"Chalk up another victory for fraud."
Texas Governor Rick Perry
That is one way to look at the recent federal court ruling that struck down Texas' new voter ID law. Of course every independent study done so far has shown there is no evidence whatsoever of wide spread voter fraud in Texas or anyplace else. You'll never convince someone like Rick Perry of that. To him and the rest of the howling right, wide spread fraud is the only plausible reason Barak Obama became president of the United States. After all, everyone they know voted for the other guy.
Thank God for another Texan, Lyndon Baines Johnson. He is the president who pushed through the voting rights act in 1965 that forces a state to answer to the federal government when it attempts some vile chicanery such as this. U.S. Attorney General, Eric Holder put the Texas law on hold when he stated, "Texas failed to show the law will not have the effect of denying or abridging the right to vote on account of race."
The court agreed. The ruling among other things, states the law will, "impose strict, unforgiving burdens on the poor." The ruling also points out that African Americans and Hispanics make up a disproportionate percentage of the poor in Texas.
This whole voter ID movement is nothing but a cruel attempt to disenfranchise millions of American citizens, to forcibly keep them from voting, to return the demographics of the electorate to the shade of skim milk. To believe otherwise is to be naive, out right delusional, or part of the evil putsch.
Up in Pennsylvania the republican controlled legislature passed a similar measure, only they were up front about their motives. The speaker of the state house bragged about it openly in a meeting. He crowed that the immediate effect of the law will, "...allow Governor Romney to win Pennsylvania."
A state court has upheld the law in Pennsylvania. Hopefully the federal courts will put a stop to that nonsense like they did in Texas.
Meanwhile in Tampa Mitt Romney made his acceptance speech after a rather bizarre, quite nearly Dadaesque, introduction by Clint Eastwood. NBC News called the speech by Romney full of nostalgic optimism. Actually it seemed to be more of the same bullshit that got us into this economic quagmire in the first place. Yes, yes, more and better use of domestic energy reserves, make sure Americans have proper job skills, encourage free trade, cut the deficit and lower taxes. Yada, yada, yada. Can you say, George Walker Bush? Well of course you can, even if the republicans themselves were extremely careful not to mention the former president at any point during the proceedings.
Romney's remarks regarding foreign policy were equally vague. He mentioned something about returning to the Reagan vision of diplomacy and action. He failed to mention, if he was aware of it at all, that Reagan's foreign policy drove us deep into national debt, despite Dutch's caterwauling about fiscal responsibility. Well logic has never been the strong point of the republicans. The governor didn't mention Afghanistan at all, which probably means he hasn't a clue when it comes to that exercise in futility.
Well we're off and running. It is clear that there is a wide spread attempt to make sure millions of Obama supporters don't get to vote and the GOP's candidate is harking to a time that existed only in places like Mayberry, the Cleaver's living room, and Ozzy and Harriet's kitchen. A time when, in reality, African Americans were routinely denied access to lunch counters and the voting booths, not to mention vast numbers of state universities across the south. Yes, the good old days weren't so hot for millions of Americans of color, but only a handful of them are going to vote for Mitt anyway, so screw 'em.
Next up, the democrats in Charlotte.
8-31-12
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