With a recent decision in Alabama to close 31 DMV offices, the predictable howls of outrage form the Radical Left have come out – “Voter disenfranchisement!’ “Jim Crow!” “Taking away our right to vote!” Expect to hear a lot more of this as we lead up to the 2016 election. PJTV’s Christopher Coates responds to Contributor at The Nation Ari Berman’s new book on voting rights with “Give Us the Ballot”. Unsurprisingly, Berman’s research leaves out some key facts, like this gem:
Another serious omission is Berman’s failure to discuss the controversies surrounding lawsuits brought during the George W. Bush administration against a black Mississippi Democratic official, Ike Brown, and against the New Black Panther Party. Those two VRA cases were the first — and to date, the only — cases ever brought by the DOJ against black Americans for discriminating against white voters and candidates.
In the Brown case, the district court found blatant discrimination by the black defendants, a ruling affirmed unanimously by the Fifth Circuit. In the New Black Panther case, government attorneys were on the verge of obtaining a default judgment against the Panthers for their intimidation and threats when Obama administration officials demanded that the case against three of four defendants be dismissed and that only limited relief be obtained against one defendant.
These cases and the ugly response to them by DOJ employees raised serious questions about the willingness of career attorneys and officials in the Obama administration to enforce the VRA in a racial-neutral manner, and whether they are only willing to enforce federal voting laws for the benefit of certain racial minorities.
Back to the Alabama story, Brentin Mock at Citylab gives a pretty balanced look at both sides of the story. But in the following paragraphs that are dispersed throughout the post it becomes apparent that the decision to close these offices is not as sinister as Radical Left would have us believe:
The Brennan Center reported in 2012 that almost a third of Alabama’s voting-age population lived more than 10 miles away from the nearest license-issuing office that was open more than two days per week.
Those numbers have not budged today—even with the 31 drivers license offices that have closed. That’s because almost all of the offices that were closed down were only open one day a week, none of them on weekends, and many of them for only a half-day. And they weren’t actually “offices.” Rather, they were “supplemental services” from state government “examiners” who were dispatched to satellite locations to primarily administer drivers licenses to new teen drivers.
Alabama officials have been keen to remind the public that there are other options for people to get photo ID. People can obtain free voter ID cards at county registrar offices, which are open in all of Alabama’s counties and for longer hours throughout the week. The state is also providing mobile services, sending crews out to various locations on certain dates and by request to dispense voter identification cards.
It’s worth noting that under federal law, DMV offices are required to offer voter registration services. The DMV closings will reduce opportunities for that to happen—though, again, given how rarely those offices were open, it’s hard to know whether those reductions are really significant. The number of transactions in general performed at the closed offices came to less than five percent of all drivers-license transactions (about 2,000)—and that’s for all 31 closed stations combined in 2014.
But setting the record straight regarding Alabama (and voter ID laws in general) this isn’t why I’m writing this post. One fairly subtle part from Mock’s piece really grabbed my attention:
African Americans are more likely to not have licenses or state-issued ID—in no small part because a lot of folks in the elderly black population don’t have birth certificates. (Many black women in the South weren’t served by hospitals during the Jim Crow era, so they gave birth at home or at non-medical facilities, their children born off the books.)
Did anyone else catch the problem with that last statement? The article points out that many births in the South took place during the Jim Crow era, which Wikipedia says ended around 1965. That means that many of these voters are over the age of fifty, and have been of voting age for over three decades. And that brings up the big question:
Why has nobody on the left lifted a finger to actually help these people get ID’s? I thought when I tried googling the subject I’d find at least some small left wing groups undertaking efforts to help voters obtain photo ID, but the best my search could find was a page with a guide with advice on obtaining an ID in North Carolina. For all of the money and energy that’s spent in putting up legal challenges, testifying about the horrors that preventing people from voting twice entail, and otherwise expending considerable resources into telling many citizens that they’re victims, wouldn’t it be more constructive to actually… help them?
And that last part is exactly the point. A leftist would rather see somebody as a victim and in need of a leftist version of assistance. Of course that wouldn’t be direct or charitable help – the leftist version of charity is reaching into someone else’s wallet to create a new government agency. Keep in mind these are the same folks who think it’s better to be a victim of a violent crime rather than defend oneself – remember Colorado Democrat Evie Hudak telling a rape victim that she’d probably just hurt herself if she had tried defending herself with a gun against her attacker and the national uproar there was in the press? Yeah, me neither. Back to my main point, opposing voter ID laws are just another illustration of how the left would rather expend it’s energy in keeping someone a victim rather than help them actually escape victimhood.
Of course, fair turnabout would be to ask Republicans why they’re not putting any resources into helping voters obtain IDs to vote. Most sane people agree that people should only be allowed to vote once, that voting should be restricted to people who are actually alive, and US citizens. Want to silence those idiotic cries of voter suppression? Get out and actually help those supposed victims. Yes, I know that the black vote reliably goes 90% toward the Democrats, but Republicans keep grousing how they need to make an inroad with black voters – what better way than to tell someone that even though you know that the person you’re helping is likely to vote against you you’re doing it anyway because you’d rather see them as a fellow citizen than a victim? That certainly is not the message of the Democratic party, and this issue is one of many ways that message can get out.
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Cross posted from Brother Bob’s Blog
Acorn should be out right now, door to door with clipboards finding those that have no IDs and busing them to the DMV!
@kitt: Exactly. If they’re not victims they’re of no use to the Radical Left
In the cartoon you use about VOTER FRAUD Brother Bob those figures on voter fraud: why is it that we don’t see the number of people prosecuted?
And exactly who DID those checks that showed the fraud?
OH!! here it is it isn’t any legit government investigation it is some guy named Kobach http://www.southernstudies.org/2014/04/whos-driving-north-carolinas-latest-voter-fraud-hy.html
“Voter Fraud” essentially does not exist. That is why no state has ever prosecuted more than a hand full.
In another PowerPoint [pdf] by Kobach’s office boosting the Interstate Crosscheck, a slide highlights the program’s alleged “Success in Kansas.” But the data points only to 14 cases “referred for prosecution” out of millions of voter records analyzed, and doesn’t confirm any where charges where actually raised, much less a voter convicted.
Out of the 14 cases of fraud 3 were referred for prosecution, 3 were Republicans http://talkingpointsmemo.com/fivepoints/kris-kobach-voter-fraud-cases
Brother Bob why is it easier to buy a gun than vote?
as for groups trying to help NC residents register when i used the search words “groups helping register NC voters” and google I got 23million hits and saw many many groups working towards that goal. https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=groups+helping+register+voters+in+NC&start=10
Brother Bob do you personally want more people who are black and or poor to voye ? Those groups vote overwhelminly Dem?
The Real Reason that Hillary Clinton was not nominated in 2008 as the Presidential Candidate for the Democrats, is because it would have Too Obvious regarding the Bush Senior, then Puppet Bill Clinton, then Bush Junior, and then Hillary Clinton once again.
This is why Barack Obama, who Hillary Clinton’s Blackmailed and Highly Bribed House Servant, was given the nomination to be Presidential Candidate in 2008, to try to conceal this, but Hillary Clinton has been the Real President of America during what is referred to as the Obama Administration, and the Clintons Secretly Rule the Democrat Party at http://hillbuzz.org/why-arent-the-occupy-wall-street-kids-angry-about-the-obamas-getting-a-35-million-beachfront-mansion-in-hawaii-24333 .
Hillary Clinton has been the Real and Secret President of America during the Puppet Obama Administration by Issuing Decrees using Emails, and Hillary Clinton will not restore Respect for America from other Countries and People of the World, because those Countries Know All these things.
There are American People who will be the last to Realize these Facts, and this is why there are Americans who do not want Hillary Clinton to be a Candidate in the next Presidential Elections.
The Real President of America is Hillary Clinton, and the Clintons are Bribing and Blackmailing Barack Obama to be Hillary Clinton’s Puppet, but this is being Cunningly Disguised by Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton, and Obama is being made to look like the President, but Hillary Clinton is the Real President of America.
Hillary Clinton admitted to being the Real President of America, during the time Bill Clinton was residing in the White House, and Hillary Clinton admitted to this by saying: “I’m not going to have some reporters pawing through our papers. We (Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton) are the president.”
The Facts are that Hillary Clinton was the Real and Only President during that time, and this is Criminal, because it is Unconstitutional, and Bill Clinton was busy with Monica Lewinsky and the Others.
Hillary Clinton has already had 2 terms as President during the time Bill Clinton was residing in the White House, and Hillary Clinton is once again the Real President of America during her Puppet Obama Administration, but she cannot admit to this because it is Treason under the American Constitution.
Hillary Clinton could not admit to being the Only President during the time Bill Clinton was Pretending to be President, because it is Treason under the American Constitution, but to Admit that she was Equal President with Bill Clinton is also Treason.
Hillary Clinton was More than just an Equal President with Bill Clinton, because she was the Real and Only President of America from 2001 to 2009, even if she Lies and denies it, and those with Discernment Know this to be a Fact.
The Bush and Clinton Dictatorship of America began in 1981 with the Actor Ronald Reagan being a Puppet of Vice President Bush Senior who was then the Real President of America, and Hillary Clinton was the Real and Secret President of America during the time Bill Clinton Pretended to be President, and Hillary Clinton is the Real President of America during her Puppet Obama Administration.
The father of the first President Bush, and the grandfather of the second President Bush was Prescott Bush who was a Wall Street Banker and a United States Senator, and so anyone with Discernment Knows that Ronald Reagan was a Puppet of the first President Bush.
The World might not know that America is a Republic according to their Constitution, but they have heard that America is a Democracy, and we can see that America is not a Democracy, because the Bush and Clinton Regimes have been in Power since 1981, and these things go against the Principles of Democracy.
Other Countries and People notice this, and the World is 90 % Non White, and these People see the Clinton Dictatorship as a Blatant Expression of White Supremacy.
The World is not against America having a White President, but they see the Hillary Clinton Regimes as both White Supremacist and Treasonous, and there are People who given All these Facts, think that if the Democrats nominate Hillary Clinton to be the Democrat Presidential Candidate, then the Democrats have Disrespected Americans and the Rest of the World.
Hillary Clinton retired from being the Official Secretary of State, because of possible Impeachment, because the Republicans had received a Majority in the Congress, because the Republicans Know Hillary Clinton and her Schemes, and if a Republican is Elected as President, then Hillary Clinton could not be President during those years, and Hillary Clinton has so far been the Real President of America for 15 years.
Hillary Clinton said and in March 2011, that she did not want to be President, even though she was the Secret and Real President of America.
Hillary Clinton promised to step down as Secretary of State if Obama was Reelected, and this was because she Knew of the possibility of that the Republicans would gain control of the House of Representatives and she Knew that she would have Reasons to be Impeached, if she were a Public Official.
We have seen how Hillary Clinton Cunningly and Deliberately Engineered the Benghazi Embassy Attack on September 11 (of course) of 2012, by at the Very Minimum inviting and allowing it to happen.
Hillary Clinton did this by Deliberately Ensuring Low Security at the Benghazi Embassy, so that the Republicans had to question her on this, because the Republicans Know that Hillary Clinton is a Proven Schemer and Liar.
Hillary Clinton has had much time to Invent her Extra Lies, and perhaps her Lies were Invented before the Attack on the Benghazi Embassy, because Hillary Clinton knows how to Lie and how to gain Free Media Coverage, and what was Hillary Clinton’s Real Motive for Denying Requests for Adequate Security, and Hillary Clinton even Lowered Security at the Benghazi Embassy.
The Motive of an Addict is Known, and Hillary Clinton’s Real Motive was to keep Obama as the Resident in the White House, because if Mitt Romney had become President Elect in 2012, then the Power Addicted Hillary Clinton would have had to wait for 4 years or longer for a Democrat to become President at http://www.jsonline.com/news/opinion/coverup-on-benghazi-does-make-a-difference-b99263729z1-258143991.html#ixzz31LqGsKwM , and at http://www.capecodtimes.com/article/20151101/OPINION/151109992/101019 .
Hillary Clinton is a Selfish Power Hungry Ego Maniac, despite All of the Lies, the smiles, and smooth words, and Hillary Clinton wants to turn America into a Military Dictatorship.
Hillary Clinton is making Promises during the Primaries Campaign, but she has been the Secret President of America for 15 years, and Hillary Clinton is Lying again as Usual.
There could be People who think that the Republicans are hoping that Hillary Clinton is nominated as the Presidential Candidate for the Democrats, because they know these things, and the Republican supporters Should Not rely on Republican Politicians to inform the Voters, but they will have to inform the Voters.
Perhaps the Republicans pretended to conduct the Benghazi hearings as amateurs, and any other Democrat Candidate for President could Never be as Corrupt as Hillary Clinton.
There is much Proof that Hillary Clinton is a Schemer, a Liar, and a Criminal, and the Proof is the Numerous Clinton Scandals at
.
I will vote , but if our vote mattered they wouldn’t allow us to do so.
The disenfranchisement of voter ID is non-existent. During the last election, where vote ID was required, where was the uproar over those not allowed (or who even had a problem) voting? There was NONE. Almost everyone has an ID; the very people Republicans are supposedly targeting… poor blacks… have ID because one is required for government assistance.
Meanwhile, the left is working to disenfranchise citizens that vote by providing drivers licenses for illegal immigrants. So, each time an illegal immigrant votes for the left and their promises of amnesty and taxpayer-funded benefits, a taxpaying citizen is disenfranchised.
But, that’s OK.
The principle of “One man, one vote” is built upon the foundation of “One man, only one vote”.
@john: Sir shame on you of course conservatives want 100 % turn out of legal US citizens. We dont care what color or religion they are. IDs prevent dead people from voting they are now citizens of heaven(liberals may have a warmer climate)therefore not eligible to vote. Some overly enthusiastic voters seem to want to cast more than 1 ballot and (don’t be shocked) will go to multiple places and vote more than once. This is actually not legal and ID requirements may slow this practice.
@kitt:
Nope. “We want 100% turnout.” Not all of us. I honestly don’t want people showing up to vote for free stuff. And people who vote by mail, I’m not a fan.
@john: John, read your own search results. You got 23M hits, but do any of those links actually lead to anyone actually helping voters get IDs? I searched and couldn’t find one – could you?
Anyone with common sense knows it’s to promote voter fraud. Anyone who denies it is lying to themselves or at least to everyone else.
Both wings of the repulbicrat party are filled with crooks, but the ones on the crat side lack any subtlety.
@JustAl: The left doesn’t have to be subtle; there is no media to call them out on anything. In fact, the media supports their fraud in the name of electing liberals.
@mossomo:Not all of us. I honestly don’t want people showing up to vote for free stuff. And people who vote by mail, I’m not a fan. Really dear? Our military votes by mail, We the people do not need to fear an “honest” election. The enemies of the people hang on every single word a true patriot says so they can slander and twist the meaning, they need to remain the victims to fool the weak minded into voting like them, out of some weird form of guilt. So when you state you don’t want them to vote you fuel the engine of Plunder and deceit. Cause they will always edit out the reasoning for the statement and assert things like racist, homophob ect. Now if you would kindly assist me off this soapbox kind patriot?
@john: Quick math ,Out of the 14 cases of fraud 3 were referred for prosecution, 3 were Republicans, 11 democrats were not prosecuted, that’s outrageous, funny justice system, it just dose not seem she had her blindfold on.