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Is This Our Last Chance?
Author: BobR
Date: 2018-11-01 12:00:00
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This will be my last chance to write a regular blog before the midterm elections next week. My next blog will either be a celebration or a post-mortem (hopefully, the former). How things end up are contingent on 3 things: The success of voter suppression tactics, the success of vote tampering, and voter turnout.
Voter Suppression Tactics: This is how the GOP cheats. They raise scares about "voter fraud" (which is virtually non-existent), while they purge tens of thousands of people from their voting rolls, coincidentally from areas that tend to vote for Democrats. The not-at-all-liberal newspaper USA Today has an Op-Ed about this:
(much more at the link, for those who don't already know about this)
What this requires is voter's knowing their rights, and demanding the opportunity to fill out a provisional ballot, should they discover at the polls that they've been disenfranchised of their most sacred right as an American. In tight races, every vote counts; don't leave the polling place without voting.
Vote Tampering: This can take numerous forms. In Texas (which uses touchscreen voting machines), there are reports of ballots showing a person selecting Republicans for individual races when they select the Democratic straight ticket (due to a design problem which is oddly reminiscent of the "butterfly ballot" issue in FL in 2000). Electronic tabulators are also prone to hacking, whether from inside or outside our country. Which leads us to...
Voter Turnout: The best defense against these tactics (other than aggressively working to eliminate them) is a massive overwhelming turnout. This is an "all hands on deck" moment for this country as we teeter on the precipice of totalitarian fascism and violent white nationalism.
My only hope is that we as a country are becoming more "woke" to the problems of the non-white-male majority being beaten down by the tyranny of the minority. In this melting pot we call the United States, Jews and Muslims have learned that they need each others' backs, whether it's Jews raising money to rebuilt a burned out Mosque, or Muslims raising money to fix a vandalized Jewish cemetery, or Muslims starting a crowd-funding site to raise money for the victims of the horrific mass-murder in a Pittsburgh synagogue last week.
Neo Nazis, neo Confederates, and other "white nationalists" have been given tacit approval via the stochastic terrorism coming from the White House. It's up to us - the privileged white middle class - to speak out via our votes to protect those being marginalized by the boot heels of this administration. Failure to do so is a moral crime of indifference and inaction that may well doom us all.
VOTE!
First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out— because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.
- Martin Niemöller
This will be my last chance to write a regular blog before the midterm elections next week. My next blog will either be a celebration or a post-mortem (hopefully, the former). How things end up are contingent on 3 things: The success of voter suppression tactics, the success of vote tampering, and voter turnout.
Voter Suppression Tactics: This is how the GOP cheats. They raise scares about "voter fraud" (which is virtually non-existent), while they purge tens of thousands of people from their voting rolls, coincidentally from areas that tend to vote for Democrats. The not-at-all-liberal newspaper USA Today has an Op-Ed about this:
Republican politicians across the country are scared for their jobs, but instead of coming up with policy proposals to win over more voters, they’re trying to rig our elections.
Whether it’s kicking eligible Americans off the voter lists for simply not voting, refusing to process voter registration cards, moving or shutting down polling places, trying to confuse voters about requirements or any number of other shady tactics, Republicans across the nation are trying to stop eligible voters from voting.
They are, in short, attacking our democracy for their political gain.
What this requires is voter's knowing their rights, and demanding the opportunity to fill out a provisional ballot, should they discover at the polls that they've been disenfranchised of their most sacred right as an American. In tight races, every vote counts; don't leave the polling place without voting.
Vote Tampering: This can take numerous forms. In Texas (which uses touchscreen voting machines), there are reports of ballots showing a person selecting Republicans for individual races when they select the Democratic straight ticket (due to a design problem which is oddly reminiscent of the "butterfly ballot" issue in FL in 2000). Electronic tabulators are also prone to hacking, whether from inside or outside our country. Which leads us to...
Voter Turnout: The best defense against these tactics (other than aggressively working to eliminate them) is a massive overwhelming turnout. This is an "all hands on deck" moment for this country as we teeter on the precipice of totalitarian fascism and violent white nationalism.
My only hope is that we as a country are becoming more "woke" to the problems of the non-white-male majority being beaten down by the tyranny of the minority. In this melting pot we call the United States, Jews and Muslims have learned that they need each others' backs, whether it's Jews raising money to rebuilt a burned out Mosque, or Muslims raising money to fix a vandalized Jewish cemetery, or Muslims starting a crowd-funding site to raise money for the victims of the horrific mass-murder in a Pittsburgh synagogue last week.
Neo Nazis, neo Confederates, and other "white nationalists" have been given tacit approval via the stochastic terrorism coming from the White House. It's up to us - the privileged white middle class - to speak out via our votes to protect those being marginalized by the boot heels of this administration. Failure to do so is a moral crime of indifference and inaction that may well doom us all.
VOTE!
