Vote suppression and Trump: frightening stuff

This Op-Ed was in today's NYT. I find the topic heinous and frightening. To me, voter suppression is the worst, the most anti-Democratic, the most subversive and the most evil thing imaginable. The Founding Fathers must be spinning in their graves. 

We need an Australian Ballot Law, but it seems that not one member of Congress will sponsor it.

The_Soulful_Mr_T said:

This Op-Ed was in today's NYT. I find the topic heinous and frightening. To me, voter suppression is the worst, the most anti-Democratic, the most subversive and the most evil thing imaginable. The Founding Fathers must be spinning in their graves. 




 

You mean the guys who gave the vote to land-owning white men? 

Gilgul said:

The_Soulful_Mr_T said:

This Op-Ed was in today's NYT. I find the topic heinous and frightening. To me, voter suppression is the worst, the most anti-Democratic, the most subversive and the most evil thing imaginable. The Founding Fathers must be spinning in their graves. 




 

You mean the guys who gave the vote to land-owning white men? 

Very good   

BG9 said:

Gilgul said:

The_Soulful_Mr_T said:

This Op-Ed was in today's NYT. I find the topic heinous and frightening. To me, voter suppression is the worst, the most anti-Democratic, the most subversive and the most evil thing imaginable. The Founding Fathers must be spinning in their graves. 

You mean the guys who gave the vote to land-owning white men? 

Very good   

Yes, I guess I mean those guys. Anyhoo, I'm depressed and angered by this. 

LOST said:

We need an Australian Ballot Law, but it seems that not one member of Congress will sponsor it.

I'm not sure that would even fix this issue.  We have an issue with systematic disqualification of voters.  For instance, why do so many states make it so difficult for a felon to vote even after he or she has completed prison and parole? If a person's debt to society is paid, why can't they vote?  Because the assumption is that most former felons are Democrats.

Voter suppression is aimed very strictly at presumptive Democrats. And now it's a vicious cycle.  In the states where legislatures are controlled by the GOP, they pass more restrictive voter laws, making it even less likely they'll lose future elections.  The voter suppression laws help preserve the voter suppression laws.

This is a problem that IMHO gets far too little notice.  Between voter suppression, gerrymandering, and the aspects of the Constitution that give a lot of weight to low population states, we have entered an era in which far-right ideologues can completely control the federal government despite representing a relatively small percentage of the voting-age population.

The Republicans have become skilled at winning elections but are simultaneously becoming worse at doing anything else. I have to believe it will come back to bite them at some point.

Why Republicans Cannot Replace the ACA, Or Accomplish Anything Else

A body that voted more than 50 times over the past seven years to repeal the ACA is now suddenly unable to act on almost anything.
[...]
When ideology rules all, acknowledging dissonant facts is treason. Reality, in that way of thinking, is a mere construct owned by history’s winners. This brand of cult reasoning explains why Republicans despise journalism, deride universities, and disregard the advice of scientists. Within the walls of the GOP cult, those who concern themselves with accuracy, who allow themselves to be constrained by empirical measures, are seen as history’s losers. They are destined to be forgotten, obscured in the shadow of The Great Men.

It's no surprise. The modern, Post-Reagan Republican thinks the Federal Government is evil to it's core - so they can't possibly make it ever work better.

We have the worst, most destructive set of conservatives in the industrialized world (except maybe for Poland at the moment.)

FWIW, Spain has universal compulsory-attendance-for-voting too, and I think there's another nation. 

We don't need to vote, just show up and affirm we haven't yet voted in 'this election'. 

(And I get the point about entitlement. But then, you didn't give women the vote when you drew up your rules, South Australia did)

drummerboy said:

It's no surprise. The modern, Post-Reagan Republican thinks the Federal Government is evil to it's core - so they can't possibly make it ever work better.


We have the worst, most destructive set of conservatives in the industrialized world (except maybe for Poland at the moment.)

I keep wondering what the Russians could do to us that's any worse than what the Republicans are doing.