Voter ID and civil disobedience

Tonight the Wisconsin Assembly passed the most restrictive Voter ID bill in the nation. We previously have had one of the highest voter turnouts in the country, but this bill will change all that. Very few forms of ID will be accepted- current valid drivers license, military ID, student IDs with certain parameters (none of the current student IDs meet these parameters), or a state-issued photo ID card. This will disenfranchise thousands of eligible voters, as outlined in this article from One Wisconsin Now. Senator Bob Jauch gave great testimony on this bill as well.

This photo ID card will be free if you say that you can not pay for the card. There was an amendment proposed that would require DMVs to tell people that the card is free; but that amendment was not passed. Also tabled were amendments to extend the hours of all state DMVs, require weekend hours so that people who work 8-5 jobs can obtain these ID cards without taking time off work. Getting to a DMV to obtain this ID card will be a major hurdle, as there are several counties with no DMV, and plenty more with DMVs that are open a few days a month. Here is a map of Wisconsin DMVs open more than 2 days a week. Indiana has a similar law, but they also have a lot more DMVs. At least one in every county, open 4-5 days a week. This law might not be overly burdensome in Indiana, but in Wisconsin it is.

The only evidence -besides theoretical situations and hearsay- that the GOP offered was a report from the Milwaukee Police department. Apparently it had been requested by a chief of police who left before it was compelted, and then the next chief of police saw the report and refused to sign it because he said that it was a partisan and politically motivated. There were, in 2004 11 cases of questionable ballots- 3 of these were situations in which photo ID would have prevented the fraud.
After this bill was passed, The associated Solidarity Organization did some planned direct action- they yelled at the reps "hey you don't have ID- you can't vote!" and then chanted "Shame" or "welcome to Jim Crow, WI". Three guys got really upset- they yelled, were removed, then walked around the capitol getting in the face of representatives. Some of the Democrats were even upset by the behavior.

The ASo then went outside, had s little meeting, and then yelled at the author of the Bill Jeff Stone, as he got in his car, and left. Stone also ran 2 red lights, but some of the ASO was also chasing his car. That was bad behavior. I do not approve.

The guy who did the most shouting in the faces of Republicans, was a person that I have admired throughout the protest. He has been focused and measured, and a leader in guiding people to channel their frustration into productivity. I think that his behavior was bad, but He is a black guy, in the 18-24 demographic. 77% of young people in this group do not possess a valid drivers license, and will have to obtain a state ID in order to vote. The republicans repeatedly argued throughout this entire process that they are not being racist.

This policy is racist. It affects people of color much more than those who are not of color. It hurts the rural, the elderly, and the poor by limiting their ability to vote. I think that the lies about the racism in this bill were particularly sour for our friend. He was just pushed too far. I think that members of the GOP don't think that it is racist -- they don't understand- I know that I do not understand what it is to be a minority. To have your own rights and freedoms just taken away is a terrible thing. This kid reacted appropriately. The actions of the assembly were wildly inappropriate. SHAME. SHAME. SHAME. This bill is nasty, and make no mistake- its sole purpose is to reduce the democratic vote. I just hope that we can get the senate replaced and this nonsense reversed before the 2012 elections.

Americans against the TEA Party

I have a new favorite group.

Blatant Racism in the GOP

Is there a context where this sort of statement is okay? How can we say that the TEA Party is not racist when their candidates say these sorts of things.

Oklahoma is considering a repeal of affirmative action for state jobs- And the GOP says that this sort of move is not racist; here is the horrible defense. from Sally Kerns. She has said stuff like this before-- She apologized and claimed to have misspoke- and I am sure that she didn't mean to actually express the hate in her heart verbally; A key component to advancing a racist agenda is to claim that it is to deny that it is deliberately racist.

Mitt Romney is doing all that he can to appeal to the extreme far-right racism of the TEA party. He recently suggested that we should 'Hang Obama'. This wording looks like a mistake- but it is not. Obama is a black man, and Southern racists- the demographic of the TEA Party- have engaged in lynch mobs as recently as the 1970's. Plenty of people are alive who remember this practice. It was not random- the victim always 'deserved it' for some reason or another. To use an allusion to this horrible practice in order to bolster support from the extreme right is disgusting. It was deliberate. Romney has to go to great lengths to make up for his shortcomings. As governor of Massachutes he created a successful universal healthcare plan that helped people and gained bipartisan support- and He is a Mormon, which is not christian enough for the far-right.

Because he is not quite 'right' enough, I believe that he is one of the more dangerous candidates. He will go to great lengths to show that he is even more racist and committed to destroying public institutions than the next guy.

Perhaps I will launch an "anyone except MIT" campaign. Step #1 make an awesome yard sign!