Civil & Human Rights

GOP Voter Suppression, Texas Style

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

PerryIf you do a Google search for Texas + secession, you will be shocked at the number of hits (or maybe not).

The question is not whether Texas can secede — it can't — but rather can the rest of America kick Texas out of the Union for ignorant racist crap like this?

Adam Serwer reports, Texas on voting rights: It's not about race, just politics:

Texas didn’t discriminate against minority voters. It was only
because they were Democrats. And even if it did, the racial
discrimination Texas engaged in is nowhere near as bad as the stuff that
happened in the 1960s.

These are some of the arguments the state of Texas is making in an
attempt to stave off federal supervision of its election laws.

* * *

Shortly after the Supreme Court’s Voting Rights Act decision, Texas moved to reinstate restrictive voting laws
that had previously been blocked by the feds. As far as it’s 2011
redistricting plan goes, the state’s brief argues that’s all in the
past, and it was a partisan issue rather than a racial one anyway.

George Takei is correct: move the 2014 Winter Olympic Games to Vancouver

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Russia has a long, dark history of its rulers scapegoating and persecuting minorities, in particular Jews, in official state-sanctioned pogroms, dating back to Medieval times.

Columnist Wayne Besen argues that Russia's Anti-Gay Pogrom Has Disturbing Parallels to Medieval Anti-Semitism:

What we are witnessing in Russia is a modern pogrom. The state is
imposing social death on its LGBT population and its new law is designed
to make openly gay people disappear through force and intimidation. If
one is out of the closet in this sick society, they will have a limited
future, to put it mildly.

History teaches us that targeting and bashing minorities is a
dangerous game that could lead down a road with unintended consequences.
The record is clear, particularly in this part of the world, that once
scapegoats are designated for retribution, things rarely turn out well
for the victims.

Of course, with the world watching and organizing a determined
campaign against Russia’s barbarism, things might not turn out so well
for Vladimir Putin’s Russia either. In real life, just like the movies,
the evil dictator and the uncivilized state usually get what they
deserve in the end, and I suspect this time will be no exception.

Protect Your Right to Vote Arizona Committee on HB 2305

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

2305hb11Jon Stewart of The Daily Show characterized Arizona as the "meth lab of democracy" for our "show me your papers" law, SB 1070. Stewart is mostly correct. Almost every "model legislation" bill from right-wing organizations like ALEC, FAIR, the NRA, Americans for Prosperity, the Goldwater Institute, Center for Arizona Policy, the Susan B. Anthony List, and on and on, was "lab tested" here in Arizona first, or followed a close second.

The Protect Your Right to Vote Arizona Committee responsible for the citizens referendum ("citizens veto") of the Voter Suppression Act, HB 2305, emphasizes this fact in a press release today.

Arizona at Front Edge of National Trend to Restrict Voting Rights
Politicians Add New Hurdles While Many of Nation’s Most Restrictive Voter Policies Already in Place

PHOENIX — Media outlets recently dubbed North Carolina’s sweeping new voter restriction legislation the “worst in the nation.”

But Arizona’s new roadblocks to get tough on voters — House Bill 2305 — is in many ways worse than North Carolina because it was approved on top of some of the nation’s most restrictive voting laws already in place, said Julie Erfle, Chairwoman of the Protect Your Right To Vote Arizona Committee. Erfle is leading a broad and diverse coalition working together to overturn HB2305 through a voter referendum. HB 2305 helps career politicians rig the system by preventing tens of thousands of eligible voters from casting their ballots. The bill will kick people off the early voter rolls and make it a felony for volunteer groups to help elderly, homebound and economically disadvantaged voters get their early voting ballots to the polls. It also helps politicians hold onto power by keeping third parties off the ballot and making it extremely difficult for Arizonans to overturn the Legislature’s decisions through citizen initiatives.

Jim Nintzel breaks down the Voter Suppression Act, HB 2305

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

2305hb11The Tucson Weekly cover story last week was all about the Voter Suppression Act, HB 2305. Jim Nintzel provides the best breakdown of any media reporting on this awful bill to date. Ballot Boxing.

Jim Nintzel is also the host of the Political Roundtable on Arizona Illustrated, and on Friday he hosted a panel discussion on the Voter Suppression Act, HB 2305, with guests Jeff Rogers, former chairman of the Pima County Democratic Party;
Barrett Marson, CEO of Marson Media and a Republican strategist; and Ann-Eve
Pedersen, president of the Arizona Education Parent Network.

Video below the fold (segment begins at 3:30 mark).