• Menu
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Before Header

  • About Us
  • Lexicon
  • Contact Us
  • Our Store
  • ↑
  • ↓
  • ←
  • →

Balloon Juice

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

I would try pessimism, but it probably wouldn’t work.

We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. keep building.

They fucked up the fucking up of the fuckup!

It’s pointless to bring up problems that can only be solved with a time machine.

Anne Laurie is a fucking hero in so many ways. ~ Betty Cracker

Optimism opens the door to great things.

“Loving your country does not mean lying about its history.”

We will not go back.

If you cannot answer whether trump lost the 2020 election, you are unfit for office.

Anyone who bans teaching American history has no right to shape America’s future.

There is no right way to do the wrong thing.

If you are still in the gop, you are either an extremist yourself, or in bed with those who are.

It’s all just conspiracy shit beamed down from the mothership.

Those who are easily outraged are easily manipulated.

He wakes up lying, and he lies all day.

Petty moves from a petty man.

Accused of treason; bitches about the ratings. I am in awe.

JFC, are there no editors left at that goddamn rag?

The most dangerous place for a black man in America is in a white man’s imagination.

Donald Trump found guilty as fuck – May 30, 2024!

It may be funny to you motherfucker, but it’s not funny to me.

It’s the corruption, stupid.

… gradually, and then suddenly.

Jack be nimble, jack be quick, hurry up and indict this prick.

Mobile Menu

  • Seattle Meet-up Post
  • 2025 Activism
  • Targeted Political Fundraising
  • Donate with Venmo, Zelle & PayPal
  • Site Feedback
  • War in Ukraine
  • Submit Photos to On the Road
  • Politics
  • On The Road
  • Open Threads
  • Topics
  • COVID-19
  • Authors
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Lexicon
  • Our Store
  • Politics
  • Open Threads
  • 2025 Activism
  • Garden Chats
  • On The Road
  • Targeted Fundraising!
You are here: Home / Elections / Election 2012 / Another Entry Into the “No Shit” Files

Another Entry Into the “No Shit” Files

by John Cole|  November 26, 20126:29 pm| 79 Comments

This post is in: Election 2012, Post-racial America, Assholes

FacebookTweetEmail

No kidding:

Jim Greer, the former head of the Florida Republican Party, told The Palm Beach Post that a new law shortening the early voting period in the state was intended to prevent Democrats from voting. Greer said that since at least 2009, GOP staff and consultants had discussed limiting early voting hours, which they believed helped Democratic candidates. He described current talk of eliminating voter fraud as a “marketing ploy.”

Former Republican Gov. Charlie Crist of Florida confirmed that GOP officials had sought to limit early voting in an effort to suppress Democrat turnout. He told the Post that the effort seemed to be aimed at ethnic minorities, a key demographic for Democrats.

“The sad thing about that is yes, there is prejudice and racism in the party but the real prevailing thought is that they don’t think minorities will ever vote Republican,” Greer said. “It’s not really a broad-based racist issue. It’s simply that the Republican Party gave up a long time ago ever believing that anything they did would get minorities to vote for them.”

In response to the allegations, Florida Republicans pointed out that both men are now at odds with the party. Greer resigned as chairman in 2010 after being accused of stealing money from the Florida Republican Party. Crist ran for the U.S. Senate as an independent candidate in 2010. However, Greer and Crist’s statements were also backed up by GOP consultants, who didn’t wish to be named.

I’m shocked.

FacebookTweetEmail
Previous Post: « Cyber Monday ‘Artists Among Us’
Next Post: Public Service Announcement–Seattle Area BJ Meetup »

Reader Interactions

79Comments

  1. 1.

    r€nato

    November 26, 2012 at 6:31 pm

    I’m sure this will get prominent mention on Fox News Channel.

    HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

  2. 2.

    General Stuck

    November 26, 2012 at 6:32 pm

    The disease runs deep.

    The cure, deeper still

  3. 3.

    RareSanity

    November 26, 2012 at 6:34 pm

    @r€nato:

    Surely Fox News will deliver.

    We just have to wait.

    @General Stuck:

    No cure. I believe this particular disease is terminal.

  4. 4.

    dedc79

    November 26, 2012 at 6:35 pm

    There were plenty of reasons to suspect/know that this was the case. My favorite of them was the fact that in many of these states, you couldn’t use your college ID as an ID to vote, but you could use a gun license.

  5. 5.

    The Dangerman

    November 26, 2012 at 6:35 pm

    It’s simply that the Republican Party gave up a long time ago ever believing that anything they did would get minorities those lazy moochers to vote for them.”

    Fixed for clarity.

  6. 6.

    PsiFighter37

    November 26, 2012 at 6:35 pm

    Pardon the French, but you didn’t have to be a fucking genius to figure it out.

    The fact that the news media acts like this is news is fucking pathetic. If they didn’t get so hot and bothered over shit like what a politician may or may not have done with their private parts, they would’ve discovered that there’s NO FUCKING VOTER FRAUD. And when a case does come to light, it’s usually the random nutbagger voting twice because the Kenyan socialist is the Anti-Christ. Or it’s some random GOP operative from out of state throwing perfectly good voter registration forms in the trash. Who the fuck prints out voter information that has the wrong polling location or the wrong dates? Who puts up billboards trying to intimidate the coloreds that voting is a crime? Who always tries to restrict the right to vote, to make it as hard as possible, because, gosh darn it, we’re a bunch of originalist assholes who think blacks are 3/5 of a person and that only rich white folks with a chunk of land deserve the privilege – not the right – to vote?

    It’s the motherfucking Republicans, that’s who. It’s not a fucking coincidence. You can fuck a chicken once and blame it on the lights being out. You cannot go back to the barn, fuck said chicken in any and every orifice repeatedly, and then claim with a doofy shit-eating grin that that lights NEVER work, so you just assumed that everything was fine and dandy.

  7. 7.

    dmbeaster

    November 26, 2012 at 6:38 pm

    On election night, Hannity was adamant that we could not replace the electoral college with the popular vote. Same underlying reasoning – they cant win based on voting.

  8. 8.

    monkeyfister

    November 26, 2012 at 6:40 pm

    The Florida Republican Party’s response was, “Nuh-uh… they’re just poopyhead spliiters!” Wow.

    That argument is utterly compelling, persuasive, and totally legit.

    I suspect this whole republican voter ID gambit is on the road to extinction, now.

    But, then– the Voting Rights Act is in the hands of the Roberts/Scalia SCOTUS, so I just might be a moot point now.

  9. 9.

    Anonymous

    November 26, 2012 at 6:41 pm

    @dmbeaster:

    Agreed. Republicans will fondly point to the fact that the electoral college margin was closer than the popular vote margin, but they shouldn’t. The Obama machine won big in the EC because they knew what mattered and went for it. Give them a chance to turn what they did in Ohio, Florida, and Virginia in every major city in America, and things will get ugly for Republicans.

  10. 10.

    Mike G

    November 26, 2012 at 6:45 pm

    This dirty Repuke shit won’t stop until someone goes to jail for it.

  11. 11.

    Roger Moore

    November 26, 2012 at 6:46 pm

    I’m shocked.

    Gunning for the Captain Renault award, are you?

  12. 12.

    arguingwithsignposts

    November 26, 2012 at 6:46 pm

    @PsiFighter37:

    You can fuck a chicken once and blame it on the lights being out. You cannot go back to the barn, fuck said chicken in any and every orifice repeatedly, and then claim with a doofy shit-eating grin that that lights NEVER work, so you just assumed that everything was fine and dandy.

    That’s one heavy duty metaphor.

  13. 13.

    ThatLeftTurnInABQ

    November 26, 2012 at 6:47 pm

    @PsiFighter37:

    The fact that the news media acts like this is news is fucking pathetic

    The sad part is, it would be an improvement if the news media outside of a few left-of-center shows like Rachel Maddow’s would act like this is news rather than just ignoring it.

    I LOL’d at your description of the GOP’s repetitive poultry molestation syndrome. And this goes way back. IIRC, per Perlstein, William Rehnquist got his start in practical politics working on one of the GOPs ethnic vote suppression teams performing what was euphemistically called “poll watching” in early 1960s Arizona.

  14. 14.

    RossInDetroit, Rational Subjectivist

    November 26, 2012 at 6:47 pm

    Of course we knew it was all to give the GOP a playing field tilted in their favor. What amazes me is that someone’s coming out and saying it. I hope there’s more of that kind of disclosure. And that voters are listening.

  15. 15.

    PurpleGirl

    November 26, 2012 at 6:50 pm

    One modification to your last line, John. (In a Claude Raines voice):

    I’m shocked. I’m SHOCKED.

  16. 16.

    kay

    November 26, 2012 at 6:50 pm

    It was beautiful though, because regular people really “got it” with the restrictions on early voting in a way they didn’t with voter ID.

    People like early voting. It’s convenient. When you said “Republicans are limiting early voting”, the response was “why?” Ordinary people were just baffled by it. It sets the stage to allow them to suspect bad intent in a way they might not have before.

  17. 17.

    danimal

    November 26, 2012 at 6:50 pm

    @PsiFighter37: The only “news” in this news is that people in the strategy room are coming out publicly with the info.

  18. 18.

    MattF

    November 26, 2012 at 6:54 pm

    And don’t forget, the other half of the strategy was the revival of Jim Crow. Elizabeth Drew:

    http://www.nybooks.com/blogs/nyrblog/2012/sep/21/voting-wrongs/

    No racism there. No, not one bit.

    And here’s Drew’s post-election sigh of relief:

    http://www.nybooks.com/blogs/nyrblog/2012/nov/11/victory-over-suppression/

  19. 19.

    redshirt

    November 26, 2012 at 6:57 pm

    So? Will there be any legal consequences? If not, they’ll do it again, better, next election.

  20. 20.

    ruemara

    November 26, 2012 at 6:58 pm

    Next up, water shall be proven to be wet, tar to be sticky and racist douchnozzles, racist douchnozzles.

  21. 21.

    Mudge

    November 26, 2012 at 6:58 pm

    Settle down, big fella.

  22. 22.

    arguingwithsignposts

    November 26, 2012 at 6:59 pm

    @Mike G:

    This dirty Repuke shit won’t stop until someone goes to jail for it.

    I thought someone did go to jail for something similar a few years ago. Some GOP consultant?

  23. 23.

    PsiFighter37

    November 26, 2012 at 6:59 pm

    @ThatLeftTurnInABQ: I guess that’s progress, but it’s not new…that’s the thing. And it’s only gotten worse – not better – as the GOP realizes they are on the road to demographic irrelevancy, there are more and more instances of this kind of crap occurring every year.

    You’d have to be a goddamn fool to not make the connection. Of course, because the news media is please-don’t-make-me-crap-myself scared of being called ‘liberal’ by a bunch of conservative WATBs, they simply ‘report the facts’ and let people decide what they want from it. God forbid you tell people that 2+2 equals 4. You might just break the world if you do so.

  24. 24.

    Kyle

    November 26, 2012 at 7:03 pm

    I suspect Holder will give this his usual wet noodle treatment.

    He’s too busy coddling Wall Street fraudsters, persecuting whistleblowers and busting stores for selling a smokable plant that’s legal in their home state.

  25. 25.

    RossInDetroit, Rational Subjectivist

    November 26, 2012 at 7:03 pm

    @PsiFighter37:

    At best: “Some say this disadvantages minorities. In other news: Look! a squirrel on water skis!”

  26. 26.

    Michael

    November 26, 2012 at 7:06 pm

    @ThatLeftTurnInABQ: Rehnquist was a clerk on the SCOTUS when they considered Brown v Board, and he recommended to Jackson that they uphold Plessy. Then that guy is on the SCOTUS for 25 years and we’re supposed to believe we live in a post-racial America?

  27. 27.

    eemom

    November 26, 2012 at 7:07 pm

    That despicable asshole Turzai in Pennsylvania who so brilliantly announced on the public record last summer that Romtron’s winning the state was a “done” deal because of THAT voter suppression law, was a law school classmate of mine.

    Not that I expected it to have any impact, but I did send him a FB e-mail with John Lewis’ “Your vote is sacred” speech from the Dem convention and the words “Shame on you.”

    Hope the miserable fucker is eating his heart out now.

  28. 28.

    PsiFighter37

    November 26, 2012 at 7:08 pm

    @Kyle: I will be disappointed if that’s the case. Obama clearly was aware in his victory speech that people were taking too goddamn long to vote. Hopefully one of his legacy projects can be to institute some kind of national voting standards that don’t lead to a crapshow depending on whether or not the GOP controls a particular state. Given his background community organizing, he should damn well be pretty interested.

  29. 29.

    scav

    November 26, 2012 at 7:08 pm

    @RossInDetroit, Rational Subjectivist: At best: “Some say this disadvantages minorities. In other news: Look! a squirrel on water skis!”

    Where? !

    well, that proves climate change is utterly not a problem as those creatures utterly didn’t evolve a way to cope with it. ahh, the media.

  30. 30.

    Ivan Ivanovich Renko

    November 26, 2012 at 7:09 pm

    @PsiFighter37:

    It’s the motherfucking Republicans, that’s who. It’s not a fucking coincidence. You can fuck a chicken once and blame it on the lights being out. You cannot go back to the barn, fuck said chicken in any and every orifice repeatedly, and then claim with a doofy shit-eating grin that that lights NEVER work, so you just assumed that everything was fine and dandy.

    Where would you like your Internets delivered?

  31. 31.

    James E. Powell

    November 26, 2012 at 7:12 pm

    @Anonymous:

    Give them a chance to turn what they did in Ohio, Florida, and Virginia in every major city in America, and things will get ugly for Republicans.

    Really. I’m sure there are a lot of untapped Democratic votes in California. There hasn’t been a presidential campaign of any consequence in years.

  32. 32.

    danielx

    November 26, 2012 at 7:17 pm

    In other news, grass is green, water is wet, and Mickey Kaus blows goats.

  33. 33.

    ranchandsyrup

    November 26, 2012 at 7:18 pm

    OT but this “Conservative Fact Check” place is hilarious.

    http://conservativefactcheck.com/content/articles/50

  34. 34.

    Jay in Oregon

    November 26, 2012 at 7:23 pm

    I’m shocked.

    I’m shocked that one of them actually admitted it in public.

  35. 35.

    Felonius Monk

    November 26, 2012 at 7:23 pm

    And just who is going to stop all this chicken fucking? The Supremes? The Congress of the USofA? The state legislatures? Who?

    This brand of chicken fucking is now a way of life and will not go away anytime soon, no matter how much we wish it would.

  36. 36.

    Jay in Oregon

    November 26, 2012 at 7:25 pm

    @ranchandsyrup:
    …that has to be a spoof, right?

    To have any semblance of fairness, PolitiFact should play it 50/50 and present an equal number of lies from both sides. They clearly are not concerned with any pretense.

    Poe’s Law in action?

  37. 37.

    ranchandsyrup

    November 26, 2012 at 7:26 pm

    @Jay in Oregon: I’m not entirely sure myself. The folks at LGF were unsure but a consensus emerged that it’s real. http://littlegreenfootballs.com/article/41239_Inadvertent_Wingnut_Humor_Site_of_the_Day-_Conservative_Fact_Check/comments/#ctop

  38. 38.

    some guy

    November 26, 2012 at 7:30 pm

    this is no surprise to Florida Dems. this is why GOTV was crucial down here, and why it was so effective. attempting to disenfranchise people backfired big time. turnout was better than in 2008 for our side. people waited 6 freaking hours to vote in some Miami-Dade precincts.

    Scott is fucking toast.

  39. 39.

    bemused

    November 26, 2012 at 7:30 pm

    @ranchandsyrup:

    That’s for real? Sigh, I suppose it is. And what on earth has Palin got to do with anything?
    But you’re right, it’s a very funny site.

  40. 40.

    Mandalay

    November 26, 2012 at 7:35 pm

    @Mike G:

    This dirty Repuke shit won’t stop until someone goes to jail for it.

    What is the specific crime that you think has been committed?

    The only “crime” I see is that (in principle) the enforcement of voting regulations by state governments is entirely legal.

    YMMV depending on how outrageous those regulations are viewed by the courts.

  41. 41.

    ranchandsyrup

    November 26, 2012 at 7:36 pm

    @bemused: I thought their bubble was already hermetically sealed, but that sort of effort proves me wrong.

    The commenters there (that aren’t mocking the site’s existence) seem to think it is real.

  42. 42.

    kay

    November 26, 2012 at 7:36 pm

    @MattF:

    It’s great that they’re all reporting on it, but this began with Indiana and Georgia in 2005, and a really tragic SCOTUS decision.

    “Voter fraud” was reported as fact for years. It was always bullshit. It never made any sense. The claim was that people were IMPERSONATING other people. Walking in and pretending to be a different person. Come on. That’s ridiculous.

    If media had simply been specific and accurate and used the correct phrase which is “voter IMPERSONATION fraud” instead of mindlessley repeating what Republicans said, people might have smelled a rat.

  43. 43.

    J R in WV

    November 26, 2012 at 7:40 pm

    I’m only amazed that Republicans are admitting that it was a conspiracy to inhibit the ability of minorities Democratic party members to vote.

    It should be right next to treason, fooling with voting rights. Voting fraud is a crime for a reason, and this should count as tampering with the vote.

  44. 44.

    Smiling Mortician

    November 26, 2012 at 7:41 pm

    @some guy:

    Scott is fucking toast.

    And chickens. As furiously as possible.

  45. 45.

    bemused

    November 26, 2012 at 7:42 pm

    @ranchandsyrup:

    I’m still waiting on if it’s real or spoof. It’s almost too funny and lacking enough bile to be an actual wingnut creation.

  46. 46.

    Mike in NC

    November 26, 2012 at 7:43 pm

    Who’ll be the first pundit to claim “But both sides do it”?

  47. 47.

    SiubhanDuinne

    November 26, 2012 at 7:50 pm

    In response to the allegations, Florida Republicans pointed out that both men are now at odds with the party.

    I dunno, I’m not sure I’d want to highlight that as a defense.

  48. 48.

    JWL

    November 26, 2012 at 7:51 pm

    In response to the allegations, Florida Republicans pointed out that both men are now at odds with the party.

    Montgomery Burns, eyeing a leaking pipe of radioactive fluid while accompanying a regulatory inspector: “Why, that shouldn’t be”.

  49. 49.

    MikeJ

    November 26, 2012 at 7:51 pm

    @Ivan Ivanovich Renko:

    You cannot go back to the barn, fuck said chicken in any and every orifice repeatedly,

    Chickens have cloacae, so some of your destinations are merged.

  50. 50.

    burnspbesq

    November 26, 2012 at 7:56 pm

    @Kyle:

    busting stores for selling a smokable plant that’s legal in their home state.

    In case you’ve forgotten, there’s this doctrine in Constitutional law called “Federal pre-emption.” You’ll find it in the chapter about the Commerce Clause.

    As for the rest of your ridiculous critique of Holder, you can’t blame it on ignorance, so what’s your excuse?

  51. 51.

    Southern Beale

    November 26, 2012 at 7:57 pm

    “… in an effort to suppress Democrat turnout.”

    It’s DemocratIC turnout. DemocratIC. Jesus fucking Christ. How hard is is to get the goddamn motherfucking name of the party right?

    DEMOCRATIC.

    Damn. I don’t care how many fucking assed elections we win, until the useless goddamn media stops internalizing this RWNJ shit it’s all fucking lost.

  52. 52.

    Ben Franklin

    November 26, 2012 at 7:58 pm

    @burnspbesq:

    Holy Shite, Meester LAW. Are you gonna be representing the Prison Guard Unions when they lose population, ergo; overtime guarantees?

  53. 53.

    burnspbesq

    November 26, 2012 at 8:02 pm

    @Mandalay:

    What is the specific crime that you think has been committed?

    Violations of 18 U.S.C. Sections 241 and 242.

    Section 241 (excerpt):

    If two or more persons conspire to injure, oppress, threaten, or intimidate any person in any State, Territory, Commonwealth, Possession, or District in the free exercise or enjoyment of any right or privilege secured to him by the Constitution or laws of the United States, or because of his having so exercised the same; or

    Section 242 (excerpt):

    Whoever, under color of any law, statute, ordinance, regulation, or custom, willfully subjects any person in any State, Territory, Commonwealth, Possession, or District to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured or protected by the Constitution or laws of the United States, or to different punishments, pains, or penalties, on account of such person being an alien, or by reason of his color, or race, than are prescribed for the punishment of citizens, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both;

  54. 54.

    burnspbesq

    November 26, 2012 at 8:03 pm

    @Ben Franklin:

    You’re babbling again. Take you meds, and then come back and try again.

    ETA: That’s Meester Law, SIR. Show appropriate respect to your betters.

  55. 55.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    November 26, 2012 at 8:03 pm

    @Mike in NC: My guess would be Joe Scarboro, but then that is easy.

  56. 56.

    YellowJournalism

    November 26, 2012 at 8:04 pm

    @Mike in NC: Hey, there was a single blah fellow opening doors for old ladies at a polling place while dressed like a member of the Black Panther Party, so OF COURSE both sides do it!

  57. 57.

    Ben Franklin

    November 26, 2012 at 8:04 pm

    @burnspbesq:

    So, they have retained your services?

  58. 58.

    kay

    November 26, 2012 at 8:06 pm

    It’s really an amazing story. Republicans created a crime, “voter impersonation fraud” and then 30 state legislatures passed laws combatting the invented crime.
    The part that rankles is the assumption that a certain group of people were guilty of this crime, people felt perfectly free to level that accusation, and UT had NO basis in reality. None.
    That would not have happened BUT FOR the groups that were assumed guilty. People would have said “WTF? Since when are voters impersonating other voters? Is that COMMON, where you walk in and give another voters name?” There was just this acceptance, poor people and minorities, sure, they’re all felons, conspiring to commit this crazy crime.
    No one even walked thru how they might pull this off, it was just assumed it was happening.

  59. 59.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    November 26, 2012 at 8:07 pm

    BTW have you seen the latest Rachael Maddow “Lean Forward” ad on MSNBC it is AWESOME

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VzcLZlqgqWw

  60. 60.

    MikeJ

    November 26, 2012 at 8:07 pm

    @burnspbesq:

    In case you’ve forgotten, there’s this doctrine in Constitutional law called “Federal pre-emption.” You’ll find it in the chapter about the Commerce Clause.

    I seem to recall there was unpleasantness when South Carolina declared that they could simply ignore any federal law they didn’t like. Maybe now that Spielberg has made a movie about it people will remember.

  61. 61.

    burnspbesq

    November 26, 2012 at 8:10 pm

    @Ben Franklin:

    So, they have retained your services?

    Public-sector labor law is a highly specialized area, in which I do not specialize. They are smart enough to hire someone who knows what he or she is doing, and if they mistakenly tried to engage me, I would respectfully decline the gig and help them find qualified counsel.

    Shorter me: “A man’s gotta know his limitations.” Words of wisdom, which you would do well to heed.

  62. 62.

    Ted & Hellen

    November 26, 2012 at 8:12 pm

    Is this being reported on the MSM at all?

  63. 63.

    Ben Franklin

    November 26, 2012 at 8:15 pm

    @burnspbesq:

    Show appropriate respect to your betters.

    I don’t think Authoritarian Conservatives qualify, but I respect your attempts to elevate your profession.

  64. 64.

    burnspbesq

    November 26, 2012 at 8:16 pm

    @Ben Franklin:

    I don’t think Authoritarian Conservatives qualify

    Do you know any?

  65. 65.

    Ben Franklin

    November 26, 2012 at 8:20 pm

    @burnspbesq:

    All too well….You? Temet nosce

  66. 66.

    Lojasmo

    November 26, 2012 at 8:23 pm

    @The Dangerman: @kay:

    And yet voter ID was easily defeated in Minnesota. Maybe we’re special.

  67. 67.

    Mandalay

    November 26, 2012 at 8:25 pm

    @burnspbesq:

    Thanks for the info, but do you really think that could lead to any Republicans going to jail?

    The Republican justifications for their behavior – however flimsy they may seem – are already out there: reduced early voting to save money, and strict voter ID laws to reduce voter fraud.

    I just don’t see anyone being convicted of anything unless there are multiple Republicans legislators who confess that they contrived state legislation to specifically deprive certain people of their ability to vote.

    Like I said, the real crime is that what they did was legal. We need to take all voting matters (early voting, voter IDs, redistricting, etc.) away from legislators with a vested interest in the outcome, and I don’t see that happening anytime soon.

  68. 68.

    kay

    November 26, 2012 at 8:38 pm

    @Lojasmo:

    Absolutely. I’m really pretty hopeful. It’s mainstream. I watched the voter ID debate in the OH legislature in 2005 and it was just crazy. No one said ” hey, wait, is this crime we’re (supposedly) preventing happening?”

    It was depressing watching the SCOTUS. They don’t know anything about the country in which they live. I could ask any municipal court judge ” do poor people have problems with ID?” and they would say “yes”. It’s a class issue.

  69. 69.

    Thoughtful David

    November 26, 2012 at 8:53 pm

    @ranchandsyrup: That is the funniest thing I think I’ve read in, oh dammit, since the “march on the electoral college campus” thing last week. These guys are the humor gift that just keeps on giving.

    I mean, how can these people be that un-self-aware and just plain FLICKING stupid, and still manage to wipe their own bottoms and get a spoon to their mouths?

  70. 70.

    Matt McIrvin

    November 26, 2012 at 9:02 pm

    @Felonius Monk: Voters need to politically punish state attorneys general for it. For the really egregious cases I think they actually might.

  71. 71.

    burnspbesq

    November 26, 2012 at 9:12 pm

    @Mandalay:

    do you really think that could lead to any Republicans going to jail?

    Worth a try. In terms of deterrent value, an indictment is almost as good as a conviction. The economically rational wingnut will take into consideration the possibility of being bankrupted by defense costs before diving into a big fat gray area in the law.

    ETA: Oops, well, maybe not. I forgot for a second that we’re talking about Florida, which has an unlimited homestead exemption. Your economically rational wingnut defendant will fuck his or her lawyers over the bill, knowing that they can file for bankruptcy and not lose their house.

  72. 72.

    Chris

    November 26, 2012 at 9:16 pm

    @PsiFighter37:

    The fact that the news media acts like this is news is fucking pathetic.

    The fucking ridiculous thing is that this isn’t even CLOSE to the first time one of them’s admitted as much. Lee Atwater stated openly that the Nixon strategy was consciously designed to appeal to white racists when you couldn’t say “nigger” anymore. Paul Weyrich stated openly that he couldn’t get any traction for his “religious right” idea until after Jimmy Carter attacked the last bastions of white supremacy in the South, the all-white “Christian” academies. That’s all I got off the top of my head but if there aren’t others in between, I may die of shock.

    It’s not a fucking secret that 1) white racism still exists and 2) the GOP’s been appealing to it for fifty years at least (and that’s only in its modern form). It’s just not something you’re supposed to mention in polite company.

    Like the existence of the Mafia in mid-20th century America, I suppose.

  73. 73.

    RedKitten

    November 26, 2012 at 9:17 pm

    @Ted & Hellen: It made it into the Palm Beach paper…remains to be seen if it’ll develop any legs.

  74. 74.

    Mandalay

    November 26, 2012 at 9:43 pm

    @Chris:

    Lee Atwater stated openly that the Nixon strategy was consciously designed to appeal to white racists when you couldn’t say “nigger” anymore.

    Interestingly, the brains behind Nixon’s Southern Strategy, Kevin Philips, was all in favor of enforcing the Voting Rights Act. He openly stated that white “negrophobe” Democrats who saw that blacks were going to vote Democrat would switch to voting for Republicans instead!

    As Kurt Vonnegut was fond of saying, think of that.

    (p.s. Philips now regularly dumps big smelly brown ones on the GOP, and seems like a good guy.)

  75. 75.

    Suffern ACE

    November 26, 2012 at 9:48 pm

    I if I lived in Florida, I’d vote ten times for the first candidate who’d promise me a three hour wait to vote. That would seem to be an improvement in many districts over what happened earlier this month.

  76. 76.

    Another Halocene Human

    November 26, 2012 at 10:21 pm

    You guys do realize that Greer had a falling out with the Florida Republican Party and has been talking shit about them ever since?

    While I find he stories credible, they have been denying everything and basically painting him as a bitter loser who got caught doing something something shut up that’s why.

    The Republican Party of Florida is a thieves’ paradise (donors beware!) but this guy is NOT the clue-by-four Florida Republican voters need.

    Rick Scott may be that clue, however. Maybe a clue-by-billy-bat. Because a number of morons seem to think it’s just Scott. It’s not just Scott.

  77. 77.

    Another Halocene Human

    November 26, 2012 at 10:23 pm

    @r€nato: I’m sure this will get prominent mention on Fox News Channel.

    The real problem are the shitty local papers in the rural parts of the state. Palm Beach Post, Tampa Bay Times, Miami Times-Union (sp?) are doing good reporting, but it never trickles out where it’s really needed.

    In my lulzforbrainz burg people think they’re sophistimacated if they read the NYT– way to AVOID any critical info on Florida current events or politics permanently!

  78. 78.

    kay

    November 26, 2012 at 10:44 pm

    @Another Halocene Human:

    I think the photographs helped to get national attention. That was pretty inspiring (and shameful) seeing those long lines of people, just waiting and waiting. It’s much more difficult to see people as presumptive felons when you, well, SEE them.
    I really do think that kind of commitment to voting is powerful. I saw those pictures everywhere.
    We’ll never convince the 27%, but we don’t need 100%. Republicans are supressing the very same groups they need to be persuading; young people, AA’s and Latinos. Those same groups are becoming aware they’re being targeted.
    THAT is a losing strategy :)

  79. 79.

    pseudonymous in nc

    November 27, 2012 at 1:42 am

    I’ll say it again: certain parts of the US do not have a political establishment with a tradition of free and fair elections.

    The establishment media does not like to report this, because U-S-A! etc., and it’s not the done thing to note that the US has a fundamentally fucked up way of conducting elections, entrusting huge powers to people who shouldn’t be trusted with a raffle draw.

Comments are closed.

Primary Sidebar

On The Road - PaulB - Olympic National Park: Lake Quinault 1
Image by PaulB (5/17/25)

Recent Comments

  • They Call Me Noni on Saturday Afternoon Open Thread (May 17, 2025 @ 8:11pm)
  • Chetan Murthy on Repubs in Disarray Open Thread (May 17, 2025 @ 8:06pm)
  • JoyceH on Saturday Afternoon Open Thread (May 17, 2025 @ 8:05pm)
  • Jackie on Repubs in Disarray Open Thread (May 17, 2025 @ 8:01pm)
  • They Call Me Noni on Saturday Afternoon Open Thread (May 17, 2025 @ 8:00pm)

PA Supreme Court At Risk

Donate

Balloon Juice Posts

View by Topic
View by Author
View by Month & Year
View by Past Author

Featuring

Medium Cool
Artists in Our Midst
Authors in Our Midst
War in Ukraine
Donate to Razom for Ukraine

🎈Keep Balloon Juice Ad Free

Become a Balloon Juice Patreon
Donate with Venmo, Zelle or PayPal

Meetups

Upcoming Ohio Meetup May 17
5/11 Post about the May 17 Ohio Meetup

Calling All Jackals

Site Feedback
Nominate a Rotating Tag
Submit Photos to On the Road
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Links)
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Posts)
Fix Nyms with Apostrophes

Hands Off! – Denver, San Diego & Austin

Social Media

Balloon Juice
WaterGirl
TaMara
John Cole
DougJ (aka NYT Pitchbot)
Betty Cracker
Tom Levenson
David Anderson
Major Major Major Major
DougJ NYT Pitchbot
mistermix

Keeping Track

Legal Challenges (Lawfare)
Republicans Fleeing Town Halls (TPM)
21 Letters (to Borrow or Steal)
Search Donations from a Brand

PA Supreme Court At Risk

Donate

Site Footer

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Comment Policy
  • Our Authors
  • Blogroll
  • Our Artists
  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2025 Dev Balloon Juice · All Rights Reserved · Powered by BizBudding Inc

Share this ArticleLike this article? Email it to a friend!

Email sent!