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babylonsister

(171,070 posts) Sun Nov 4, 2012, 01:12 PM Nov 2012

Cheating to Win

http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2012/11/4/101917/659

Cheating to Win

by BooMan
Sun Nov 4th, 2012 at 10:19:17 AM EST

It shouldn't be controversial to say that the Republicans are trying to win the presidential election by reducing the size of the electorate. They passed restrictive photo identification laws which were overturned in one court after another. They restricted early voting and weekend voting, in some cases seeing those decisions overturned as well. The Ohio Secretary of State has defied a federal judge and been reprimanded. He continues to defy him, now issuing a new rule about how provisional ballots will be treated that are contrary to a prior consent decree. At Daily Kos, a diarist writes about spending nine hours in line to vote yesterday, all because Governor Rick Scott has reduced early voting hours and hasn't provided adequate personnel and machines.

The conclusion is unavoidable. The Republicans are trying to make access to the polls so difficult that people will give up and go home. They are going to try to throw out as many provisional ballots as they can, which are really just votes for the president. They aren't even pretending that they have persuaded the majority of registered voters to support their presidential candidate. But they are trying to win anyway.

This really ought to be the scandal of the year. Yet, rank and file Republicans seem to be perfectly content with these tactics. It's as if they believe that the Civil Rights Movement never happened, or never should have happened. They are happy to win the election even if they only win by suppressing the vote of working people and students and the elderly and people of color. It's disgraceful. When Romney talked about the 47% of Americans who won't support him, he reflected this attitude. It's an attitude that says that only Americans in certain income brackets and with certain complexions should have a say in our democracy.

But the truth is that the will of the people should decide who wins elections, not the relative effectiveness of voter suppression tactics.

8 replies

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Highlight:

Cheating to Win (Original Post) babylonsister Nov 2012 OP

I like to pretend I'm a realist, but I'm not DefenseLawyer Nov 2012 #1

Thank you. It boggles my mind that not one republican babylonsister Nov 2012 #3

If you drank the tea they do, you too would belive the lies. liberal N proud Nov 2012 #5

I have to give the GOPs credit for one thing Flashmann Nov 2012 #2

They used to do this only to women, minorities, and poor whites BumRushDaShow Nov 2012 #4

Ding, ding, ding. We have a winner!! Scuba Nov 2012 #6

This statement should be applied to the entire Republican Party; they haven't changed. Uncle Joe Nov 2012 #7

The Republicans haven't won a free and fair presidential election since 1988 Jack Rabbit Nov 2012 #8

DefenseLawyer

(11,101 posts)

1. I like to pretend I'm a realist, but I'm not

Reply to babylonsister (Original post)

Sun Nov 4, 2012, 01:20 PM

Nov 2012

I'm just a starry eyed idealist. In my crazy world the idea of cheating to win would be outrageous, regardless of my ideology and regardless of how much I wanted my candidate to win. I'm not sure if it's because these people are just sociopaths who have no sense of right and wrong or they are just fascists who don't really believe in democracy in the first place or they are just political creatures for which the whole thing is just a game, but wouldn't you think that someone on their side would be standing up, if not in public, but when these things are being planned in the back room and say "Whoa. Wait a minute, I'm not going to be a part of this."? Obviously not.

babylonsister

(171,070 posts)

3. Thank you. It boggles my mind that not one republican

Reply to DefenseLawyer (Reply #1)

Sun Nov 4, 2012, 01:24 PM

Nov 2012

that I'm aware of has had the moral fortitude to stand up and say this isn't right.

liberal N proud

(60,336 posts)

5. If you drank the tea they do, you too would belive the lies.

Reply to babylonsister (Reply #3)

Sun Nov 4, 2012, 01:43 PM

Nov 2012

There is something in that tea!

Flashmann

(2,140 posts)

2. I have to give the GOPs credit for one thing

Reply to babylonsister (Original post)

Sun Nov 4, 2012, 01:21 PM

Nov 2012

They have the awareness,just barely I suspect,that they can't win a fair election.....That,by the way is the ONE redeeming quality I can find in their entire clusterfuck of a circus.....That tiny bit of awareness...

BumRushDaShow

(129,096 posts)

4. They used to do this only to women, minorities, and poor whites

Reply to babylonsister (Original post)

Sun Nov 4, 2012, 01:29 PM

Nov 2012

And after protests and lynchings and beatings and bombings, the franchise was expanded to all.

Now rethuglicans are fighting to reclaim the vote for only wealthy white male land-owners.

Scuba

(53,475 posts)

6. Ding, ding, ding. We have a winner!!

Reply to BumRushDaShow (Reply #4)

Sun Nov 4, 2012, 01:44 PM

Nov 2012

Uncle Joe

(58,366 posts)

7. This statement should be applied to the entire Republican Party; they haven't changed.

Reply to babylonsister (Original post)

Sun Nov 4, 2012, 01:48 PM

Nov 2012

Thanks for the thread, babylonsister.

Jack Rabbit

(45,984 posts)

8. The Republicans haven't won a free and fair presidential election since 1988

Reply to babylonsister (Original post)

Sun Nov 4, 2012, 01:59 PM

Nov 2012

They're not going to win one this year.

The following actions will invalidate any Romney "victory":

Voter ID laws aimed at suppressing the votes of minorities and students.
Election day "poll watching" by "citizen journalists" intending to intimidate voters.
The endless attempts by Ohio's crooked SOS to throw roadblocks up in front of voters, the mysterious "computer glitch" that dropped a number of newly registered voters from the rolls and the "experimental software" he ordered put in voting machines.
The purge of the voter rolls initiated by Florida's crooked governor.
Use of unaccountable voting machines manufactured by a company owned by candidate Romney's son.
Use of voter registration firms which either registered only Republican voters or actually destroyed the registration forms of Democrats.
Attempts by employers to intimidate employees into voting for Governor Romney, at the Governor's urging.
Huge spending by right wing billionaires taking advantage of the Citizens United decision, which has been used to buy advertising that contains false information such as the "Jeep is moving to China" spots.

The United States is a democracy, not a mere republic. Democracy has always been a part of American culture. It is what Tocqueville observed and that to which Walt Whitman wrote praises in robust free verse. To organize attempts to suppress voting in manners like those described above is blatantly anti-American.

We will know the election has been stolen as soon as the networks declare Romney the winner. The moment that happens, we should reach for our pitchforks and light our torches. We allowed a stolen election in 2000 and the nation suffered for eight years under yoke of tyrants who botched the effort to capture Osama bin Laden in order to fight a completely unjustified war against Iraq and opened the treasury to corporate cronies. We cannot allow this to stand again.

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