Sneaky……..

We all know about the Right's endless battle to disenfranchise whole swatches of potential voters….."those people."

We have heard ad infinitum about about the rampant "voter fraud' being committed by those same people, with the help of the Dems, of course. 

We cringe at the mention of the SCOTUS vote on Citizens United, which undoubtedly had a major influence on the midterm elections…even though a scant 35 percent of our eligible voters bothered to even do so, probably disgusted with the whole thing. ( http://tinyurl.com/p9ovqrc )

But here in Tennessee where the color red is as vibrant as Volunteer Orange to UT in my city of Knoxville, the Religious Right has found a NEW way to influence election outcomes in their usual covert way. Well, it's really more like FOX Folks telling women and young people not to vote. 

According to Tennessee's constitution, the number of votes for passage of an amendment to said constitution must equal half of the total votes cast for the governor. Voting just for the amendment itself doesn't cut it, and the outcome was might close. This should be really interesting.

"Essentially, the plaintiffs charge, only the votes of people who voted in the gubernatorial election should be tabulated in the amendment referendum. The lawsuit cites several sources, including a website and a Nashville Catholic church’s Oct. 12 Sunday program, in which supporters of Amendment 1 inform fellow supporters that not voting in the governor’s race and casting a “Yes” vote for the amendment will effectively “double” their vote by lowering the number of votes cast in the governor’s race."

http://www.knoxnews.com/news/state/opponents-file-challenge-to-amendment-1_62168976

Does this remind you of anything?

"We don't want everyone to vote, because when everyone votes…we lose."

Same BS, different day.

UPDATE

Some other little known facts regarding the Greens of Hobby Lobby fame. First, selling religion through crafts. Then using religion to discriminate. Lastly, pushing their view of history and the Bible in YOUR schools. (Not to mention  the Museum of the bible in DC.)

http://tinyurl.com/k479nc7

In case there are any of you out there that still believe that the SCOTUS's decision was strictly (or "narrowly", as they have said) on certain women's health/reproduction options……..think again.

Their "Founding Fathers and Freedom of Religion" schtick is beginning to crumble and be exposed for exactly what is it: an inroads to a sort of fundamentalist taliban. (I am not even going to dignify them with capital letters.)

The originators of such things as the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were a varied bunch, with differing views on religion and its role beyond personal belief. One quick source on the subject is http://www.archives.gov/nhprc/annotation/2002/2002-mar.pdf.

"As mentioned previously, most of the Founders were associated with and/or attended Christian  churches.  But the Founders were a product of not only Christianity, but also the political ideologies of the Enlightenment.  They read scripture, but they also read the philosophies of John Locke, Voltaire, and Montesquieu. As Frazer says in his book The Religious Beliefs of America’s Founders, theistic rationalism was “a belief system for the educated elite.”  Educated elite describes not only founders such as Jefferson, Adams, and Madison, but also many of the Revolutionary Era’s preachers and seminary professors." http://greatamericanhistory.net/blog/the-religious-beliefs-of-americas-founding-fathers-christians-or-deists/

Nowhere in the list of the religious affiliations of these men is Baptist or Pentecostal or Fundamentalist even listed…these were later incarnations of Protestantism. (Notice the base word here….) Is it too far a stretch to see the beginnings of "free market" take root in some of these later denominations?  I apologize in advance for offending anyone. But, there used to be an old canard that went along the lines….."The missionaries went out there to do good, and they did very well."

And don't forget the Green's attempt at getting a Bible-based view of history pushed in our public school system.
" I am skeptical, however, that the scholars that Green has assembled for this job — a group that tilts like a listing ship toward evangelicals working at evangelical institutions — are capable of producing a textbook beholden to facts rather than faith." http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2014/05/11/green-hobby-lobby-bible-course-textbook-column/8974511/

But Hobby Lobby's latest win (or stunt) isn't being hailed as a success by all on the religious Right. http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2014/07/03/3456438/religious-exemption-letter-pushback/

You will notice that no large corporations jumped on the bandwagon in support of this. (And it is NOT only about contraception.) There is a reason for that:

"After all, incorporation’s basic purpose is to create a distinct legal entity, with legal rights, obligations, powers, and privileges different from those of the natural individuals who created it, who own it, or whom it employs.

That separation is what legal and business scholars call the "corporate veil," and it's fundamental to the entire operation."

http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2014/07/hobby-lobbys-other-problem

So let's get down to the real nitty-gritty of what's going on here:

“Because I’m a man, number one and it’s really none of my business what women do,” Potter said. So, then, why bother suing? “Because I don’t care if the federal government is telling me to buy my employees Jack Daniel’s or birth control. What gives them the right to tell me that I have to do that? That’s my issue, that’s what I object to, and that’s the beginning and end of the story.” 

http://www.salon.com/2013/04/15/eden_foods_ceo_digs_himself_deeper_in_birth_control_outrage/

And it's all about sticking it to the "arrogant" President…the one that is actually getting things done in spite of their hatred for him and those on the left. I do not think they have thought the consequences of this move through very well……as Justice Ginsberg has so eloquently stated.