Terri Whitehouse May 6th, 2008
Elderly nuns in South Bend, IN were turned away from their polling place today, thanks to Indiana’s GOP-backed voter ID law. (h/t: Crooks & Liars)
Anti-choice activists contend that 20% of American women are “murderers.” (h/t: Feministing)
Terri Whitehouse March 10th, 2008
Law Student Jill Filipovic has two excellent posts up on Feministe this week, which follow up on that 1 in 99 statistic that was recently reported.
In “America Behind Bars”, Filipovic discusses the economic and social impact of the incarceration rate:
And entire communities depend on prisons for their economic stability. They have disproportionate political power — prison inmates count as residents, meaning that the areas are allocated greater resources that the inmates don’t benefit from and they’re counted in the population of Congressional districts. And inmates, of course, can’t vote — and in many states, they can’t vote once they get out, either.
Piggybacking on that post in “Judicial nominees, prison exploitation and discriminatory country clubs”, Filipovic takes a closer look at the prison-industrial complex and those who profit from it:
…like the private military contractors that the Bush administration pays to do our dirty work in Iraq, private prison employees were long not subject to the same laws that federal and state prison employees are…
Terri Whitehouse February 29th, 2008
Hot on the heels of news that +1 in 100 adults in the U.S. are in prison comes an excellent diary entry by Joe G. at BlueGrassRoots about the human side of felon disenfranchisement in Kentucky. The fact that Kentucky leads the nation in the growth of imprisoned population is especially troubling.
I implore you to take a look at KFTC’s site and learn more about felon disenfranchisement in Kentucky, particularly under disgraced former Gov. Ernie Fletcher. You can contact your legislators by going here. And while you’re at it, tell Republican Rep. Jeff Hoover to quit tacking on superfluous amendments and remind Republican Rep. Addia Wuchner that even Pres. George W. Bush agrees that literacy tests are bullshit. (Of course, we know that literacy isn’t his strong suit.)
Terri Whitehouse January 10th, 2008
TPM posted a must-read yesterday about the voter ID case currently being reviewed by SCOTUS. In the TPM post, there is a link to a point-by-point rebuttal that disproves every last reason people like Sen. Mitch McConnell offer for requiring state-issued voter I.D. Worth the read if you have some time to kill and are as fed up as I am with presidential primary coverage.
Terri Whitehouse January 7th, 2008
Today’s New York Times has an extensive article giving face to the Indiana voter ID case that will be heard by SCOTUS this week. (h/t: Crooks & Liars)
Meanwhile, Kentucky remains one of only three states that intentionally prevents felons from voting once their time is served. Hopefully, this will change soon.
In other SCOTUS news, Justice Antonin Scalia worries himself over any actions that might render a longer moratorium on executing people.
Joe Sonka July 2nd, 2007
I’m not really sure how many supporters John Edwards had in Lexington on Friday morning, but I know that he has a lot more now. The line on John Edwards that is making the rounds is that his best asset in the campaign to win the presidency is not his humble Southern background, health-care platform or charm, but his wife, Elizabeth Edwards. After watching her performance during Friday’s Small Change for Big Change event in Lexington, I think that statement isn’t too far off base.
Elizabeth Edwards performed a rather spectacular hour+ Q & A session with over 200 contributors, fans, and potential voters. And due to the online outreach efforts of the Edwards campaign (thanks to Tracy and Amy, via DMKY’s Shawn Dixon) and the southern charm of DMKY’s own Jim Pence, Jim and I were able speak with Elizabeth face to face for roughly 10 minutes before her public Q & A session.
Though the Edwards staff thought we had a decent chance of chatting with her for a couple of minutes, shortly after we entered the venue and set up our cameras (Jim and fellow film guru Erica), we were told that there was no time for an interview. After Jim disappeared for a few minutes to chat up the Edwards folks, he came back saying that she might be doing a short “meet and greet” with some people.
“What’s a meet and greet?”
“I’m not sure”
“I’ve never been to a meet and greet”
“Yea, me neither”
Ten minutes later, Jim pulled me backstage and one of the staff stopped us and asked if we were the guys from DitchMitchKY and told us that we could speak with Mrs. Edwards in a few minutes, but not on camera or on tape. So while all of the slick, dolled up TV reporters waited for Elizabeth to come out for the Q & A, the blogger in ratty Chuck Taylors and ripped pants, and the hillbilly with the Acapulco shirt were whisked upstairs to meet her.
Matt Gunterman June 7th, 2007
As we’ve noted before here, Senator Mitch McConnell has assumed the disenfranchisement mantle from Karl Rove now that the Democratic-controlled Congress is providing oversight of the Bush administration and preventing Rove from carrying out his malicious plan to deny as many poor, elderly, and ethnic minorities their rightful votes as possible.
So, with Rove and his operatives, like McConnell protégé J. Scott Jennings, paralyzed in the face of constantly defending their illegal actions, it’s our very own Mitch McConnell who’s stepped up to place as many obstacles in the way of legitimate, but disadvantaged, voters: namely, again, the nation’s poor, elderly, and minorities.
McConnell knows that Republicans will be taking a thumping next year, and he’s willing to do anything possible to minimize those losses, even if it means keeping willing and able voters, who happen to be traditional supporters of Democrats, away from the polls.
Fortunately, the Democrats defeated McConnell’s anti-democracy program. This press release came yesterday from the People for the American Way:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
McConnell Voter ID Amendment Resoundingly Defeated In the Senate 41-52
WASHINGTON - JUNE 6 -Late Tuesday, the Senate rejected 41-52 Senator Mitch McConnell’s effort to attach a voter ID amendment to the immigration bill. Hailing McConnell’s defeat as a victory for voting rights, People For the American Way President Ralph G. Neas issued the following statement:
“Senator McConnell’s voter ID amendment was politics at its worst. It had nothing to do with immigration. Rather, its impact would have been to keep eligible voters away from the polls – especially poor people, senior citizens, students, minorities, and people from rural areas. Its resounding bipartisan defeat is a huge victory for voters and voting rights advocates.
“Voter ID schemes make it more difficult for voters to exercise their right to vote and significantly increase the chances that eligible, registered voters will be denied the right to vote, while doing absolutely nothing to prevent voter fraud, which every study agrees is virtually non-existent. McConnell’s amendment is part of a coordinated political strategy to create a more exclusive electorate. Fortunately, so far this year, 22 state legislatures have rejected voter ID bills. And now the Senate has joined them in doing the right thing.
“The Bush Administration’s support for onerous voter ID legislation is just one aspect of its destructive politicization of the Department of Justice, which has undermined its mission to protect and serve the rights of all Americans.”
Matt Gunterman May 24th, 2007
Senator Mitch McConnell is so frightened by the thumping that Republicans are going to get at the hands of voters in 2008 that he’s willing to disenfranchise major sections of the American electorate just to prevent people he considers to be “undesirables” from voting (those undesirables would be anyone who votes for Democrats).
The oversight of the Bush administration that Democrats are providing in the Congress these days has all but paralyzed Karl Rove’s agenda to disenfranchise these same people, so McConnell has undoubtedly agreed to take up the Republicans’ broader plan to limit their electoral losses by limiting who can vote in 2008.
Here’s what the president of the National League of Women Voters in a press release had to say about McConnell’s tragic effort to undermine democracy.
PRESS RELEASE
League of Women Voters President Denounces Voter ID Amendment
WASHINGTON, May 24 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — National League president Mary G. Wilson today strongly denounced an amendment proposed by Senator Mitch McConnell (R KY) that would require all voters to show photo ID at the polls beginning January 1, 2008.
“Senator McConnell’s amendment represents a cheap political trick to keep legal, eligible voters out of the electoral process. Photo ID requirements disproportionately stifle the voices of people of color, the elderly, young people, and others. By tying a photo ID requirement to an already-contentious immigration bill, Senator McConnell is merely attempting to rouse the fears of the American people right before the beginning of one of the most patriotic American holiday weekends.”
“This type of political manipulation has absolutely no place in American democracy.”
“This amendment demonstrates that some lawmakers have become shameless in their efforts to manipulate the election process AND the hearts and souls of the American people for political gain. Our nation has spent most of the last century breaking down barriers to citizen voter participation and the right to vote,” concluded Wilson. “League members will continue to do what it takes to protect eligible voters from new, discriminatory obstacles in the 21st Century and we hope that the silent majority in this country will join us in denouncing tactics such as this.”
The League of Women Voters, a nonpartisan political organization, encourages informed and active participation in government, works to increase understanding of major public policy issues, and influences public policy through education and advocacy. Membership in the League is open to men and women of all ages.
League of Women Voters
CONTACT: Maggie Duncan of League of Women Voters, +1-202-263-1332, mduncan@lwv.org Web site: http://www.lwv.org/
Terri Whitehouse May 24th, 2007
Well, fumes, Red Bull, and Diet Coke, and Citrus Drop, that is. A lot have things have flown under my radar as I am entering my very last week of school before graduation. My sincere apologies.
Senator Mitch McConnell has introduced an amendment requiring a government-issued photo I.D. be shown in order to vote in any federal election. Of course, this proposed amendment makes no such provision for absentee ballots, which is how most voter fraud is committed, if I’m not mistaken. Read the long-winded press release from Sen. McConnell if you’re up to it. Does anyone else wonder if this is his passive-aggressive way to vote down the immigration bill without having to vote it down?
Sen. McConnell also introduced a bill called the the “Stop Over-Spending Act.” I like it. Simple. Forceful. Imperative. Just rolls off the tongue, doesn’t it? Our senator then goes on to talk about Dems’ willful disregard for the economy and what have you. The press release is available here.
President George W. Bush nominated U.S. Attorney Amul Thapar for a post as Federal Judge U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky.
Discuss at will and please comment if I’ve missed anything else, as I’m sure I have. I’ve been looking at glaring screen and printed material for 14 hours or so, time to uncross my eyes.
Ditch Mitch KY
