Voting Rights

The Tremendous Dedication Of American Voters In Face Of Republican Attempts To Cut Voting Numbers!

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It is well known that Republican Governors and state legislatures did everything possible to cut down voting days and hours, created photo ID barriers, and to intimidate voters though the organization True-The Vote.

Ohio, Michigan, Florida, and other GOP governed states were outrageous in their misbehavior, and in Florida, 24 hours after the polls officially closed, the vote count goes on, and there is still no declaration of whether Barack Obama or Mitt Romney has won the state’s electoral votes, although Obama is ahead in popular votes.

Some people in Florida and elsewhere waited up to seven hours, and as late as 1 AM, determined to cast their vote, and it turned out, the anger of voters showed in the results nationwide, heavily against the Republican Party, and those denying a basic democratic right, the right to vote!

Governor Rick Scott of Florida should be kicked out of office for cutting the number of days for early voting from 14 to 8, and refusing to extend voting, with long lines occurring, for the final Sunday and Monday before Election Day.

Hopefully, the anger of voters will continue to reverberate, and the “Bully Governors” and their party members in the legislatures will be summarily kicked out of office in 2014, as a disgrace to the offices they hold!

A Good Week For Barack Obama, Including Debate Performance!

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The first week of October has been good to Barack Obama!

His Gallup poll rating is at its highest since the fall of 2009, now registering at 54 percent! This is a strong indication of his upcoming victory precisely one month from today!

Many want to believe that his debate performance harmed him, without realizing that while he might not have been at his best, it really does not matter, as incumbent Presidents tend to do poorly on the first debate with a challenger, as indicated in an earlier post. After all, they have more on their mind than the campaign, such as governing and dealing with crises on a daily basis. Meanwhile, Mitt Romney has done nothing for the past six years other than run for President, and he has had a multitude of mistakes and poor performances with his rhetoric and comments!

If Obama had come out charging in this first debate, he would be accused of being an “angry black man”, which terrifies many working class whites and uneducated people, who are accustomed to a different image of blacks, which is an unspoken sign of massive racism! So if he smiles and lets Mitt Romney hang himself as a phony, a chameleon, a liar on a massive scale, he is criticized, but Romney has added to the image that he is untrustworthy by his aggressive performance full of deceit and manipulation! Obama actually handled the situation well, and that will be seen as time goes by!

Now that Romney has proved again that he is a charlatan, Joe Biden will go on the assault against ideologue Paul Ryan, and then Obama will go after Romney in the last two Presidential debates. He will follow Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush in recovering from a theoretical first debate that was unimpressive, to go on to electoral victory!

But also, the victories for voting rights in Ohio and Pennsylvania, and the stopping of voter registration by Republicans in Florida and four other states, due to obvious GOP corruption, will upend the Republican attempt to cut out millions of potential Democratic voters in “swing” states.

And the economic revival that is going on, lowering the unemployment rate below 8 percent for the first time in his term of office, will help Obama, as most sane people will dismiss the conspiracy theories of conservatives and Republicans that the honorable and independent Bureau Of Labor Statistics is corrupt!

And the fact that Obama saved the auto industry; has seen the stock market double during his term; that manufacturing is reviving in America; and that energy production is up domestically without destroying the environment—-all this is further proof that this has been a good week on the road to ultimate victory one month from now!

Victories For Right To Vote Mounting In Republican Controlled States That Tried To Limit Voting

Ronald 1 Comment

After a year or more of attempts to limit the right to vote for senior citizens, college students, minorities, and the poor, the forces battling for the right to vote are winning victories, due to court action by the federal government, and decisions of federal judges in favor of the whole basis of democracy—voting!

Florida, Texas, and Ohio are among the states where the tide has turned, and Pennsylvania is awaiting a six member state Supreme Court decision that is thought to be ready to throw out the limits on voting set up by the Republican legislature and governor, with the three Republican members of the Court showing skepticism about the limit on voting rights.

This trend makes the likelihood of Barack Obama winning all of the above states, except Texas, more realistic, and it is a stain on the GOP that the party that expanded the right to vote to include African Americans in 1870, and supported civil rights at its founding, now has become the image of the Southern Democrats of the 1870s to the 1960s, who took away the right to vote and promoted Jim Crow segregation!

This is a time for mourning for the Republican Party of the past, which was principled and on the side of voting rights, and now has been captured by extreme right wing elements that are against basic democracy, what people in all nations around the world fight and die for—the right to express their view of who should govern them!

Roe V. Wade Almost 40 Years Later Still Debated, But Five Of Seven Justices In Majority Were Appointed By Republican Presidents Eisenhower And Nixon!

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In the midst of the heated debate about abortion rights, rape, Todd Akin, Mitt Romney, and the Republican Party platform which bans ALL abortions, whether rape, incest, or life of the mother, something very significant has been ignored!

The Roe V. Wade case of January 22, 1973 was decided by a 7-2 vote, with FIVE of the seven Justices in the majority being appointed by Republican Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower and Richard Nixon!

That was an era when Republicans could be in the mainstream, supporting voting rights legislation by vast majorities in Congress, but now 40-50 years later, leading the charge to do everything possible to repeal the legislation, or deny many categories of voters their basic human right to vote.

That was, also, a time of mainstream Republican Justices supporting a woman’s right to privacy with her own body, exactly the opposite of what is happening 40 years later in the Republican Party!

The Republican appointments who supported Roe V. Wade in 1973 were:

William Brennan, appointed by Eisehower
Potter Stewart, appointed by Eisenhower
Chief Justice Warren Burger, appointed by Nixon
Harry Blackmun, author of the decision, appointed by Nixon
Lewis Powell, appointed by Nixon

Two Democratic appointments, William O. Douglas (appointed by Franklin D. Roosevelt), and Thurgood Marshall (appointed by Lyndon B. Johnson), joined the five Republicans, with only one Democratic appointment (Byron White, appointed by John F. Kennedy), and one Republican, (William Rehnquist, appointed by Nixon) being in the minority.

How far the Republican Party has wandered from the mainstream of American politics over the past 40-50 years, and the only answer is a sound defeat of the right wing, and bringing the GOP back to the mainstream, or else they will become part of the dustbin of history, being replaced by a centrist party that resembles the proud history of the earlier Republican Party, which understood that an alliance with religion is poisonous to tolerance and the mainstream of American politics!

The Massive Differences Between Democratic Governors And Republican Governors

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As one looks at the political landscape of the state governments, it is clear that Democratic Governors stand out for their leadership in a time of troubles in the nation.

Among the outstanding Democratic Governors are the following:

Dan Malloy of Connecticut
Jack Markell of Delaware
Deval Patrick of Massachusetts
Peter Shumlin of Vermont
Martin O Malley of Maryland
Andrew Cuomo of New York
Jerry Brown of California
Pat Quinn of Illinois
Mark Dayton of Minnesota
John Hickenlooper of Colorado
Brian Schweitzer of Montana
Christine Gregoire of Washington
Neil Abercrombie of Hawaii

Compare their record of leadership to the following Tea Party oriented Republican Governors who have declared war on public workers and favored the wealthy in their states, and have victimized immigrants and promoted suppression of voting rights, and advocated a “war” on women:

Paul LePage of Maine
Chris Christie of New Jersey
Tom Corbett of Pennsylvania
Bob McDonnell of Virginia
Nikki Haley of South Carolina
Rick Scott of Florida
Robert Bentley of Alabama
Phil Bryant of Mississippi
Bobby Jindal of Louisiana
Rick Perry of Texas
John Kasich of Ohio
Rick Snyder of Michigan
Scott Walker of WIsconsin
Mitch Daniels of Indiana
Terry Branstad of Iowa
Sam Brownback of Kansas
Jan Brewer of Arizona

Enough said to make the case of the massive differences between the parties.

And looking to the future, it could well be a Democratic Governor already in office who might be the nominee for President in 2016, with leading possibilities being Martin O’Malley of Maryland and Andrew Cuomo of New York!

The Misleading Public Opinion Polls: The Electoral College Will Decide The Election, Not A Public Opinion Poll!

Ronald 5 Comments

The public opinion poll industry is, sadly, misinforming the American people, when they try to tell us that the Presidential Election of 2012 is going to be a tight race, some even say, similar to 2000!

The facts are that Barack Obama has to deal with certain factors, including:

Massive HATRED by many people who simply will not accept that we have an African American President and will do whatever is required to defeat him.

The fact that the Citizens United case allows corporations SuperPACS, and billionaires to spend inordinate amounts of money to attempt to poison the atmosphere, and defeat Obama simply by the power of money.

The fact that the Republican Party is trying to disenfranchise millions in 24 states, by refusing to accept alternative forms of identification, such as college student IDs, but, as in Texas, for example, accepting gun permits as an acceptable ID. So we are having poor people, college students, the elderly, and minorities being told they cannot vote, unless they spend large amounts of money, time and travel to acquire what is required under various discriminatory state laws, that violate the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and are veiled poll taxes, outlawed under the 24th Amendment to the Constitution in 1964!

But Attorney General Eric Holder, despite being cited for contempt of Congress for flimsy reasons, is determined to do what is necessary to stop these violations of the right to vote!

In any case, only by race hatred, corrupt fund raising, and violations of the Constitution, amendments and civil rights laws, can the Republicans win, and that is NOT going to happen!

Remember the following, which this author has emphasized again and again!

The election will be won in the “swing states”, the “battleground states”, but there are enough BLUE states already to give Barack Obama a total of 242 electoral votes, 28 short of what is needed, a total of 270 electoral votes, to win the Presidency on November 6!

As stated many times before, these states are: Maine, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, the District of Columbia, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, Washington State, Oregon, California, and Hawaii–18 states and Washington, DC.

The “Swing States” or “Battleground States” are as follows: New Hampshire, Virginia, North Carolina, Florida, Ohio, Indiana, Iowa, Missouri, Colorado, New Mexico, and Nevada–eleven states with a total of 129 electoral votes, and all of these states, except Missouri won by Barack Obama in 2008, with Missouri lost by just a few thousand votes to John McCain.

So IF Barack Obama wins Florida, he wins the Presidency!

If he wins Ohio and Virginia, he wins the Presidency!

If he wins Virginia and North Carolina, he wins the Presidency!

If he wins North Carolina and Ohio, he wins the Presidency!

If he wins Ohio and Missouri, he wins the Presidency!

If he wins Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada and Virginia, he wins the Presidency!

Obama is likely to win Virginia, Ohio, Iowa, Colorado, New Mexico, and Nevada right now, while having more trouble in North Carolina, Florida, Indiana, Missouri, and New Hampshire.

But he COULD win them all, adding Missouri to the other states he won last time! And he has a shot at winning Arizona, Montana and Georgia, as well, with the growing Hispanic and Latino vote in those states! So he COULD win a total of 32 states and Washington DC in this upcoming election!

So Obama COULD win MORE electoral votes than last time, which has been the case for EVERY two term President since Woodrow Wilson failed to do that in 1916, after winning his first term a century ago in 1912.!

Just for the record, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush are the Presidents who won a bigger second term electoral vote than their first term!

So, readers, stop obsessing and worrying, if you are a supporter of Barack Obama, and to those who are Mitt Romney supporters, stop being delusional and believing that your candidate will be the 45th President, because the 44th President of the United States is coming back: FOUR MORE YEARS FOR 44!

March 30: Important Date In History In Many Ways, Including A Personal One!

Ronald Leave a comment

Today, March 30, is a very significant date in American history.

It is the day in 1981 that President Ronald Reagan was seriously wounded in an assassination attempt, but survived, recovered, and went on to serve two full terms as the 40th President.

It is also the day in 1867 when Secretary of State William Seward signed the treaty arranging for the purchase of Alaska from Czarist Russia for $7.2 million, becoming infamously known as “Seward’s Folly”, It was fortunate that the United States bought Alaska, because if it had remained Russian, imagine the security problems for Canada and the United States during the Cold War years with the Soviet Union!

And it was the day in 1870 that the 15th Amendment, granting African American men the right to vote, was finally ratified and added to the Constitution. Sadly, the South would soon disobey the amendment, and successfully take away the right to vote until the passage of the Voting Rights Act under President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1965, guaranteeing federal intervention to insure everyone’s right to vote. Now the Republican Party in many states, including, most grievously the state of Florida under Governor Rick Scott and a dominant state legislature, is making it more difficult for people to register and vote, particularly the elderly, the poor, college students, and the poor.

And, in the mind of this author, March 30 is MOST significant because in 1984, his younger son Paul was born, and has brought joy and pride to his father and brother and uncle now for 28 years!

No Time For Ignorance Or Narrow Mindedness In the Presidency Or Vice Presidency!

Ronald 1 Comment

The candidacy of Sarah Palin for Vice President introduced the factor of total ignorance and lack of knowledge of the Alaska Governor in 2008.

We cannot afford another Sarah Palin running for either Vice President or President. We also cannot afford any candidate who would advocate or believe the following ideas:

Anyone who denies the significance of science; anyone who allows religion to be the dominant factor in his or her judgments; anyone who does not have a basic knowledge of our government and history; anyone who believes that it is fine to deny people the right to vote on flimsy grounds; anyone who promotes veiled racism and nativism; anyone who believes we should go back to the 18th century concept of the world; anyone who denies the dangers to the environment; anyone who advocates women going back to the 1950s and earlier; anyone who believes that hard won labor rights should be taken away; anyone who advocates keeping 50 million Americans from having basic health care; and anyone who believes that a college education should not be a goal to promote among young people–anyone who advocates or believes these eleven points—should not be allowed to become our President if we wish to look to the future, rather than go back to our checkered past!

The Advancement Of Gay Marriage Rights In California And Washington State

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Events of this week are very promising regarding the expansion of gay marriage rights.

California’s Ninth Circuit Court has declared Proposition 8, which banned gay marriage in 2008 as unconstitutional, upholding a district court ruling, and this makes it likely that gay marriage will be on the Supreme Court docket very soon, possibly even this year, already full of turning point cases on the Obama Health Care plan, voting rights, and illegal immigration restrictions in Arizona and Alabama.

Additionally, the state of Washington is about to become the seventh state to allow gay marriage, after passage by the state legislature and a soon to be signing by the governor of the state.

So Washington joins Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, and Iowa as states that allow gay marriage, along with Washington DC, and hopefully, it will return to California where it was legal for a period of time before being overturned.

Twenty to thirty years from now, when gay marriage is a normal thing, many will wonder what was the fuss back in the early part of the century, much like when one looks back to before 1967, one wonders why the big deal over racial intermarriage, which was not legal until a Supreme Court decision in 1967.

Marriage cannot be forced on any religious group, but there is no legal reason why gay marriage cannot be done outside of religious institutions that reject change. It is a question of basic human rights, and equal treatment under the Constitution!

What The Fox News Channel South Carolina Republican Presidential Debate Revealed

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Last night’s Fox News Channel South Carolina Republican Presidential debate revealed a lot about the Republican Party and about South Carolina, none of it good!

It demonstrated that the Republican Party is willing to live the past–a past of racial discrimination, denial of the right to vote, talk of secession veiled in the term “states rights”, willingness to condemn the poor in the name of veiled code words, and to promote a radical right wing extremism that would promote prejudice, and a “them” versus “us” mentality.

It also demonstrated that the Republicans have no intention of trying to avoid war, when war is possible, by their tough stand against diplomacy, and their veiled threats against Iran, even with the knowledge that America was bankrupted by Iraq and Afghanistan, and the American people wish to avoid further foreign conflicts.

The audience was very outside the norms, by booing Ron Paul over foreign policy; cheering Newt Gingrich with his racial political appeal to a group of obvious Dixiecrat types who would have voted for Strom Thurmond in 1948; being supportive of Rick Perry in his claim that the national government is attacking the rights of the people of South Carolina and Texas; and the general disrespect to refuse to honor the memory of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr on the national holiday which they were against from the beginning.

Nothing has changed in South Carolina, which started the Civil War; was one of the most viciously racist states in the era of segregation; and has demonstrated no concern for its large poverty stricken population, a majority of it white, although the image is left that they are all African American.

South Carolina remains one of the most backward states in many different statistical areas, but after all, they have their beliefs in their Christian faith, totally distorting the message of Jesus Christ!