(no subject)

[theweaselking]

US Justice department records show they've engaged in massive illegal voter suppression in favour of Republicans for as long as Bush has occupied the White House.

Comments

[itlandm.livejournal.com]

As the article points out, the previous practices favored increasing turnout from voter groups that traditionally favor the Democrats. This may seem like the only right thing to do if you're a Democrat, but probably not if you're Republican. But it's a good thing to drag these things out in the open so people can make up their own opinions of what's going on.

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

The fact that more people who don't vote favour Democrats is *not* a reason to restrict them from voting. Increased voter turnout is *itself* a good goal, and reducing legitimate voter turnout is *always* a contemptible and dishonest act.

[itlandm.livejournal.com]

So the administration has shifted to focus on voter fraud. If they have used any illegal means in combating it, I am sure we will hear about it. The government doesn't own the mainstream media in America, unlike some other countries. But remember that this is still on the allegations stage, so it may well evaporate when more facts come to light. Or it may turn out to be worse than anyone imagined, as sometimes happens. This has happened before under the current administration, so I certainly won't count it out.

But there also is - and should be - a legitimate right for a new administration to change the focus of a department's work. This happens in all civilized countries whenever we have a change of government.

[publius1.livejournal.com]

I think you're probably not understanding the nature of our current government. If that's true, oh god, I wish I could be that insulated.

I'm more inclined to agree with our friend the rodent regent here, at least insofar as the larger meta issue you're referring to. Why? Because of their track record. They have a tendency to pervert bureaucratic institutions. For example, the Department of the Interior (our environmental overlords) being run by Gale Norton a former lobbyist for lead-based paint companies. Or the supreme joke of making John Bolton the U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. And when they get into those positions, they start turning the agencies against their stated purpose. There's way too much documentation on this for me to list it here, and it probably wouldn't interest you anyway.

I'll just limit myself to this: "Supressing voter fraud" is often used as an excuse for trying to keep the poor vote down.

[itlandm.livejournal.com]

It is true that I am removed from the daily working of the Bush administration by a large expanse of rough water, and I am very thankful for that. But what I see from here is a nation deeply divided. Certainly not on the brink of civil war, but far more polarized than in other democratic countries.

The allegations routinely raised by the left are such that would be cause for far worse than mere impeachment anywhere else, if they were true. Voting machines programmed to report erroneous data, for instance. Or now this accusation of deliberately keeping opposition voters from registration or voting. Anywhere else, you could not make such accusations and life would go on much as before. One side or the other would be utterly discredited, depending on the outcome of the investigation. Discredited to the point where the party would basically be dismantled and have to start over from scratch with a new name and new leaders on every level. These are things you Just Don't Do.

Observation: Life just goes on. Preliminary conclusion: Wild exaggerations not taken seriously neither by the accuser nor the accused. I'll revise my opinion if the fit actually hits the Shan.

[publius1.livejournal.com]

The allegations routinely raised by the left are such that would be cause for far worse than mere impeachment anywhere else, if they were true. You shoulda seen the Clinton years, heh. Voter suppression is an old institution in America, and not generally cause for impeachment. Disgrace and stigma when it comes out, yes, and sometimes even jail for low-ranking officials, but rarely does it filter "up".

Plus, you have to understand that when compared against the poll tax, literacy tests, and burning crosses, voter suppression just ain't what it used to be.

[publius1.livejournal.com]

Also: I think you'll find that it's much less deeply divided than it once was. I've got Republican friends here in Chicago (and granted, a Republican in the North is considered with contempt by a Republican in the South) who are aghast at what their party has become. It's hard to KEEP UP with all the scandals and so forth that is going on. Many Republican friends of mine feel that the Bush style of Republicanism has been a massive, near-total failure. And the polls seem to reflect that. By almost a 2-1 margin. In America, that's near unanimity.

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

So the administration has shifted to focus on voter fraud.

Uh, no, they've shifted to deliberately disenfranchising ELIGIBLE VOTERS because those voters do not support the party in power.

This is not "focusing on voter fraud" in the sense that you mean it. This is "focusing on voter fraud" in the sense that voter fraud is their goal, their objective, and their highest purpose.

[itlandm.livejournal.com]

So you say. If it is true, I shall certainly hear much more about it, for Americans are very good at digging at things until they are out in the daylight. Just look at the much smaller Plame affair and the enormous publicity it got. Or the time when they tried to impeach Bill Clinton for having sex with some nice girl. If there really is a massive manipulation of the election system, I am sure it will shake the very foundations of the Capitol for years to come.

[publius1.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry, but this seems credulous to me.

Big, government confidence-shaking scandals can take decades to come out, long after their perpetrators are out of the scene. The "little stuff", especially if it's prurient like Lewinsky, is much harder to keep a lid on.

[torrain.livejournal.com]

(As rather a sidenote: I am bitterly amused by the phrase "make up their own opinions". Making up one's mind? Great. Forming an opinion? Coming to a conclusion? Good things. But making up an opinion has entirely different connotations.)

[itlandm.livejournal.com]

Ah, is that so? I keep learning English, although it goes very slowly these days. I knew that making up facts was a bad thing (and it remains to be seen whether this has happened here), but I wasn't aware of any such connotation regarding opinions. Now that you mention it, though, I can't think of anyone using that phrase either.