Frank J. on Elections
This is a good piece. My favorite part:
Why would minorities have a hard time getting photo IDs?
Because… um… minority stuff that you just wouldn’t understand, cracker.
Considering all the things one needs a photo ID for, such as writing a check, boarding an airplane, and even purchasing cold medicine, if people care about minorities, shouldn’t they focus on getting them photo IDs rather than blocking the requirement for having a photo ID to vote?
No, because… um…
This is pointless. This type of voter fraud never even happens anyway. It’s science fiction. I mean, someone going to the polls and pretending to be someone else is like some sort of space alien that changes shape — that’s just crazy.
Lemme 'splain to the cracker. I grew up in Kankakee. I know these things.
ReplyDeletesuch as writing a check
Minorities got no job, so no checks to write, so no photo ID....
boarding an airplane
Minorities don't fly. They're carried around on their momma's backs as babies, so they never develop a middle ear. Oh, wait--wrong minority, wrong era. So just never mind, cracker.
purchasing cold medicine
Colds ain't why they got sniffly noses....
Got that?
Eric Hines
I never could have predicted that this would be controversial.
ReplyDeleteMy own sister casually posts on Facebook about how "unfair and unnecessary" the Pennsylvania I.D. law is. I don't get it. I'm pretty sure she's not secretly interested in fomenting voter fraud, so that's not it. I think she genuinely believes it's an undue burden on the poor. Weird, like many of her beliefs. And yet we are very similar in so many ways, even attended the same university, and are only 3 years apart in age. Obviously I'm missing something very basic that explains the divergence in our views.
I understand the view, more or less, but Frank J is asking what strikes me as an eminently plausible question. If this is really a problem for the poor or for minorities, given the importance of proper ID in many circumstances, why not focus on making sure they have access to ID?
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty sure she's not secretly interested in fomenting voter fraud....
ReplyDeleteShe's also not a government official who's actively opposing suppression of illegal voting. She's not a part of the leadership of the party of Chicago, the most democratic city in the world, where even the dead get to vote--lots of times. She's not part of the leadership of an administration whose DoJ refuses to prosecute voter intimidation cases unless the victims are members of the right group and the perpetrators are members of the...right...group.
Eric Hines
I hear you, and I don't have any trouble accounting for the opposition to I.D. laws by Democratic party operatives. What puzzles me is how they get popular support from people who lack their sordid motives -- even from people whom I know to be intelligent and honest, even if I disagree with them on every imaginable issue of public and social policy.
ReplyDeleteI guess what it comes down to is that intelligent and honest people can come up with some really horrible political views if they're too inclined to view people as helpless pawns of circumstances. My sister has no understanding of my political principles, either, and chalks them up to my being a heartless Republican.
"why not focus on making sure they have access to ID?"
ReplyDeleteBecause it's a red herring. The issue ISN'T that it suppresses minority votes. It's that it suppresses voter fraud. But they can't SAY they're against suppressing voter fraud, so they use the "it's racist" excuse. I'm fairly sure you knew that, of course. So encouraging easier access to Photo ID is not something they're interested in doing, since there's neither a real need for it (photo IDs are about the easiest thing to get), nor would they be interested in eliminating the excuse that "it's racist to require ID".
What's hi-larious is that I had a Liberal friend who was spouting off about how Conservatives were against eliminating voter fraud. To which I responded, "exactly, that's why they're always fighting against photo ID voting laws, right?" Yeah... he didn't respond to that.