On April 6, 2006, in Washington, D.C., Karl Rove gave a speech to the Republican National Lawyers Association and issued this dire warning: We are, in some parts of the country, I’m afraid to say, beginning to look like we have elections like those run in countries where the guys in charge are, you know, colonels in mirrored sunglasses. I… return to article
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Reader Comments (21)Page 1 of 1 pagesI didn’t know Pat Rogers was on the short list to replace Iglesias, but I’m not at all surprised. He was the plaintiffs’ attorney in the 2004 Larranaga voter fraud case, which I discuss here:
http://christiancentury.org/article.lasso?id=3181
("Hypothetical Fraud: Behind the Firing of David Iglesias,” Christian Century, April 17, 2007)
The arguments used in Larranaga have frightening implications.
Meg E. Cox
Posted by Meg E. Cox on Apr 18, 2007 at 10:05 AM Hey, Hot Flash ! Gore Lost ! Kerry Lost ! The Sore Loserman ticket went down to defeat in 2000 because Joey L’s peepul in South Florida too stupid to work the butterfly ballot. Get over it !
Posted by blondemike on Apr 18, 2007 at 10:09 AM Here in Washington State, we had a very close governor’s race in 2006. The Democratic candidate won after a second re-count (the one Gore never got in 2000)
The election was certified by the Republican Secretary of State, who found no evidence of voter fraud. Then the state Republican Party filed suit in a hand-picked venue: a rural county, with a Republican leaning judge. The judge dismissed their complaint WITH PREJUDICE (which means “you don’t have a case, quit wasting the court’s time)
Still the local rant-wingers can’t leave it alone. Talk radio is full of “voter fraud” allegations. (In the trial, the only folks that could be produced who voted illegally voted for the Republican candidate)
Then the Bush administration fired the US Attorney for our district for not pursuing the fraud complaint that was dismissed outright in the State courts.
I just thank God for the honest Republican office-holders (the Secretary of State and the Judge) who put America above politics. Would that the “loyal Bushies” were the same.
Posted by ohb0b on Apr 18, 2007 at 8:44 PM “This emphasis on voter fraud has convinced eight states to pass laws requiring voters to present official photo identification in order to cast a ballot—laws that studies have shown suppress Democratic turnout among voters who are poor, black, Latino, Asian-American or disabled.”
It sounds like a non-sequiter to say that requiring presentation of ID prior to voting inhibits poor, black, Latino, Asian, or disabled voters from casting a ballot. It suggests that those people are somehow singled out by the requirement, or are somehow less able to follow through on it than other people not listed. Why would that be? They’re not any less able to get ahold of the ID card, nor are they any less able to remember to bring it with them to the polling station.
Would poor, black, Latino, Asian, or disabled Republicans be somehow advantaged by such a law? How? If people want to vote Dem, they will, and if they need to show their ID beforehand, they will.
I’d like to see more about the “studies” underlying that point.
On the other hand, malfeasance with regard to collecting and tabulating votes that actually were cast is much more central to the issue of honest elections. Even if it isn’t actual malfeasance, sloppy or foolish tabulation practices are enough to warrant measures being taken to prevent such things. I’m against computerized voting machines being the sole method of tabulation for this very reason, because it’s not possible to absolutely prevent hacking, freaking of software, system failure that results in lost data, etc. Which party benefits or loses in a given election is beside the point.
If Mr Rove or anyone else really wants to “clean up” American elections (hell, from his statement you’d think he’s been wringing his hands over the issue for years, rather than just since Nov 2006), how about ensuring that every single vote that is cast gets properly counted regardless of who it’s for, including complete hard-copy backups (not just stupid paper receipts to voters, that could never all be recovered and recounted!) with multi-party oversight of the tabulation process?
As for the fired US Attorneys, the move looks like what was intended to be a superb piece of misdirection… that backfired.
Posted by Kuya on Apr 19, 2007 at 1:00 AM I’m with you, Kuya, on the need for paper ballots (not just “paper trails").
If you’d like to read up on voter ID, I suggest starting with the Brennan Center study, summarized in this report to the Department of Homeland Security:
http://www.brennancenter.org/dynamic/subpages/download_file_48288.pdf
Certain groups are less likely than others to have state-issued photo ID with a current address. Think about it. If you don’t drive, you’re less likely to have one. People with less money and people with disabilities are less likely to drive. If you move often, it’s less likely that your ID has a current address. Students and people with less money are most likely to move frequently. As a group, African-Americans have less money than other Americans; they are also less likely to drive and more likely to move frequently. See how it adds up?
Not everyone has the necessary documentation to get state-issued photo ID. On Indian reservations it is more common than elsewhere for babies to be delivered at home. Sometimes no birth certficate is issued. Some states require a birth certificate as proof of identity for native-born Americans seeking a state ID.
Guess who’s affected most by laws requiring documentary proof of citizenship for voting? Married women. 32 million women do not have a document proving their citizenship that carries their legal name.
This would be a problem regardless of whether affected groups were more likely to vote Democrat or Republican. But so happens that most of the affected groups tend to vote Democratic and that the voter ID laws are being pushed mostly by Republicans.
Posted by Meg E. Cox on Apr 19, 2007 at 1:24 AM political scandal that some say could become this president’s Watergate. what about iraq, katrina,wire tappings, valerie plame,google bush under scandals. The list is to long to print, I am glad bush brought back integrety to the white house that clinton could not.
Rename watergate to bushgate.
Even Republican partisans cannot miss the overpowering rank smell of corruption that seems to be coming from the Bush White House and the upper ranks of the national Republican leadership. It is little wonder that fewer and fewer Americans are identifying themselves as supporters of the Republican Party.
The shear number of scandals that seem to link back to the highest reaches of the Bush White House is alarming. They are so numerous that a short article is insufficient to even list them much less accurately detail them.
Bush set back the republican party at least 15 years which is a good thing.
Posted by brian28 on Apr 19, 2007 at 9:45 AM Hi, Y’all
Boy oh boy! The right-wingers are attempting to beguile us with another pointless issue designed to scare ignorant housewives and anger hardhats. What will they do next, that isn’t completely predictable, especially since they’ve been caught once again with their hands in the cookie jar.Where I live we are trying to pass legislation that will allow voters to register and vote on the same day--handy and convenient! Guess who’s against it? Guess what their argument is? Ooooh! E-e-e-e-vil Mexicans will sneak in and violate the system! They’ll vote socialist ! They’ll turn America into a banana republic where cub scouts will be marched into pits and machine-gunned in the name of political correctness!
And we’re expected to believe this.
What does anyone want to bet that in the case of this voting option, the gop(They don’t deserve to be capitalized,so save it!) wants to have a list of voters that they can excise based on their voting records. Skin color, in this case,is not vital like in 2000 but is a nice cherry on top. Ah, the ideals of Jesse Helms will never die, at least not in a state where all the sheets don’t go on the beds and the holes in them aren’t accidental.
It still flabbergasts me that anyone can still trust Karl Rove without being profoundly retarded. To hear Karl Rove speak about integrity in the election process is like hearing Charles Manson speak out in favor of law and order.
The only way we’ll have more fraud in our voting system is if the republicans (No, I’m not capitlizing them either!) decide that’s the only way they can steal the election,again, for whatever lemon they put into the race.
I also agree with those who advocate using paper ballots. We use a ballot in my state similar to the scantron sheets that some of us used to take tests in school. They are simple, fast( I complete my voting in about five minutes,and that isn’t voting straight ticket,either),and easy to use.One doesn’t have to be literate or need to speak the language to vote. Don’t speak the language! Oh, God! Mexicans might vote! Can’t have that! No wonder the gop hates the idea! Of course, one could argue that being able to vote without being literate would be a good thing, at least in the case of right-wingers. Really, IQ points should be deducted each time on agrees with Fox News or talk radio hosts.
Incidentally,while this does violate the idea of the secret ballot,though now made irrelevant by bumper stickers and the like,why not sign the ballot and totally eliminate any possibilty of fraud? I’ll sign my next ballot!
P.S. I noticed in the margin of the area where we respond that there is a message to remain respectful and on topic. Someone should remind the webmaster that with the protocol of giving one’s e-mail and not being able to post under multiple names each time one comes to this site, respect and civilty are almost required.
Not that I’m against it as it does dispel @#$%&*! heads who post
rants that are plainly fascist screeds written by second-rate
professors in rectangle states with nothing better to do than play
troll all during summer break.Posted by Ph.Dork on May 5,2004 at 1:21PM
Who then respond under a bogus name two minutes later to support
their e-vulgarity with a sycophantic comment. This assumes that none
of us check the times of the posts and quickly deduces what is being
done,even though the person writing the posts is using a style of posting
that is identical each time, a style, by the way, I’m lampooning.
Posted by Ph. Dork fawner on May 5, 2004 at 1:23 PMSome of you may remember the stupidity epidemic that infested this site during the summer of 2005, Funny,it wasn’t even an election year but the posts were as bad as right wing radio or Fox News without any morals(O.K. Fox News or talk radio with a deficit in morals). It’s not to say that the new policy isn’t a good thing. It simply seems now,with the trolls gone,as necessary as a drag chute on a tortoise. Yes, this post is runing long and meandering a bit. Apologies on my knees. I’ve been unable to post or even come here in quite a while--graduate school. Some things written are points this poster needed to vent .Thank you for being patient.
Done for now! Ta-Ta!
Posted by Aunty Rightwing on Apr 22, 2007 at 12:27 PM If someone can translate the above wordsalad into english......no, don’t bother.
Posted by blondemike on Apr 23, 2007 at 9:52 AM Hi,Y’all!
blondemike,
“If someone can translate the above wordsalad into english...” ?
wordsalad?
Please,that is soooo Jack Barnes.Read the post again and you will see it is expressing two different ideas. One points out the fearmongering put forth by BU**SH** administration, while the other is a sigh of relief that something has been done about posting security on this site, frightening away most of the trolls. However, since my poor eyes have seen a post of right-wing view using the term “wordsalad” a favorite term of trolls and freepers and those who fancy themselves such, I’m really beginning to wonder.
Keep your posts real short.That way we’ll be unable to
see if your posting from a blackberry or a Casio the way
Jack Barnes did.I really hope you are not him.On a lighter note, you may wish to go back to the blog about Kurt Vonnegut, I left a list of recommended reading for you. There are enough books in the list to keep you busy all summer and not harassing left-wingers.
Ta-Ta!
Posted by Aunty Rightwing on Apr 23, 2007 at 12:05 PM Aunty, what are you trying to say ? Are wordsalads
a monopoly of the left ? I’ve seen quite a few on this
site. Who is Barnes ? Casio ? Why should we care ?
I just tried to read your earlier, longer post but I was
getting a headache. Are you having a debate with
yourself ? How many yous are there ?
Posted by bostonblackie on Apr 23, 2007 at 3:27 PM Hi Y’all !
bostonblackie,
There is only one me,although I have updated my screen name to the one I had thought about using but didn’t when I first returned to this site. We’ve been through this before JACK BARNES!
Isn’t that convenient,being able to switch to a better name? Thank you,ITT!
With my identity problem solved, let’s talk,if we may.Oh,my! I see another one of these narrow
posts put forth by the narrow-minded could
it be that our old nemesis is using his computer’s
e-mail address to create one name like,oh,maybe
blondemike and his blackberry to use the identity
of bostonblackie?My my! Unfortunately,what our
pseudo-dastardly nemesis doesn’t realize is his
vocabulary and style of writing give him away.
Such a pity to have your facade exposed by someone
who has only been back here for two days.Out of politeness, I will say nice try. However, do try to be more clever next time.
ohb0b,
You are so right! Yet, unfortunately, right-wing thinking is a mental disorder for which there is very little chance of recovery. There are no mental vitamins and, even if there were, right-wingers wouldn’t take them. Such a pity. I suppose we could strap them to a chair, put on lid-locks on their eyes and have them viddy films,but that’s such work!
Ta-Ta!
P.S.
It’s so good to see you back, rectangle state professor. I look forward to seeing you incessantly use the term wordsalad and insult us with your John Birch Society insults. Forgive me if I’ve now forced you to go back to every single site on this blog to see if I’ve written anything else. Have fun,troll!
Posted by Aunty Rightwing on Apr 23, 2007 at 5:07 PM “Aunty” you appear to be mentally ill.
How long have you been hearing voices
and how long have you had 34 multiple
personalities ? My deepest pity. Are you
also “Aunty Fascist” ?
Posted by bostonblackie on Apr 24, 2007 at 9:49 AM Hi,y’all!
bostonblackie,
Duh,my little duckling! i mentioned that in the above post! Call it a fine-tuning of my posting name; the one I really liked.
Tell me, are you going to continue to use multiple names and praise your silly arguments under another name?
Ta-Ta!
Posted by Aunty Rightwing on Apr 24, 2007 at 11:11 AM is the 49th ward election contest a part of this plan??
i believe don gordon is actually a republican. their election day plan was right out of kkkarl’s playbook.
and who is the freeman institute? they supplied the voter lists.
Posted by been there on Apr 25, 2007 at 12:37 PM Wordsalad? What a wonderful term!
I am all for turning the tables on the rant-wing, and using their own terms against them. Anyone remember “Nixon’s the One?”
It can be surprisingly easy.... for years the adjective “knee-jerk” prefixed the noun “liberal.” But the mere mention of gay marriage, abortion rights, estate tax, and about a dozen other wedgie issues causes the average rant-winger to suffer chest pains from their knees hitting their rib cages.
Posted by ohb0b on Apr 26, 2007 at 1:42 PM Hi,y’all!
ohb0b,
You are definitely onto something! No one says “knee-jerk reactionary” though they should!
What is a"liberal"?
It is someone who disagrees with fascism; the very thing the republican party is trying to make a reality.
Why use the term"liberal"?
Because"pinko" is so Cold War and “ni**er lover” is too close to the period of time,the mind set, that the far right would like us to return.
So, call someone a liberal and you are saying that they refuse to put on the armband. Which all conservatives, deep in their hearts, believe in, though they will never admit
“With an armband, you can tell who is your friend and who is the enemy.”
Yeah,whatever,Simple Simon.
“Why I’m not racist or elitist. In fact, I had three black men over at my house last week to do my yard work! I kept my daughter inside,though. You never can tell with that’jelly-roll vibration’ that them ‘colored folk’ put out!”
Really,republicans need to master their abilty to eupemise.
It’s the only way they’ll keep their power and avoid being lynched. I’m sure Marie Antoinette would vote republican!Can’t we all just get along?
-- Rodney KingCan’t we all just do what I say?
-- Adolf HitlerSure thing! And tonight we’re gonna party like it’s 1899!
Ta-Ta!
Posted by Aunty Rightwing on Apr 27, 2007 at 12:29 AM Aunty;
Occasionally, someone else notices what I have been observing for several years: If you control the language, you can control the debate. Katrina Vanden Huevel over at The Nation wrote an article several months back touching on it. For awhile I thought the “Paris Hilton Tax was going to make it big.
I call it Republican Newspeak. Like Orwell’s Newspeak, its purpose is to make dissenting thought literally unthinkable, because there will be no words to express it. The real test seems to be if you can get NPR to use the word or phrase. Their best success so far is probably “abortion clinic.” “Swift-Boating” is probably our best contender.
I think it started with “right-to-work.” sounds so high-minded, and fair. I mean, who could possibly be against someone having the right to work? Until you realize who is behind the “right-to-work,” and what their agenda is.
Other examples are the “death tax,” “healthy forests initiative,” “pro-life,” etc. The most comical are the names they come up with for military operations: Operation Enduring Freedom, etc.
The flip side is to make your opponent a subject of ridicule, such as Ranting O’Rielly’s favorite “loony left,” FAUX commentators seem to have a knack for illiteration; loony left, limosine liberal, latte liberal, etc. maybe its because the “L’ phoneme rolls so easily off the tongue. It sure resonates with the hoi polloi though… as does “cut-and run” and as the election approaches, I predict a resurrection of “flip-flop.”
I say we need to take the gloves off and come up with some of our own. “rant-wing” is one of my favorites. I also wish they would just go ahead a canonize St. Ronnie, and get his face on the currency. I can’t wait to use the phrase “not worth a Reagan Dime.” (or a Reagn Dollar the way we are headed)
How about these for starters:
Hate Radio, Rant-wing Radio
American Taliban (referring to the religious right, or as Mencken called them, the Baptist Mullahs)
Big Oil Republican
Borrow-and Spend Republican (at least Dems try to get a tax increase to pay for their government programs)
Rapture Republican ( I still say if the Dems would just pay air time to put the ads the RNC runs on rural oriented radio stations in major metropolitan markets, there would not be a single moderate un-decided voter in the country!)
neo-conmen (another of my faves.... we don’t get fooled again)Of course, I also believe politicians should be required to wear NASCAR coveralls while campaigning. The bigger the contribution, the bigger and more prominently displayed the corporate logo.
Sorry for hi-jacking the thread.
Posted by ohb0b on Apr 27, 2007 at 2:54 AM Hi,y’all!
ohb0b,
You are sooooo right.
Read 1984 again. There is so much more there than meets the eye. I’ve taught the book and it never fails to anger the far right.
By the way, why do we call these people the “far right’? Can we display a bit of fearlessness and call them what they truly are--FASCISTS!!!
Poke about on the web. Look for an an article by Umberto Eco on the sixteen points of fascism-- it shouldn’t be too hard to find. Examine his musings and decide for yourself if the republican party isn’t really a fascist party.
This country has never had an administration which one could call fascist until now. The longings were there during the 1960’s when Kennedy defeated Nixon, and during the Goldwater campaign. It was not until this administration and the comfortably incensed middle class who endured eight years of liberal economic growth that fascism was allowed to take root. That and a fascist medium: talk radio and Fox News that were left totally unchallenged--liberal media,INDEED!
Pardon me for a moment .
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHA LIBERAL MEDIA! HOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH FAIR AND BALANCED? OH, THAT’s A GOOD ONE!!! HOOHOOHOOHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! WE REPORT,YOU DECIDE! HAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHA!How about"we purport,you abide” YOU STUPID RED-STATE AUTHORITY ACCEPTING WANNABE DECISIVE,INSIGIFICANT PAUL MALLOY READING.BELIEVING IN FORMULAS AND MECHANISMS TO GET INTO THE MIDDLE OR UPPER MIDDLE CLASS ,PROPAGANDA SWALLOWING, BELIEVING IN GOVERNMENT,NO MATTER HOW IT LIES SO LONG AS IT AFFIRMS YOUR YEARS OF HALF EDUCATED ACQUIRED"WISDOM",WAITING TO BE DUPED,AGAIN, FOOLS!!!
You are the dorks ignored in high school who believed your voice mattered in the school elections.; withotut realizing the positions had been chosen a long time prior. You believe that it’s all different now that you are adults. WRONG!!! The players for this game were decided some time ago,long before college graduation.If you weren’t a player then,you are not one now! Sorry to burst your bubble, but ideology counts for little in this game,only what you can do for the candidate--- and that means money or power. Got None? Then you don’t count!
Sorry to rant,but I’ve recenlty seen so much fervor over right-wing decisions by those who aren’t, unbeknownst to them, actualy playing the game. Sorry,it doesn’t matter if you’ve faithfully listened to Rush Limbaugh since he went on the air; loyalty without money is just one vote,and those can easily,and more cheaply,be bought--or forged.
Whew!!!
I just had to test the new vent on my spleen! That felt marvelous! Still,the truth! Sleep well,my little reactionaries and know that you will be insignificant. Then again, it really doesn’t matter if your party wins and you get what you want, or if at least your party wins, They will give you what you want? Right guys? Uh, guys? Um, why wasn’t I invited to the party? I contributed with my vote. That counts,right? Uh,guys? Uh, where you going? You know I can’t follow if you don’t give me the key to open this wrought iron gate that’s keeping us apart. Uh.guys?
I love middle and working class republicans. They prove that the dream is still alive,if unattainable-- especially when they’ve helped make it so!
Well, off to sleep!
To my right wingers,pleasant dreams of a future you’ve denied with your susceptibility to propaganda! Hope you dream of owning a Ferrari!
Ta-Ta!
Posted by Aunty Rightwing on Apr 28, 2007 at 12:58 AM Page 1 of 1 pages -
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