Anne Laurie wrote about the latest conservative effort to gut the Voting Rights Act last week, but I want to return to it, because the political commentary that is developing on the Texas case is interesting.
The Texas voter suppression law really is different than the new laws in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, or the new laws in South Carolina and Tennessee, because the Texas law targets Hispanics:
On Monday, the Justice Department blocked Texas’ voter ID law , and the state is fighting back. At a forum in Dallas Thursday night, Republican candidates running to replace Kay Bailey Hutchison in the Senate argued that the Justice Department is trying to stop Texas from implementing “common-sense law.” Rick Hasen reported on his Election Law blog that Texas is not only challenging the Justice Department on the merits of its decision, but is arguing that Section 5 is an unconstitutional infringement on states’ rights.
A state’s right to do what? This argument goes back to the dark days when states argued that the federal government had no right to interfere with their mistreatment of minorities. It took a Civil War, two constitutional amendments, the blood of civil rights activists, an act of Congress, and courageous Supreme Court justices to put an end to that. The ideologically driven Roberts bloc has already allowed the financially powerful to drown out other voices in campaigns. It would be tragic if they allow the politically powerful to decide who gets to vote.
First, let’s call it what it is. The burgeoning battles over state redistricting and voter ID laws — and the larger fight over a key part of the Voting Rights Act itself — are all cynical expressions of the concerns many conservatives (of both parties) have about the future of the American electorate. The Republican lawmakers who are leading the fight for the restrictive legislation say they are doing so in the name of stopping election fraud — and, really, who’s in favor of election fraud? But the larger purpose and effect of the laws is to disenfranchise Hispanic voters, other minorities, and the poor — most of whom, let’s also be clear, vote for Democrats.
Jonathan Chait, in a smart recent New York magazine piece titled “2012 or Never,” offered some numbers supporting the theory. “Every year,” Chait wrote, “the nonwhite proportion of the electorate grows by about half a percentage point — meaning that in every presidential election, the minority share of the vote increases by 2 percent, a huge amount in a closely divided country.” This explains, for example, why Colorado, Nevada, and Arizona are turning purple instead of staying red. “By 2020,” Chait writes, “nonwhite voters should rise from a quarter of the 2008 electorate to one third. In 30 years, “nonwhites will outnumber whites.”
The laws in the other states I listed may also affect Hispanic voters, but the Texas law puts Hispanic voters front and center in this dispute, simply because of the demographic make-up and (current and projected composition) of the electorate in Texas, and that’s new in a case that is going to get national attention.
I’ve written here before that I have been on several conference calls on voting rights in Ohio, and I can tell you, listening to others on those calls, that this issue is huge for those Democrats and liberals who are members of minority groups or act as voting rights advocates for members of minority groups. Simply, people want the right to vote. They want the right to the franchise protected. They want someone in state and federal government to protect their right to vote.
I think the fact that the Voting Rights Act challenge is based on the Texas law takes us into new terrority on the politics of voter suppression, and that new political terrain may be less favorable for conservatives than it has been previously, because conservatives actually rely on Hispanic voters to win elections in places like Texas, and Hispanic voters are projected to be such a large portion of the electorate in places like Texas:
So if section 5 doesn’t apply to “long past sins” against black voters, what about current sins against Hispanic voters? If the Voting Rights Act was originally designed to protect the rights of black Americans to vote, do we now need a new Voting Rights Act that would protect the rights of Hispanic Americans to vote? If so, why aren’t federal lawmakers tripping over themselves to get on the good side of a voting bloc that is going to increase in power over the next generation? Oh, that’s right. As Chait reminds us, we are not quite yet at the point at which the benefit of shilling for Hispanic votes outweighs the burden of angering white voters.
It’s unlikely new legislation is needed — we can still use the old reliable 1965 statute and apply it to new circumstances like the ones presented now. But does the discriminatory effect of state ID laws have to be so bad — “violence, terror and subterfuge” is how Justice Thomas put it — before the federal government may step in against a state? Or is it enough to establish that there is a national effort by conservative groups to press for these types of laws? (Ironic, isn’t it, in a dispute conservatives argue is states’ rights, that so many of these state voter ID laws would be conceived within the Beltway.)
Should be really interesting to see how this plays out politically, now that conservatives themselves have taken voter suppression out of the context of “the past” and placed it squarely in the context of the present and future, by targeting a voting bloc that is projected to increase in number and power over the next generation, and targeting voters that they are (supposedly) still seeking to court.
Clime Acts
I lived in Texas for two years long ago. Houston.
Texas is a reactionary, faux-cowboy freak show.
But that’s just me.
Oh, and except for Austin where apparently some sane people live.
gaz
so… how long before I see the current GOP political platform displayed on whitetrashrepairs.com?
heh
Davis X. Machina
All voters are Americans (All P is M)
No Hispanics are Americans (No S is M)
No voter is Hispanic (No P is S)
QED.
Valid, by Camestres.
I don’t see your problem.
SiubhanDuinne
Kay, you are really juicing up the blogosphere today. Two excellent posts on very different* but crucial topics. I can’t tell you how happy I am that you’re here as a front pager, and how grateful I am to John for inviting you.
*Just to clarify, I realize they are related. Whether we’re talking about gutting funding for PP or putting up challenges to the right to vote, the motive is the same: marginalize “the other” (women, poors, minorities — trifecta when you find a black or Hispanic single mother on minimum wage) to solidify your own power.
Fucking bastards, every one of them. No offense to anyone whose parents aren’t married.
moonbat
I keep hearing whispers that the Texas challenge might have some legs. What is the basis for that?
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
It will get very interesting, politically. I’d like to believe that the suppressors have painted themselves into a corner this time.
General Stuck (Bravo Nope Zero)
Texas really is different, not only in their special rabid kind of wingnuttery, but due to their size and traditional influence, used to getting their way when butting heads with the feds. Many of them believe they are their own republic to begin with. And Texans will understand the power of The Texas Railroad Commission that runs a big part of the state. I once ran head on with those folks doing a federal job, and the attitude was get out of here fed, we do what we want, and often they do.
I don’t know about this case, as the VRA has some pretty stringent guidelines, but I can hear and smell the entitled outrage all the way over in NM.
They are digging a legal moat around themselves in these red states, or attempting to, to keep the liberal rainbow libs from polluting their precious bodily fluids. They tried the real war thingy, and it didn’t turn out so great for them. And later got invaded by The Federal Bureau of Intimidation to break up JIm Crow. Poor butthurt babies, surrounded by funny looking liberals, with all the escape hatches welded shut with love beads.
rikyrah
kay,
thank you. unlike others, I welcome the challenge to the VRA. it’s about damn time they showed completely who they are without hiding , as they usually do.
THIS IS WHO THEY ARE.
Keith G
Well Clime, I see you find a value in broad based generalizations. I’m so glad you finally found a place where you can be comfortable.
gaz
@Clime Acts:
Thanks for correcting yourself. The reactionary freak show is JUST YOU.
Ben Franklin
When driving cross country, I go leagues out of my way to avoid driving through the featureless terrain and culture.
gaz
@Ben Franklin: This is why I fly.
kay
Ah, but Stuck, these are potential GOP voters in western states.
In Rick Perry ‘s case, these ARE his voters (some, a crucial portion).
They
Do Republicans really want to target Hispanic voters in western states like they’ve targeted AA voters in southern states or “urban” voters in the Midwest?
That’s new, for them, and really risky, politically.
They can’t afford to completely alienate Hispanics, and this case is going to get tons of press.
Clime Acts
@Keith G:
Cause we never see any broad based generalizations made here at BJ.
I stick by my overall Texas assessment. Don’t like it? I don’t care.
BGinCHI
Great post, Kay. Not quite as hard-hitting as Cole’s cat drinking his water, but keep at it.
Seriously, these posts on voting rights are crucial right now. This is a complex issue and the MSM is terrible at getting the nuances of this stuff across.
dm9871
It’s important to understand that the conservative movement has long had the goal of having the Supreme Court rule section 5 of the VRA to be unconstitutional. The Roberts court has been moving in that direction and the new indication is that they want to do so faster than most had anticipated.
The Dangerman
I wouldn’t have much issue with Voter ID if:
(1) A valid ID is amazingly easy to get. Screw this “just go wait in line at the DMV” shit.
(2) Absentee ballots are eliminated.
ETA: I’ll add another:
(3) Election Day is a paid Holiday.
gaz
@BGinCHI: It’s not that the MSM has trouble with nuance. Voter suppression laws are voter suppression laws. A remedial understanding of American history is all that is required.
The MSM isn’t having trouble expressing nuance. That’s not the issue. The issue is that they are a bunch of opportunistic whores who have no interest in helping inform the electorate or preserving the sanctity of our 4th estate (what’s left of it anyway). They are cowards, hacks and liars. That’s the essential problem here.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@BGinCHI:
because:
@gaz:
It’s quite easy to craft an insightful post with copy, paste, strikethrough and bloc quote.
General Stuck (Bravo Nope Zero)
@kay:
Of course they are a lot of the states GOP voters. They will likely say the VRA was meant for black residents, and are hoping their Hispanic voters won’t take it as an attack on their ethnicity, and that is a huge risk, as it is in AZ. Though dems run NM, so we are mostly spared. The problem they have, the white wingnut, is that they are lying. They don’t want to chase away largely wealthier Hispanics from voting GOP, but THEY ARE targeting poorer Hispanics with such laws, that mostly vote dem, and new immigrants that first become citizens fall into that category.
Linda Featheringill
My take on Texas, based on time spent there and relatives tolerated through the years, is that only about 2/3 of the white people are mean and crazy. The other third ranges from about neutral to really darn good. The state also has a WHOLE BUNCH of members of various minority groups and each group’s nasty-to-nice ratio is probably better than that of the Anglos.
There are a lot of Texans who are fighting the good fight and working for truth and justice. Maybe they could use some encouragement etc. from us.
And I hope their GOTV efforts are intense.
Edited. Grammar, wherefore art thou?
dp
I realize I’m not sufficiently creative, but I don’t see how anyone could read section 2 of the 15th amendment and still believe any part of the VRA is unconstitutional.
BGinCHI
@gaz: I agree with you. I guess I was just being easy on them. But they suck at nuance because they don’t see it as their job to work hard at their job. And that’s perfect for people who make a lot of money to defend the status quo.
As for this:
Yep. And they don’t have it.
BGinCHI
@a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q): It’s like a mashup, but with comments.
Canuckistani Tom
@The Dangerman:
Even simpler: You need ID, but there are tons of different valid pieces of it
True story: about 10 years ago, I moved a few days before an election. I was in a new city, but wanted to vote for the local candidate of my fav party.
Problem was that I had no pieces of ID that had my new address on it. Hadn’t even gotten the new temp. driver’s license. Then on the day of the election, I got the invoice from the local newspaper. A bill with your name & address on it is one of the OK forms of ID in Ontario.
Except the bill had my name misspelled.
I figured ‘WTH’ and went to the nearby polling station with the misspelled bill and as may pieces of photo ID with my old address on it that I could find. They accepted it, I registered to vote on the spot, and voted.
OzoneR
@Clime Acts:
It’s like that all over.
I’m at home with family in Indiana and had to listen to how we’re all going to be forced to speak Spanish in 30 years and illegal immigrants are getting free healthcare and 12-hour a day care for anxiety attacks from the government, but my grandmother has to liquidate her assets to get Medicaid- not fair to them (if it’s even true).
White people are losing their shit and they can’t seem to understand why I’m not.
Also, too, corporations should not have so much power to spend what they want, but they blame liberals for that. Cause liberals live in cities where corporations are.
I’m not even kidding.
OzoneR
@rikyrah:
won’t do us any good if they win. Great, they lost everyone but white votes- means nothing if all who can vote is white.
Ol'Froth
This is also a state that was in rebellion to the lawful authority of the United States over the issue of chattle slavery. They are making the same damn arguments they made 150 years ago. As far as I’m concerned, Texans should be content with the crumbs we leave them.
Clime Acts
@gaz:
REALLY? EVERY single one of them? Everywhere in the U.S., at every single MSM outlet? Wow, did not know that.
But at least you’re not making any broad based generalizations. At least we have that to hold on to.
calliope jane
So if section 5 doesn’t apply to “long past sins” against black voters, what about current sins against Hispanic voters? If the Voting Rights Act was originally designed to protect the rights of black Americans to vote, do we now need a new Voting Rights Act that would protect the rights of Hispanic Americans to vote?
Corner Stone
@Ol’Froth:
Texas returns more in federal dollars than it receives.
So you aren’t leaving us “crumbs” you sick fuck.
marian
Conservatives, led by their attorney Paul Clement, are making a full court press to strike down Section 5 of the VRA, encouraged by comments the SCt has made in several recent cases. <a href="“>
Clement is representing a number of states challenging the law and I don’t think he, an experienced and successful SCt advocate, would go after the Act unless he were pretty sure the argument would be succeed. The last thing conservatives want is a recent case upholding the Act.
The Democratic parties in these states better have a Plan B, because I have no doubt many of these laws restricting voter access are going to be upheld just before the election. We need to be getting our voters ID’d now.
Kay, thank you for the valuable work you do here.
gaz
@Clime Acts: Everywhere in the U.S., at every single MSM outlet?
In a word. Yes
Since you are slow, I’ll help you wrap your beautiful mind around this:
MSNBC: Pat Buchanan. CNBC. I don’t think I need to say more.
Fox: duh
CNN: on the day when thousands of pissed off americans showed up in Madison to protest the assault on collective bargaining, CNN went total blackout – instead just wished the Tea Party a happy birthday.
NYT: see infamous op ed “Should we stop lying and misrepresenting things? what’s our job”
If you don’t see that, you really are a moron.
The MSM is utterly corrupt. Every single last outlet. The few “honest” journo’s left are given a small platfrom just so they can pretend they aren’t completely bought.
kay
Marian, I don’t think conservatives know how profound the VRA is to a large group of people in this country.
It is going to play, politically, like this: LBJ put the law in, and conservative lawyers took it out.
I think it is going to be perceived as conservatives rewriting history, a HUGE over-reach by a court, especially because Congress reauthorized the law in 2006.
Everyone keeps telling me what a brilliant lawyer Clement is, but he’s
always on the wrong side on civil rights.
Clime Acts
@gaz:
Oh my. Every single person at every single outlet?
Such broad generalizations…and I know how you object to those because you are a stickler for intellectual honesty.
And given that knowledge, I’m just saying how surprised I am to see you making these broad generalizations; because you don’t approve of those and all.
gaz
@Clime Acts: Your reading comprehension is piss poor.
I did not say that. I said every single outlet. Not every single person. I did say that they keep a few honest ones around basically so people like you would defend them with bullshit like this.
FAIL.
Clime Acts
@gaz:
Gosh, I can’t seem to find where you wrote “every single outlet.”
Oh dear. Now you’re lying to obscure your inconsistency and hypocrisy.
First intellectual dishonesty and now outright lying.
I don’t know how BJ will go on, knowing you are full of shit.
marian
@kay: I really hope you’re right.
The voter ID law in SC will really hurt minority voting, especially older people. I am told (haven’t researched it myself) that many older, minority voters don’t have birth certificates because they were born at home. You need one to get a photo ID. You can get a birth certificate at the Probate Court…if you have a photo ID.
All this is quite apart from redistricting, which is a whole other horror show that striking down Section 5 will unleash.
Clement is an attack dog for the right…name any disgusting right wing assault on gains the left has made in the last 30 years and he’s in there. And given the makeup of the judiciary, he’s successful.
rikyrah
absolutely. no hiding for them. there is ONE PARTY pushing this forth.
JUST ONE.
BOTH SIDES DO NOT DO IT.
gaz
@Clime Acts: Now you are being pedantic, and reading a lot into what I meant by They.
double down on your fail. way to go.
since you’ve embarassed yourself now in front of God and everybody, I think I’m done with this line of conversation. At least from you. I find stupidity and pedantry to be tiresome. Some days I can handle it. Today I just have no patience for engaging with the submental amongst us.
Thanks for playing though.
Corner Stone
@gaz:
It’s a wonder you can get out of bed in the morning.
Thank the Heavens, for all of us here, that somehow you find the strength.
kay
Marian, I just don’t think 5 judges and 1 lawyer can summarily announce that there is no racial or ethnic discrimination, so no need for federal preclearance of election laws.
The VRA story is now part of the country’s DNA. It happened. It could happen again. Looks like it IS happening again, in Texas.
They can’t announce from the bench that Jim Crow didn’t really happen, or just declare “VICTORY!” over bigotry.
PTirebiter
Really? I’m guessing Clime Acts asked the concierge where he might go to find some some fun loving faux cowboys for a freak show and such. The concierge likely directed Clime to a joints that cater to the BSD&M crowd. Clime liked it so much, he never went anywhere else.
Seriously, this is the kind of condescending ignorance that wingnuts use as evidence liberals are hypocritical elite snobs, class warriors and the real racists.Over three million of voted for Obama and we’d like our allies to be a little smarter than our enemies.
Ol'Froth
Texas returns more in federal dollars than it receives.
Barely, and that’s pretty recent. And it still doesn’t absolve Texans making the same arguments for thier treasonous behavior (look at your governor) that they made to justify treasonous behavior 150 years ago, you sick fuck.
Clime Acts
@PTirebiter:
“Over three million of voted for Obama and we’d like our allies to be a little smarter than our enemies.”
And yet…and yet McCain/Palin carried the state by nearly 12 percentage points and thus received ALL of its elctoral votes, which goes to prove my general point: Taken as a political whole, Texas is a reactionary, faux cowboy freak show. You’ve heard of George W Bush? Rick Perry?
There. Does that make it easier for you to grasp?
And again, I must apologize for making a generalization here on BJ, because I know that no one else here ever does that.
Especial spaz, I mean gaz, who insulted me for making a broad generalization and then proceeded to post a broad generalization. Which was ok, of course, because THAT generalization was pleasing to it.
Oh, sorry about using the term “it.” I know that’s raaaacccciiisssssst.
Corner Stone
@Ol’Froth: Well, if Texas is paying it’s own way, and it is, then what fucking “crumbs” are you talking about Frothster?
Don’t try and change the subject, you sick fuck.
marian
@kay: They shouldn’t, of course, but I’m afraid they’ve been signalling that they will. Here’s an article surveying their recent dicta on the subject…they’ve been inviting this challenge for awhile. Here’s the cite. http://newsandinsight.thomsonreuters.com/Legal/News/2012/01_-_January/Civil_rights_law_on_Supreme_Court_s_mind/
Thing is, there’s still plenty of room to attack these statutes directly on Constitutional grounds and I think we should be doing just that and enjoining their enforcement. Section 5 basically addresses preclearance, venue and burden of proof. It doesn’t prevent litigants from going into court and challenging the laws on the merits and we need to be doing it now.
I hope you’re right about the political fallout if this happens as I fear, but the damage will have been done and people kept from the polls. If Republicans gain seats or even the presidency as a result, the judges they appoint will be even less receptive. I just don’t know if the average non-minority voter will appreciate the practical consequences of having what they will perceive as a ‘technical law’ struck down. I hope they will and they will vote on that basis.
Clime Acts
Gosh…I suppose it will be untoward of me to ask: But why don’t I hear prominent Dems in Congress and President Obama screaming from the rooftops about the Republican voting suppression efforts?
Why don’t I hear them kicking ass and taking names?
Why do everyday folks like Kay who have real jobs to worry about have to do the heavy lifting?
I realize this is terribly naive of me, but I don’t understand. Why should people go out of their way to vote Dem when they can’t be certain their votes will be counted, and when the pols they are supposed to vote for don’t seem to care a whole lot?
Bush stole the presidency 12 years ago, and we seem to have slid backwards since then. How can that be?
Ol'Froth
Its the crumbs we, your conquorers, choose to leave you, the vanquished. Yeah, that’s pretty damn harsh, and I wouldn’t even bring it up, if it weren’t for the fact that the rightiously defeated are using the SAME DAMN ARGUMENTS they used 150 years ago to justify second class citizenship for brown people, you sick fuck.
dogwood
Like so many others here, I want to thank you Kay for these posts. I am outraged at any law that comes even close to treating voting as a privilege rather than a right. But I do think there is something desperate in these laws that shows an inability of conservatives to face reality over the long run. It’s disgusting that many elderly African Americans who don’t have birth certificates are going to be taken off the voter rolls. But It won’t be long before that generation will be gone, and Barack Obama will be the only black citizen without a valid birth certificate. And as a westerner, I can tell you that poor people drive out here; young Latinos have driver’s licenses. Their grandparents may not, but they do and they will remember.
OzoneR
@Clime Acts:
because you don’t want to?
I mean, really, how dumb can you be? DOJ has made a HUGE issue of this.
OzoneR
@Clime Acts:
because kay and other everyday folks with real jobs know how a fucking democracy works.
Jesus, we really need to teach more about civil society in this country.
Clime Acts
@OzoneR:
You see, if you calm yourself you’ll note that I asked why I don’t hear “prominent Dems” and “president Obama” screaming from the rooftops? YOu know, in big speeches and in press conferences, and in fireside chats, if need be, not just some DOJ functionaries going about their business?
And why in the 12 years since Bush v. Gore has NOTHING been done to aggressively protect voting rights in a proactive sense by the Dems? Everything is a REACTION to what the Republicans are doing; dems are almost always behind the curve. Why is that?
Do they just suck at being politicians?
Clime Acts
@OzoneR:
You are tragically, politically codependent. You seem to believe that it is not only your job to vote for the office seekers, but then to DO their job for them.
I’m sure they love you for this.
Your codependence, which you seem proud of, also explains why they are such lazy, unproductive motherfuckers once in Washington.
Everything is the PUBLIC’s fault.
dogwood
@Clime Acts:
I don’t know, Kola, maybe they thought enforcing the relevant provisions of the VRA would be a better solution than screaming.
OzoneR
@Clime Acts:
Cause they’re too busy ACTUALLY DOING SOMETHING ABOUT IT
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/theoval/post/2012/03/obama-team-blocks-texas-voter-id-law/1#.T2Y9LxEge2A
Really, you’d rather they bloviate about it than just act?
OzoneR
@Clime Acts:
Um, yeah, I don’t understand what the problem with this is?
Their job is to do what I want them to do.
marian
@dogwood:
“It’s disgusting that many elderly African Americans who don’t have birth certificates are going to be taken off the voter rolls. But It won’t be long before that generation will be gone, and Barack Obama will be the only black citizen without a valid birth certificate.”
Excellent!
Nenevah
@Clime Acts:
This is so fucking stupid, you HAVE to be a troll.
Do you think all the progress we made over the years came just from voting? That’s almost offensive to people like Martin Luther King, Cesar Chavez, Frederick Douglass, Susan B. Anthony, etc. None of them ever got elected to anything, but they are major figures in American history because of how they influenced policies.
Clime Acts
@OzoneR:
How about they do BOTH, genius?
Again, you have been willfully brainwashed to think that Dems can’t walk and chew gum at the same time.
I guarantee you, the vast majority of Americans know almost NOTHING about how the Republicans are trying to fuck over voters with these state level shenanigans.
Dems suck at getting almost any message out. Why is that? And why do you start yelling and name calling when I ask? Defensive much?
Clime Acts
@OzoneR:
Please re read my statement to which you refer here. I think you mis-read it.
OzoneR
@Clime Acts:
Oh they know, and they’re fine with it, cause they all have ID.
Are you dumb enough to think most Americans will be angry about this?
Corporate media, we had this discussion years ago.
West of the Rockies (formerly Frank W.)
Solid point, PTirebiter (#43). I am often dismayed at how quickly people can cast aside an entire population of people. Yes, there is usually some sort of disclaimer or acknowledgement that some people of a given group/locale are okay, but the level of anger is alarming. I’m not saying we ignore what’s bad, but let’s not brand and discard whole swathes of the population. Isolationism is no longer a practical policy.
OzoneR
@Clime Acts:
No, don’t think I did.
They have two jobs 1.) vote for what their constituents want and 2.) Help deliver government services to them.
My job as an American citizen in a democracy is to influence how they vote.
Clime Acts
@OzoneR:
Horseshit. Flimsy excuse. More codependence. You’re making excuses for your abusive lover.
Dems have gazillions of dollars and plenty of media connections. They either suck at using them and implementing a plan or they don’t care to.
PTirebiter
@Clime Acts:
You make a good point and I apologize. It was wrong of me to use a handful of people in the group here to generalize a level of higher-order thinking skills of everyone else. For all I know you may be doing thew best you can. But the issue is serious an your ignorance isn’t helpful. I thought you might reevaluate your comment. I was wrong.
Clime Acts
@OzoneR:
Well, unlike you, I don’t wish to devote my life to first listening to and evaluating candidates, making a choice, casting my vote, and then constantly harrassing them to do as they said they would do during their time in office.
I wish to actually pursue happiness on my own time, thanks.
My feeling is the threat of me not voting for them again and them losing office should be sufficient, in a rational democracy. Which is why I would reluctantly vote for Obama. I feel he hasn’t lived up to his own promises and rhetoric, nor has he made an honest effort to do so, and should thus be turned out.
Your argument is that he has my vote by the balls because Mitt is the antichrist or something. Wrong. No one has my vote by the balls but me. I like the way it feels to fondle my OWN vote, thank you.
I know, I know: OMG MITT AND THE REPUBLICANS OMG THE WORLD WILL END OMG YOU HAVE TO VOTE FOR OBAMA NO MATTER WHAT HOPE AND CHANGE AND YOU HAVE TO OMG.
bemused senior
Here is a good paper on the VRA history in Texas. (pdf) The VRA in Texas was always about discrimination against Mexican American voters.
Clime Acts
@PTirebiter:
You’re so sassy and clever.
dogwood
@OzoneR:
He’s not dumb; he just doesn’t care. And you are correct. These voter id laws are popular.
Clime Acts
@dogwood:
That’s right. I just don’t care. Which is why I’m complaining that the Dems don’t educate the public about this VR shit, and why they haven’t made any progress on the issue in 12 years since Bush v Gore. I’m doing that cause I don’t care.
And I just don’t care, which is why I’m on this blog so often commenting about political issues and reading about them.
Not agreeing with you is not the same as not caring. Did you know that?
Lojasmo
@Corner Stone:
Wrong-o, freak show.
http://www.politifact.com/texas/statements/2011/apr/22/rachel-maddow/msnbc-host-rachel-maddow-says-texas-routinely-rece/
Now, STFU
Svensker
Clime Acts is Kola Noscopy?
Why didn’t I realize this?
Why y’all feeding him?
OzoneR
@Clime Acts:
Now he thinks Dems can “educate the public”
You cannot be serious, you have to be trolling
OzoneR
@Clime Acts:
I get it, you don’t want to be part of a civil society in a democracy…we do.
Nenevah
@Clime Acts:
Do you even listen to what you’re saying?
You’re basically saying you have no interest in being a citizen.
Clime Acts
@Svensker:
I contain legions.
Clime Acts
@Nenevah:
(eye roll)
Hardly. What part of “devote my life to” do you not understand?
It’s fine that a lot of BJ people are political junkies and frustrated politicians. I get it: It consumes you because it’s your thing, like my thing is making art. It’s a mistake, however, to imagine that most people want to obsess about it like you do, or that they should have to.
dogwood
@Clime Acts:
But you don’t really comment about issues, you just insult. It really isn’t as easy as you think for the federal government to just “do something” when it comes to voting laws, because the Constitution leaves the administering of elections up to the states. The Feds have more power when it comes to the states that are singled out for higher scrutiny under the VRA. The Supreme Court ruled that the Indiana law requiring a photo id was constitutional. Given that scenario, it is Democratic elected officials at the state and local level who will be most effective as “screamers” so to speak, because that is the level where the laws are passed. It’s local politicians and local news outlets that will be most effective in bringing out the injustices in these laws. This is the kind of stuff that national media sucks at because they don’t want to bother to learn the arcane minutia of 50 different electoral systems. You’ve made your views of President Obama very clear, but in this case, it is disingenuous to suggest that the Administration isn’t doing anything. They are aggressively challenging these laws in the states where the VRA gives them standing. This is a complete change from the Bush DoJ who aggressively pursued voter fraud and completely ignored voter suppression.
Clime Acts
@dogwood:
Yes, insulting is ALL I do here. I have NEVER before commented without insulting someone. EVER.
Which I know is hard for you to take because no one else here at BJ ever insults anyone. Especially not Obama loyalists. No, they never do that. Ever.
Corner Stone
@Lojismo: Whatever Lo Jizzy.
http://visualizingeconomics.com/2010/02/17/federal-taxes-paidreceived-for-each-state/
Oh, and “Politifact”? Nice call Jizzmo.
kideni
Excellent work as always, kay. People keep expressing surprise at how the Republicans think they can win elections when they keep alienating huge groups of people, and obviously one of the answers is voter suppression through legislation like this. If you look at a lot of the states where this is happening (e.g., I’ve seen stats on Wisconsin and Pennsylvania), Obama’s 2008 victory margin is near or less than the number of people who will be disenfranchised by this.
dogwood
@Clime Acts:
So you have nothing to say about the rest of my post? I thought you were here to comment and read about politics.
gaz
@Corner Stone: shouldn’t you be drunk by now?
You are posting out of character. bad cs. no biscuit!
Nenevah
@Clime Acts:
Then what the hell are you doing on a POLITICAL blog?
Mino
Texas might be the first example of using racism as a cover for disenfranchising the poor. Given that I’ve lived in South Texas, where Anglo/HIspanic intermarriage is endemic and fully accepted, wealthy Hispanics vote Republican, the other quintiles vote Democratic in the main. Culturally, Hispanics are a better fit with Republican family politics: as Bush illustrated, it was fairly easy to appeal to them on that basis.
I wonder what rational we can expect to hear to justify female disenfranchisement?
Clime Acts
@Nenevah:
Then what the hell are you doing on a POLITICAL blog?
Obtuseness does not become you.
There are all levels of interest regarding any hobby, from mild to obsessive. Regarding politics, I’m moderately interested: Every day I read headlines and this blog and this blog only. Then I go about my work and check back a few times.
How many political blogs do YOU visit?
As for Kay, now she’s obsessive. And there’s nothing wrong with that. I’m similarly interested in art and theatre. See how that works?
Nenevah
@Clime Acts:
Apparently, not interested enough to get involved in advocacy and instead mock people who do.
Not what you said earlier
You called people like kay and Ozone “codependent” and “making excuses for abusive lover.” You mocked them and by extension everybody who fights for issues who doesn’t run for elective office.
You don’t want to get involved, that’s fine, don’t get involved, but don’t come here and bitch a few hundred elected Democrats aren’t winning the rhetorical debate (even if they are actually doing something about the issue in a policy sense) and mock everyone who isn’t elected who tries to back them up. It’s\ incredible offensive to kay, OWS protesters, civil rights marchers and everyone else who doesn’t run for office but wants to do something.
DFer
@Clime Acts: I feel like it was just yesterday those suffering from Obama Derangement Syndrome were complaining Obama gives nice speeches but doesn’t actually do anything.
Now they’re acknowledging he’s doing something, but he’s not giving enough nice speeches.
Anyway, its fun to watch them twist into pretzels.
Clime Acts
@Nenevah:
Your definition of “mocking” is different than mine.
Pretty sure I mocked Ozone and only Ozone. You’re lying.
Dumbass. I voted for Obama in the uncontested Mass primary, and I’ll probably vote for him in November, even though he’s a huge disappointment to anyone with standards. That involved enough for you, dipshit?
I’ll come here and bitch all I want, like everyone else who comments at BJ, plus the FP’ers. As a hall monitor, you suck.
Aren’t you cute and sweet being all offended on behalf of other people who don’t give a shit what you think? Adorable.
Your comment is offensive to ME, so you have to leave here. No one is ever offended at Balloon Juice. It’s not allowed or condoned, except by the blogmaster and all the front pagers.
Clime Acts
@DFer:
The speeches that need to be given are anything but nice, tool.
And we have yet to see if O’s DOJ really DOES anything of consequence. Plus they’re years late on this.
Plus, plus your summary of my comments are highly inaccurate. I see a lot of that among Bot commenters here.
OzoneR
@Clime Acts:
You can’t be for real right now. The laws just freakin’ passed in the last two years and they’ve been fighting them ever since.
Nenevah
@Clime Acts:
No. QED
Corner Stone
@Clime Acts: OzoneR, DFer and Nenevah are all the same Nick.
Clime Acts
@Corner Stone:
Rilly? Wow.
That’s kind of sad.
Like a blog comment section version of “Sybil.”
Do you think this individual is cognizant of the fact that it is commenting under three names, or does it not remember as it snaps from one personality to the next?
kay
@Clime Acts:
Just ask a specific question. You can’t come in and demand answers on everything that’s happened in election law since you voted in Florida in 2000. That’s too much work for people to do for you. Seriously, don’t you think that’s an imposition?
“I’ve read nothing on elections since 2000, but I demand answers!”
Jesus. We’re not your employees. As I’ve told you repeatedly, I do not care how you vote, or who you vote for. Vote, don’t vote, I don’t care. I’m not in the “everyone has a duty to vote” camp.
You don’t have a specific question because you want to repeat your thesis, which is “Democrats don’t do my bidding, and they work for me”. It’s fine, IMO it’s sort of facile and poorly thought out and doesn’t work in such a big diverse country, but it’s certainly a popular position.
Why pretend you’re interested in the specifics of the VRA? You’re not. You’re gathering evidence to support a broad theory that you hold.
James M. Martin
@Clime Acts Not just you at all. Perry is symptomatic: he was exposed during the abortive primary run as a theocratic pay to play prostitute for big oil. Most pols in Texas are owned by the same industry: why do you think BP wanted all their lawsuits filed in Texas? And, just as Obama said, almost all of them in shakey times reach for the Bible or their guns.