Morning Thanks

Garrison Keillor once said we'd all be better off if we all started the day by giving thanks for just one thing. I'll try.

Friday, September 23, 2016

Voter fraud


If Donald Trump is right, and his disciples stand guard at the polls to make sure nobody votes twice or three times or thirty, and if Rep. John Lewis is right in asking President Obama to send out thousands of federal election observers to make sure things go well, think of the size of the gathering outside the voting booth. Could be dozens out there watching.

Trump thinks the thing is rigged, although he hasn't been saying that lately, at least not as often or as loud. "Folks, the whole system is rigged," he'd say in the olden days. You remember.

That's why he told his people to hang around the polls and make sure none of those frauds sneak in a half-dozen times. If good people don't take the law into their own hands these days, you know what'll happen. 

Yes, we do.

You heard him say it. "The whole thing is rigged." His trainer has him on a leash now, looking more presidential. But if you ask, he'll still say it: "Get out there and supervise, you second-amendment people." You know Trump.

Now Rep. John Lewis, who marched in Selma a lifetime ago, is asking Obama to send election observers out because he doesn't trust the polls either, for opposite reasons. He's sure there'll be intimidation, sure some potential voters will be sent away without having filled out a ballot, as is their right. He may well be afraid of Donald's disciples. 

Now we got a situation. Of course 


There Are Nearly 300 Cases of Voter Fraud in America


or so said the headline in a right-wing website last year. 300. That's right. Think of it this way: if I gave you a bowl of Skittles, and 300 of them were bad, would you still count the Skittles? You know.

Amazing, isn't it? Amazingly silly. Real-live studies show voter and voting fraud is almost non-existent

No matter. Donald says the whole thing is rigged, even though conservatives have been rewriting suffrage laws to make sure those 300(!!) cases don't surface again.  The purpose of all that legislation is to counter all that voter fraud. 



No matter, I guess. Still rigged, Donald says.

Last week I watched forty-some brand new citizens swear allegiance to the United States of America. Never before had I witnessed a real naturalization event. The American Legion marched in the colors, opening remarks were given, four politicians sent staff to read their congratulations. 

Then a silver-haired woman sang a medley of patriotic hymns--"America the Beautiful," "My Country, 'Tis of Thee," a chorus or two of some old faves like "Yankee Doodle Dandy." She had a great voice, walked among those brand new citizens as if wooing them.  National anthem too.

Finally, the presiding judge, in his robe, delivered a bit of a homily and had all forty stand, raise their right hands and solemnly swear allegiance to the United States of America, which they did. Many had family standing and watching.

I couldn't help noticing that only one of the new citizens was white--from Eastern Europe. The rest--all of them--were people of color: African, Mexican, Central and South American. 

When it was over, the judge sent them all to a voter registration table set up just outside the room, where they formed a line. 

I doubt President Obama will do anything with Rep. John Lewis's request, but when I think about what I watched just last week, I can't help thinking, like Mr. Lewis, that maybe, come November, we'll need more people at the polls. 

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

JCS has been reading too many of HRC's weak tweets.
The election is slipping from their hands.
Fear has set in.
Attack-mode!
"WHY AREN'T I 50 POINTS AHEAD?!!!!!!!!!!!"

Anonymous said...

I recommend that the Black Panthers monitor the voting booths [when they bully voters the Department of Justice will let them off anyway] and the Feds should increase the overtime pay for naturalization workers so more democrat voters can be processed before the election. [this is actually happening as I write this]

Trump is ahead and the lefties are beginning to panic...

Anonymous said...

I would recommend you change-out your toilet reading material. You must have some old Huffington Posts next to the pot. "Voter fraud" is a very old talking point.

Anonymous said...

What's next? Hanging chads?

Anonymous said...

"On Monday, the Inspector General reported that 858 individuals from “special interest countries” — meaning countries that are considered to be “of concern to the national security” of the US — were supposed to have been deported but were instead granted US citizenship.

But the truth is the report is even worse than reported, with more than 1,800 individuals naturalized who should have been deported from the country." - CNN

Anonymous said...

"Vote early, and vote often!
No ID needed!"

Ron said...

JCS, you certainly know how to set off the right wingnuts.

Anonymous said...

Dear Ron: "When you resort to name-calling, you've lost the argument".
Why have so many not taken High School Debate?! Sad!

Anonymous said...

Ron:
By any chance did you have nails for breakfast?

Anonymous said...

Faux News just showed a clip from May of Ted Cruz saying "Donald Trump is amoral". I was right: you took your cue from Ted Cruz, JCS!
Keep following those cues---today, Ted Cruz endorsed Trump---"I encourage you to vote for him".
Ha!

Anonymous said...

I used to go to this blog for my "safe space". Where did it go?

Anonymous said...

http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2016/09/24/dead-people-voting-colorado/

"A recent investigation into Colorado’s voter rolls found that dead men and women had fraudulently cast votes in multiple state elections...Sara Sosa of Colorado Springs...died October 14, 2009, but ballots were cast in her name in 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013. Her husband died on September 26, 2008, but a ballot was cast in his name in 2009."

This was published a DAY after your poo-poo'ing of the REALITY of this situation.

In your post, you also mocked (the REALITY of) the Skittles illustration. Just a day after your post, another Skittle rolled out of the bowl and did his dirty deed, this time at a mall in WA. That's right, turn on your boob tube (or wherever you get your disinformation), and you'll see the truth.

Anonymous said...

"A recent investigation into Colorado’s voter rolls found that dead men and women had fraudulently cast votes in multiple state elections. CBS4 reported multiple cases of voter fraud after the station compared voting histories in Colorado with a federal death database."