The Many Faces of US Politics...

[J70]

I hope gmac's ok he was fully convinced there was a Weekend at Bernie's situation happening at the Whitehouse!

Don't worry.

He can always go back to the "Joe is an unrepentant, godless, pinko socialist who is going to try to implement Soviet-style communism" option.

If Trump had put in a performance like Joe did yesterday with the crib notes and the media sheet all we would be hearing today is that he needs to be removed via the 25th Ammendment

Its always comes back to the crooked media whitey, doesn't it?

Maybe Joe should have went on streams of consciousness about bleach treatments, miracle drugs and Mexican rapists, instead of using (OMG!) notes to fall back on when discussing a wide range of issues.

I do a lot of presentations in my work. I like to have notes handy, often in the powerpoint presenter view, just in case I need them, especially when it comes to stuff like figures and stats. I guess that makes me a fraud.

Face it. The right wing media can't decide whether Joe is senile and a puppet, or a radical leftist. Because they can't deal with the actual reality that he is a moderate centrist; it leaves them little to demonize.

Fun fact: British Prime Ministers, during Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons, almost always refer to notes. They usually get up to the dispatch box carrying a binder full of notes. Occasionally they will read out an answer from a pre-prepared script in the notes.

It doesn't matter. Anything, no matter how poorly founded, that will detract from their own intellectual and moral bankruptcy. Whether it's "sleepy Joe" or denying water and snacks to people queuing up in the Georgia heat to vote (I'd love to hear a defense of that particular part of the voter suppression "election security" bill), all the GOP has to sell is fear and suspicion to try to keep themselves in power.

here's some nice democratic racism in Oakland , the city will hand out $500 checks to low income families but will exclude 10k white families eligible from receiving one . Can you defend that

Sure.

Its a pilot study targeting poor families of colour, randomly selecting 600 of them.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/03/24/oakland-guaranteed-income-race-wealth/

I'm sure the vast majority of poor families in Oakland, be they black, white or other, will be able to avail of the normal welfare programmes while this study takes place.

the mayor there tips off criminal illegal aliens of upcoming ice raids , she should be in jail with a few of her dem buddies from sf who are already there .

So you're changing the subject from poverty pilot studies to sanctuary city policies?

[Gmac]

I hope gmac's ok he was fully convinced there was a Weekend at Bernie's situation happening at the Whitehouse!

Don't worry.

He can always go back to the "Joe is an unrepentant, godless, pinko socialist who is going to try to implement Soviet-style communism" option.

If Trump had put in a performance like Joe did yesterday with the crib notes and the media sheet all we would be hearing today is that he needs to be removed via the 25th Ammendment

Its always comes back to the crooked media whitey, doesn't it?

Maybe Joe should have went on streams of consciousness about bleach treatments, miracle drugs and Mexican rapists, instead of using (OMG!) notes to fall back on when discussing a wide range of issues.

I do a lot of presentations in my work. I like to have notes handy, often in the powerpoint presenter view, just in case I need them, especially when it comes to stuff like figures and stats. I guess that makes me a fraud.

Face it. The right wing media can't decide whether Joe is senile and a puppet, or a radical leftist. Because they can't deal with the actual reality that he is a moderate centrist; it leaves them little to demonize.

Fun fact: British Prime Ministers, during Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons, almost always refer to notes. They usually get up to the dispatch box carrying a binder full of notes. Occasionally they will read out an answer from a pre-prepared script in the notes.

It doesn't matter. Anything, no matter how poorly founded, that will detract from their own intellectual and moral bankruptcy. Whether it's "sleepy Joe" or denying water and snacks to people queuing up in the Georgia heat to vote (I'd love to hear a defense of that particular part of the voter suppression "election security" bill), all the GOP has to sell is fear and suspicion to try to keep themselves in power.

here's some nice democratic racism in Oakland , the city will hand out $500 checks to low income families but will exclude 10k white families eligible from receiving one . Can you defend that

Sure.

Its a pilot study targeting poor families of colour, randomly selecting 600 of them.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/03/24/oakland-guaranteed-income-race-wealth/

I'm sure the vast majority of poor families in Oakland, be they black, white or other, will be able to avail of the normal welfare programmes while this study takes place.

the mayor there tips off criminal illegal aliens of upcoming ice raids , she should be in jail with a few of her dem buddies from sf who are already there .

So you're changing the subject from poverty pilot studies to sanctuary city policies?

no just explaining what your party are up to with your full backing.
Why would they exclude one poor family from another is poor not poor ?

[J70]

I hope gmac's ok he was fully convinced there was a Weekend at Bernie's situation happening at the Whitehouse!

Don't worry.

He can always go back to the "Joe is an unrepentant, godless, pinko socialist who is going to try to implement Soviet-style communism" option.

If Trump had put in a performance like Joe did yesterday with the crib notes and the media sheet all we would be hearing today is that he needs to be removed via the 25th Ammendment

Its always comes back to the crooked media whitey, doesn't it?

Maybe Joe should have went on streams of consciousness about bleach treatments, miracle drugs and Mexican rapists, instead of using (OMG!) notes to fall back on when discussing a wide range of issues.

I do a lot of presentations in my work. I like to have notes handy, often in the powerpoint presenter view, just in case I need them, especially when it comes to stuff like figures and stats. I guess that makes me a fraud.

Face it. The right wing media can't decide whether Joe is senile and a puppet, or a radical leftist. Because they can't deal with the actual reality that he is a moderate centrist; it leaves them little to demonize.

Fun fact: British Prime Ministers, during Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons, almost always refer to notes. They usually get up to the dispatch box carrying a binder full of notes. Occasionally they will read out an answer from a pre-prepared script in the notes.

It doesn't matter. Anything, no matter how poorly founded, that will detract from their own intellectual and moral bankruptcy. Whether it's "sleepy Joe" or denying water and snacks to people queuing up in the Georgia heat to vote (I'd love to hear a defense of that particular part of the voter suppression "election security" bill), all the GOP has to sell is fear and suspicion to try to keep themselves in power.

here's some nice democratic racism in Oakland , the city will hand out $500 checks to low income families but will exclude 10k white families eligible from receiving one . Can you defend that

Sure.

Its a pilot study targeting poor families of colour, randomly selecting 600 of them.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/03/24/oakland-guaranteed-income-race-wealth/

I'm sure the vast majority of poor families in Oakland, be they black, white or other, will be able to avail of the normal welfare programmes while this study takes place.

the mayor there tips off criminal illegal aliens of upcoming ice raids , she should be in jail with a few of her dem buddies from sf who are already there .

So you're changing the subject from poverty pilot studies to sanctuary city policies?

no just explaining what your party are up to with your full backing.
Why would they exclude one poor family from another is poor not poor ?

Because they want to see the effects of the programme on poor people of colour who also have to deal with the legacy of racism?

But fire away, go through the details of what they're proposing and why, and what and why they should be doing it differently.

And if you want to know whether or not I fully back a particular policy, then please provide some details and I'll gladly respond. You're always very vague on particulars as if we all automatically know what it is you were just reading or listening to. I don't support each and every thing every Democratic politician or local party branch across the US does.

[Gmac]

I hope gmac's ok he was fully convinced there was a Weekend at Bernie's situation happening at the Whitehouse!

Don't worry.

He can always go back to the "Joe is an unrepentant, godless, pinko socialist who is going to try to implement Soviet-style communism" option.

If Trump had put in a performance like Joe did yesterday with the crib notes and the media sheet all we would be hearing today is that he needs to be removed via the 25th Ammendment

Its always comes back to the crooked media whitey, doesn't it?

Maybe Joe should have went on streams of consciousness about bleach treatments, miracle drugs and Mexican rapists, instead of using (OMG!) notes to fall back on when discussing a wide range of issues.

I do a lot of presentations in my work. I like to have notes handy, often in the powerpoint presenter view, just in case I need them, especially when it comes to stuff like figures and stats. I guess that makes me a fraud.

Face it. The right wing media can't decide whether Joe is senile and a puppet, or a radical leftist. Because they can't deal with the actual reality that he is a moderate centrist; it leaves them little to demonize.

Fun fact: British Prime Ministers, during Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons, almost always refer to notes. They usually get up to the dispatch box carrying a binder full of notes. Occasionally they will read out an answer from a pre-prepared script in the notes.

It doesn't matter. Anything, no matter how poorly founded, that will detract from their own intellectual and moral bankruptcy. Whether it's "sleepy Joe" or denying water and snacks to people queuing up in the Georgia heat to vote (I'd love to hear a defense of that particular part of the voter suppression "election security" bill), all the GOP has to sell is fear and suspicion to try to keep themselves in power.

here's some nice democratic racism in Oakland , the city will hand out $500 checks to low income families but will exclude 10k white families eligible from receiving one . Can you defend that

Sure.

Its a pilot study targeting poor families of colour, randomly selecting 600 of them.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/03/24/oakland-guaranteed-income-race-wealth/

I'm sure the vast majority of poor families in Oakland, be they black, white or other, will be able to avail of the normal welfare programmes while this study takes place.

the mayor there tips off criminal illegal aliens of upcoming ice raids , she should be in jail with a few of her dem buddies from sf who are already there .

So you're changing the subject from poverty pilot studies to sanctuary city policies?

no just explaining what your party are up to with your full backing.
Why would they exclude one poor family from another is poor not poor ?

Because they want to see the effects of the programme on poor people of colour who also have to deal with the legacy of racism?

But fire away, go through the details of what they're proposing and why, and what and why they should be doing it differently.

And if you want to know whether or not I fully back a particular policy, then please provide some details and I'll gladly respond. You're always very vague on particulars as if we all automatically know what it is you were just reading or listening to. I don't support each and every thing every Democratic politician or local party branch across the US does.

wouldn't  excluding 10% of a population based on skin color be the definition of racism?

[J70]

I hope gmac's ok he was fully convinced there was a Weekend at Bernie's situation happening at the Whitehouse!

Don't worry.

He can always go back to the "Joe is an unrepentant, godless, pinko socialist who is going to try to implement Soviet-style communism" option.

If Trump had put in a performance like Joe did yesterday with the crib notes and the media sheet all we would be hearing today is that he needs to be removed via the 25th Ammendment

Its always comes back to the crooked media whitey, doesn't it?

Maybe Joe should have went on streams of consciousness about bleach treatments, miracle drugs and Mexican rapists, instead of using (OMG!) notes to fall back on when discussing a wide range of issues.

I do a lot of presentations in my work. I like to have notes handy, often in the powerpoint presenter view, just in case I need them, especially when it comes to stuff like figures and stats. I guess that makes me a fraud.

Face it. The right wing media can't decide whether Joe is senile and a puppet, or a radical leftist. Because they can't deal with the actual reality that he is a moderate centrist; it leaves them little to demonize.

Fun fact: British Prime Ministers, during Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons, almost always refer to notes. They usually get up to the dispatch box carrying a binder full of notes. Occasionally they will read out an answer from a pre-prepared script in the notes.

It doesn't matter. Anything, no matter how poorly founded, that will detract from their own intellectual and moral bankruptcy. Whether it's "sleepy Joe" or denying water and snacks to people queuing up in the Georgia heat to vote (I'd love to hear a defense of that particular part of the voter suppression "election security" bill), all the GOP has to sell is fear and suspicion to try to keep themselves in power.

here's some nice democratic racism in Oakland , the city will hand out $500 checks to low income families but will exclude 10k white families eligible from receiving one . Can you defend that

Sure.

Its a pilot study targeting poor families of colour, randomly selecting 600 of them.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/03/24/oakland-guaranteed-income-race-wealth/

I'm sure the vast majority of poor families in Oakland, be they black, white or other, will be able to avail of the normal welfare programmes while this study takes place.

the mayor there tips off criminal illegal aliens of upcoming ice raids , she should be in jail with a few of her dem buddies from sf who are already there .

So you're changing the subject from poverty pilot studies to sanctuary city policies?

no just explaining what your party are up to with your full backing.
Why would they exclude one poor family from another is poor not poor ?

Because they want to see the effects of the programme on poor people of colour who also have to deal with the legacy of racism?

But fire away, go through the details of what they're proposing and why, and what and why they should be doing it differently.

And if you want to know whether or not I fully back a particular policy, then please provide some details and I'll gladly respond. You're always very vague on particulars as if we all automatically know what it is you were just reading or listening to. I don't support each and every thing every Democratic politician or local party branch across the US does.

wouldn't  excluding 10% of a population based on skin color be the definition of racism?

If you are looking to see how a welfare program would benefit representatives of a group or groups historically held back by racism and still dealing with the legacy of discrimination, then no, it would not be the definition of racism.

[whitey]

J70-I haven't read the rationale for the drink/snack  ban in the voting line (the media is only reporting that it's an assault on voting rights)

But one thing I do know is that you are prohibited from campaigning within a certain number of yards of a polling station entrance. Would approaching people in a voting line offering them snacks and drinks while wearing a Biden/Trump tee shirt be see as violating that?

Secondly-what passes for a snack-could you give out Lobster Rolls for example? The biggest Trump supporter in my town is a lobster fisherman. Why couldn't he hand out uncooked lobsters if the Democrats are handing out Libster rolls?

Who would be responsible for policing what's given out?

Who would be responsible for ensuring people aren't violating the distancing rules

Edit: the prohibition is on approaching people while they are in line and handing out food/drinks. You can still set up a food/drink station and people can help themselves

Are you suggesting that people will change their vote because someone gave them a bottle of water or a slice of pizza or even a lobster roll?

If you leave the queue to go to the food station, do you get to keep your place?

I couldn't give two fucks if its someone in a Biden tshirt or a Trump tshirt. Its a stupid rule, and the fact that they would go after this right now, as part of the overall push, tells you all you need to know about the motivation of the GOP. "Election security" me arse.

https://www.npr.org/sections/itsallpolitics/2012/11/06/164353389/voting-queue-etiquette-hey-buddy-that-s-out-of-line

No one should be approaching anyone in a voting line imho

I would be quite agitated if I were approached regardless of which party they represented

Mind your own fvckin business.

[whitey]

From today's WSJ

'Jim Eagle' and Georgia's Voting Law
Biden compares state voting bills to Jim Crow, never mind the facts.
By  The Editorial Board
Updated March 26, 2021 7:21 pm ET
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Voting rights advocates demonstrate in front of the Georgia Govenor's Mansion in Atlanta on March 25.
PHOTO: ERIK S LESSER/SHUTTERSTOCK
Listen to this article5 minutes

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Georgia passed its over-hyped voting law on Thursday, and the news was met with more of the same. President Biden said at his news conference that the voting bills percolating in GOP state Legislatures are "un-American," "sick," "pernicious," and worse: "This makes Jim Crow look like Jim Eagle. "

C'mon, man, as Mr. Biden likes to say. The comparison is grotesque, and seeing that only requires swimming sideways for a minute to escape the rip current of the media narrative. Take a look at what's actually in the legislation—and what isn't.

OPINION: POTOMAC WATCH
President Biden's First News Conference

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SUBSCRIBE
Georgia's new law leaves in place Sunday voting, a point of contention with earlier proposals, given that black churches have a "souls to the polls" tradition after services. The Legislature, rather, decided to expand weekend early voting statewide, by requiring two Saturdays instead of only one under current law. In total, Georgia offers three weeks of early voting, which began last year on Oct. 12. This is not exactly restrictive: Compare that with early voting that started Oct. 24 last year in New York.


The new law also leaves in place no-excuses absentee voting. Every eligible Georgia voter will continue to be allowed to request a mail ballot for the sake of simple convenience—or for no reason at all. Again, this is hardly restrictive: More than a dozen states, including Connecticut and Delaware, require mail voters to give a valid excuse.

NEWSLETTER SIGN-UP
Opinion: Morning Editorial Report

All the day's Opinion headlines.

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So what does the Georgia law do? First, it gets rid of signature matching, so election workers aren't trying to verify mail ballots by comparing John Hancocks. This subjective process should concern both sides. It creates avenues for contested outcomes, with fighting over ambiguous signatures. In 2018 about 2,400 ballots in Georgia were rejected for issues with the signature or oath, according to a recent paper in Political Research Quarterly. Those voters were 54% black.

Instead of signature matching, voters will submit a state ID number with their mail ballots or applications. This way there's no arguing over handwriting: The ID number either matches or it doesn't. Georgians who vote in person are already asked to show identification. Anyone who lacks an ID can get one for free.

The law says the state can suspend local election directors and appoint temporary replacements, which is painted as a plot against Democratic metropolitan areas. More likely it will be used on slipshod conduct in places like Floyd County, which last year initially overlooked some 2,600 ballots. The chief elections clerk was fired, but it's hard to blame the state for wanting to head off similar trouble.

Much hay is being made about a provision that prevents third parties from giving gifts, including "food and drink" to those standing in line at the polls. But the point is to prevent activists from showing up in union shirts—or National Rifle Association shirts, for that matter—and passing out drinks and snacks, with some subtle electioneering thrown in.


As for the genuinely thirsty, the new law specifically allows poll workers to provide "self-service water from an unattended receptacle." Also, the legislation recognizes that it's a failure if voters stand in line long enough to get parched. That's why it says wait times at large precincts must be measured three times throughout Election Day. If the line hits an hour, changes are required before the next election.

The law makes ballot drop boxes a permanent part of Georgia's voting architecture. The terms are tighter than they were during last year's pandemic emergency, but how is it part of "Jim Crow 2.0" to give absentee voters more options than they had in 2019? The legislation also says applications for mail ballots are due 11 days before the election, instead of four days. If that's racist, so is the U.S. Postal Service, which urges voters to allow 15 days for two-way delivery.

The runoff period will be shortened to four weeks. "The lengthy nine-week runoffs in 2020 were exhausting for candidates, donors, and electors," lawmakers said in their findings. "By adding ranked choice voting for military and overseas voters, the run-off period can be shortened to a more manageable period." This is politically touchy, since Democrats won two Senate runoffs on Jan. 5, but let's hear the policy argument for nine-week runoffs, instead of ad hominem attacks.

***
No election rules are perfect. Ballot access, integrity and administration are all important. Mr. Biden knows this. Democrats aren't smearing Georgia because they believe their "Jim Crow" nonsense. Their strategy is to play the race card to justify breaking the Senate filibuster, so they can jam through their election reform known as H.R.1 and overrule 50 state voting laws.

[omochain]

From today's WSJ

'Jim Eagle' and Georgia's Voting Law
Biden compares state voting bills to Jim Crow, never mind the facts.
By  The Editorial Board
Updated March 26, 2021 7:21 pm ET
SAVE
SHARE
TEXT
510

Voting rights advocates demonstrate in front of the Georgia Govenor's Mansion in Atlanta on March 25.
PHOTO: ERIK S LESSER/SHUTTERSTOCK
Listen to this article5 minutes

00:00
1x

Georgia passed its over-hyped voting law on Thursday, and the news was met with more of the same. President Biden said at his news conference that the voting bills percolating in GOP state Legislatures are "un-American," "sick," "pernicious," and worse: "This makes Jim Crow look like Jim Eagle. "

C'mon, man, as Mr. Biden likes to say. The comparison is grotesque, and seeing that only requires swimming sideways for a minute to escape the rip current of the media narrative. Take a look at what's actually in the legislation—and what isn't.

OPINION: POTOMAC WATCH
President Biden's First News Conference

00:00
1x
SUBSCRIBE
Georgia's new law leaves in place Sunday voting, a point of contention with earlier proposals, given that black churches have a "souls to the polls" tradition after services. The Legislature, rather, decided to expand weekend early voting statewide, by requiring two Saturdays instead of only one under current law. In total, Georgia offers three weeks of early voting, which began last year on Oct. 12. This is not exactly restrictive: Compare that with early voting that started Oct. 24 last year in New York.


The new law also leaves in place no-excuses absentee voting. Every eligible Georgia voter will continue to be allowed to request a mail ballot for the sake of simple convenience—or for no reason at all. Again, this is hardly restrictive: More than a dozen states, including Connecticut and Delaware, require mail voters to give a valid excuse.

NEWSLETTER SIGN-UP
Opinion: Morning Editorial Report

All the day's Opinion headlines.

PREVIEW
SUBSCRIBE
So what does the Georgia law do? First, it gets rid of signature matching, so election workers aren't trying to verify mail ballots by comparing John Hancocks. This subjective process should concern both sides. It creates avenues for contested outcomes, with fighting over ambiguous signatures. In 2018 about 2,400 ballots in Georgia were rejected for issues with the signature or oath, according to a recent paper in Political Research Quarterly. Those voters were 54% black.

Instead of signature matching, voters will submit a state ID number with their mail ballots or applications. This way there's no arguing over handwriting: The ID number either matches or it doesn't. Georgians who vote in person are already asked to show identification. Anyone who lacks an ID can get one for free.

The law says the state can suspend local election directors and appoint temporary replacements, which is painted as a plot against Democratic metropolitan areas. More likely it will be used on slipshod conduct in places like Floyd County, which last year initially overlooked some 2,600 ballots. The chief elections clerk was fired, but it's hard to blame the state for wanting to head off similar trouble.

Much hay is being made about a provision that prevents third parties from giving gifts, including "food and drink" to those standing in line at the polls. But the point is to prevent activists from showing up in union shirts—or National Rifle Association shirts, for that matter—and passing out drinks and snacks, with some subtle electioneering thrown in.


As for the genuinely thirsty, the new law specifically allows poll workers to provide "self-service water from an unattended receptacle." Also, the legislation recognizes that it's a failure if voters stand in line long enough to get parched. That's why it says wait times at large precincts must be measured three times throughout Election Day. If the line hits an hour, changes are required before the next election.

The law makes ballot drop boxes a permanent part of Georgia's voting architecture. The terms are tighter than they were during last year's pandemic emergency, but how is it part of "Jim Crow 2.0" to give absentee voters more options than they had in 2019? The legislation also says applications for mail ballots are due 11 days before the election, instead of four days. If that's racist, so is the U.S. Postal Service, which urges voters to allow 15 days for two-way delivery.

The runoff period will be shortened to four weeks. "The lengthy nine-week runoffs in 2020 were exhausting for candidates, donors, and electors," lawmakers said in their findings. "By adding ranked choice voting for military and overseas voters, the run-off period can be shortened to a more manageable period." This is politically touchy, since Democrats won two Senate runoffs on Jan. 5, but let's hear the policy argument for nine-week runoffs, instead of ad hominem attacks.

***
No election rules are perfect. Ballot access, integrity and administration are all important. Mr. Biden knows this. Democrats aren't smearing Georgia because they believe their "Jim Crow" nonsense. Their strategy is to play the race card to justify breaking the Senate filibuster, so they can jam through their election reform known as H.R.1 and overrule 50 state voting laws.

I'm shocked.. Murdoch media has an opinion piece saying "nothing to see here" on the Republican efforts to restrict voter rights.

[J70]

J70-I haven't read the rationale for the drink/snack  ban in the voting line (the media is only reporting that it's an assault on voting rights)

But one thing I do know is that you are prohibited from campaigning within a certain number of yards of a polling station entrance. Would approaching people in a voting line offering them snacks and drinks while wearing a Biden/Trump tee shirt be see as violating that?

Secondly-what passes for a snack-could you give out Lobster Rolls for example? The biggest Trump supporter in my town is a lobster fisherman. Why couldn't he hand out uncooked lobsters if the Democrats are handing out Libster rolls?

Who would be responsible for policing what's given out?

Who would be responsible for ensuring people aren't violating the distancing rules

Edit: the prohibition is on approaching people while they are in line and handing out food/drinks. You can still set up a food/drink station and people can help themselves

Are you suggesting that people will change their vote because someone gave them a bottle of water or a slice of pizza or even a lobster roll?

If you leave the queue to go to the food station, do you get to keep your place?

I couldn't give two fucks if its someone in a Biden tshirt or a Trump tshirt. Its a stupid rule, and the fact that they would go after this right now, as part of the overall push, tells you all you need to know about the motivation of the GOP. "Election security" me arse.

https://www.npr.org/sections/itsallpolitics/2012/11/06/164353389/voting-queue-etiquette-hey-buddy-that-s-out-of-line

No one should be approaching anyone in a voting line imho

I would be quite agitated if I were approached regardless of which party they represented

Mind your own fvckin business.

Most people aren't like you. They'd be very glad to get the offer of a cold bottle of water or a slice of pizza when waiting hours in a queue to vote. If you don't want it, then you can politely tell them so... like a normal human being.

[J70]

From today's WSJ

'Jim Eagle' and Georgia's Voting Law
Biden compares state voting bills to Jim Crow, never mind the facts.
By  The Editorial Board
Updated March 26, 2021 7:21 pm ET
SAVE
SHARE
TEXT
510

Voting rights advocates demonstrate in front of the Georgia Govenor's Mansion in Atlanta on March 25.
PHOTO: ERIK S LESSER/SHUTTERSTOCK
Listen to this article5 minutes

00:00
1x

Georgia passed its over-hyped voting law on Thursday, and the news was met with more of the same. President Biden said at his news conference that the voting bills percolating in GOP state Legislatures are "un-American," "sick," "pernicious," and worse: "This makes Jim Crow look like Jim Eagle. "

C'mon, man, as Mr. Biden likes to say. The comparison is grotesque, and seeing that only requires swimming sideways for a minute to escape the rip current of the media narrative. Take a look at what's actually in the legislation—and what isn't.

OPINION: POTOMAC WATCH
President Biden's First News Conference

00:00
1x
SUBSCRIBE
Georgia's new law leaves in place Sunday voting, a point of contention with earlier proposals, given that black churches have a "souls to the polls" tradition after services. The Legislature, rather, decided to expand weekend early voting statewide, by requiring two Saturdays instead of only one under current law. In total, Georgia offers three weeks of early voting, which began last year on Oct. 12. This is not exactly restrictive: Compare that with early voting that started Oct. 24 last year in New York.


The new law also leaves in place no-excuses absentee voting. Every eligible Georgia voter will continue to be allowed to request a mail ballot for the sake of simple convenience—or for no reason at all. Again, this is hardly restrictive: More than a dozen states, including Connecticut and Delaware, require mail voters to give a valid excuse.

NEWSLETTER SIGN-UP
Opinion: Morning Editorial Report

All the day's Opinion headlines.

PREVIEW
SUBSCRIBE
So what does the Georgia law do? First, it gets rid of signature matching, so election workers aren't trying to verify mail ballots by comparing John Hancocks. This subjective process should concern both sides. It creates avenues for contested outcomes, with fighting over ambiguous signatures. In 2018 about 2,400 ballots in Georgia were rejected for issues with the signature or oath, according to a recent paper in Political Research Quarterly. Those voters were 54% black.

Instead of signature matching, voters will submit a state ID number with their mail ballots or applications. This way there's no arguing over handwriting: The ID number either matches or it doesn't. Georgians who vote in person are already asked to show identification. Anyone who lacks an ID can get one for free.

The law says the state can suspend local election directors and appoint temporary replacements, which is painted as a plot against Democratic metropolitan areas. More likely it will be used on slipshod conduct in places like Floyd County, which last year initially overlooked some 2,600 ballots. The chief elections clerk was fired, but it's hard to blame the state for wanting to head off similar trouble.

Much hay is being made about a provision that prevents third parties from giving gifts, including "food and drink" to those standing in line at the polls. But the point is to prevent activists from showing up in union shirts—or National Rifle Association shirts, for that matter—and passing out drinks and snacks, with some subtle electioneering thrown in.


As for the genuinely thirsty, the new law specifically allows poll workers to provide "self-service water from an unattended receptacle." Also, the legislation recognizes that it's a failure if voters stand in line long enough to get parched. That's why it says wait times at large precincts must be measured three times throughout Election Day. If the line hits an hour, changes are required before the next election.

The law makes ballot drop boxes a permanent part of Georgia's voting architecture. The terms are tighter than they were during last year's pandemic emergency, but how is it part of "Jim Crow 2.0" to give absentee voters more options than they had in 2019? The legislation also says applications for mail ballots are due 11 days before the election, instead of four days. If that's racist, so is the U.S. Postal Service, which urges voters to allow 15 days for two-way delivery.

The runoff period will be shortened to four weeks. "The lengthy nine-week runoffs in 2020 were exhausting for candidates, donors, and electors," lawmakers said in their findings. "By adding ranked choice voting for military and overseas voters, the run-off period can be shortened to a more manageable period." This is politically touchy, since Democrats won two Senate runoffs on Jan. 5, but let's hear the policy argument for nine-week runoffs, instead of ad hominem attacks.

***
No election rules are perfect. Ballot access, integrity and administration are all important. Mr. Biden knows this. Democrats aren't smearing Georgia because they believe their "Jim Crow" nonsense. Their strategy is to play the race card to justify breaking the Senate filibuster, so they can jam through their election reform known as H.R.1 and overrule 50 state voting laws.

I'm shocked.. Murdoch media has an opinion piece saying "nothing to see here" on the Republican efforts to restrict voter rights.

Yes, 250-odd bills across the country, Republicans screaming fraud and treachery (they're not saying much about the bold Sidney's "I was only joking" defense!), Trump still pushing the lie and demanding absolute fealty, but none of this has anything to do with depressing turnout.

And I love how they gently pass over the fact that this GA bill is watered-down after the initial backlash.

[Gabriel_Hurl]

Donnie is doing weddings now I see

https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-crashes-mar-a-lago-wedding-to-whine-about-2020-election-loss?via=twitter_page

[J70]

Donnie is doing weddings now I see

https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-crashes-mar-a-lago-wedding-to-whine-about-2020-election-loss?via=twitter_page

Its quite amusing to see him reduced to such a pathetic figure. Like a singer who once had a hit and is now playing to empty lounges.

If the GOP wanted, they could be done with him. But, they've got nothing else and their deranged base wants nothing else.

[Gabriel_Hurl]

Like these sad sacks? 

[J70]

Ted Cruz, about as far from blue collar as you can find (private schools, Princeton, Harvard Law, Supreme Court clerk, high level government service ever since), trying to look tough. The man has probably never done a day's physical labour in his life. By all accounts he is brilliant, academically. You think he'd just own it instead of posing as such a transparent fraud. The Trumpsters might actually respect him then.

[Gmac]

Like these sad sacks? 

I saw some video he took inside a detention center where there were way too many kids especially during a pandemic and they were lined up like baked potatoes on a grill in tin foil blankets, disgraceful and mr Biden should realize his words have consequences and he is to blame for this .
Btw the lady working there did everything she could to try stop him filming , again how very ccp of them .