Posted by AzBlueMeanie: Now this guy definitely should do jail time for voter suppression — Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted is in comtempt of a court order issued a week ago. The court should find him in contempt on Monday and order him to cool his heels in jail for a few days. Last-Minute … Read more
Posted by AzBlueMeanie: Oh, Florida. Not again. Steve Beneen writes, Florida's voting fiasco: Florida has been the center of many election debacles, but 2012 is proving to be truly ridiculous, even by the Sunshine State's notorious standards. Gov. Rick Scott (R) and Republican state lawmakers deliberately "cut the days for early voting almost in half … Read more
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
I have three sisters who used to act out and sing along to this Leslie Gore classic, "You don't own me," when they were kids. This video brings back a lot of memories.
Kathleen Geier writes at the Political Animal blog, The women of America have a message for Mitt Romney and the G.O.P.:
[S]ome of the women in video above include Carrie Brownstein, Lena
Dunham, Natasha Lyonne, and Miranda July. I think it’s a terrific use of
a brilliant and powerful recording/song. I’m a huge fan of girl pop and
this is definitely one of the classics.
* * *
“You Don’t Own Me,” which was released the year after The Feminine Mystique
was published, was a giant hit. It was one of Gore’s most popular
songs, second only to “It’s My Party” in sales. It climbed to number two
on the charts, right behind the Beatles’ “I Want to Hold Your Hand.”
This PSA details the GOP's war on women's rights and healthcare.
Video below the fold.
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
A Latino voter surge in Arizona has long been predicted, but has yet to materialize, as it did in California after Republican Governor Pete Wilson screwed the pooch with his anti-immigrant Prop. 187. California is now reliably "blue."
Will Republican Governor Jan Brewer's embrace of disgraced recalled state senator Russell Pearce's anti-immigrant SB 1070 lead to the long anticipated Latino voter surge in Arizona on Tuesday? Latino groups say they have registered tens of thousands of new Hispanic voters in Arizona leading up to the Nov. 6 general election. Latino voters surge in Arizona:
Over the past six months, a coalition of 10 Latino groups has been going from door to door, registering new voters and encouraging voters who are already registered to sign up for early mail-in ballots. The groups also have been encouraging voters who have received early ballots to mail them in and even offering to deliver them to county election officials on their behalf.
The voter-registration drives are part of a concerted effort by advocacy groups to increase the number of Latino voters in Arizona to counter what they consider anti-Latino policies such as Arizona’s immigration law, Senate Bill 1070, and Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s immigration-enforcement sweeps.
The voter-registration efforts intensified over the past two weeks after it was revealed that [Maricopa] county printed the wrong election date on some election materials in Spanish, including bookmarks distributed at voter-outreach events and election reminders distributed with voter-ID cards.
The Spanish version of the materials gave Nov. 8 as the election date instead of the correct date, Nov. 6.
The errors sparked an outcry from Latino voting groups concerned that the wrong election dates printed in Spanish could prevent some Latinos from voting, undermining some of their efforts to boost Latino turnout at the polls.
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
Civil Rights Movement hero Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) addressed the DNC convention on voting rights. "My dear friends, your vote is precious, almost sacred. It is the most powerful, nonviolent tool we have to create a more perfect union." Lewis went on to describe the literacy tests and poll taxes that are now unconstitutional.
"Today it is unbelievable that there are Republican officials who are trying to stop some people from voting. They are changing the rules, cutting polling hours and imposing requirements intended to suppress the vote . . . that's not right, that's not fair, and that is not just."
"I've seen this before. I've lived this before. Too many people struggled, suffered and died to make it possible for every American to exercise their right to vote. We have come too far together to ever turn back. So Democrats we must not be silent. We must stand up, speak up and speak out. We must march to the polls like never ever before. We must come together and exercise our sacred right."
Video below the fold.