THIS Is What We Need To Say...

I live in a Red State...a very red state. For example....our neighbor is a good person, a hard working single gal, nice to talk to. But she is sort of a TPer and has a concealed carry permit. (I do not even like guns.) Another person is an "Obama is Gonna Let the UN Take Over The Country" pusher. You didn't see many Obama stickers on cars on my road. But another neighbor (a fellow Dem) used to be a Forensic Accountant with the FBI, living in DC. (Follow the money....) 

If you go downtown into the city of Knoxville......it's as if you are in a different world. Art galleries. Music. Obama stickers on cars. Fresh markets. Cafes and bistros (including the one that asked Stacy Campfield to leave), Green initiatives. ( We really have solar and wind power starting in this area. Chattanooga, by the way, is very progressive and has internet now as fast as that in Europe.)

So it was heartening to me so see the following article in our daily newspaper (on line version, of course.)

I’m a Democrat because I believe in Jesus’ Golden Rule (“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”) instead of the politician’s Golden Rule (“Those with the gold make the rules”). I’m a Democrat because John 3:16 teaches: “For God so loved the world ” — not just the powerful or the powerless, not just those who look like us or think like us, but the whole world.

http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2013/mar/02/roy-herron-strong-faith-led-to-democratic-party/

A lot of the comments make you cringe.....but not surprising to those of us who everyday plow through the insanity and twisted truth on the Right. It just makes me very sad that we cannot pierce through the veil of ignorance, racism, and the "don't-tell-me-I-don't-want-to-know-any-different" that passes for TRUTH and JOURNALISM today.

But hats off to the author of this intelligent article.

If You Can't Vote, There's No Voter Fraud
Or at least that's what they're hoping, I guess.

It's the same old-same-old in Arizona these days: too many non-whites may show up to vote:

"The Maricopa County Elections Department mistakenly listed the wrong date of the upcoming general election on an official government document.

The error appears on a document containing a voter ID card.

In addition to the ID card, the piece of paper it comes in lists other information such as important election dates.In the corner of the document, it says November 6th in English but in Spanish it reads 8 de Noviembre, the 8th of November."http://www.balloon-juice.com/2012/10/18/weve-determined-that-trying-to-cover-it-up-requires-too-much-effort/

And in Pennsylvania, they leave it to the largest utility company to mess things up...that way it doesn't look too partisan, I guess:"Pennsylvania’s biggest utility company, PECO, has admitted to sending incorrect voter ID information to 1.3 million customers in 7 Pennsylvania counties. 

PECO isn’t the only source disseminating confusing information to Pennsylvanian voters. For a week after the court order suspended the ID requirement, at least 5 counties stated on their websites that voters must show an eligible ID to vote. A billboard targeting Spanish speakers as well as television ads continued to promote the ID requirement for at least a week after the law was invalidated."

http://tinyurl.com/96m7ma9

In Ohio, you've got to give them an A for effort...these guys NEVER give up:

The Board of Elections sent out voter packets to people without knowing if the current registrant's information was correct."The company was not told to do that and should not have, said Harsman. He said the national list is not necessarily accurate and the board must get verification from a voter before their address can be changed. Also, a change in address would likely have also required new information on the postcard regarding voting precinct and districts so voters who got the cards at their new address were likely told to go to the wrong precinct.

All 16,000 voters have now been sent letters informing them that they need to be sure they are registered at their current address. Since the deadline for updating registrations passed on Oct. 9, any who have not updated their records will have to cast provisional ballots on Election Day." http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/news/local-govt-politics/montgomery-county-voters-may-have-received-wrong-p/nSgFy/

This was the same Montgomery County where Jon Husted, Republican Sec. of State, fired the two Democrats on the board...because he could, and was ruled against by the Ohio Supreme Court: 

"The two Democrats on the Montgomery County Board of Elections were suspended by Republican Secretary of State Jon Husted on Friday after they refused to back down in a standoff over extending in-person early voting hours for the upcoming election.....

But those four counties traditionally vote heavily Democratic, and there is a national backlash from Democrats who said Republican-dominated counties would have more opportunity to vote than Democratic-leaning counties."

http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/news/local-govt-politics/husted-suspends-democrats-on-montgomery-county-boa/nRDx5/



UPDATE
Or you can just destroy voter registration cards...
http://notlarrysabato.typepad.com/doh/2012/10/arrest-made-in-harrisonburg-voter-registration-scandal.html

If you "disillusioned Dems" can't seem to work up any enthusiasm for our President....you didn't get EVERYTHING you thought you were promised....at least be concerned that YOUR right to cast a vote for ANYONE is being undermined. And...the Repubs do not care about the average Joe.

SECOND UPDATE
This post and must-see video explain Minnesota's take on this sort of thing:
http://democurmudgeon.blogspot.com/2012/10/voter-suppression-billboards.html

So You're "Let Down" By Pres. Obama
and you sat out the 2010 elections..they weren't important enough to you. Or you're just not going to vote this year because Obama didn't revamp your progressive world soon enough, and you didn't get any unicorns. Just keep in mind, here's the kind of people that the Right keeps voting in :


http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/07/walsh-slams-duckworth-true-heroes-dont-talk-about-their-military-service.php

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2012/06/30/gov-christie-to-reporter-are-you-stupid/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/02/krayton-kerns-montana-bison_n_1643167.html

http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entries/paul-ryan-bashes-obamacare-because-rights-come-from?ref=fpblg


http://articles.latimes.com/2011/nov/21/news/la-pn-gingrich-child-labor-20111121


http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2012/05/23/488882/how-governor-rick-scott-is-preventing-eligible-us-citizens-from-voting-in-florida/


http://www.progressohio.org/blog/2011/06/koch-brothers-hold-secret-gop-retreat-in-vail-wheres-john-kasich.html


http://www.addictinginfo.org/2012/02/06/republican-congressman-duped-by-abortionplex-article-in-the-onion/


/www.addictinginfo.org/2012/03/23/republican-congressman-tells-women-at-equal-rights-rally-to-support-democrats/

It's up to you, folks!