went to the DMV to take my driving test and most employee's there were black..other than this womans racial preference's was there a point being made? or a insinuation that means what? I'd suggest the lady vote by write in then she could save herself from having to see white people...
YOU WEREN'T VOTING AT THE POST OFFICE! What left you confused? There's a big difference between being discouraged from buying a book of stamps (if that's your point) and being prevented from voting. What's wrong with your logic skills?
I'llalwaysbwhite
I agree with you, actually, we should all vote by mail...
...or...
...On Saturdays and Sundays...
...or...
...On a day set aside just for voting! A voting holiday...
Why do people have to be subjected to an 8 (or whatever hour) workday...
...then forced to have to endure long lines (especially in minority neighborhoods)
...to cast their ballots?
Of course, I'llalwaysbwhite hasn't a clue of what real racial intimidation/discrimination (such as that alluded to by Gatlin in the article)...
...because, as a member of the privileged white race in America, his/her skin color has not traditionally made him/her a target for violence and derision...
"Atticus
WILL WE EVER GET TO SEE Boo-Romney's TAX RETURNS?"
"I dunno Scout. I just don't know!"
4 MORE YEARS OF PRINCIPLED, PRESTIGIOUS LEADERSHIP! Obama-Biden 2012
So...there needs to be conscious recruitment of Asians, Latinos, Blacks etc to "observe" and then Ms. Gatlin will be comfortable. OK, then, it's not like they asked for her ID and copied her personal info into a ledger or got a copy of her votes, right?
The Klan is getting more bold as time goes on.
Well, they just showed their ignorance with that statement.
President Obama won 2008 with (approximately) 69 million votes to McCain's 59 million votes. In America, there are approximately 40 million African Americans, of that, approximately 13 million are registered voters, that would be a hell of a lot of cheating.
I wouldn't be surprised if these white folks have video cameras hidden, aimed at the voters table, to review later to see if there is such a thing as "repeat voters." The GOP and all it's Klan are running scared.
OBAMA/BIDEN....2012!!!!
get serious.. what she desc ribed is TRUE these folks belong in jail.. and all the govenors of those states with those new voter id laws..
How would someone watching you stand in line prevent you from voting? Just how would 3 white people intimidate a large group of black people?
I can't remember what color skin the last Post Office or DMV worker that served me had. What kind of nutcases have we raised?
It has very little to do with anything other than a bunch of white Texans travelling thousands of miles to make sure the rest of the country is toeing the line.
Did Texas leave the Union again? Because we can handle our own business. Thanks.
It's called ignorance, the RIGHT shows it every time they open their mouths. They want to take America back to a time before Civil Liberties.
Yankee Boy;
My point is it's public polling she wasn't (in da club) and did they PREVENT her from voting? was that asked ? did they ask her would it have made a difference if she was being watched by black people would it have made a difference ? last time I looked black and white people both had two eye's and black people didn't discourge me from buying a book of stamps and I did pass my driving test the tester was cool..So what was the point is what I was asking read again and open both eye's this time..
Just a reminder for all of you Liberal Dead Head Zombies that support Obama! Remember the group that supported Obama I think it was Akorn or something like that who, was performing miracles by raising the dead to vote for Obama. So you see Dead Head Zombies WE DO NEED VOTER ID TO KEEP THE ELECTION CORRECT. Just Sayin
All I can say is vote the Republicans out. They lie and cheat. They can't win a race without cheating so vote them out. Vote Obama.
When I got my license in CA at the DMV, the person who gave me the test was White, the person who took my photo was Black, the person who took my paper work was Hispanic and the person who gave me a ticket for an illegal turn when I left the DMV was White. Fair and balanced.
It's long been a part of the Conservative mindset...if the elections aren't coming out the way YOU want them to it's because the "wrong people" are voting. My Uncle was a member of the John Birch Society. He consistently said everything was on the slippery slope specifically because "people with a stake" (he meant people of money and influence" were allowed to vote.
Fast forward a few years and much of the Conservative Movement is bankrolled by the Koch brothers, whose father FOUNDED the JBS. The Tea Parties ARE in fact an extension of the Birchers, so it's no surprise Conservatism is dominated by ideas declared crazy by no less Conservatives than Barry Goldwater and William F Buckley clear back in the 1960s.
The old Confederacy lives, and it wants to impose it's ideals and structure on the rest of America. Strip away slavery, sure, but everything else remains intact.
How many fraudulent votes were cast for President Obama?
Can you come up with a number?
If you can't then you're just spreading a Conservative lie...A lie that's designed to restrict the ONE RIGHT upon which all our others are built.
Big PaPa;
You goota say something different then your ole priviliged white routine,,and since I grewup in a big city and we were poor I lived in public housing and was one of only 2 white family's so you wanna ask me again
if I know anything about racial discrimination? you got something else ? doubt it same ole stuff you gonna sell all the "privilged" white people .....
Turn it around. What would be the outcry if democrats posted three racially mixed constituents at each polling location to give each citizen a visual inspection before they cast a ballot? A little racial profiling here? Sorta like the acronyms cops sometimes use among themselves; DWO (driving while oriental) or DWB (driving while black). Now what are we going to add to those, VWB or VWH? Whats next? VWS (voting while stupid in case you can't figure that out.) There is no place for this kind of crap in the USA but nothing to stop it. Don't let these bastards get away with it.
Sorry to hear that they feel like they're being intimidated.....it must have felt very much like the way the white voters felt when the "New Black Panthers" practiced their brand of voter intimidation on them and AG Holder refused to pursue any prosecution for, huh? Do any of you remember that episode??....probably not!
MD Virginia - No proof of a single illegal ballot being cast by "raising the dead" has ever been offered. Some ACORN workers were convicted of illegally registering voters. How does a group of people standing in a polling place with clipboards prevent voter registration fraud? Answer? It doesn't.
I'd like to know what right these nit-wits have to even be IN the polling place unless they are election officials or actually voting. Imagine the screams of outrage if polling places in white neighborhoods had a group of black men that fit the "gangsta" profile, giving the stink eye to little old white ladies as they walked into the polls. There would be calls for National Guard intervention.
This is just the begining. The media has done all it can...tax forms, abortion, olympic gaff...to try and divert attention from what will be the real issue in November. The President's handling of the US Economy.
When the Democrats lose in November, the media will now have planted the idea that white people "scared" blacks into voting for Mitt. I didn't know black people were scared of white people....
Just like the new movie 2016, the end result of suggested expression is a tool of intimidation and subversion. Most whites have never had any real exposure to the African American other than in a movie, TV, Nanny or Gardner. I am 63 and come from a family that was extremely racist. It has taken me years to shed this embarrassment and way of thinking. So I understand the subtleties of implied phraseology and overtone. I remember going to deep east Texas to visit my cousin and the Blacks in his community were from the old school of segregated confusion and fear. They would never look you in the eye when spoken to, and a Black man would never approach a White woman to ask for anything; a glass of water or use of a bathroom in their home if working for them. This lifestyle was passed on to future generations in the form of stories told by grandparents.
We have done little to gain trust from the Black as is evidenced by comments on this very board. I can understand the fear of Blacks entering a room with Whites standing in a position of authority and remembering the stories told to them by their families from generations of condescension by the White.
True the Vote knows this and employs the tactic in their very expression of implied superiority at polls.
Yes...obviously I remember it better than you;
http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-3460_162-6711575.html
.
I think that groups such as True the Vote are blatant racist organizations; using a t-shirt instead of sheet and a hood. What does it say about the GOP that use of these tactics and extremists (bigots) is their strategy to win elections? No, you can't see the normal amount of financial disclosures that candidates normally provide, but we do need to look into your voting procedure or your personal activities ... just because we said so.
I remember when the black panthers were intimated white voters outside the polling booths but i guess that's OK cause blacks aren't racists
do not vote write in as they have never counted to this day!
John B. how could anyone know just how many fraudulent votes were cast if no one is even checking? Further it is not just fraudulent votes for obama that need to stop, rather it is all fraudulent votes regardless of who they try to vote for.
You're an idiot and I 'm sure you have some moronic belief that there is no racism in the country. Get your head out of your ass.
nwnative
Chicago voting mantra... Vote early Vote often. Just observing.
I think people need to show up to watch these poll watchers. Like maybe stand right in front of them, facing them, watching and taking notes on everything they do, as well as blocking their view. I'm far more concerned with this group of nut-jobs then I am voter fraud.
dizzyain'tserious and playman-2385898
I saw that footage, you're probably right, those THREE Black Panthers outside that all-white polling station...
...probably did scare those thousands of white people...
After all...
...it sounds like those poor, defenseless white people...
... were heavily outnumbered...
thesh*tmaker25
Mitt Romney has 0 (that's ZERO) percent...
...of the Black vote...
...ain't that much intimidation in the world...
In essence, you couldn't melt Willard "The Tax Cheat" Romney down, and pour him on Black people...
"Atticus,
WILL WE EVER GET TO SEE Boo-ROMNEY'S TAX RETURNS?"
"I dunno Scout, I just don't know!"
4 MORE YEARS OF PROUD, PERSISTENT LEADERSHIP! Obama-Biden 2012
I can't remember the last time I saw a few white strangers standing around in a largely minority neighborhood intimidating anyone.
It is always an issue of race with some people. No matter what. Who lets anyone that is just standing around taking notes intimidate them? Now, if they were standing outside the polling place with a billy club being belligerent and purposely intimidating the people who came to vote I could understand that.
But I'm sure, if that EVER happened, our Department of Injustice would step up and prosecute the perpetrators. Because THAT is against federal law.
You're a hoot Big Papa with your justfication for thugs. If they didn't intimidate people why would a few white people intimidate thousands of minorities?
Here is what liberal Justice Stevens wrote in 2008 about voter ID laws.
"It remains true, however, that flagrant examples of such fraud in other parts of the country have been documented throughout this Nation's history by respected historians and journalists, that occasional examples have surfaced in recent years and that Indiana's own experience with fraudulent voting in the 2003 Democratic primary for East Chicago Mayor—though perpetrated using absentee ballots and not in-person fraud—demonstrate that not only is the risk of voter fraud real but that it could affect the outcome of a close election.
There is no question about the legitimacy or importance of the State's interest in counting only the votes of eligible voters. Moreover, the interest in orderly administration and accurate recordkeeping provides a sufficient justification for carefully identifying all voters participating in the election process. While the most effective method of preventing election fraud may well be debatable, the propriety of doing so is perfectly clear."
So there ya go.
sooo, 2 white guys are intimidating hundreds of black folks..um ok libaturd you make no sense, back to the basement with you and your communist buddies
White people are'nt allowed to look at black voters standing in line to vote, but Black Panthers can stand in front of voting locations in Philadelphia with billy clubs! Absolutely laughable!!!!
So let me get this straight:
3 white people sitting in the stands is intimidation but 3 black panthers with billy clubs standing at the polling place entrance is not?! I get it. It's more of that liberal race card bullsh*t they trot out every election. Sorry, the majority of America is sick of it and are just not buying the rhetoric any longer. You libs have overplayed that card so often that it is now so meaningless as to be a stale joke everyone ignores.
I'llalwaysbwhite
P.E. and wood shop all day long...
...may not be the best classes to improve your composition skills...
...you might want to try some core academic courses...
...Oh yeah!
...and some of my best friends are white...
Thanks for being a good sport though...
WILLARD! DAM*IT BOY! HAND OVER THEM TAX RETURNS!
4 MORE YEARS OF OBJECTIVE, OBSERVANT LEADERSHIP! Obama-Biden 2012!
1.The tactic of crying "racism" has been so overused by the left that is no longer effective....ho hum.
2. Anyone who objects to monitors assuring legitimate voting must have something to hide.
There are 2 ways to commit voter fraud.
1. You can double register and then try to vote twice. This does not work very well. It runs the risk of serious jail time, it is inefficient, and when it does work it gets your candidate 1 vote. Thus it is not very likely to swing an election even if you have several people try it.
2. You can take steps to prevent prevent large groups from voting for the candidate that you oppose. This can be done by ballot designs that cause people to vote for someone that they did not intend to vote for (Butterfly ballot in Florida 2000). It can also be done by understaffing the polling places where your opponent is likely to do well as was done in Ohio in 2004. The long lines discourage many voters from waiting it out to cast their ballots. And of course old fashioned intimidation as described in this article scares off some. These techniques run a very low risk of prosecution and can change the outcome of an election by thousands of votes.
Of course it is always a good idea to rant and rage about type 1 voter fraud listed above to draw attention away from the real fraud.
So no one can even prove that there's a problem, but it's a problem so big it validates making it more difficult for LEGITIMATE voters to cast a vote...that's just messed up.
I see the Conservative mantra here is going to be "black panthers, black panthers" in spite of the fact that the Bush Administration saw no voter intimidation in the incident. It's grown in the imaginations of the Right to such an almost mythical level, nothing more.
It's certainly intimidating for the older folks that were violently physically prevented by whites from voting etc. and went through Jim Crow laws not too long ago. I don't think the younger generation will be too intimidated though, since the law now protects everyone from being physically harrassed. I'm pro getting illegal immigrants off the voter rolls, but how is standing in the back of a room taking notes going to accomplish anything? Are they asking to see ID or something? Even if they are, are they allowed to do that?
But there is NOTHING WRONG with Members of the Black Panthers dressed in military grab, holding clubs and calling white people 'Cracker" and "Whitie".
HeII no, just SOP of someone who wants to repress a Legal Vote.
And according to the DOJ, "They had no proof of it". I guess the Video was staged and only like a gazillion people reported it.
Come on Kids, Now Lets Play Fair.
I simply wonder why that same logic doesn't apply to Romney and his tax returns?
THIS WILL BE A LEGAL ELECTION!!! African-Americans will have to adjust to doing things "according to the law". No longer with "preferences" and excuses given to them in the past. You can only vote once and only you can cast your vote. Gone are the illegal groups formed in the Black Community the likes of ACORN. If O'Bama wants to win, he will have to do it legally this time around.
This is just another liberal article to "divide" the whites and blacks. If you really want to see some prejudice just go to a church's chicken and see how many blacks get waited on before you do. For you liberals this is a "tongue in cheek" statement, but it is true.
I'm really getting sick of hearing about Romney's tax returns, why don't you liberal Barry followers talk about the mess this country is in.
Thanks for making my point, JoeB.
In the minds of Conservatives Barack Obama is only President because black people rigged the system.
It's a statement that speaks for itself.
Romney's tax returns, (btw he has released two years) are just an attempt to deflect from a failed presidency. Only the loser president and his loser followers care about seeing them. The rest of us know he's done nothing illegal or we would already know about it.
Only people who want voter fraud argue against voter laws and poll practices designed to bring greater integrity to the process.
The laws are equal. The arguments from the pro-fraud crowd are ridiculous.
STAR23:
Please Read:
Our nation's top historians reveal that the Democratic Party gave us the Ku Klux Klan, Black Codes, Jim Crow Laws and other repressive legislation which resulted in the multitude of murders, lynchings, mutilations, and intimidations (of thousands of black and white Republicans). On the issue of slavery: historians say the Democrats gave their lives to expand it, the Republicans gave their lives to ban it. "--The KKK was the terrorist wing of the Democrat Party.--"
The Democrats
Democrats fought to expand slavery while Republicans fought to end it.
Democrats passed those discriminatory Black Codes and Jim Crow laws.
Democrats fought against anti-lynching laws.
Democrats fought to keep blacks in slavery and away from the polls, and they started the Ku Klux Klan to terrorize them.
Democrat Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia, is well known for having been a "Keagle" in the Ku Klux Klan.
Democrat Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia, personally filibustered the Civil Rights Act of 1964 for 14 straight hours to keep it from passage.
Democrats passed the Repeal Act of 1894 that overturned civil right laws enacted by Republicans.
Democrats declared that they would rather vote for a "yellow dog" than vote for a Republican, because the Republican Party was known as the party for blacks.
Democrat President Woodrow Wilson, reintroduced segregation throughout the federal government immediately upon taking office in 1913.
Democrat President Franklin D. Roosevelt's first appointment to the Supreme Court was a life member of the Ku Klux Klan, Sen. Hugo Black, Democrat of Alabama.
Democrat President Franklin D. Roosevelt's choice for vice president in 1944 was Harry Truman, who had joined the Ku Klux Klan in Kansas City in 1922.
Democrat President Franklin D. Roosevelt resisted Republican efforts to pass a federal law against lynching.
Democrat President Franklin D. Roosevelt opposed integration of the armed forces.
Democrat Senators Sam Ervin, Albert Gore, Sr. and Robert Byrd were the chief opponents of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
Democrat public safety commissioner Eugene "Bull" Connor, in Birmingham, Ala., unleashed vicious dogs and turned fire hoses on black civil rights demonstrators.
Democrats were who Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the other protestors were fighting.
Democrat Georgia Governor Lester Maddox "brandished an ax hammer to prevent blacks from patronizing his restaurant.
Democrat Governor George Wallace stood in front of the Alabama schoolhouse in 1963, declaring there would be segregation forever.
Democrat Arkansas Governor Faubus tried to prevent desegregation of Little Rock public schools.
Democrat Senator John F. Kennedy voted against the 1957 Civil rights Act.
Democrat President John F. Kennedy opposed the 1963 March on Washington by Dr. King.
Democrat President John F. Kennedy, had Dr. King wiretapped and investigated by the FBI.
Democrat President Bill Clinton's mentor was U.S. Senator J. William Fulbright, an Arkansas Democrat and a supporter of racial segregation.
Democrat President Bill Clinton interned for J. William Fulbright in 1966-67.
Democrat Senator J. William Fulbright signed the Southern Manifesto opposing the Supreme Court's 1954 Brown vs. Board of Education decision.
Democrat Senator J. William Fulbright joined with the Dixiecrats in filibustering the Civil Rights Acts of 1957 and 1964.
Democrat Senator J. William Fulbright voted against the 1965 Voting Rights Act.
If your looking for Willard's tax returns they are with Obama's Birth cert. and school records.
Response to Times-Running-Out: That is yesteryear, when Republicans were not Extremist.
Regarding the article: If you feel intimated at the polls by anyone - Call the police and than VOTE.
My late Mother-in-Law worked for Floyd County, Georgia and administered tests to black folks to see if they were "qualified" to vote. Having a couple Tea Bagger Texas racists observing an election in Wisconsin sounds like more of the same.
Three white people in a back room watching black people vote...I can see where that would warrant a whole article about possible harrassment.
After all, it's so much more terrible than a couple of black dirtbags with nightsticks 'guarding' a polling place...
NBC/MSNBC journalism...setting a new low standard in biased and made-up 'news' reporting.
Might I suggest the "Penny" tactic from the "Big Bang Theory," when you enter the polling location and you see a group of nervous looking observers standing around with a clipboard, politely step up to them and ask "What-cha-doing?"
Big Papa;
Thanks for the tip. Wood working classes would probably be a very useful occupation in this economy as many of the Journalist jobs require a increasing amount of applicants to be bi-lingual unfortunately they don't mean German, Polish, French , Chinese or in the event you actually learned a language in your africian studies program this includes any and all Bantu languages. I think we may both have a mutual friend very nice personality somewhat weight challanged a white woman very much a free thinker liberal
you could say, unfortunate for poor me she only liked men of color...
I'm not now concerned with what Democrats may or may not have done through the 1960's. I AM concerned with what the Republicans have done to this country in the last 32 years, during which time they have had unprecedented control or say in what happens here. The dems get another chance, two years at a time, every once in a while. Then it's back to GOP control, or at least GOP obstructionism. The GOP has had the chance to reshape this country in it's image, and that image is truly ugly by now. Give the Democrats a full chance and they will turn this country around and make it great once again.
In other words, I'm far more concerned with RECENT history than I am ancient history.
How does administering a test and 3 guys with clipboards have ANY connection too each-other...
Just vote ya cowards!
@aqua: BWHAHAHAHA!!!!! Ronald Reagan was one of the reasons the USSR fell! You know:
"Mr. Gorbachev, TEAR DOWN THIS WALL!"
Remember that speech? So, either you have your nose so far up the far lefts @$$ that it's the only thing you can see. Or, your an idiot. Your choice.
Your-Time-hasRun-Out
...All of those egregious, horribly racist acts were indeed perpetrated by Democrats...
...the same Democrats that fled to the Republican Party (in support of Barry Goldwater against the Johnson Administration's support of the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts)
...and whose progeny (if not themselves, if they're still alive)...
...currently make up the membership right wing, racist, Confederate, Republican-T-Party Obama-haters of today!
I'llalwaysbwhite
Funny how you arrogantly assume that I took African Studies...
...veeerrry interesting...
rookie-2318920
TELL WILLARD TO STOP HIDING THOSE TAX RETURNS! So we can get...
4 MORE YEARS OF CREDIBLE, COMPETENT LEADERSHIP! Obama-Biden 2012!
John B, you only have to google on the Internet to find voter fraud and it is on both sides of the isle. You can stick your head in the sand if you want and say prove it prove it, but it does not go away. Having to prove that you are legal to vote before you vote is not suppressing the vote at all it is just upholding the integrity of the vote. Something that should be important to all Americans regardless of who they are.
@big papa:
So if he doesn't release them he wins? Think before you post...
I am a republican, and I have many black, asian, white, and hispanic friends, if I am a racist, then you are a planet...
@texasbob agreed
THE FACT IS ... THERE IS ALMOST ZERO VOTER FRAUD BY IMPERSONATION DETECTED BY ANYONE!
CHECK IT OUT.
This is a right wing made up issue to suppress the vote, clear as day. Voter suppression is about the most unAmerican thing that is done.
Vyor usoDufus
I am a Democrat, and I have Black, Asian, White, Hispanic family members.
I accept the sphere of influence to which you ascribe to me (figurative planet status)...
...that being the case
...If you voted for the criminal Cheney-Bush junta even once...
...and are planning to vote for Romney...
...Then, you ARE a racist!
President Obama , based on his exemplary performance of his presidential duties to date, unequivocally deserves...
4 MORE YEARS!
The only reason you're voting against him (if you are) is because of the color of his skin!
Willard "The Tax Cheat" Romney and Paul "The Forcible/Legitimate Rapist" ...
...have no principles, no values, no scruples, and no convictions that they won't sell out in order to win this election for billionaire Kochheads, Adelsons and Trumps Oh My!...
...Your support of such degenerates indicate an inherent likeness of them on your part...
...And to be frank, you're the whining coward on this thread! And we plan to vote you people out of power and if possible, existence as a political force for the forseeable future...
THE TAX RETURNS YOU IDIOT! WILLARD! YOU FORGOT THEM AGAIN?
4 MORE YEARS OF EXEMPLARY, EFFICACIOUS LEADERSHIP! Obama-Biden 2012!
@aqua: BWHAHAHAHA!!!!! Ronald Reagan was one of the reasons the USSR fell! You know:
"Mr. Gorbachev, TEAR DOWN THIS WALL!"
...No you idiot!
...Afghanistan was the reason the USSR fell apart...
Conservative Rebellion
Try the cops. Minorities know this intimidation well.
It's the Great Liberal Hypocrisy. When Juan Williams said Arabs on a plane made him nervous, all the liberals said he was a racist. So what does that make this black woman when she sees three white people in the room?
Vyor usoDufus
posted:
"So if he doesn't release them he wins? Think before you post"
...Actually my posts in aggregate have steadfastly implied that...
...he (Willard "The Tax Cheat" Romney) loses...
...whether he does or doesn't...
...Read 'em all before you post...
...you might learn a thing or two...
...Oh that's right...
...you right wing, racist, white supremacist, Confederate Obama-hating Republican-T-Party traitors...
...don't believe in learning anything substantive...
...Gee, I wish I coulda made this a one-liner for ya!
OLD Malthus
posted:
It's the Great Liberal Hypocrisy. When Juan Williams said Arabs on a plane made him nervous, all the liberals said he was a racist. So what does that make this black woman when she sees three white people in the room?
...Observant, aware...
HEY WILLARD! BE A MAN! LET US SEE THEM TAX RETURNS FELLA! IT"LL BE OUR L'IL SECRET! I PROMISE!
4 MORE YEARS OF INTELLIGENT, INSIGHTFUL LEADERSHIP!
Obama-Biden 2012!
I get tired of persons from either side avoiding common sense when it does not serve their cause.
First, voter ID. This makes common sense that someone needs to property identify themselves before we let them partake in what is our most important right as citizens, the vote. If all of the Dems believe that providing an ID is not necessary to exercise our consitutional rights, then why do we require ID to purchase a firearm??? Obviously this is a very important right in the constitution since it is the 2nd amendment. Aren't you concerned that this ID requirement is preventing minorities from exercising their second amendment right?
Second, we know the tired liberal practice of shouting racism when they have no common sense argument. That should be enough said.
Sounds a lot like Nazi Germany.
Marred-337609
posted:
"we know the tired liberal practice of shouting racism when they have no common sense argument. That should be enough said."
...Ahhh, the old reverse racism, turn it back on the victim strategy...
...we definitely know that one...
...If you're not a racist, why do you feel the need to be defensive about it?
As for the subject of voter ID...
...people have been voting just fine with whatever ID they had (or didn't have)...
...why subject them to onerous new rules about what constitutes "proper Identification"?
...Particularly, when (like in the case of PA), no demonstrable voter fraud has taken place...
...the racist, right wing, Neo-confederate Obama-hating Republican-T-Party traitors and He-Man Woman-haters Clubs of America...
...have been exposed as having pushed this farce to prevent certain marginalized communities from being able to vote...
...If you have been paying attention, which your presence on this board indicates at least a modicum of your attention is spent watching political developments...
...then you already know that!
..So, the question is: "Why are you feigning incredulity and indignation, at liberal opposition to voter ID laws as being inherently racist, and having been implemented for the purposes of voter intimidation and/or suppression?"
Answer: Because, you're a racist, right wing, Neo-Confederate, Obama-hating Republican-T-Party thug...
...it's that simple...
WILLARD! WE'RE WAITING! REMEMBER? THE TAX RETURNS!
4 MORE YEARS OF SOLID, STEADFAST LEADERSHIP!
Obama-Biden 2012!
@BigPapa
Keep drinking that koolaide and smoking that dope. I love reading your delusional posts. They make for great comedy relief. ROTFLMAO!!!!
Yup, News21 sounds like Mr. Obama's "CHANGE" (Hope and Change) and "RESHAPING" (Transform America) the news via a new generation of partisan journalists (or is that Opinionaters).
How about reporting on the Black Panther's voter intimidation case which the DOJ immediately threw out once Holder assumed the head of the DOJ ?
This article reminds me of Rev. Sharpton, Mr. Jesse Jackson, and Mr. Obama jumping into the Trey vonMartin case without know the facts but say nothing when two African Americans kill a white Missouri woman volleyball player.
Next, News21 is going to re-write the American History book, all in the interest of re-shaping the way history is reported.
So in a room full of Blacks, three whites are intimidating? What a bunch of fascist propaganda. Could MSDNC be any more blatant? How pathetic.
The poll watchers are in the room with, most likely, armed police standing near them. It's the combination that may intimidate by insultingly implying the police support voter suppression.
You're just not as smart as you think you are, better have your doctor check you for Alzheimer's disease:
The New Black Panther Party voter intimidation case, sometimes known simply as the Black Panther Case, is a political controversy in the United States concerning an incident that occurred during the 2008 election. The New Black Panther Party and two of its members, Minister King Samir Shabazz and Jerry Jackson, were charged with voter intimidation for their conduct outside a polling station in Philadelphia. The Department of Justice later narrowed the charges against Minister King Shabazz and dismissed the charges against the New Black Panther Party and Jerry Jackson. The decision to dismiss the charges has led to accusations that the Department of Justice under the Obama administration is biased against white victims and unwilling to prosecute minorities for civil rights violations. These charges have been most notably made by J. Christian Adams, who in May 2010 resigned his post in the Department of Justice in protest over the Obama Administration's perceived mishandling of the case, and by his former supervisor Christopher Coates.
Counter-accusations have also been made, including claims that the actual incident was relatively minor, but its importance had been blown out of proportion by individuals and groups with political motives. Attorney General Eric Holder has also rejected claims that his Justice Department considers the race of an alleged victim when deciding which cases to pursue. The case and its handling by the Department of Justice is currently being investigated by the United States Commission on Civil Rights. The Justice Department is also carrying out its own internal investigation into the handling of the case.
Care to take your foot out of your mouth.......
Interesting how democrats are soooo against voter ID. Disenfrachises voters? Really? It would seem obvious that those so vehemently opposed to voter ID are also those who have something to hide. Making this a big deal just seems to be a way for those who want to cheat to be able to do so without any consequences. Guess Barry needs those illegals and dead people voting.
Then again, who owns those machines and where are the tabulations happening? Spain?
It's not my job to prove your assertion. You think the electoral process is rife with fraudulent voting...PROVE IT.
If you can't back it up don't be surprised that you aren't believed.
You too lazy to do research? Don't want to be confronted with facts? Go ahead and do a search on voter registration fraud, voter fraud and look for more than those liberal sites that claim no voter fraud.
First of all izzy, your unattributed cut and paste without reference or link to the original source is a COH violation. http://washingtonexaminer.com/federal-court-finds-obama-appointees-interfered-with-new-black-panther-prosecution/article/2503500#.UDlXBqDpiSo
Secondly, your piece from the Washington Examiner completely ignores the fact that the case was originally dismissed by the Bush Administration. Why is that?
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2010/jul/23/bill-oreilly/bill-oreilly-blames-obama-administration-not-pursu/
Connecting the dots, it turns out the Washington Examiner is a free propaganda rag owned by Philip Anschutz. The purpose of this "newspaper" is nothing other than the dissemination of lies into the Conservative echo chamber. http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Washington_Examiner
Come back when you have a source with some level of credibility.
I HAVE searched for voter fraud mygirl and the biggest case I've found recently was the Republican Secretary of State for Indiana, Charlie White! He was CONVICTED of voter fraud and is now serving 1 year house arrest! There were about 6 other cases that resulted in a either a conviction or no contest plea and NONE of them were for impersonation of another person. Most were for someone whose right to vote had been taken for some reason, a convicted felon, and they voted anyway. Still there was a VERY VERY small number for the number of people who voted.
These voter ID laws are nothing more then voter suppression on the part of the GOP! The Penn. House Majority leader, Republican Mike Turzai, came right out and ADMITTED that it would allow Romney to win Penn.!
Type in 'democrat voter fraud' for starters. Here is a site that may help.
http://www.usnews.com/debate-club/is-voter-fraud-a-proven-election-manipulation-tactic
News21 is Media Matters. Soros funded and tied to Carnegie. Ido nailed it. Nothing but liberal bias pretending to be educational. Lots of great sounding inodoctrination masquerading as curriculum. Newspeak for the 21st century, Obama style. They're not 'teaching journalism' they're teaching propaganda. They are teaching students how to 'make' the news, ala Hearst. Yellow journalism masquerading as education.
I saw a video recently where the head honcho of the New Black Panthers was interviewed. He gave his side of the story.
I hear of video that documents this incident.
Any idea where I can find it?
By the way, the prez was a regular guy... articulate but easy going.
Sorry, I'm just not interested in getting in to a debate of my source is better than your source silliness with you. I prefer not to waste my time like that!
.
You're right. No longer are the words journalism/journalist/reporter/newspaper connected with unbiased reporting of the news. They all (both sides) resort to reporting that which supports a certain ideological point of view or in the event they wish to give the impression of being unbiased . Reporting as aimed at creating an aurora of truth - as in any hidden lie is seen to be more acceptable as truth just as long as it has some (however little) truth in it. We have become so complacent (or at least many of us) and comfortable with our lives. The gullible exist in droves and are being manipulated by those that have less than honorable agendas.
MD Virgina,
Your pants are on fire:
http://www.politifact.com/florida/statements/2011/apr/26/eric-eisnaugle/mickey-mouse-was-registered-vote-florida-republica/
http://www.historycommons.org/context.jsp?item=2008_election_politics_52&scale=0#2008_election_politics_52
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2011-06-19-states-require-voter-ID_n.htm
Of course you don't, izzy...you don't HAVE a source, only radical Rightist propaganda.
For all you folks ascribing that voter ID laws slow the voting process (and disenfranchise some voters) let me help you there. Having been a resident of 5 previous states and voting there in my local precincts I saw the same voter ledger where the poll worker had to look me up by my name and address and then I signed my name next to it. Takes a couple of minutes if all goes smoothly and a few more if we have to sort out some details.
I now live in Tennessee with a voter ID law. A pretty strict one at that. You have to present your registration card AND a government issue ID. I didn't time the process but I could not imagine it took more than 30 seconds to get my ballot and start to vote. There was no line but it was only a primary. I can't wait for Nov 6th.
It was quick and painless. No one had to observe.
Much ado about nothing.
Hey Papa, you think Mockingbirds use teleprompters?
What about all those folks being disenfranchised because their name is close to that of a felon or undocumented person in another state, as Florida is using for their purge list?
What about rehabilitated prisoners whose right to vote, once reinstated routinely, is now denied routinely as it is in several states including Iowa?
What about the "ease" of getting an ID when stations are closed in entire counties as has been the case in Wisconsin?
More bull@!$%# from John.
You ready for the government hand out for the drought?
So I guess you can't dispute anything I've said, since you just turned to insults instead of having the conversation.
As a point of information, I live in Des Moines. There are no farmers living in Des Moines. We're a lot like every other city in the world that way. Therefore using a concept those living outside the Conservative echo chamber refer to as "logic" I'm not a farmer and therefore must not be getting any money for drought relief.
Therefore, back to where we were before you started hurling insults:
What about all those folks being disenfranchised because their name is close to that of a felon or undocumented person in another state, as Florida is using for their purge list?
What about rehabilitated prisoners whose right to vote, once reinstated routinely, is now denied routinely as it is in several states including Iowa?
What about the "ease" of getting an ID when stations are closed in entire counties as has been the case in Wisconsin?
No @!$%# John. I never said you were a farmer. But Iowa farmers will have their hands out taking a democrat payout for the drought. The non-farmers will also be glad for that money for the Iowa economy. I used to live in the heavily taxed state of Iowa. Five years. I know the politics of your state.
There are no people being disenfranchised because of their names being close to a felon. That is called doing due diligence. Even the Terminator systematically went after all the Sarah Connors in the phone book. If you have a common name you are going to face some extra scrutiny. Big deal. My dad can't seem to write a check where he lives because some guy with the same name bounced some checks. So what. Is he disenfranchised? No.
Stop playing the victim.
Felons disenfranchised themselves, John. Yes they can rehabilitate themselves and re-register depending on the state in which they live. Why don't they? Twelve states have laws that permanently remove felon's voting rights. You are not going to challenge the State Constitutions that allow that practice are you? Even the ACLU left that one alone.
Felons are not allowed to vote until they legally re-register. It is as simple as that. They cannot vote using their pre-felony registration. It is a simple matter that a brighter person ought to understand.
What county has no court house? Name one. You think that 18 year old girl from Texas who testified before congress that getting an ID placed an undue burden on her family got to the airport in San Antonio using a magic carpet? Her parents drove her there and picked her up. Why not just drive her lazy ass over to the courthouse or DMV? And how did she fly without an ID?
Come on. Stop playing the victim.
So mind boggling that there are so many right wing lemmings in denial will actually vote for a CROOK and I mean the mega millionaire hiding his mullah in other countries so not to pay taxes. And this is the man that wants to lead the country? Yeah let's just show how all the small business can cheat and find loopholes. How is that going to help the deficit or the LACK of revenue to "supposedly" fix the economy??
Shameless Willard PARK HIS YACHT IN OUR BAY - YEP WITH THE CAYMAN ISLANDS FLAG! Either he thinks his base is stupid or he just don't care because he knows his base will kiss his royal arse just the same! ABC picture below, NOT MADE UP!!
http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/romney-party-yacht-flies-cayman-islands-flag/story?id=17105028
Wikipi proof of flag - in case you people NEED more proof!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Civil_Ensign_of_the_Cayman_Islands.svg
No doubt about it, juno. Most people are buying the lie that Romney "helped" companies to succeed. That's true in a small number of cases but for much of Bain's existence their technique was to put up a down payment, take out a loan on the company's credit line, then saddle them with paying back the loan AND paying management fees to Bain.
As an analogy imagine you're a farmer in a cash flow squeeze due to a drought year. Someone offers to "help" you if they can become a partner. They use your credit line to finance their buy in but you have to pay back the loan. Then they take a management fee of the top for all the "help" they provided.
That's how Bain works.
For another way to look at it Google "Tony Soprano explains Bain Capital." It's called a "bust out."
They don't call them "banksters" for no reason at all.
For those who don't understand the issue, you have to only go back one generation of folks to see severe repression of voting of minorities. To think that those folks who lived through that time-frame wouldn't see any issue with folks with no legal precedent to be able to "observe" whether you were following whatever their interpretation of the voting laws are is idiocy. People are going to instinctively look to the out-of-the-ordinary as bothersome at a minimum and in a situation where voter suppression is possible they will consider it problematic.
Additionally the use of a "state issued" id for voters is considered significantly restrictive as many folks who come here legally do not speak the language sufficiently to be able to get such an ID and normally rely on a bill showing residence to prove their identity. While it doesn't show a picture, the default related to voting should be to ensure that someone CAN vote rather than to ensure that those can't, don't. Its sort of like beyond a reasonable doubt.
Ask Congressman John Lewis how important is the right to vote.
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/06/lewis-warns-delegates-of-dangers-of-new-voter-laws/
I am white. I went to an a nearly all black Secretery of State (DMV) to register to vote once, my information was incorrect that she sent in, and I was denied my opportunity to vote in the last presidential election. I will never go to another Sec of State office so dark again to register to vote.
I believe it was intentional.
There's nothing I can add to that which could possibly add clarification to how many Conservatives think.
Biggots just don't get it. This is their last chance to get it right and they are blowing it big time.
Bigot and racist must surely be the two most overly used and abused words in the in the English language over the last four years. It's really getting old and worn!!!! Liberals should consider using some new material if they want to be taken seriously!!!!
This is a complete load of crap. Statements like this are ridiculous.
If these people are intimidated by a couple of white people standing around with clipboards and taking notes then they have far bigger problems and should really seek out help from a mental health professional. These organizations have every right to have poll watchers present and so long as they are not approaching or menacing people or trying to interfere with people's access to the polling site there is nothing wrong with what they are doing. I am sick of minorities throwing out the race card all the time. It is completely unreasonable to try and claim that a white person standing there quietly making notes is in any way harassing someone or intimidating someone from voting. To claim that having a couple of white poll watchers in a predominantly black neighborhood, who are standing quietly off to the side inside the polling station taking notes, is having a disenfranchising effect is total BS.
Now what the New Black Panther party did standing outside polling stations with clubs in their hands was clearly an attempt at intimidation. Of course because it was a minority group doing it in a predominantly white area Attorney General Holder did not think that the actions warranted filing any charges.
Any reasonable person looking at these two situations would clearly call the latter and attempt to intimidate people and the former nothing more than peaceful observation. How did we get to the point where the media and legal system in this country so bows down to minorities that they would go after the former claiming they are intimidating people but give the latter a free pass!?!?!?! This is beyond absurd!!!
As for the voter ID law controversy, the one state (Indiana) that had a voter ID law in place for the past election saw absolutely no drop, and in fact saw an increase, in minority voter participation. The idea that these ID laws are going to prevent large numbers of minorities from voting is complete garbage. In this day and age when you need a photo ID to buy alcohol, buy cigarettes, cash a check, etc., etc. there are very few people who do not have ID. Add that to the fact that all states issue non-driver photo IDs for free or for a very nominal fee (about $5) that will be waived if you demonstrate you can not pay means that getting an ID is easy. The people leading the charge against the voter ID laws are using BS scare tactics not backed up by reality to try and get the courts to block the laws. What they really want is the ability to continue things like the cemetery vote in Chicago and the illegals voting in southern CA and elsewhere to add votes for the democrats. No one in this country should be against a law that is designed solely to make sure that the person casting the vote is who they say they are.
Yeah if I was in a Polling place and this 3 white people even looked at me weird, I Would Just wait for them outside. Last time I checked TEXAS IS A MINORITY MAJORITY GET IT RIGHT according to the census. Its gonna take awhile to get it back to blue.
A bit of history regarding Democrats and civil rights.
In the 1948 presidential election, the Dixiecrats won only four southern states: Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and South Carolina. According to The New Georgia Encyclopedia, the Dixiecrats were most popular in states where African-Americans were plentiful, but failed to gain traction in white-dominated states. After their election defeat, the Dixiecrats lost favor and disbanded, but many of the party's supporters gravitated to the Republican party, signaling an important electoral shift that still continues today.
Read more: The History of the Dixiecrats | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/facts_7289525_history-dixiecrats.html#ixzz24ZvECxQ9
We should call these efforts by the GOP what they really are.
...Polling Fraud.
If you want to stop Polling Fraud, you have to begin by calling it what it is.
Spread the word, stop GOP Polling Fraud!
I dont think most blacks are intimidated by white people anyway. So I find this whole article amusing.
Fact: There are delegates from Both parties at each polling station as well as independent poll watchers.
Anyone who claims they are intimidated by people of another race just standing out of the way taking notes has to be a racist themselves.
Now take the Black Panthers standing in front of polling places and calling all white people crackers and holding clubs. That is definately intimidation. Erik Holder decided to give them as pass and did not prosecute them for it. Make me wonder what the Black Panthers will do this time , Start killing white voters. Im sure Holder will give them a pass on that as well.
This is just another feeble attempt by NBC to make it look like the Conservatives are trying to disenfranchise voters when its the Liberal who are actually trying to do it.
Why don't you people at NBC go back to your Handlers, (the Rothchild Family ) and tell them we are up to their tricks of causing strife in this country. Be careful that it dont make your family fewer in numbers.
ITS NOT ABOUT RACE. Its about money and power, look how the liberty minded people who represented Ron Paul have and are treated by the republican party... absolute garbage. The GOP even went as far as disqualifying the rightfully elected delegates of Maine (thank goodness at least Governor Lepage is boycotting the convention because of this).
Don't get caught in the left vs right paradigm both parties want to make it as difficult as possible for someone other than their pre-selected candidates to win this election. A successful third party is their worst nightmare. But the beat goes on...
Also if you follow the trail of who owns the electronic voting machines it eventually leads back to two top contributors of Romney and Obama... Goldman Sachs who is also part owner of The FED (federal reserve) who continues to debase our currency and rack up massive debt to the tax payer.
Is this why less and less people are watching the corporate owned news?
Because the stench of the garbage they keep flinging at us is unbearable.
This is NOTHING like the 1920-1930 elections in the town of Cicero, Illinois, just west of Chicago. Al Capone's boys were beating up people who wouldn't vote for his puppet politicians and the police were having a running gun battle with the mob that day. Capone's brother Frank was killed in a shoot out with the police.
Now those were the good ole'days!
Nothing like watching people watching you when you are old enough to remember black men as late as this century being beaten to death just because they are black. But, as a black person voting, you are not suppose to be intimidated by these whites watching you vote? Give me a break! As a white woman, I would be intimidated if a black man or woman was watching me vote. So why is that feeling ok for me and not for the black person who has suffered much persecution at the hands of whites? Go crawl into your racist holes everyone who thinks that, with the election of a black president, the ugliest whites of our society didn't come crawling out of the woodwork and join organizations like True the Vote.
What most white people don't realize (I am white by the way) is that minority communities typically have fliers that distributed and letters sent to their home telling them that anyone attempting to vote will be arrested for outstanding parking tickets or something of the like. Many times off-duty police officers (white always) park their cars just outside of the polling limits but in plain view of the people coming to vote. This is meant to intimidate people that for, literally, centuries have been harassed and stopped from voting by these people. I only know this because my father volunteered to be an observer for a previous election and was placed in a minority polling place. He was in total shock. He had never had fliers/mail sent to intimidate him ever, nor were police parked just outside the limits. He understood what it was being done for. If you don't, you are being willfully ignorant.
Who watches the Watchers?
Holder has stated that he will not enforce voter rights or black on white crime. Look it up. Holder is a racist.
News21.. liberal college students..UA funded by liberal media moguls..reporting opinions instead of facts, cohercing.."....don't you feel intimidated by those white folks watching over the polls..you know they're watching you.." instead of " Do you feel the poll observers are being helpful ?"..Can I puke now ? And all you lemmins are feeding into it..how delicious..fools leading fools..LOL
I get it. The new term for "Jim Crow" is "election integrity". Just like Bush's term "compassionate conservatice" really meant "screw 'em every chance you get".
NO, the new term for Jim Crow is to disregard voter registration laws, not enforce voter registration laws and refuse to prosecute black on white crime. The new racist on the block is Eric Holder. Amusing how under Holder the DOJ refuses to allow states to purge their voter roles of dead people and people no longer living in the state, then you have the DOJ actually suing or threatening to sue states for attempting to follow the Voter registration laws and now, not surprising, the Obama network aka: NBC is pushing all these articles pro-Obama, anti-voter ID, anti-conservative and biased all to hell and back.
Sorry, Holder is a racist. His job is to apply the law equally regardless of the skin color of the people involved. When confronted with this by a congressional committee he said he couldn't prosecute 'his people' apparently his people are non-white and above the laws. Blatant racism and no one calls him out because he is black. If the shoe were on the other foot and the attorney general were a white guy pulling this crap the left would be up in arms and screaming for his head.
http://www.examiner.com/article/attorney-general-eric-holder-refuses-to-apply-the-law-equally
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124451552193396877.html
The black minority shouldn't take it personal. These republicans aren't out to intimidate or take just their rights away. They are out to take away the rights of all minority groups as well as anyone that doesn't believe the rich people are God's chosen and those that practice other or no religions as well. America is learning to call these people exactly what they are... Tealibanians.
These people, Tealibanians, need to be taken seriously and completely taken out of the political arena. This will be the very first year I vote complete party line unless I see one of the democrats that always vote the way their republican party members tell them to do, and in those cases of such democrats, I will vote Independant but under no circumstance will I vote republican again until the real republicans take back their party and get these tealibanians out of the political arena. Each and every american democrat, independant, minority and female voter really need to get out there this November and vote to rid the government of anyone that represents the republican party
JS,
...and you'd be the first to whine about two black guys with clipboards standing behind poll workers in an all-white precinct. You're so phony it's laughable, if it weren't so disgusting.
mygirl1,
You win the prize today for lamest remarks. Sheesh, you're as dumb as you are ignorant as you are racist.
Love, mom
I am considering volunteering my services after I vote at my polling place to monitor the Republican line to see if the poll worker is factually checking all voter ID's of the republicans.
Somebody definitely has to watch these watchers.
Dear Jefferson, yes and Hamilton, no, he's not your father,
I thought I taught you to be civil. I thought I taught you to pay attention and think for yourself rather than following a party line. I thought I raised you right but realize how badly I failed. I thought you were smarter than you actually are, but then, I am your mother.
Love,
Mom
"rradiko
Who watches the Watchers?"
It had better be me and you if we want to have any opinion at all.
I don't see the point of what they're doing. They have no legal authority to demand that people show them their ID. I seriously doubt they'll be allowed to stand close enough to the election workers to be able to hear voters give their names. They'll be standing there taking notes, but what will the notes say? "A man wearing blue jeans and a t-shirt voted. Then a woman wearing scrubs voted." What is that supposed to accomplish? It sounds like an enormous waste of time to me. They won't be able to do anything at all in Washington state. We all vote by mail here.
Honesty, I love that Washington and Oregon vote by mail and that Nevada has polling stations even in malls for early voting. I love that and think the entire nation should adopt stuff like that.
This article is one of the most racially biased inflammatory pieces I have ever read. Are you people trying to resurrect William Randolph Hearst?
This smacks more of "yellow" journalism than investigative. Who proofed this? Where's the investigation when the writers show nothing to validate the incidents? The activities spoken should have been reported to the local election commissions who should be held liable for allowing anyone other than legitimate election board officials to have been inside the polls.
Conservatives are the problem-not the solution.
Conservatives opposed the Civil Rights Act
Conservatives use conflation and count on the ignorance of their followers not to understand that “Democrat” didn’t (and doesn’t) always mean “liberal” and “Republican” doesn’t always mean, “Conservative.” You see, much like the Republicans of the 1860’s who were the progressives, the Southern Democrats of Johnson’s era were the conservatives who opposed the Civil Rights Act. Most of the opponents of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 were Democrats. This is very true. But it simply highlights the fact that politics in 1964 were not ideologically aligned. The main block of support for white supremacy was a group of Southern Democrats, most of whom were very conservative on all issues, and all of whom were very conservative on the issue of race. They were joined in their support for white supremacy by a smaller block of non-southern conservative Republicans. Conservative movement media like The National Review supported white supremacy, as did Barry Goldwater who was the leading conservative politician of the time. It’s a very interesting historical fact about the United States of America that for most of the twentieth century conservative southerners generally belonged to the Democratic Party. But it’s also true that if you think of American politics in terms of the history of ideological struggle, civil rights is clearly an issue on which the liberals were right and over time conservatives came around to that view.” But, as Rand Paul’s recent criticism of the Civil Right’s Act reminds us… not ALL conservatives have “come around.” We all remember the famous story where Johnson warned his press secretary that by signing the Civil Right’s Act, the Democratic Party of the SOUTH – the CONSERVATIVE RACISTS who voted Democratic because Lincoln(who was not a conservative) freed the slaves – would be lost a generation. Johnson was being optimistic.
The white supremacists were actively courted by the conservative Republican Party in what was known as the Southern Strategy where they still reside with the rest of the GOP supremacists for over half a century. After all… racist Democrat or racist Republican? What’s in a name? To paraphrase Shakespeare, a stinking conservative racist rose by any other name still stinks.
Only the gutter tabloid known as nbc would print such propaganda trash and try to pass it off as journalism. However, to the gullible mindless ideologues, stories such as this make perfect sense, however irrational.
She said:
Three white people in the room filled with black people and she felt harassed or intimidated? This is obviously complete BS which is normal for nbc and this story could be considered highly racist.
Perhaps if these three white people stood outside in front of the doorway holding clubs.....
Sounds like a bunch of RACIST African-Americans complaining like they have done for years and years. There were 3 White People in an election precinct that was Black, and the Blacks are crying Discrimination. When O'Bama was elected no one, including O'Bama's Boy Eric, did anything about Black Panthers standing at Election Places with bats in their hands. This time the "Election Observers" were there "legally" to observe the vote. With all the illegal groups that got O'Bama elected, this time the election will be Legal. If African-Americans are upset about these "Legal Election Observers", maybe the voters are doing something illegal and don't want to get caught this time around.
Why would you be intimidated about having a few people from another race watching a crowd of people in a public place? Sure if they had guns rather than clipboards and pens I might feel intimidated, but otherwise? No.
There are poll watchers at every election. They stand inside, they stand outside. It's no big deal.
I don't understand all the fuss about the ID's being required at elections either. If you're a legal citizen of this country, what do you have to worry about? If you aren't, then you shouldn't be allowed to vote anyway.
Two of our grandchildren live with my wife and I, they are mixed race and their other grandfather and I have been good friends for 15 years or more.
He has been in the past a District Constable, District Magistrate, and member of the County Board of Supervisors. Currently retired, he is a member of the County Election Commission and works in any assigned polling place when necessary.
Like me he feels no sense of discrimination when required to show a photo ID to vote. We both understand the need to display photo IDs to cash a check, use a credit card, and to purchase alcohol or tobacco. Those who need transportation to our local DOT Licensing office need only call the County Senior Center, American Legion, Boys and Girls Club, local office of the NAACP, the county Election Commission or any one of a number of local churches for a ride to this office.
My good friend and the kids other grandfather is African-American and we both feel that bilious rhetoric over showing a photo ID is nothing more than a blatant sham to blow smoke at the primary issues of this election. We are not impressed with the lack of action of our Department of Justice. We both want these kids to have a good future and from what we see 'it ain't happ'nin'; and we don't want that for a legacy.
Hi Jody,
Though I suspect we agree on nearly nothing politically speaking I think your post might be the best here, just not for the reasons you might imagine. This article fairly long given the average and yet there is almost no information in it which is useful. You look at this and wonder what could these poll watchers be up to if not something nefarious, and yet the writers of this piece explained to you absolutely nothing about what they are doing, or able to do.
Part of the reason for more poll watchers is to match your political opponents. A quick call to party lawyers when something irregular happens (on-site voter intimidation, disallowing one to vote (provisional voting denied too), or, as it recently happened, a precinct captain placing ballots in her trunk and not delivering them to the counting center) might get a quick judicial hearing and order. The first one in the door might gain an advantage.
Another reason is even more simple, but I guess for most writing on this site it remains a mystery. Every precinct tallies the ballots. Whether they are regular ballots, provisional ballots, or absentee ballots turned in that day, a count will be made. Those clipboard holders might just be doing a running count of every person that went into a booth to vote so that those numbers can be compared to the summary later. Imagine that 200 people voted, but 234 votes were tallied. Or the reverse. Now can you see a simple reason for the clipboards?
Another reason that seemingly escapes every leftist on earth is very simple as well. Leftists have for decades claimed to distrust the voting systems in the USA. Why should conservatives think any differently? So just by showing up to monitor precinct activities a signal is being shown to the government that they are not trusted, and will instead be watched.
Pretty simple stuff, and all valid to pursue, don't you think?
btw, I am more and more disappointed with this News21 outfit. It isn't just that so little information in such a lengthy article was produced--that is bad enough. But why are people or groups identified as "conservative" but, at least in this article, are never called "liberal". Does anyone seriously think that Demos or The Brennan Center or The Cronkite School are conservative, or even non-partisan? They might, just as the Tea Party, be technically non-partisan, but they engage in liberal causes. So why not be honest about them of you are going to be honest about those on the political right?
The answer is simple. The authors don't want to characterize their political allies in the same way as their political opponents. Fair enough, but don't expect to earn any more respect than any other political hack.
And why conclude the piece with a comment by a leftist who opposes True the Vote, who simply wonders why these people aren't going to white precincts too? They authors had already written above, far above, that True the Vote DOES claim to send its people to non-minority precincts, so the motivation to leave us with a slander is...what? You need not build rockets to figure this out.
Is this article serious? White people with clipboards is now a form of intimidation? AJ Vicens and Natasha Khan should skip the print and head straig to MSNBC where their "talents" will be more appreciated.
Slow news desk tonight. Hopes hinge on another Katrina, or at least a better than moderate quake in Southern California to get the keyboards pounding again.
Well, so what. Holder says having Black Panther Militants outside a polling place is not intimidation, so nothing described in this artice can be so considered either, by a long shot.
pooor, pooor, white guy. people are picking on you in you own country. Instead of being grateful for two hundred years of slavery they aftually seem angry about it and entiotlted to queueue up to the trough and to the votig boooth like alll goood white people. WHen ROmney gets in and slavery is re-instituted in the SOuthern states this willl alll change
so you think they are not allowed to vote.. because that is exactly what some of them were doing and they were protecting the rights of voters from all you bigoted cowards
ACtually it was the Bush DOJ who decided their was no intimidation taking place outside that ONE polling place in ONE city in 2008...but please continue to spread your GOPTP phony talking points.
So Romney's going to re-institute slavery? That's as ridiculous as saying that all black people will vote twice to cheat the voting system. Or that two people standing in the background with a notebook will stop a registered voter from entering a voting booth and voting for the candidate of their choosing. You Sir are a bigoted alarmist!
Those "Black Panther Militants" are all probably at least 65 years old today, and drawing social security benefits.
Maybe they were scary in 1968, but they move a bit slower as the years go by..........even capitalizing the first letter in their name doesn't invoke as much fear as it once did.
These "poll watchers" are inside the polling places, not outside like the black panthers. There is a big difference. I am white and vote in a mostly white area. I don't think i've ever waited more than 10 minutes to vote, and have NEVER had anyone "watching me" vote. I wonder why?
Without the republican party in the 60's blacks would have been denied voting rights for even longer. Your beloved Democrats were the ones who voted AGAINST the Voting Rights Bill.
I'm so sick of this constant drubbing of this issue by MSN, MSNBC. No photo ID, no vote, period. If you don't have documentation to even acquire a library card then your to pathetic to be voting.
That whole Black Panther thing you right-wingers via Fox News was pushing proved to be a lie.
Admittedly so, JCB...and what happened afterward?
Nixon began a march toward racism with his "southern strategy."
Conservative Democrats swarmed to the Republican Party.
A suddenly much more Conservative GOP purged itself of the modeerate Northerners who voted for the Civil Rights Act.
This isn't your grandfather's Democratic Party nor his GOP. This is a new, crazy Republican Party, drunk on the ideas of Ayn Rand and the John Birch Society.
pdohio, It can't be a lie when there is ACTUAL video of it. Its ok for a black thug to intimidate but not ok for whites to observe blacks. You people are delusional and are 100% responsible for even keeping the race issue an issue.
Slavery went out long ago, blacks now have the ability to pursue the course in life they choose. Many are now successful and they are looked at as Uncle Toms while those that have no desire to do anything sit back and scream racism.
The John Birch Society, of yeah, haven't heard that name in 40 years. I agree with your point, but let's include the Democratic party which used to mean core work values that had common sense, now it's the European based socialist party, the party of a mediocre America, where your government is your personal welfare based party of collectivism. The party of the "panderer in chief" where excuses for failure are the norm. Both parties stink to high heaven, time for a third party of the working independants.
Agreed JCB, the Democratic Party changed after the 1968 Chicago convention, when the young, unemployed, wackos from the left decided that clashing with the organized labor side of the party hadn't worked, they hijacked the Party, and presented candidates like George McGovern and Eugene McCarthy.
Which is why, when middle class working Democrats are asking about jobs, all they are getting is answers about unemployment benefit extensions.
The McGovern/McCarthy wing isn't too sure what this "jobs" thing is all about.
John B,
You've made some very valid points, and have shown a good grasp of American history in your posts - I commend your diligence.
It can be very difficult to communicate with those who have been trained to think in a very restricted manner, especially when their training leads them to reject any differing opinions or contentions out of hand, or when they tend to read one or two references as 'code', and then project their own interpretations and so obstruct any chance for a meaningful dialogue.
Like many who find themselves dismissed as 'liberals', I take exception to what passes for conservative viewpoints not because I have an inimical bent toward self-described conservatives, but because I recognize the flawed reasoning by which they are being manipulated to achieve ends other than what they profess to desire (and before I'm flamed, I'll concede that a similar process can and does occur with self-described liberals as well). This is in and of itself a true shame, because as Americans of whatever creed, we have more in common than we are being led to believe, and it should be clear by now that the current divisiveness will not serve to benefit the majority of Americans, but only those who seek to control us. The enemy (if you will) is not without, but has always been within, and the concocted succession of bogeymen throughout our history has only been a distraction to prevent more people from realizing this truth.
I'll leave it at that; I shouldn't ned to draw anyone a picture.
THC-1944027
posted
"Many [Blacks] are now successful and they are looked at as Uncle Toms while those that have no desire to do anything sit back and scream racism."
...Wow!
...quite a lot of arrogance and anger there l'il Buddy...
...I don't know any child who when asked says...
... "When I grow up, I don't want to have the desire to anything...except scream racism"...
...THC, I pray you've never had the ability to procreate...
...THAT, would be tragic...
"Atticus,
WILL WE EVER BE ABLE TO SEE Boo-ROMNEY'S SECRET TAX RETURNS?"
"I dunno Scout. I just don't know"
4 MORE YEARS OF TRUSTWORTHY, TREMENDOUS LEADERSHIP!
Obama-Biden 2012!
More LIES from the Leftist Loons.
The ORIGINAL charge filed against the Black Panthers was dismissed because it supposedly didn't meet the definition of CRIMINAL intimidation which states that it must be ORGANIZED. The Bush DOJ didn't believe that they could PROVE formal organization.
So, the charge was REFILED as a CIVIL charge which doesn't require proof of an organized effort.
The CIVIL charge, which was filed by career DOJ lawyers, won the judgement when the Black Panthers didn't show up.
Subsequently, the charge was DROPPED BY OBAMA APPOINTEES EVEN THOUGH THE CASE WAS ALREADY WON!!.
Another day, another propaganda piece by the George Soros funded News21 citing other Soros funded organizations as "sources" and published by the dishonest Democratic operatives masquerading as "journalists" at NBC (some of whom are also members of Soros funded "media" groups).
This time they've even included DEMOS in their fraudulent "sources". That organization's letterhead lists as one of their FOUNDING MEMBERS none other than BARRACK OBAMA.
unseal your records obamass, vote the jackass out
@pdaohio.org you are either lying or just plain ignorant lets check the Wall Street Journal..quite a ways from Foxs'..fair and balanced....
Well JCB, then you just haven't been paying attention.
http://www.vindy.com/news/2012/may/20/john-birch-society-makes-a-comeback/
http://staugustine.com/news/local-news/2012-07-24/john-birch-society-representative-addresses-local-tea-party#.UDlceKDpiSo
http://www.irehr.org/issue-areas/tea-party-nationalism/tea-party-news-and-analysis/item/299-special-report-freedomworks-and-the-john-birch-society-problem
So as you can see the Tea Party might as well BE the JBS, they are so closely connected. More links here;
http://claireconner.com/library/the-john-birch-society-and-the-tea-party/
I sure hope the republicans don't succeed in their attempt to supress the vote in Pennsylvania, Ohio etc etc.
Romney is an empty suit. Americans will figure that out and he will lose just like McCain did in 2008!
If Obama doesn't win, expect liberals to sling mud and make accusations about everything under the sun. It wouldn't surprise me if they claimed that the KKK stopped people from voting.
So it bothers you that those who are not legally able to vote are having their votes suppressed? You do not have confidence that your side can win the election legally and fairly?
Martha I question wherher or not you have seen the new polls, and NOT the fox noise poll.. perhaps when OBAMA wins big time you would consider leaving the country because we do not need biggots like you here..as you know RACISIM has become a republican word.. so get your passport in order and y0our ONE WAY ticket to nowhere because there are all kinds of folks every where you could go..
So where is the proof that votes are bring suppressed? Because the media writes a story then it must be true? Voter rights have not been an issue for many elections, now Obama and the media want to make claims.
Florida is a perfect example of what's REALLY going on here. Under the simple, reasonable sounding guise of "don't you just want to be SURE?" the most basic right of Americans--the right to vote is being stripped from citizens for partisan gain;
Think of it this way. "First they came for the votes of the immigrants. Then they came for the votes of the rehabilitated felons..."
This group of people should not be allowed inside the voting places. Only actual poll workers should be in there.
But its ok for the black panthers to be there?
Do you have ANYTHING other than the already debunked "Black Panther" myth?
Everyone making these offhand and WRONG statements about the Black Panther poll incident should educate themselves on the facts:
This group of people should not be allowed inside the voting places. ... But its ok for the black panthers to be there?
The Black Panthers in question were outside the polling place.
EEngineer;
So that means the Klan gotta stay outside? I'm sure the black voters will be relieved and that will be the end of hearing about that...
Doesn't really matter if the Black Panthers were outside of the polling place. Did you see them standing in front of the doors, all big and scary? (And btw John B, you can still find the video online, so I wouldn't call it a "myth" at all.) Voter intimidation can happen inside to pressure voters, or outside to intimidate them from even walking into the poll at all. It's wrong either way.
Obviously what these "observers" are doing is stupid and tactless. But the Black Panther issue is similar enough that it's a fair point.
Black people standing outside a polling place in a precinct that's over 90% black...film at 11.
elections....found something about "C-4's"..:
http://www.citizensforethics.org/video/melanie-and-jennifer-granholm-discuss-fixing-our-election-laws-karl-rove-an
Election laws, Karl Rov and issues...
from: Citizens for responsibility and Ethics in Washington., or "CREW".
I'malwayswrite -
No, my point was to keep it factual. I swear, nobody here actually looks into anything they rant about.
Leave the judge alone! He thinks like many, many of the rest of us that if "King Obama" is elected again, this country will go to hell and ruin. we can't spend money that we don't have and his admimistration spends it like water. Read all the n ews every day, we are going back into a deep recession (I don't believe we ever got out of the first one) Cost of living is thru the roof, price for gas has also gone thru the roof. Our costs for health care keep going up. Obama's health care reform will just let people over 70 not get the "tests" they need. I guess he thinks that we are all expendible.
Money we don't have? You should have been telling that to your Texas drunk in 2001.
Who put us in the deep depression in the first place? Yes, the Republican that was last in the oval office. Tea Party frrls as though they MUST have it all and always be in control. Just 12 years ago the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Bush over Gore and us Democrats accepted that ruling and moved on with life. Now the Supreme Court rulked in favor of Obamacare but the Republician nominee has spoken out that he will repeal Obamacare even though the Suprem Court has ruled its constituional. It just goes to show that you Tea Baggers don't even respect the highest court in the land. It must be your way or no way at all. Just get ready for 4 more years of our current Commander in Chief then at least 4 years of Hillary. By then us liberials can have more liberials on the court.
Electing Romney would be much worse... he stands for the wealthy and not the middle class... You should be blaming the right wing of Congress for not compromising with the President and working to make America a better place!
The US has the biggest economy in the world. Obama has completely turned it around during his first term.
When Bush left, GDP was at -9%. It has been negative for five consecutive quarters, and became each quarter more negative. By the end of 2009 though it was at +6%, and has been positive since then. So Obama averted a depression (GDP at -10%) and ended the worst recesssion (= at least two consecutive quarters of negative GDP) in less than a year.
The same goes for jobs: when Bush left we were losing 800,000 jobs a month and each month 100,000 more than the previous month. Since the beginning of 2010 though we're back to normal, pre-recession levels of monthly job creation (= an average of 150,000 new private sector jobs a month). Since then, Obama already added more than FOUR MILLION private sector jobs, which means MORE in 2,5 years than the GOP during Bush's entire first 6 years.
The independent, Republican leaning agency Moody's has calculated that his American Jobs Act would add another 2 million jobs in 2012 alone, increasing GDP by 1-2%, and lowering the unemployment rate by 2%, bringing it to 6%, in other words to a level that is 2% LOWER than when Bush left.
The GOP blocked it, so BECAUSE of the fact that we gave the House to the GOP, the unemployment rate will be at 8% instead of 6% by the end of this year.
They do introduced their own jobs bill though - after having blocked the American Jobs Act. They called it the "Real American Jobs Act". Moody's has calculated its impact: it would LOWER GDP and INCREASE the unemployment rate.
So WHEN will Romney start saying that he does NOT agree with the GOP when it comes to job policies? And when will he explain why he rejects the American Jobs Act? And when will he propose a bill that creates MORE than 2 million jobs without adding to the deficit in one year alone ... ?
He actually NEVER talks about solutions, when it comes to jobs. All he does is remembering us that he was the CEO of an investment company.
That means that IF the Obama campaign wants to talk about jobs with ROMNEY, they HAVE to talk about him as a CEO, as that's the only thing Romney himself has to offer on this issue.
Romney is not the answer!!!
YOU forget that BUSH43 was actually QUEEN for 4 years by the supreme court in his elections..
dingbat
Tom Head has no business on any bench or in any position in which JUSTICE, OBJECTIVITY, or EQUAL APPLICATION OF THE LAW must be administered...
...I shudder to think how many innocent Black and Hispanic people that white supremacist, pig copulating, racist, Confederate, Republican-T-Party scumbag...
...has sentenced to long prison terms...
...how many innocennt lives he has LEGALLY destroyed by virtue of his fraudulent position (I'm almost sure he's elected by racist, white supremacist, Confederate Texans)...
...After removing all of the people of color and decent white people (I have to assume a few still exist there, but based on the voting patterns and what Texans have foisted upon the governmental landscape-- Bush, Perry, Cornyn, Paul, Gohmert et al-- I really can't be too sure)...
...Texas should be repaved, then repatriated...
Tom Head is the clearest example of a traitor and anti-American terrorist in our lifetime; and, is inciting violence against our legitimately elected government (should the President be re-elected), yet allowed to hold high office of a sensitive nature...
...and make life or death decisions for people against whom he holds hatred and bias...
I just fervently hope that should Tom Head's wish come true, he and his family are among the first casualties...
...I can certainly envision a drone in his future (and it would be well deserved)...
Hey WILLARD! TIMES A-WASTIN' BUDDY! LET'S SEE THEM TAX RETURNS PADNUH!
4 MORE YEARS OF COMMITTED, CARING LEADERSHIP! Obama-Biden 2012!
4 MORE YEARS OF COMMITTED, CARING LEADERSHIP! Obama-Biden 2012!......vomiting in my mouth
playman-2385898
That might be a function of your cognitive disability...
...sometimes physical therapy can help strengthen your neck muscles...
...to help you with reflex control...
Otherwise...
...you may want to consider permanent fasting...
...I know I'd feel better...
WHAT IS WILLARD HIDING? WHERE ARE THOSE ELUSIVE TAX RETURNS?
4 MORE YEARS OF ACTIVE, ADEPT LEADERSHIP! Obama-Biden 2012!
Iamalwayswrite proves the point this woman is making - you are ignorant of history and history says white people intimidate and undermine the right of minority voters. Read the history. This Texas group has no foundation for accusations of wide spread and even narrow spread voter fraud Why is this coming up now? Answer: President Obama is black and the white racists can not stand it. They rewrite history and make the victim the perpetrator. This group is a vieled Nazi cult.
There sre so many things here that are so wrong that it is hard to know where to start. Balck Panthers, on eincident, one polling place, one city, Bush Administration, not Obama, yes it has been said just want to keep it simple. Not a national organized effort with a clear intention to intimidate voters. Here is a great idea, if your not registered to vote at the polling place, your not allowed to be a poll watcher there. Now Acorn, it was not ever found that they were trying to push the vote to Obama. What they found was the workers were trying pad their paycheck by faking the records. They are paid by the number they register, bad idea yes but a mass conspiracy to rig an election no. Here is another idea, if your not a resident of the state you can not use your money to effect the election outcome. That goes for both sides. Sorry, Sheldon, Koch and all the rest of your Billionare friends as well as Unions shipping in people. And you can dcry Unions all you want, at least when they show up they are representing average every day citizens, not the whim of the Oil or Gambling industry. Your state, your election, keep you greed out of mine. States rights you scream, a joke, fine if your tainting voting laws or trying to ban abortion but when the state of Montana, which has had a non out of state money and campaign limits on their book for years tried to have them enforced they jumped in immediately and said oh no that is not your right.
Now to the voter ID garbage. It is suppression, it is clear and it is simple and all of your protests are insane and if you believe them I don't even know what to say. But for clarity lets get it clear it is not the ID that is the issue, it is the restrictive type of ID's they are requiring that makes their intent clear. Voter ID when done in a non partisian way if fine. When done in a reasonable and rational way. When the laws do not systematically disenfrancise a specific segment of voters is fine. When done over time so it can be reasonably completed, really Pennsylvania, get 800,000 voter cards out in 2 months. That is has to be handled at the DMV, but we are not going to hire any extra people or extend their hours of operation. Lets add the fact that not only are they implementing insane ID rules but they are are cutting access to the polls by reducing voting hours and days. Will one of you tell me how this has anything to do with voter ID I would like to hear that one. Democrats by a huge percentage use early and weekend voting, any correlation here to eliminating early and weekend voting???? I have often thought that the hours are stupid. Most people work. How about from12 to 9, don't close at 6 or 7. No increased payroll, just convienence for the voter.
And finally I need to address the willfull or ignorant denial of racists that there is no racism. I lived in Florida in 2008. I am a registered Independant and a real one, yes we do exist. I worked on the Obama campaign. I had very serious issues with believe it or not the debt that was ran up by the Republicans during the Bush admistration, I had a problem with the massive tax cuts, I had a problem not just with the war but with the fact that he chose not to show the debt on his annual budget. I also have a very serious disagreemnt with the Religious Right wing of the party that feels they have a right to dictate my life choices, and yes I am a women. I had long felt that the Republican party had gone off a cliff where personal freedom was concerned. I also saw a huge deterioration of workers rights and all the laws being titiled towards Corporate Greed. As far as immigration, I would like everyone to look up HB1 Visa's. I rie of all the compaining about the jobs the illegals are taking from our workers. Most are jobs our citizens will not do. The real jobs we should be screamining about are the white collar high paying jobs that we lose becausese of HB1 visa's. The number of these Visa's were increased every year by George Bush. What they have done is decimate the Engineering and Technical jobs in our country as well as the high paying blue collar jobs. He allowed comapnies to use these to bring in foreign workers on the premise that no on in our country was qualified. It was used to bring in hundreds of welders to rebuild the Golden Gate Bridge, does anyone really believe we don't have welders. It is used to bring in foreign Engineers at about 40% of the cost of paying an Engineer here. They pay them about a reduced salary and no benefits. Anyway I digress. There you have my reasons for supporting Obama.
Now back to the work I did and the experiences we had. First I guess you need to know I am white and well over 65 % of my volunteers were also white. I also was in a leader role in my work. I can not tell you how many times I had to go to a neigborhood where my volunteers were knowing on doors to tell the Sheriff Department to quit hasrrassing my workers. Yes they would literally follow them in patrol cars, engage them and tell them to leave, make racial slurs about Obama and call them nigg-r lovers if they were white, threaten them with arrest if they were black. Yes this was law enforcement and our complaints totheir superiors fell on deaf ears. I wored entire neighborhoods myself because my voluteers were afraid to. We had people that would lay back and then pull all of our material off the doors after we finished a street. I confronted many fo them to let them know they were breaking the law. I won't even go in to the names I was called by these people. You must understand Racism is alive, well and thriving.
We assigned poll workers to our most vulnerable areas, minority and white polling places. Sadly some of these were white polling places that were mainly elderly. And yes we had to confront Republican poll watchers that were trying to change a persons vote while they were waiting in line and needless to say that is illegal, and it was not being done in a nice way.
We had Florida making last minute changes to where people were suppose to vote, they changed 100's of polling locations in minority and democratic areas 30 days before the vote and after the legally required information had been sent out. We had to have people at the polls checking with the people in line to be sure they knew where they were suppose to vote and give them directions to the new polling place if they were in the wrong place. We had our offices vadalized. We had to resort to having our voluteers go in in twos because they were afraid to go alone. It cut our productivy in half.
Do not talk about things you have no knowledge of. I have been on the front lines, I have viewed it first hand. Robo calls lying about voting days, giving misinformation about how to vote, where to vote. You know who they targeted in equal numbers with the minorities. The elderly. Those easily confused. We had groups calling our voters and going out and picking up their mail in ballots and telling them they would take care of getting them mailed. here is a database telling us whether someon has voted or not, do I need to tell you what was happening to those ballots, they weren't being mailed. If I wasn't turned off by the republican party and their policies I would have been by the time this ended. Win at any cost, fairness not a thought, lie, intimidate, manipulate. This is not my idea of a Democracy. On a local level I still vote for an individual not a party. On a national level after viewing the disgrace of voter supression and intimidation of the Republican Party I will no longer vote for them on a national level. And I do not want a Congress bought and paid for by 16 white guys. Nor do I want a congress that has been elected by denying a fair and balanced election, or that is more concerned with their ideology than this country.
The Economy has been bad ever since DICK AND BUSH screwed it up!!
Scramblera
Thanks for the post. If some would open their eyes and read it and open their minds and understand it perhaps they would understand.
Yeah, we are still cleaning up after the GOP spent like drunken sailors for 8 years! These so called poll watchers are nothing more than the klan without the sheets! The reason they have so much money is because some billionaire is funding this group so Romney the Elite can get elected and lower their taxes even more. And really, enough with the new black panthers, another billionaire probably paid the three so-called members that were all over the news. There is no such thing, just another lie! But these groups should know we'll be watching you, watching us!
i moved from new hampshire to georgia and i noticed there where more black people looking at me! lets see who can figure this statement out!
there where? I tried to translate, but we'll need someone that speaks your language.
Probably should look at a KKK meeting. They sure speak his language.
does this statement FHILL mean that you are perhaps disfigured or brutally ugly, or you are wearing funny clothes
Maybe your zipper was down and you weren't wearing any underwear?
starderup you dont need someone to translate i need to type better! mike whats kkk and max yes on all counts.
Now! Now!
Starderup, Mike76, maxgiver, and CPO Sharkey
I'm certain we can all be more welcoming of and civil to those of differing circumstances and opinions...
It's the American way!
...Please, stop making f hill feel insecure...
...Can't we...can't we all just get along?
...lol...
TODAY MUST BE THE DAY...I GOT A FEELIN'...WILLARD'S GONNA LET US SEE THOSE TAX RETURNS!
Obama-Biden 2012!
maybe obamass will unseal his records, tell us what he as been hiding. vote Romney 2012 . get obamass that monkey off our backs
Kat315, the man has been President for 4 years. What possible difference does it make. Even if he showed them to you, based on what you just wrote in here you wouldn't know what it was or what to do with it. Now go sit down.
First, why do they always have to call themselves with these dopey names like "warrior" and "patriot?" Does that make them feel more powerful?
Anyway, the only way I can think of to prove that you are a citizen is to require a US Passport when you register. A driver's license or photo ID at the poll is cool, but it doesn't prove squat. For one thing, anyone can get one on the streets for $50 or less. It will be virtually undetectable and say whatever you like. Why do people always think a driver's license is proof of citizenship? You can get the real thing by passing a test and showing stuff like a bank account or utility bill.
This is a republican movement. Let's be honest. In many states THEY are the new minority party. The only way they can hope to win is to discourage and disenfranchise as many LEGAL votrs as they can. That's what this is really about. m mTHEY HAVE ADMITTED IT!
Republican member of their legislature openly said they could turn away a lot of black votes with their ID law. The former chair of the Florida Repukes admitted they discussed this in their meetings about voter ID. This is as disgusting and un-American as you "patriots" can get.
Now before you start with the ACORN flaming, there were, we now know problems that need to be addressed. But I don't know of a single instance in which ACORN scammers ever prevented a LEGAL person from casting their vote. NEVER! Be warned repukes. There are always consequences and every pendulum swings back. You may not like the deal you buyy for today, but pay back in the future.
Yankee Boy-957719
Absolutely, I am not an American and I have a Californian driver's license. Many people who stay in the US on various visas do. BTW, we do not vote.
Plumpy, mid-aged, folks miserable with their own lives wrapping themselves up in the American flag, and shouting at clouds.
How right you are! The new PA voter ID law is designed to throw the election. Rep. Mike Turzai (R) was caught on video bragging it up that the GOP has sealed the state election for Romney. We should ask, "why is this guy, and his compadres who crafted this scheming bit of legislation not being prosecuted for treason?"
Free Right To Vote! Without it, this is a dictatorial nation (Guess that's where the GOP wants to get us to).
Why do minorities feel its their right or any ones right to be treated differently above others?
Why did they send 100 protesters to protest the concept of fair and equal voting???
Why do the blacks think 3 white guys taking notes is wrong?? Also since when can you be watched while voting? God forbid if you are observed standing in a line **eyes roll**
Its all me, me, me, me, me, give me, give me, give me, mentality that is destroying America
-------------------
"But I don't know of a single instance in which ACORN scammers ever prevented a LEGAL person from casting their vote." ~~Yankee Boy 957719
So let us get this right , if I encourage 1 million scamers to vote for Romney but don't prevent one LEGAL person from voting for Obama then its ok?? **face palm** wow
Also since you can Illegally break the law then why pass a law ??? Hey lets allow child molesters do what they want since you can find children everywhere.
"it doesn't prove squat. For one thing, anyone can get one on the streets for $50 or less. " ~~Yankee Boy 957719
JK from PA to use Yankee's own words
"You may not like the deal you buyy for today, but pay back in the future."
Voter ID is payback for "scammers" that Acorn did and the other liars and cheats who soil the vote.
I agree 100% the Right To Vote for LEGAL citizens who are living and breathing.
I suggest if you truly believe in a right to vote as you claim, then supporting a person like Yankee that thinks Acorn's scamming the system is good or knowing that you can get a passport or voter ID for $50 on the street and supporting him is just like being a cheat and scam artist yourself.
Randy,
I like the avatar. Our money to burn. Very true of the current administration.
I am attempting to get on the role of elections boards in my county here i Florida.. I want to be able to do some monitoring myself.. so it should be fun.. had a greatdeal of fun in the recent primary ..they had to bring the supervisor of elections .. finally they saw it my way LOL
Jdmbo3 got that pic off a Russian website
Even they knew 2 years ago how this man spends and spends.
JDMB03 you are more than welcome to leave the USA.. since your biggest reason for not liking this administration is OBAMA is BLACK.. why Isay WHY must you republicans get riled up over that.. we went through this in the 60's and worked most of it out.. RR and most other repugnants are racists you actually need to do some fact finding and see how things have changed for the BETTER in 4 years. check the cbo's reports easy to see that OBAMA has not done the spending you say..
check the cbo's reports easy to see that OBAMA has not done the spending you say......another dimwit libaturd with his head in the litter box
Confederates wants to get their butt kicked again!!!!!!!!!!! If it was up to the CONFEDERATES they would replace the stars and stripes with their Flag. This guys will be forever traitors and losers!
Of course Republicans don't want a huge voter turnout, because the more people who vote, the greater the chances are Republicans are going to be voted OUT OF EXISTENCE...
Thanks for the laugh. I don't like Obama because he has no clue what he's doing. I would say the same if he was white. Nice try with the tired out 'if you don't like Obama your a racist' argument.
Oh and by the way, I'm proud to be an American.
Here is an article for you to read.
http://news.investors.com/article/613847/201206051909/new-report-warns-debt-threatens-to-double.htm
Texastakeover,
I know you. I heard you and your buddies talking as you were ogling the little girls at the mall saying that your buddies from south of the border were waiting to walk across to take Texas back.
The concept of a "Huge vote turnout" is not a concern. The concern is for the illegals that would steal that which does not belong to them. An American citizen is an honor to attain, not a gift to be handed to you or a thing that can be stolen. Laws for honest elections are needed because of the people that would steal from those who have earned freedom.
The So called "New Black Panthers" have made several public appearances since Barry has been trying to pull the pants of America down for easier access by the rapist waiting in the Isles.
Recently, the pussy cats made an appearance in neighborhood in Dallas where a shooting by police occurred. The police went into survival mode by increasing the numbers of officers they felt was needed to protect the law and order of the area. One tiny spark and the area would have ignited into flames because the self entitled racist, bullyboys of the New Black Panthers, felt a need to exert some testosterone. They do not shy away from the polling stations or the public Town Hall Meetings as well as the Socialist Union Bully boys.I have never voted in my life where I was observed by anyone. Yes I could be seen as I waited in line, but when you step inside the voting booth, the door automatically closes.
Where is the logically posed point of interest here? The fact that an organization is being attracted in a liberal media for trying to insure voter fraud in more difficult to accomplish is the answer. This is very much like felling a little vulnerable as a security person is watching to prevent thief from a retail center. Only the Thief will feel their presence because it is them with something to hide.
Remember this, No dead people, Convicted fellons, or illegal aliens are allowed to vote. Only Citizens of these United States, please.
Lazarus
Randy, as a black person myself. I can tell you what I want and most blacks want and that is for people like you to leave us the H__— alone. Why can't you do that. One day you may wish you had.
Leave you alone BLAHHHH more empty threats
What I wish is for Black people to pull their race up by the boot straps and become rich and do good for the world.
Difference between a Liberal and a normal person,, the normal person wants everyone to prosper not be dragged down to the lowest denominator.
Wow...go figure. What you fail to realize is, if you mind your own business and stop pretending you know everything this world would be a better place. And from reading these forums, YOU know as well as I do, it's a crap shoot for an average black person to make it with all this hatred even before they get to the front door. PLEASE spare me. The proof is on these boards and if they didn't come right out and say it, they let it slip out like these GREAT JUSTICE FOR ALL congressmen you have. But you know enough of us have in fact made it. EASY for you to say. By the way, maybe you should tell that to the high welfare rolls in your own race, ya think. As for me and mine, 2 Doctor's 1 nurse, 1 lawyer, and a Dentist, so please don't bother me with that crap of yours, now it's own to my extended family. Shocked huh..? With oppression it takes us longer to do, but we get it done. Now move along.
So what????
This is a reply for my friend Nam Vet whom I hope he is able to see since it is a carry over from a vine yesterday...
Things changed since the 60's Nam Vet... I was in 80-84 and took part in that Glorious Operation "Urgent Fury" to chase off the Cuban Construction workers who were busy "conquering" the tiny Island of Grenada and denying the poor Grenadians their freedom, along with "rescuing" a bunch of Medical Students who should have went to Medical School in the USA.
When I was "in", you had to "qualify" with everything in Basic &/or AIT depending on your MOS. Now the 45 has been replaced with the 9mm and the good ole M-16 that you remember as "Jammin Jenny", (that first edition sucked huh?) has been replaced with the M-4 I think is what it is. In any event I was Basic at Fort Dix, NJ, AIT at Ft. Benning, Ga & Perm Party at Ft. Bragg, NC (503 PIR-82nd Airborne Div)
Nowadays, the young ones get to play war like it is a computer game with all the optics they have to work with. Too bad that it really is not a game and so many good men have either been killed or maimed for nothing in Iraq...
Eddie.....
Those students couldn't go to medical school in the USA, they didn't have the grades.
First thing I do now is check the doctors diploma on the wall for where he graduated from. If it's a medical school in Grenada, I'm outta there PDQ!
Yeah I might live in the south but I aint no damn confederate republican racist traitor.
Texas, Do you need a hug?
Start off with a handful of dead people voting, a couple of Black Panther types disruptively asking for directions and top that off with Felons for Franken conspiracies and we end up with Election ID rules changing overnight, voting hours restricted, True the Vote hoping to insert 1,000,000 watchdogs in polling stations, and if you don't think that is intimidation when it comes from one side of the political spectrum, then you are of that spectrum. Why darn it, this should prove to be the smoothest and fairest election year ever. The GOP and its modern offshoots have gone to the dogs.
We don't need people from Texas to watch us. Y'all need to put a fence around that crazy state and leave the other 49 alone.
"Black Panther types" = 68 year old black men asking for directions to the Social Security office.
CPO your wrong about it being 68 year old black men, they were young men dressed in psuedo-military gear with black berets on carrying sticks/clubs outside a north philadelphia polling place, many of the black and hispanic voters told polling officials they were intimidated by these thug criminals, it was voter intimidation, and they were told by police to leave, all this bullsh1t about getting directions is just that bullsh1t. I am a democrat, but am changing to independant, BLOWBAMA has royally f**ked this country up
If they were "young men dressed in pseudo-military gear" they couldn't have been Black Panthers.
The Black Panther Party was established in 1966, it never wore anything anywhere close to military gear, and it never engaged in voter intimidation. It had a political platform of advancing black causes, and the clashes they had were with police, which was very common among protest groups in the 1960s.
By 1980 the Black Panther Party was comprised of just 28 members centered around Oakland, California politics.
For the "Black Panthers" to have done this, they would have been in their mid 60s, and eligible for social security.
Unless you are saying that the events in North Philadelphia took place in 1968?
CPO, you're acting as if the Black Panthers is a static party that never gained new members over the years. Never heard of the "New Black Panthers?" I've had the misfortune of meeting a couple of members on my college campus. They're still around, albeit younger and a bit different from the old days. Crazy organizations like this will always gain some attraction - even decades after their prime - by some radical youths.
"New Black Panthers Party" is not the "Black Panthers Party".
Not only is the name different, but the issues are different.
Go up and ask one of the members of the New Black Panthers Party whether they have ever seen a member of the original Black Panthers Party at any of their meetings.
You are trying to argue that plain M&Ms are the same as peanut M&Ms because they share the name M&Ms.
CPO,
You sound like you are a member. Did you catch any of the news stories last week where they made public appearances in areas where Police shot blacks in the line of duty? They were on the scene dressed in Military Uniforms that suggested an armed presence. Just because you do not see it on the liberal news vine, does not mean it is not happening.
I am guessing that the detonating device is being primed to explode the American political system in November and with civil unrest in the streets, the Barry'O can justify calling in NATO and will also allow the people from south of the border a better chance to walk across. since he has lost his majority in the congress and has reduced power in the Senate, he will resort to almost anything to hold power.
The story of the crazy judge in yesterday's news is not that he is crazy, but that the place we citizens of America have been placed is crazy. He only said what the patriots of America were thinking all along. The places he mentioned like Concord and Lexington are just names to the ones who would steal our freedom. But to true Americans that have a sense of commitment and honor understand what the man was saying.
Lazarus
What about the dead Republicans? You know there are NO white sounding names being removed from the rolls, NO MATTER how long it has been since they voted.
So the white weatherman on local station predicts rain on an election day,I presume this would be considered 'voter suppression'?
One of the dumber comments ever.
Give him time. I see potential for great dumbness from this one.
I remember the "Weathermen"! Back in the late '60s, wasn't that group a far left, pro-Democratic youth movement?
See now PossumRed's statement makes more sense, NOT!
*
"white weathermen" = 68 year old liberal white men asking for directions to the Social Security office.
You are an idiot!!!
I do not think it's a crime to make sure that everyone that votes is a legally registered voter. does not seem their would be anything wrong with validating your ticket,ID at the door kind of cut and dry either your registered or not if you are not registered you can not vote
Yes, and the poll workers already do that. I'm sorry. You people are wrong, and you have done all the intimidation you are ever going to do.
If one of you morons even approaches me when I vote, you'll be led out in handcuffs, I guarantee.
now this is intimidation
the New Black Panther party patrolling outside of voting locations in full hate group uniform and carrying clubs
I give the New Black Panther party people credit for standing up to the crapola that people like 1hnstchicpol dispense.
Apparently, they were there at the voting location expressing their constitutional rights, just like any American should be able to, even you, 1hnstchicpol.
Finally, someone that understands the difference between the "Black Panthers" and the "New Black Panthers".
Tiphat to you, Shirley U Jest..........
Poll watching is unnecessary. We already have election workers who check the validity of a voter's registration.
Voting without ID has never been a problem in the past, so why all of a sudden now,since President Obama's been elected, it is such a big problem...Honest to God, you republicons actually think people are stupid, but the majority of decent folks in this counrty knows why your party are pulling all of your dirty little tricks out of the bag to keep people from voting for the president, but trust me it will not work...I do believe it has been God intervention for President Obama, because every time you people think you've buried him, he comes right back on top..You thought you had him on healthcare with the supreme court, but who would believe a conservative, who don't even like Obama would vote on the side of liberals to validate the healthcare bill..That had to be God because he knows millions of Americans need that Affordable Healthcare and when his children cry out to him, he listens....Now you have a storm getting ready to hit Tampa (one that hasn't been in 90 years) coming straight to that city...Hmmm..that's kinda interesting..Republicons scream "Pro Life", but once the baby's here, you vote against any programs that's going to help them survive...When I see the republicon party all I see is a party of hypocrites and liars, who love money and rich people and to hell with everybody else...
Unless you are a Republican or a Tea party member.
Free and unfettered RIGHT TO VOTE! ANY politician forwarding legislation to disenfranchise the American voter SHOULD be held accountable for their crime: Blatant treason.
CLearly you don't understand what treason is.
JK from PA. That's the point. The AMERICAN VOTER (who has an ID to prove they are) should be allowed to vote.
CLEARLY, you need to look up the definition of "Treason". Is this all you can say?
If it is deemed necessary that every American citizen carry a government approved ID in order to vote, then the process of such should be thorough enough to assure NO American citizen is disenfranchised from practicing their American duty, and Constitutional right.
This whole voter ID stuff has popped up over the past couple of years, because now folks are so concerned that the Mexicans are taking over. Face it, our history is pock-marked with the same whining and scared rants against select groups: Irish, Italians, Blacks, Jews, Japanese, . . . now, it's the Mexicans' turn. Really, just excuses by some lawmakers and their faithful followers to subvert the Constitution.
I see nothing wrong with requiring an ID prior to being able to vote. If an ID is required to vote, then said ID should be provided by the government in a process that does not disenfranchise the citizen. The ID should be disseminated in a similar process as a US Passport is processed - but - without a fee!
So why have several judges ruled that voter ID is, in fact, constitutional, JK? I agree that the timing of all this is suspect, but legally it's perfectly fine to require some form of identification. It's not really treason if you're not breaking the law.
Because they are Redneck Republicans protecting the rich man.
I'm sorry... what? People sitting down and taking notes is "intimidation"? Yet, Holder and Obama have said that the New Black Panther party patrolling outside of voting locations in full hate group uniform and carrying clubs is NOT intimidation.
Link for that assertion please, and no radical site.
Let me know where you will be voting. I'll be there to make sure you don't cheat. Thanks!
What interest does some repuke cow from Texas have in a local vote in another state? Go back to that sewer down there and leave others alone.
It's part of the Texas Republican belief in smaller, less intrusive, government that citizens should be allowed to monitor other people's voting activities much closer.
After all, you can trust big government to determine who is eligible to vote, and who isn't.
I know which incident WatchTheOtherHand is talking about. How about a link that doesn't belong to any particular news group? I trust that won't be considered "radical."
And for good measure, here's video of the incident WatchTheOtherHand is talking about.
Noryc-2802231
What I am asking for is a link to:
Well the Republicans do have a strong presence in Texas because of Redistricting and other forms to suppress the Hispanic/ Black Vote. The poll watchers should be banned from even stepping in polling stations with their biase. The Republicans have a RUBY RED state for now but the tipping point is near!!! Confederate Traitors go to Hell!!!
I can assure you I am not Black and I will be watching the Republican Line in my predominantly black neighborhood polling place.
The Gestapo arrived!
Exactly where we are heading. Slowly stripping the American citizen of his/her Constitutional rights.
"Patriot Act" eavesdropping - stripped of privacy. Voter ID laws - disenfranchising American voters.
your statement has no logic. if your an american citizen you can still vote. there biggest concern is about illegal immigrants voting they have no right to be at the polls they are here breaking a law. i personally would rather not have voters that are illegal voting for my president. do you see americans crossing the border to mexico illegally and voting for there president. no because most liking we will be jailed there.
This woman runs one Tea Party organization, yet tries to pretend she is non-partisan with the other. It is pure bs, and a Texas judge has already ordered them to cease and desist.
We don't need dogs, firehoses and sticks to keep our citizens in line. These teabagger intimidators were just born about 50 years too late. Hitler could have used these guys to keep order in the camps.
I really, really don't see how there can be any effect other than intimidation coming from this group. Standing around 'observing' a vote has absolutely no way to check if its valid or not, and this is not an impartial group that has the right to say post-election that something was wrong. How could they possibly know if fraud occurs? I mean, unless they are doing it themselves they have no way of knowing.
If people of another ethnicity looking at you is intimidating, grow up. MSNBC loves encouraging the color and class warfare.
We are in a class war!!!!! Where have you been? Watching dressage competition?
Actually, I believe the "Class Warfare" and "War against the Job Creators" was bred and raised by the Faux Noise Network, and their associated gang of blowhards (see: Lintballs)
I agree, we are in class warfare.
So far I can see that neither Romney, nor Obama, have any class........and Congress, now there's a real classless group of country club members.
Maybe one day they will all grow up to be responsible adults.
(Who am I kidding with that wish)
DICK and Bush are Responsible nuff said
Despite this author's attempt to demonize True the Vote and other poll watchers and advocates of fair elections, seems to me they are doing good work.
Black Panthers standing directly outside polling places with baseball bats is a pretty good definition of intimidation. But Obama's justice department thinks it's just fine.
Why don't you lay out for me (I'm real slow sometimes) just exactly what work they do inside those polling places. What are "notes" that they are taking inside where citizens are PRIVATELY voting? Just exactly how (be very specific here I'm slow remember?) are they stopping voter fraud by doing this. It would seem to me that if they intimidated one voter then the line was crossed, but that's just me.
Hey Joe the author doesn't have to demonize these unscrupulous cowards who intmidate legitimate voters. The Vote watchers should be banned from all polling places. Cowards is what I call them when they are "fearful" that a black man will be elected again. The GOP will put their party above the Nation every time. The GOP decided on January 21, 2009 that they were not going to allow any progress whatsoever. They chose to obstruct and we all get the message loud and clear from Mitch McConnell on down the line: America if you elect a black man we will make you pay! And they have tried to make us pay. Message heard loud and clear. The out CIA Agents and special forces people whenever it is politically convenient and they have made every effort thwart President Obama from cleaning-up their epic mess and he has done well in spite of these unpatriotic rats: starting with McConnell and Cantor, Graham, Boehner, Ry;an mark their names well they sold out their Nation for political aspirations.
You keep repeating the same BS over and over and over. Go back to Faux Noise.
"In order to protect that compelling interest, a state may enact “generally applicable and evenhanded restrictions that protect the integrity and reliability of the electoral process,” [Anderson v Celebrezze] because
"[c]ommon sense, as well as constitutional law, compels the
conclusion that government must play an active role in structuring
elections; 'as a practical matter, there must be a substantial
regulation of elections if they are to be fair and honest and if some
sort of order, rather than chaos, is to accompany the democratic processes.'”
[Burdick], In sum, while a citizen’s right to vote is fundamental, this right is not unfettered. It competes with the state’s compelling interest in preserving the integrity of its elections and the Legislature’s constitutional obligation to preserve the purity of elections and to guard against abuses of the elective franchise, including ensuring that lawful voters not have their votes diluted. "
GOP mantra : Regulate elections! Not Banks!
Gee, a black woman who gets nervous when she sees some white people; i wonder if store owners give her the same reaction. So it's all right for armed black panthers to stand in at polling places but not for white observers. I recall when a big black guy asked me for an ID when I was entering to vote; I told him to go f- himself and had the cops haul him away - Black voter intimidation. You see it all the time in heavily Black areas where they try to suppress the Hispanic vote as well. This woman probably needed to be watched.
You need to be watched.
To: Atelier ......Hey boo, you aren't buying into the fact that repub/teabaggers want you in their group are you? Oh my, you are sadly mistaken. Siding with them on a board does not a repub/teabagger make. I think they want your butt back across the fence. Just sayin.
Gee. When Juan Williams said arabs on a plane made him nervous, all the liberals said he was racest. So what does that make this black woman when she sees three white people?
Well, when the Weather Channel's Jim Cantore shows up in my neighborhood I get nervous too.
Not because of his race, or anything, but because where he shows up, really, really, bad weather is sure to follow.
So, if you live in South Florida, and you see Jim Cantore show up in your neighborhood this week, you're screwed.......
Thank goodness I live in Oregon. They'd have a problem, visiting people in their homes to watch them mark their mail-in ballots. No polling places here, just mail boxes and drop boxes.
Babs, I live in Colorado and we also have mail-in ballots. That solves the poll-watching issue, but the problem here is that we have a Republican secretary of state who is trying to purge the voter registration rolls of people he "suspects" are ineligible to vote. Some people have been booted off the roles without even being notified. Even if one thinks they are registered to vote, they should double-check their registration before the deadline. These people will stop at nothing to steal the election.
Deb - so all of those dead people in 2008 who were allowed to somehow cast their votes for Obama should just be allowed to be dead - or their reps contacted who will swear to God that all of those persons are indeed still alive. Yup. We swear to it. We stole an election's results in 2008, too.
Dear girl. If you ain't even alive you can't vote. If your address does not match up with you being actually a legal resident - you aren't entitled to vote either. And if Americans today in every single state are wondering today if all of your information legally matches up and proves you are eligible to vote - take some time today and do that checking of your own data and make sure you indeed are legally and verifiably registered.
Three white people standing together does not equate to a danged thing wrong. And that's just a fact.
Babs - yeah Oregon. Where you can register to vote by mail by simply showing a piece of junk mail that has been mailed to your address in your name. And that's a fact, too. About the verified residency requirements of "Oregonians".
It is what it is - and if you are casting a dishonest vote in the upcoming election. Or you are a ACORN operative, under another name in 2012 - shame on you.
A vote is a vote. And it should only be cast by legally verified citizens of this country.
So, Lorraine, where exactly did you hear that "all those dead people" voted? This had been debunked ad nauseum, but then you probably know that on some level. You just can't admit it because it would damage your tea tinted view of the world.
As the Supreme Court observed in Purcell:
"Confidence in the integrity of our electoral processes is essential to the functioning of our participatory democracy. Voter fraud drives honest citizens out of the democratic process and breeds distrust of our government. Voters who fear their legitimate votes will be outweighed by fraudulent ones will feel disenfranchised. 'The right of suffrage can b
e denied by a debasement or dilution of the weight of a citizen's vote just as effectively as by wholly prohibiting the free exercise of the franchise.'"
Thus, fraudulent voting effectively dilutes the votes of lawful voters. By instituting requirements to guard against abuse of the elective franchise, a state protects the right of lawful voters to exercise their full share of this franchise.
Oh no. Not another kitchen table lawyer.
For example, here is what liberal Justice Stevens wrote in 2008 about voter ID laws.
"It remains true, however, that flagrant examples of such fraud in other parts of the country have been documented throughout this Nation's history by respected historians and journalists, that occasional examples have surfaced in recent years and that Indiana's own experience with fraudulent voting in the 2003 Democratic primary for East Chicago Mayor—though perpetrated using absentee ballots and not in-person fraud—demonstrate that not only is the risk of voter fraud real but that it could affect the outcome of a close election.
There is no question about the legitimacy or importance of the State's interest in counting only the votes of eligible voters. Moreover, the interest in orderly administration and accurate recordkeeping provides a sufficient justification for carefully identifying all voters participating in the election process. While the most effective method of preventing election fraud may well be debatable, the propriety of doing so is perfectly clear."
In fact, polls in the last two weeks show that a majority of people in both parties are in favor of such laws.
I was required to show my picture ID when I voted.
I don't get it really. What's wrong with having to show an ID?
Nothing. It doesn't mean anything. But I guess if you feel better...
I'll give you 25 cents cash of you can come up with something beside that stupid "libtard" thing. Even a child could do better. (Parrot.)
ya why would someone be so against validating a honest vote
it's not intimidating when the liquor store checks your id to verify your age
What does liquor have to do with the CONSTITUTIONAL right to vote? Good grief. (We see where you spend your time. And money.)
No, you don't get it. And that makes YOU part of the problem in a democracy. You believe in your superiority and use that to justify the bogus things you are doing to intimidate voting accuracy. Unless picture IDs are provided free as part of the voter registration process, then the requirement is aimed squarely at particular groups of voters: city dwellers who don't need a car and the elderly. Well, keep it up and you won't have to worry about that pesky democracy…there won't be one.
To Martha-2024651: There is no voter fraud--and lying about isn't going to make it so. You are participating in evil.
Hey and Martha-2024651 Guess what? When all is said and done, you will still be "you people" to your party. ROFL. Do you really think Willard was just talking to Demo's. If you do, lol I've got a bridge to sell ya. I would love to be a fly on the wall when he makes it perfectly clear (flip flop) that he meant you guys as well. Picture perfect and you so deserve to know.
well federal voting id would be good as long as its free and no id is required to get it lol Stupid Anti-American Confederates Traitors
Texas,
I am willing to bet you have never picked up an actual history book in you sorry existence and know less than nothing about history. You keep berating Confederates on this post. What has the Confederates got to do with anything? Is that the extent of your seemingly limited intellect? What has Confederate done to you personally other than provide you with a word you can spell.
JEEZE, address the points made instead of reaching for totally ignorant liberal rhetoric. If you have one single original thought, I wish you would share it for our reading pleasure and edification.
If you want to discuss the Confederacy in a real discussion, I and many others would gladly like to take your empty cranium for a spin in truth.
Lazarus
Can blacks send a few bus loads of black panthers (and other useless sterotypes) to white neighborhoods in Houston to take notes at the polls and stare and "watch?" Can they carry? Think their tats and rag tops will cause any concern for the repuke suburban cows waiting in line? No? Think everything will be cool? OR WILL THEY BE BOTH INTIMIDATED AND INSULTED?
Note to minority leaders around the country...LET'S TRY IT AND SEE!
Tough guy....one day you will see.
Yankee Boy....I'd love to see that as well. Give them a taste of their own stupid medicine. Sign me up.
Absolutely! Let's try it. I support the idea and I'm a white man. This what happens when the Rich-piglicans don't get their way....they pout, cry, whine and stomp their tiny little feet and throw a fit like a bunch of spoiled brats. This country is supposed to be a "Democracy" where ALL votes count. Just because your side looses doesn't give you right wing whack jobs the right to 'threaten CIVIL WAR", "cleanse the voter rolls" or try to deny ANY person his legal right to vote. I wll say something that you have been saying.....If you don't like it here...LEAVE!
I agree. We need watchers to watch the True the Vote watchers (what the hell does "true the vote" mean anyway?
Deb P et al: There is terrible voter fraud -it is not a secret. I used to do GOTV for democrats and polling workers vote for no shows per those big printouts that are checked off, people are paid to go vote, and poll workers go into booths with people who dont speak english. Most polling places are run by one party or another depending on locale. EVERY polling site should be monitored by equivalent members of each party. I have to show my drivers license when I enter a hospital, use my health insurance card, write a check and so forth. What is wrong with demanding that people who are exercising our most prized --incidentally priceless --freedom prove they are legal citizens eligible to vote? Everyone must stop pretending why the Democrats so desperately want these laws struck down --because they abuse this system. (This is why Obama is rolling out the carpet for illegals to become legal. It is called vote buying.) Nonetheless: no one should vote unless they are a legitimate voter. What is wrong with people watching a polling place to document irregularities? We do this in stadiums, concerts, public places, stores, to children on computers and so forth. If people dont behave they should be monitored. For people who claim that there are too many people without Id or picture ID, I ask how do they use medicaid cards or get their food stamps or obtain housing?
Yeah theres no Whites in Houston only outside the beltway 8 lol and other small cities sucking on houstons tit Houston is run by Democrats but once u step outside U better watch it with all this confederate traitors Anti-American types
This is a silly article over nothing. Dead people should be taken off voter lists and so should the names of people not eligible to vote.
Exactly! And you should have done it BEFORE people are in line to vote. That's what registration BEFORE the election day is for.
This is not a silly article over nothing, and it's not about getting dead people off the rolls. Do you imagine that there are very many dead people going to the polls to vote so that we need poll watchers to keep them from voting? This is a thinly veiled attempt at voter suppression/intimidation in order to fix a problem (voter fraud) that is virtually nonexistent. Not one of these people has been able to produce a shred of evidence that voter fraud is a widespread problem. Does it occur at all? Probably, but it's not a big problem.
Wow miss confederacy did u figure all that on your own wow