The three tenets of republican politics (tenets may be the wrong word there, but I stopped giving a crap already):
– debt
build up a huge deficit (it only took them 8 years) and then cry “we’re broke”, so they can attack social security and medicare.
– deception (and repetition)
lie about the debt (90% republican) and deficit, blaming democrats. Blame “spending” by democrats over and over for 3 years. Dumb people (republican base) believe it.
– voter suppression
The topic of this post. This is about republican efforts to prevent people from voting.
This is about trying to steal an election.
But its not exactly new.
Investigative reporter Greg Palast has previously dug into the right-wing’s efforts to circumvent democracy.
In 2004: “States used dubious ‘list management’ rules to scrub at least 10 million voters from their rolls.” “If Democrats are to win the 2008 election, they must not simply beat McCain at the polls – they must beat him by a margin that exceeds the level of GOP vote tampering.” My co-author for my 2008 Rolling Stone exposé, Bobby Kennedy and I figured 6 million votes and voters were “disappeared” in 2008. The 2012 race will get uglier. Some additional links that are worth reading. http://www.gregpalast.com/the-razorcake-interviewinvestigating-vote-theft/ http://www.gregpalast.com/massacre-of-the-buffalo-soldiers/ http://www.alternet.org/news/154395/the_cancer_of_voter_suppression%3A_the_gop’s_silent_coup
http://www.gregpalast.com/rfk-rove-and-roves-brain-should-be-in-jail-not-in-office/
DKL: I totally agree about the grenovor thing, but the advantage we both have going into this is that our opponent is going to be a senator anyway. I don’t know if 2 senators is a problem, if you’re running against a senator. (I say that, but I’m still pulling for a grenovor to be VP on our side, so I certainly agree with your calculus there.)I feel like McCain in 2008 is the kind of guy who might pick a Lindsey Graham on the one hand because it shores up the base, but on the other, because he personally is friends with the guy. For some reason, I don’t see McCain picking someone he doesn’t like just to please people.I wonder how McCain gets along with Liddy Dole? Good ol’ Bob Dole came out to call for GOP party unity with that letter to Rush Limbaugh & follow up appearances. That might be viewed as a pro-McCain overture and a test balloon for putting Liddy on the ticket? If you’d be satisfied that she passes conservative muster, I think that might be a strong ticket choice.I always feel sorry for ol’ Bush41 when I think about Jeb’s lack of a political future. At least there will always be George P. I think you ought to incubate Bobby Jindal just a bit longer before you bring him national, but I agree that he looks like a bright star in the GOP’s future.On the Democratic side, I’ve had to tell every Democrat and their mother twice that it doesn’t make sense for either Obama or Clinton to pick the other as a running mate. Nor does either need a Latino, a black or a woman unless the GOP picks a Latino, a black or a woman VP. Short of that, I think the best bet for either one is a white, male, Southern grenovor. I don’t know anything about either one except their names and re-election numbers, but Gov. Phil Bredesen of Tennessee and Gov. Brad Henry of Oklahoma both look good to me on paper. (They both won reelection in red states with 66% majorities.)