The fraud of voter impersonation fraud
From the Washington Post, August 11:
A new nationwide analysis of more than 2,000 cases of alleged election fraud over the past dozen years shows that in-person voter impersonation on Election Day, which has prompted 37 state legislatures to enact or consider tougher voter ID laws, was virtually nonexistent.
The analysis of 2,068 reported fraud cases by News21, a Carnegie-Knight investigative reporting project, found 10 cases of alleged in-person voter impersonation since 2000. With 146 million registered voters in the United States, those represent about one for every 15 million prospective voters.
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This should put an end to the discussion about rampant voter fraud. Impersonation is simply not a viable strategy for fixing an election. There are not enough incidents to make it worthwhile. And yet, Attorney General Abbott continues to make it a priority of his office. Voter fraud, at least in the form of impersonation–which is what Voter I.D. is created to prevent–is statistically rare.
Last fall McClatchy newspapers traced the origin of Voter I.D. legislation to Karl Rove. He alluded to the strategy in April 2006 when he discussed voter fraud in a speech to the Republican National Lawyers Association, highlighting the importance of about a dozen election battleground states.
Fraud by impersonation is a myth, perpetuated by Republicans to justify Voter I.D. laws that suppress turnout. You’ll never convince me otherwise. It’s one of the worst things that has happened to American democracy.
Tagged: voter ID
Indio Salas says:
If you believe what Paul just wrote, I have a book called “Means of Ascent” by Robert Caro that you should all read. It details how LBJ used voter fraud to steal the 1948 election.
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RIF Reply:
August 14th, 2012 at 10:46 am
If you understand what Paul just wrote, you’ll realize that this book is not pertinent to the discussion.
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Robert Morrow Reply:
August 14th, 2012 at 11:11 am
Don Thomas told Barr McClellan in the early 1970′s – I am the only person alive who knows what happened at Box 13, and as for Dallas, Ed Clark took care of that.
Thomas did not know about the existence of Indio Salas who later came out with blockbuster revelations of voting fraud LBJ/1948.
That crooked law firm Clark, Thomas & Winters closed in 2011. And it is appropriate that it was sunk over its principals being involved in Hill Country corruption, just like the good ole LBJ’s days.
http://www.statesman.com/news/local/clark-thomas-winters-austins-oldest-law-firm-closes-1392471.html
Ed Clark – who I think helped to arrange the murder of John Kennedy – told Robert Caro that down in south Texas the bosses could either “count the votes” or “vote the votes” however you wanted them.
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Red Reply:
August 14th, 2012 at 11:32 am
Ballot stuffing can’t be solved by Voter ID… Stick police officers or troopers or what have you at every single ballot box (tricky, since we don’t even have ballot boxes any more) to cut down on that, but Voter ID is a solution in search of a problem. When my 86 year old grandfather, a WWII vet, can’t vote because he doesn’t have a drivers license (he hasn’t driven since 75) we’ve really screwed up.
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Alan Reply:
August 14th, 2012 at 12:06 pm
LBJ had county clerks in South Texas going through old courthouse records and filling out ballots with dead people’s names on them. No one was impersonating anyone. It was behind the scenes and a voter ID law would not have stopped that. Computerized voter records that can easily be pulled up and verified are what stops that kind of fraud, and we already had that in place.
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Bill Reply:
August 15th, 2012 at 10:42 am
LBJ has nothing to do with the presetn day arguement. Voter fraud…..ain’t.
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WUSRPH Reply:
August 14th, 2012 at 12:07 pm
As with almost all of the very little voter fraud that exists, the situation in 1948 DID NOT INVOLVE VOTER FRUAD AT THE POLLS. It was “after voting” with the election officials adding names to the list of voters. It had nothing to do with voter impersonation.
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Robert Morrow Reply:
August 14th, 2012 at 9:04 pm
“After voting” occurs when a crooked elections judge sees 30 or 40 people have not voted as of 7PM. So they decided to vote for them, usually for a Democrat either in a primary or a general election.
And if some dead people have not yet been taken off the voter rolls, they get to vote to posthumously however the dirty elections “judge” wants it.
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Spiro Eagleton Reply:
August 14th, 2012 at 3:26 pm
Burka’s argument against voter fraud is the same that could be made against the TSA. It was just 19 hijackers that carried out the 9/11 attacks. Why subject millions and millions of people to a violation of their rights while attempting to travel? I guess that’s because in Burka’s world the TSA is a great, benevolent federal agency and voter fraud just never, ever happens.
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Anonymous Reply:
August 14th, 2012 at 3:42 pm
or, maybe one is a state law and the other is federal.
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Alan Reply:
August 14th, 2012 at 4:00 pm
Or maybe because 19 people hijacking major aircraft can kill thousands of people, and 19 people fraudulently voting in a presidential election wouldn’t make a difference (certainly not as much of a difference as preventing thousands of people from legally voting in that same election).
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anita Reply:
August 14th, 2012 at 8:51 pm
Or perhaps because voting is the most basic of all rights that we enjoy, the fundamental right that ensures all other rights, compared to the right to get on a plane, which doesn’t exist.
paulburka Reply:
August 14th, 2012 at 11:19 pm
It would not occur to me to compare hijacking aircraft to fraudulent voting. We know statistically that voter impersonation is extremely rare.
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JK Reply:
August 17th, 2012 at 7:23 am
Hijackings are also rare, and they are not all 9/11-style airplane crashes. We’ve had airport X-rays and metal detectors since the 70′s, and that was driven mostly by hijackers that just wanted to be dropped off in Cuba or make a political statement. Hijackings affect varying numbers of people, as do elections at different levels. At one point, hijackings to Cuba were so common that they might not even be Walter Cronkite’s lead story. Various kinds of vote fraud was rampant in those days, too. Voter ID also serves to prevent a different kind of fraud since most non-citizens cannot obtain the kind of ID that is suitable for voting, even if they manage to get registered to vote (which is not always their own fault, given the way some voting drives are conducted.) Go to Dallas County Jury Service, watch the judge explain to prospective jurors that you cannot serve if you are not a citizen, and then ponder how exactly did these non-citizens get on the list to be called for jury duty?
Bill Reply:
August 15th, 2012 at 10:43 am
Sorry, Spiro. No connection in this arguement.
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Anonymous says:
I don’t disagree that in-person voting is not where the majority of voter fraud occurs (instead, it’s the “harvesting” of absentee ballots from people whose identities and citizenship are not in question).
However, no one opposing voter ID laws has ever made even a plausible showing as to how having to show an ID disenfranchises anyone.
I simply fail to see how this “suppresses” voter turnout. (Please explain this, Paul, if you have plausible evidence).
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Anonymous Reply:
August 14th, 2012 at 10:50 am
I’ve seen a few studies on Voter ID, and some suggest that Voter ID law might, again might, suppress turnout by maybe 2 percent (at most). However, that can be offset by provisional ballots, etc.
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paulburka Reply:
August 14th, 2012 at 10:51 am
It is the difficulty people have in getting an I.D. that is the problem. This was documented in the D.C. case. They have to be able to get to a DPS office. The offices frequently have long lines, causing long waits for people who can’t afford to miss work. A sizeable number of counties have no DPS office. There are many other such hurdles. It ought to be easy to get an official I.D., but it isn’t.
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Anonymous Reply:
August 14th, 2012 at 11:09 am
What county does not have a DPS office?
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Red Reply:
August 14th, 2012 at 11:39 am
There are 34 of them, in fact. http://blog.chron.com/texaspolitics/2012/01/ellis-texas-unable-to-prove-id-law-wont-discriminate/
Tellinit Reply:
August 14th, 2012 at 10:21 pm
34 counties without any DPS drivers license office and another 46 counties where DPS drivers license offices have closed shop – without any plan to reopen.
Spiro Eagleton Reply:
August 14th, 2012 at 3:27 pm
Getting a free state-issued I.D. is easy.
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JohnBernardBooks Reply:
August 15th, 2012 at 6:37 am
stop confusing the dems with facts.
baybear Reply:
August 15th, 2012 at 10:51 am
Fact is voter fraud is no big deal so there is no need to go get an ID. Easy is not the issue. Freedom is.
Tellnii Reply:
August 14th, 2012 at 9:55 pm
paul
Thera are more than 70 Texas counties without any DPS drivers license offices- and no subway trains to neighboring counties for access .
GOPers had no interest in rolling mobile DPS offices into these counties once a month … Because they were not interested in making voting easier.
There are no DPS driver license offices in big city low income neighborhoods ..so folks with minimum wage jobs would have to find a ride. But they probably would have to miss work because these offices are only open 8-5 on weekdays…except on tuesdays when they stay open to 6 pm
It’s all about making voting harder…Yes to concealed hand gun licenses. No to student IDs issued by a state university
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longleaf Reply:
August 15th, 2012 at 7:00 am
Tellni’s “yes” and “no” above should illustrate to Anita that the right to vote is NOT the one that makes all others possible. In this state, we believe it is the right to keep and bear arms that does that.
I’m in favor of going back to duels. The recent Senate runoff would’ve been a lot more exciting if Dewhurst and Cruz had been playing the roles of Hamilton and Burr.
With all the mudslinging in that campaign, “honor” was certainly in question. Dueling was the appropriate remedy. The ratings for this ultimate “reality show/snuff movie” would’ve broken records.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burr–Hamilton_duel
paulburka Reply:
August 14th, 2012 at 10:55 am
It isn’t having to show an I.D. that disenfranchises people; as I said above, it’s getting the I.D. that can be difficult. I really don’t know why we’re arguing about this. The facts are plain, we know who gets disenfranchised, and we know what causes them to be disenfranchised, and we know which political party benefits from people being disenfranchised.
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Red Reply:
August 14th, 2012 at 11:36 am
A driver’s license costs $25 in the state of Texas. That doesn’t sound like much, but I know that’s $25 I didn’t want to spend on my last trip for renewal. When you’re poor, that $25 is a lot more expensive than you’d think. I’m fairly certain we outlawed poll taxes with the 24th Amendment
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Spiro Eagleton Reply:
August 14th, 2012 at 3:28 pm
Is Burka saying that Democrats are dumber than Republicans and thus more of them won’t be able to get free state-issued I.D.?
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Red Reply:
August 14th, 2012 at 4:13 pm
Have you gotten a free state-issued ID? It’s not easy. You have to prove who you are (birth certificate or passport). If you don’t have either of those documents, you have to go get those made (more costs). Just because it’s “free” doesn’t mean it’s free.
anita Reply:
August 14th, 2012 at 8:57 pm
It’s interesting to watch Repubs who think government can’t do anything in an efficient manner suddenly conclude that the government can efficiently issue an ID.
This begs the question — have you been in a DPS office recently? Not a model of efficiency.
JohnBernardBooks Reply:
August 15th, 2012 at 6:38 am
yes, democrats are victims and only the highly intelligent pedants can protect them.
baybear Reply:
August 15th, 2012 at 10:55 am
No, Burka is saying that this is a made up issue by conservatives designed to strip away freedoms in the name of party. There is nothing else to say, Truth is.
Over-regulated Reply:
August 15th, 2012 at 7:21 am
Republicans are the party of unnecessary regulation.
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paulburka says:
If you have to go back to 1948 to make your case, it’s a pretty weak case. There is ample contemporary evidence indicating that voter impersonation is about as frequent as being struck by lightning (1 in 15 million occurrences).
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Anonymous Reply:
August 14th, 2012 at 10:49 am
Is there evidence that fraud ceased after 1948?
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Cow Droppings Reply:
August 14th, 2012 at 12:20 pm
first of all, Greg Abbott is doing his job, defending the law the Legislature passed.
Second, your conclusion about the DC case is astoundingly detached from the evidence. The Democrats’s case was an embarassment. They claimed 500,000 dead people were disenfranchised. They said GWB and Hutchison couldn’t get an ID. TMF claimed his mother was disenfranchised last session right around the time she was renewing her d.l.
Paul, I know you will change the subject with your response. I just want to know a single one of these voters they claimed were disenfranchised that are disenfranchised.
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anita Reply:
August 14th, 2012 at 12:45 pm
BS — Abbott pushed for the Legislature to take action.
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Anonymous Reply:
August 14th, 2012 at 1:42 pm
Anita, that is BS and you know it.
Republicant Reply:
August 14th, 2012 at 3:40 pm
Texas’ Voter ID law will not be precleared under the revised provisions of Section 5, which were signed into law in 2006 by George W. Bush after receiving almost unanimous support from Congressional Republicans. The matter will have to be resolved by the U.S. Supreme Court after the November General Election.
Blame Republicans for making it harder to obtain preclearance.
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anita Reply:
August 14th, 2012 at 9:00 pm
Abbott and Andrate were cited by both the House and Senate floor sponsors as supporting the bills, and with providing supporting information they claimed made the case for the need.
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Blue Dogs Reply:
August 23rd, 2012 at 12:16 pm
You know why folks in southern states and others in the Midwest are doing this….because Obama won the presidency 4 years ago and seeing a mulatto in the Oval Office makes them SICK to their stomachs, especially seeing an African American family living in the White House to boot.
Spiro Eagleton Reply:
August 14th, 2012 at 3:29 pm
Burka, you need to read John Fund when it comes to election fraud. He has numerous examples. Why is showing an I.D. so hard? Please don’t tell me it’s because moronic Democrats can’t figure out how to get a free state-issued I.D. card. Come on!
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Phil Reply:
August 15th, 2012 at 10:57 am
By this reasoning, licensing guns and gunowners would be easy. It is not about easy. It is not about hard. It is about the spirit of liberty and freedom from government. This is such a ludicrous issue as to paint supporters as treasonous.
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Anon. says:
Indio: I also have the book called “Means of Ascent” and think you should read it too. The ’48 election involved fraud by election officials (in one instance, several dozen voters, written in alphabetical order, in the same handwriting, in blue ink, on the list of people who voted that day). Voter ID wouldn’t have mattered when the election officials are the ones committing fraud. So your example only demonstrates the opposite of your point.
Good try though!
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Anonymous Reply:
August 14th, 2012 at 10:50 am
No, his point proves that voter fraud is not a myth, and the sorriest sack of shit to ever serve in public office, LBJ, was elected because of it.
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Robert Morrow Reply:
August 14th, 2012 at 10:58 am
Lyndon Johnson was a total piece of shit. He should have been fried in the electric chair until his eyeballs popped out in the mid 1950′s for the prison murder of Sam Smithwick. Smithwick knew a lot about the Box 13 voting fraud scandal of 1948 that put LBJ into office.
Gov. Allan Shivers of Texas accused Lyndon Johnson of having Smithwick murdered. So it is not just Robert Morrow in year 2012 saying this. Shivers accused Johnson to his face in 1956 of the Smithwick murder. Read Robert Dallek’s book for that nugget.
A good book to read is “LBJ: The Mastermind of the JFK Assassination” by Phillip Nelson:
http://www.amazon.com/LBJ-The-Mastermind-JFK-Assassination/dp/1616083778/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1344959750&sr=8-1&keywords=lbj+mastermind+of+jfk%27s+assassination
Lyndon Johnson was as pure a criminal as has ever been in the White House or at high levels of American politics since the founding of our country.
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Art Reply:
August 15th, 2012 at 10:58 am
That sack would be Geroge W. Bush.
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David Garza says:
Just because it is not prosecuted doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. How can you audit a wave of illegals that have stolen someones identity, has an official Texas license and votes in a loca election because her tio works for the school district.
Even with a photo ID we need to move to a more advanced system to give confidence in our elections at least to par with Mexicos highly more advanced election system.
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anita Reply:
August 14th, 2012 at 12:53 pm
Funny — Mexico uses a national photo ID, which allows the person to vote for life. If you were to propose to Republicans that they adopt a national photo ID, they would oppose. The tin foil hat crowd would go nuts.
If you really think that an illegal who “steals” a citizen’s ID is going to show up on election day to vote, placing him or herself in danger of interaction with governmental authorities, you are high. These folks are here to wash dishes, mow lawns. They could care less who is the county commissioner or state comptroller.
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Bodhisattva says:
Paul wrote: “This should put an end to the discussion about rampant voter fraud.”
Paul, you know this, but you’re assuming that the voter fraud hysteria has any grounding in fact. It is sad to contemplate that some well-meaning, informed citizens actually think it exists, but most of us know it is all about politics and demographics.
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Bill says:
Republicans don’t understand why anyone would ever vote for an evil democrat. And yet they see Democrats getting elected every two years. There were nearly 50 of them in the Texas House in 2011. (How can that be?!?) To these Republicans, the only plausible explanation that explains this is voter fraud.
Boy, will these Republicans be surprised when Democrats continue to be elected–in increasing numbers–in the next few years.
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WUSRPH Reply:
August 14th, 2012 at 12:10 pm
They just believe that the “right to vote” only applies “if you vote right”…
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Anonymous says:
We also have the right to own firearms, but significant restrictions are placed on that.
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Tim Reply:
August 14th, 2012 at 11:52 am
No there are not. You need to travel more to see what “significant restrictions” on firearms looks like.
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Wilie James Reply:
August 15th, 2012 at 11:00 am
I guess restrictions against owning flamethowers and belt fed machine guns don’t fly with some. Ask the constable in College Station or folks in Aurora about the restrictions on firearms.
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Bob Reply:
August 14th, 2012 at 11:54 am
“Bah-buhm ba-BAHH, WHAAaoowww”
- Losing fanfare music from The Price is Right.
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Anon. says:
Anonymous at 10:50am: all of the evidence suggests that if any voter fraud is happening in this country, it involves mailing absentee ballots (which a voter ID requirement would not stop).
But good job responding to my point by simply insulting a former president with profanities in a way that has nothing to do with the debate we’re having! You’re so bright!
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Anonymous Reply:
August 14th, 2012 at 10:59 am
Does the former President, who was known for lying and whoring around, and having the blood of tens of thousands of US soldiers on his hands, deserve to not be insulted?
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Robert Morrow Reply:
August 14th, 2012 at 11:03 am
If you went out to Stonewall and took a nice long piss on LBJ’s grave, it would be appropriate. He murdered a lot of people and I don’t just mean the poor Vietnamese. JFK was one of his notable victims.
A good book to read is “Beyond Reason: The Mental Collapse of Lyndon Johnson” by D. Jablow Hirshman.
Read it and you will see what a psychopath LBJ was:
http://www.amazon.com/Power-Beyond-Reason-Collapse-Johnson/dp/1569802432/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1344960045&sr=1-1&keywords=lbj+mental+collapse
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Wilie James Reply:
August 15th, 2012 at 11:01 am
Bush whored around?
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Robert Morrow says:
Voter ID is a problem that is easily solved after only one election cycle by the voter.
The political parties and their volunteers will quickly make sure that everyone has an ID card to vote.
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Anonymous Reply:
August 14th, 2012 at 11:01 am
What Robert Morrow says is exactly true.
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Americanus Reply:
August 17th, 2012 at 1:01 am
Morrow & Anonymous @ 11:01 obviously have very little experience in the political parties. Neither major political parties are organized with enough money & volunteers to make sure everyone has an ID card to vote.
The comments also reflect a fundamental misunderstanding of the personal burden involved for some people in getting a photo voter ID, from people who apparently don’t understand first hand what what is means to live under oppressive circumstances.
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I'm Pavlov. Ring a Bell? says:
Whether it’s rare or not, the fact is that fraud exists. And the state(s) is well within its rights to take the appropriate measures steps stop it. That is, unless we’ve now transitioned to the idea that fraud is an ok in our society.
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Vote police Reply:
August 14th, 2012 at 12:24 pm
Yes, Pavlov, a miniscule amount of fraud may exist. But there’s not so much fraud that it justifies taking such harmful measures that keep tens of thousands of eligible voters from casting ballots.
Can you understand that’s why people think/know that Voter ID is really voter suppression? The harm it does vastly outweighs what little good it might do.
As a conservative, I’d think you’d understand that if the issue isn’t deep or wide or causes any material harm, we don’t need to spend government money or time on it.
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Jerry Only Reply:
August 14th, 2012 at 2:27 pm
i would use the term “conservative” lightly in his case. ideological? sure. conservative? not in this lifetime. otherwise this would be seen as rampant big government stepping in to fix a problem that doesnt exist.
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Beerman says:
Paul is right. And, Abbott is wasting money and time.
Anon is really into that hopped-up Kool-Aide today?
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Spiro Eagleton Reply:
August 14th, 2012 at 3:33 pm
The folks at Jonestown didn’t drink Kool-Aid. They drank Flavor-Aid. Look it up.
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Robert Morrow Reply:
August 14th, 2012 at 9:08 pm
And the vast majority of folks at Jonestown were not “drinking the Flavor-Aid.” They were shot after they saw the first few folks, including kids die horrible deaths.
Most were flat out murdered. Read the “Black Hole of Guyana: The Untold Story of the Jonestown Massacre”
http://www.ratical.org/ratville/JFK/JohnJudge/Jonestown.html
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Fareed Zakaria Reply:
August 15th, 2012 at 8:47 am
That’s true. Most were shot. All of them were murdered though whether by the poisoned Flavor-Aid or by projectiles. Kool-Aid can’t like having their product falsely associated with that mass murder. By the way, few folks know that Jones was a crazy left-wing radical. That always seems to be left out.
Johnny says:
Paul,
The Supreme Court has ruled that a state can adopt a voter ID law, even if the state has had no cases of in-person voter fraud.
The Supreme Court also said the requirement that a voter obtain a voter ID creates an overall burden that is minimal and justified.
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Anonymous Reply:
August 14th, 2012 at 11:33 am
the supreme court says a lot of shite.
it is a simple question of good faith: if no disenfranchisement were intended, why not provide everyone a free voting ID, mailed to them, in tandem with the voter ID law? that would have easily answered the democratic complaint, and the cost to the state would be less than a mansion renovation.
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Anonymous Reply:
August 14th, 2012 at 11:37 am
oh, and i forgot: since a photo ID is now required, we don’t really need voter registration anymore, do we? why not get rid of that requirement, too?
i mean, if your objective were simply to insure that all votes are cast by eligible citizens who are who they claim to be, and you had no other agenda.
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Vote police Reply:
August 14th, 2012 at 12:06 pm
I believe the SCOTUS also said the Westboro Baptist church has the right to protest military funerals.
Just because the SC says it’s allowable, doesn’t mean that it’s the right or moral thing to do.
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paulburka Reply:
August 14th, 2012 at 11:28 pm
The Court held the Indiana Voter I.D. law unconstitutional. I think the Court said it would monitor the situation to see if people were prevented from voting.
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paulburka Reply:
August 16th, 2012 at 9:52 am
Cancel above statement. The Indiana Voter I.D. law IS constitutional.
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anon Reply:
August 15th, 2012 at 11:02 am
Actually Jones was a fascist, sorta clsoe to Paul Ryan.
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South Texas White Boy says:
What Burka fails to clue into are the thousands of votes cast throughout the country by non-citizens, whether they be Cubans, Mexicans, or even Canadians wintering in Florida.
As someone who has run elections in South Texas, California and Florida I can tell you it happens – more than people realize.
You don’t impersonate yourself when you vote, you just cast an illegal vote because you aren’t eligible or entitled to vote.
Voter ID cleans this up whether it be the retired Canadian in Florida, the illegal immigrant in El Paso or the Valley or the Salvadoran in New York. Photo ID provides a means to show not who you say you are, but shows that you are entitled to cast a ballot.
A paper voter registration card does no such thing.
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allmaya Reply:
August 14th, 2012 at 11:22 am
STWB, do you have an argument that is not faith based?
Evidence????
Oh – you don’t have any? Thousands of votes?
Congratulations on allowing your tribal loyalty to trump empiricism.
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anita Reply:
August 14th, 2012 at 12:57 pm
What a load.
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vietvet3 Reply:
August 14th, 2012 at 8:17 pm
Nonsense. A ‘retired Canadian’ is not going to be in the official list of registered voters that is checked at the poll each and every time a vote is cast. I have officiated at elections for 10 years. If you are not on the list, we will try to help you find your precinct.
Voter ID is just the latest desperate move to put off that day.. You know what day….
For now, it’s “Sham, Scam, Thank you Ma’am”
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JK Reply:
August 17th, 2012 at 7:29 am
…Then how do so many non-citizens end up getting called for jury duty?
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allmaya says:
Hey Pavlov.
What is the difference (other than one is unconstitutional) between the EFFECT of a poll tax and the requirement that one must secure one of a limited number of photo IDs in order to vote?
I am sure the people suppressing the vote back then made the same argument you are making.
But, keep it up. The Hispanic population is not dumb and they know why you are promoting this policy.
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Anonymous Reply:
August 14th, 2012 at 11:34 am
Allmaya, I’ll direct you to the post from “Johnny” above.
“The Supreme Court has ruled that a state can adopt a voter ID law, even if the state has had no cases of in-person voter fraud.
The Supreme Court also said the requirement that a voter obtain a voter ID creates an overall burden that is minimal and justified.”
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anita Reply:
August 14th, 2012 at 9:06 pm
The USSC has ruled that Indiana’s voter ID legislation is constitutional. It has not ruled on Texas’ legislation, which was proudly declared as the “most strict” in the nation by it’s sponsors.
History will not be kind to this period in America.
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Tim says:
I don’t know that you can convince the orthodoxy Burka. I was having a discussion about the welfare system last night with Republicans and they kept bringing up all these great “solutions” to the welfare system. All of the proposed solutions had already been implemented under Bill Clinton and Newt Gingrich.
You cannot make some people accept reality no matter how much you try.
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anita Reply:
August 14th, 2012 at 9:17 pm
Especially when these people are spoon-fed FOX news 24/7 about how scary violent Black and Brown people are scamming welfare cheats who have devised intricate non-detetecable schemes to elect closet socialists so, when they aren’t cooking meth or raping our daughters, they are collecting the government checks by using hoardes of illegals, who also collect government checks, and who have a secret plan to take your guns away by imposing UN marshall law under authority of the trilaterals burning the owl at Bohemian Grove. And Hillary Clinton’s sharia-loving travel aide is the ring leader of it all, undermining our greatness from her Blackberry.
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anon Reply:
August 15th, 2012 at 11:04 am
Awesome, Anita. And Pretty solid.
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Blue says:
Paul, you are focusing only on the vote fraud that Voter ID might prevent directly on election day. But knowing that an ID is required to vote should also put some brakes on illegal voter registrations. It will also make the voter rolls easier to keep clean by cross-matching the Texas ID database with the voter roll database.
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Red Reply:
August 14th, 2012 at 4:16 pm
Voter registration fraud may be rampant, but I’ve never once seen Mickey Mouse lined up to vote in my precinct, even though I’m sure he’s filled out a hundred registration cards.
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Vote police says:
Republicans divorced themselves from logic, reason, facts and evidence long ago. They will never be convinced that Voter ID subverts the most basic principle of American Democracy.
Since they’re not willing to risk losing elections based on the merits of their ideas, they have to rig the game and sabotage the away team’s buses to win.
They don’t love America and they damn sure don’t love democracy. They only want what they can wring from America: a vast gated community with an exclusive country club inside its walls.
And they love voter ID because it ensures that the club’s staff will never become club members.
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Spiro Eagleton Reply:
August 14th, 2012 at 3:35 pm
Very nice, Vote police, very nice. All Republicans I know live in gated communities and hate America. That’s Obama’s winning message this Nov.
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Anonnymoose Reply:
August 14th, 2012 at 4:02 pm
Works for me. In fact, that message sounds pretty accurate.
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anita Reply:
August 14th, 2012 at 9:19 pm
Me too.
Spiro Eagleton Reply:
August 15th, 2012 at 8:51 am
HA! If you thinks that’s true, and a winning message, then it’s too bad you aren’t running the Obama-Biden campaign because Biden would take them and run with them into a landslide loss.
anon Reply:
August 15th, 2012 at 11:05 am
Wrong. Republicans love America. They hate Americans not like them.
Vote Police Reply:
August 15th, 2012 at 9:53 am
It’s certainly isn’t a campaign message, but Republicans continue to prove the message correct by pushing for this. All I did was verbalize what you do and what you know is true.
If you truly loved America, you’d never jeopardize so many legitimate voters rights to prevent so very few fraudulent votes.
If you loved democracy, you would find ways to involve as many people as legally possible in the voting process, even poor and brown people.
I hope you see the sad irony in your party’s rhetoric. You guys pretend to get all misty eyed about our soldiers fighting and dying to protect us and our freedoms. (God knows if your obnoxious bumper stickers equaled true patriotism, you’d be asked to co-sign the Declaration of Independence.)
But when it comes time to defend those rights at home – specifically, the one right on which all others depend – you turn into traitorous cowards. You abandon that which our soldiers and forefathers fought and died to protect.
I don’t know why you do that. Maybe you’re too scared to question yourself or those who tell you that voter fraud is killing America. Maybe it’s racism masked as patriotism. Maybe it’s a desire to keep the poor and working class down. Maybe you just don’t know any better because you, knowingly or unknowingly, have surrounded yourself with people who are just like you. I don’t know.
Whatever it is, it’s not patriotism. It’s Anti-American.
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Anonymous Reply:
August 15th, 2012 at 1:42 pm
We live in a Republic, not a democracy. And no, i dont want to involve as many people in the process. Most Americans are uneducated and the ones bitching the loudest are the ones who didnt take advantage of the opportunities.
Nothing wrong with living in a gated community. I always throw my pieces of cake outside the gate.
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Vote Police Reply:
August 15th, 2012 at 2:16 pm
You proved my point. “Voting rights should only be extended to those who would agree with me…” Thank you for the first honest response I’ve read from voter ID supporters.
Though I wish you luck getting anyone to sell that brilliant thought on the front mic.
But I’m very curious as to what exactly you’re referring to when you talk about sharing your cake.
Anonymous Reply:
August 15th, 2012 at 2:59 pm
So you agree uneducated folks should be included in the political process? Oh wait, they already are. It is called joe biden
anita Reply:
August 16th, 2012 at 3:32 pm
Yellow cake. We found the WMD.
John Johnson says:
There are soooo many more important issues. Why was this one pushed to the forefront?
It makes lots of sense for everyone to have a picture i.d. Let the Repub’s find a way for the state to pay for them. Then the excuse will just be, “They can’t find time to have their picture taken”, or “They don’t have a way to get there”.
If you were giving away something, I promise you these people, or their friends or relatives would find a way to get them there.
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Americanus Reply:
August 17th, 2012 at 1:12 am
Surely you’ve heard that there are several dozen counties in Texas without a DPS Driver’s License office (a 150 mile + trip for some), and that most DL offices that exist have only limited daytime hours that make it hard for working folks to get to them, assuming they can afford to take off work from a minimum wage job and ride the bus to stand in line to get a “free” photo voter ID.
I grew up middle class, but at least I can recognize the reality there are a hell of lot of destitute CITIZENS in Texas that cannot afford an automobile.
Take a closer look at the world beyond your white picket fence.
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South Texas White Boy says:
allmaya: faithbased? WTF are you talking about? For the record I’m agnostic and a retired Democrat. How do I know there are noncitizens who vote? I saw it happening all the time.
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Jerry Only Reply:
August 14th, 2012 at 2:22 pm
faith based, as in we’re taking youre argument on faith, not with evidence provided.
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allmaya says:
STWB – you keep making this assertion with ZERO to back it up other than “I saw it happening all the time.” Hence, we must take your assertion on faith.
Why didn’t you report all these violations? Or some of them? One of them?
Huh?
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JohnBernardBooks says:
George Parr didn’t have hired arned thugs who “assisted” voters in voting?
and LBJ and “the Chicagoway” didn’t deliver for Kennedy/Johnson in 1960?
and didn’t Barry represent Acorn in a motor voter lawsuit? and didn’t Acorn do a few favors for Barry in 2008?
Why does proving you are the person voting scare dems so much?
Voter ID is already the law of the land, however the question is will dem election judges enforce it?
Voter fraud exists and anyone who denies it’s existence is either in denial or poorly informed.
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Capt. O'Malley Reply:
August 14th, 2012 at 2:46 pm
Christ Almighty, slow down and proof what you write before you hit submit.
This isn’t one of your sloppy police reports here, you’re trying to convey thoughts and ideas to readers.
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Jerry Only Reply:
August 14th, 2012 at 2:56 pm
keep yammering, the simple fact is youre in support of this because it will suppress legal Dem turnout, not because theres any actual voter fraud issue.
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anon Reply:
August 15th, 2012 at 11:08 am
Please JBB: Go to school. Get some education. Read, expand your knowledge. Learn the difference between fact and fantasy.
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Tom says:
Voter ID remains a solution in search of a problem. Nothing has changed.
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Fareed Zakaria says:
Dear Mr. Burka,
In light of recent events at CNN I wish to know if I may guest blog for you and perhaps write for your publication. I have a great wealth of material to share about firearms and the NRA and as Texas is a most rabid firearms state I believe this would be most fitting. I am at present not doing anything for the rest of this month. Thank you most kindly for your consideration and benevolence.
Most humbly,
Fareed Zakaria
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JohnBernardBooks Reply:
August 14th, 2012 at 5:14 pm
stop copying my posts Fareed
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anon Reply:
August 15th, 2012 at 11:09 am
Fareed: the NRA is a domestic terrorist organization that has enabled more American deaths than Al Queda.
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vietvet3 says:
The “right to vote” only applies “if you vote right”…
Classic!!!!!!!!!!!!
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mary nell says:
So voter fraud is being carried out by folks too stupid or unmotivated to get some form of ID? Hmmm……
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allmaya Reply:
August 15th, 2012 at 1:26 am
mary nell.
When was the last time you had to go in person to renew your drivers license? Before going, did you have to PAY to get a birth certificate? If so, how long did that process take?
So, how long did you have to wait to get that drivers license renewed? It took me over two hours on an average Tuesday morning at my closest office (10 urban miles away, incidentally).
Did you drive to go get that license renewal, or did you walk or ride a bicycle or take a bus? If you took a bus, how many transfers did you have to make?
“Nothing is impossible for the man who doesn’t have to do it himself.”
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Robert Morrow Reply:
August 15th, 2012 at 12:07 pm
ain’t that hard to do… why should they even have to fill out a card to vote? Just let ‘em all vote.
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Kenneth D. Franks says:
Thanks for writing what the research shows. There are at least two recent and more older articles linked to on my blog that verify this.
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I call BS says:
Anyone who has teenagers near driving age knows how high the level of physical ability is required at the DMV. One must stand for a long time in line (mine was 30 minutes until I could sit down) sometimes in the heat as the line goes out the door. Many members of our greatest generation cannot stand that long, nor are they driving anymore, yet their expired license is not acceptable in the voter id law. The last DMV office I visited is only open 8am to 5pm, Monday through Friday.
The fact that university student id is not accepted but a concealed weapon license is accepted to vote is a clue to the motivation of this silly law.
This is total voter suppression, enacted in Texas to delay the demographic trend.
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Robert Morrow Reply:
August 14th, 2012 at 11:48 pm
The old geezers will be able to vote. Someone will help them to get a card.
The only question is whether Obama’s Death Panels get them first.
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Jerry Only Reply:
August 15th, 2012 at 12:34 am
youve been hanging out with fiftycal too much
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Patriotone says:
Voter ID is part of the plan. Paul Ryan’s pick makes it clear that Romney has made the calculation that he can’t win a high turnout election. He has to suppress turnout and play to his base. Voter ID could win him 3 states. It’s something but its not democracy.
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Frances Morey says:
Thanks to corporate funding behind A.L.E.C., armed vigilantes are protected when they murder people in 23 states–the infamous “stand your ground” laws. A.L.E.C.’s machinations are simultaneously working to achieve voter suppression. Whole demographics are being disenfranchised from voting in the 2012 election. Megalomania on the part of a few really, really wealthy men, and corporations freed to lavishly fund this legislative scheme are behind this movement. They must be consumed with hatred to champion laws that are so destructive to the rights of citizens and the ideals of democracy.
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JohnBernardBooks says:
paulburka Reply:
August 14th, 2012 at 11:28 pm
The Court held the Indiana Voter I.D. law unconstitutional
anita Reply:
August 14th, 2012 at 9:06 pm
The USSC has ruled that Indiana’s voter ID legislation is constitutional
How badly do democrats want to void the Texas voter ID law? Democrat Rep Trey Martinez lied in his deposition and took the stand and lied under oath. He testified under oath his mother was denied a drivers license because she was a Mexican, a democrat, and a woman. Turned out his mother had a drivers license. Why do democrats lie?
Apparently it depends on what the meaning of is…is.
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Joe says:
You’re correct that the Voter ID law will do nothing to stop voter fraud. What WILL stop it is to simply snap someone’s picture before they enter the polls to vote.
Bad people don’t like their pictures taken doing bad things.
Best of all: it doesn’t discourage ANYONE from voting (except those who are doing something they shouldn’t). No ID to leave at home, no mess, simple, and you have a dependable voter process!
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Spiro Eagleton Reply:
August 15th, 2012 at 8:58 am
That doesn’t even make sense. How do you know who they are? You are not allowed to have a camera or any sort of recording device inside a polling place. Even if you stood outside the 100 foot distance perimeter of the polling site and snapped photos I think many election judges would have a problem with that and would call the police. Besides, unless you get someone’s name you’d never know who they are. The fact is I could easily vote for my friends and neighbors if I wanted too, especially during early voting, and taking my photo coming or going from the polling site wouldn’t mean a thing. Did you not see the story about the white guy in D.C. that said he was AG Eric Holder and was given a ballot?
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anon Reply:
August 15th, 2012 at 11:10 am
BS
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Bill says:
Funny how folks want to blame LBJ or something that happened years ago to avoid the fact that voter fraud is a strawman. Karl Rove has always beena master manipulator, liar and con. He has done more to hurt our democracy than anyone since Nixon. Why is it that when faced with facts, conservatives always follow the herd? I thought these guys were supposed to be the flag wavers and patriots, smarter than everyone else. This issue shows otherwise.
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JohnBernardBooks Reply:
August 15th, 2012 at 10:01 am
I want what Bill is smokin…wow
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Blue says:
It would be easier to accept the Democratic view on Voter ID if they showed the slightest interest in other methods of keeping the voter rolls clean from illegal voters. They don’t. (Well, I correct myself–they’re keen on purging military votes.) The fact of the matter is that an illegal vote, any illegal vote, has the effect of disenfranchising a citizen who voted in the opposing direction. That’s a big freaking deal and the Democrats treat it like it is not.
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Vote Police Reply:
August 15th, 2012 at 11:30 am
Please cite examples of purging military votes. This is the first I’ve heard of it.
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Blue Reply:
August 15th, 2012 at 1:04 pm
Er, Florida, 2000.
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Vote Police Reply:
August 15th, 2012 at 1:57 pm
Could you cite an article?
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Blue Reply:
August 15th, 2012 at 2:11 pm
Democratic poll watchers systematically moved to strike thousands of absentee ballots, many military, due to a lack of postmarks. Problem is that many APOs and FPOs didn’t postmark because the mail is delivered without charge. This is all reported in depth from contemporary sources, but I’m not inclined to be a Google-slave about it.
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Vote Police Reply:
August 15th, 2012 at 3:06 pm
Of course you’re not inclined to. Why should you have to prove your own point?
But it sounds like you’re talking about legal challenges in tightly contested elections; an all-around nasty business on both sides, I’d wager.
However, that whole scenario isn’t the same as voter fraud or voter impersonation.
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Johnny says:
Paul,
I know this is only a blog, but you really ought to know what you’re talking about before you open your mouth.
You stated as fact that Indiana’s voter ID law was ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court, although the court, in fact, found the law was constitutional.
Since you’re a journalist, you know better than to say something is a fact when it is not.
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paulburka Reply:
August 16th, 2012 at 9:59 am
I corrected that immediately. The Court found that the law was constitutional.
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JK Reply:
August 17th, 2012 at 7:34 am
Unfortunately, Paul, your error indicates that you like to pontificate on this subject but you don’t really know anything about the legal issues. EVERYONE who has any interest in Voter ID issues can cite Crawford vs. Marion County Election Board as the Supreme Court case that validated voter ID in Indiana. And they would also be able to tell you that the liberal icon, Justice Stevens, wrote the opinion.
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retrocon says:
I say the Democrats take all the time and money they are currently pouring into their opposition to voter ID laws and redirect it into efforts to obtain IDs for the few that don’t have IDs. Problem solved.
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Anonymous Reply:
August 15th, 2012 at 10:44 am
All this effort to keep folks from all the pain and agony of getting an ID card…I know I know…its tough and grueling work.
It sickens me to read all the bleeding heart BS in these comments…all we want is for eligible voters to vote—it would be great if they were informed as well, but then the left would cease to exist overnight.
Keep pandering to the poor and uneducated…keep acting like you are trying to help them…keep giving them things and keeping them dependent on the government….thats your only move.
Why not actually helping them….get out there where they live (I do) and see it for yourself…they have no life skills and no idea how to take care of themselves and kids because they have been given handouts their whole life.
They cant get ID cards but can somehow stand in line for SS “disability”, etc.
The left’s programs have ruined so many lives its almost beyond repair. Enough of the attacks on the right for trying to keep people from voting —its pathetic. Your very objection to having a simple ID says one thing very clearly, and its not that you “care” so much about the poor.
Get over yourselves
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Robert Morrow Reply:
August 15th, 2012 at 12:05 pm
Anyone who can “stand in line” for SSI disability can “stand in line” for a voter ID card.
Really, the Democrats and the left are so hysterical , spastic and mentally challenged on this topic that they remind me of … Rick Perry.
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Vote Police Reply:
August 15th, 2012 at 12:06 pm
Since getting an ID isn’t tough for you, you think it’s not tough for anyone else. That’s very naive.
If all you want is for eligible voters to vote, then why are you so dismissive of the fact that tens of thousands, possibly hundreds of thousands, of legit voters will be turned away?
You can mock Democrats all you want about trying to help the poor; but if they didn’t help the poor, no one would…not Republicans, that’s for sure.
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Blue Reply:
August 15th, 2012 at 1:05 pm
Vote Police, why is the disenfranchisement caused by illegal voters voting acceptable to you?
Vote Police Reply:
August 15th, 2012 at 1:52 pm
For two reasons:
1. Because there’s not nearly enough illegal votes there to say the voting process is poisoned.
2. There are so few illegal votes it doesn’t merit using such a misguided approach that would prevent our most vulnerable from exercising their most basic right.
Any vote lost to fraud is awful, but the GOP cure would make this very minute problem it claims to solve exponentially worse. It’s counterproductive to democracy.
Your party leaders know this is true.
Blue Reply:
August 15th, 2012 at 2:14 pm
Vote fraud is why Franken is in the Senate (felons). It’s why Bob Dornan was voted out (illegals). It’s why Thune didn’t get in the Senate on the first try (late “votes” from Indian land). It’s why Rossi wasn’t elected governor of Wisconsin (“found” absentee ballots). And guess what–that vote fraud favors one party.
buy a clue Reply:
August 15th, 2012 at 4:25 pm
Poor, poor republicans always the victim. Can’t a brother get a break??
John Johnson Reply:
August 15th, 2012 at 12:10 pm
Agree wholeheartedly, but don’t think there is enough altruism in Republican’s governing policies today. Also don’t like Texas stealing dedicated funds created to aid down and out.
Paul has this one wrong. No reason why everyone should n’t have a photo I.d. card this day and time. If Texas covers the cost, and the process for getting one is streamlined over what texans trying to get driver’s licenses are going through, Paul’s weak arguments against are moot. This is not going to happen.
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allmaya Reply:
August 15th, 2012 at 1:20 pm
Uh, JJ.
You have to get the picture IDs at the same place you get a drivers license. That is, you have to go through that same excruciating process.
If it were easy to get a picture ID (substations at HEBs with extended hours???), I would have no problem with a voter ID requirement.
The simple truth is that it is not easy. And the folks drafting and passing the law knew this very well – it is not in their interest to have a streamlined process.
John Johnson Reply:
August 15th, 2012 at 4:22 pm
That was my point, allmaya. Pay for the I.d. cards and streamline the process and there should be no reason everyone shouldn’t have one.
allmaya Reply:
August 15th, 2012 at 1:22 pm
Anon.
Your comment is dripping with condescension toward the poor. You really despise them, don’t you?
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South Texas White Boy says:
Isn’t it funny how Mexican elections require a Voter iD that is checked and rechecked before people vote.
The immense poverty, lack of education and barriers to economic success in our neighbor to the south do not seem to prevent Mexicans from voting, so the issues raised by liberals here are clearly a smokescreen to cover up bad behavior.
If the Republican of Mexico can provide Voter ID to it’s citizenry then the State of Texas can do so as well.
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anon says:
Well South Texas, move to Mexico and learn about guns, freedom, democracy and elections.
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Robert Morrow Reply:
August 15th, 2012 at 12:03 pm
The decriminalized marijuana, too, thank God.
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anita Reply:
August 16th, 2012 at 3:46 pm
Mexico starts with the premise that all are entitled to vote. A national ID is issued at birth, and this ID includes voting privileges.
Our system is just the opposite, starts with the premises that you are not entitled to vote until you prove you are. This is a vestige of our history — only White male landowners could vote. This was expanded over time, but the basic framework remained an opt-in system. And we’ve never had a national ID, just a series of administrative burdens.
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Vote Police says:
I believe that many supporters of voter id believe it causes no harm to legitimate voters. They’ve been told this by Republican party officials and, therefore, believe it to be so. “They wouldn’t lie to us,” they might insist.
It’s been said that Republicans have a hyper sense of unity, congruity and certitude. One could conclude they naturally wouldn’t entertain the idea they might be wrong or that they’re being mislead by the Republican leadership.
I can’t place all the blame on those well-meaning people who have the natural tendencies of trust, steadfast loyalty and national pride.
But please, for one moment, imagine that those same leaders are misleading you with their talking points so you’ll support their true goal of the disenfranchising the poor, elderly and minorities…all of whom tend to vote for Democrats.
Most everything I’ve read supports the position that voter ID is meant to suppress voters. Logic supports this. Facts support this.
Is there not one Republican out there who disagrees with their party on voter ID? Just one?
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Blue Reply:
August 15th, 2012 at 1:34 pm
There are darn few Democrats who disagree. That’s why it polls so well.
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Vote Police Reply:
August 15th, 2012 at 2:50 pm
They’re free to speak up. I’d like to hear their thoughts on the issue too.
That’s the difference between Rs and Ds. In my experience, most Ds are willing to listen to reason and consider another point of view. They’re at least open to the idea that there might be another solution out there.
Most Rs I’ve heard (though not all) would never consider another position other than the one he or she has previously staked out, come hell or high water…or irrefutable and unbiased proof to the contrary.
This thread has gone a long way to prove that.
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Anonymous Reply:
August 15th, 2012 at 4:13 pm
You definitely sound open and nonjudgmental…. Try disagreeing with Ds on a majority of issues and see how apt they seem to listen to reason and consider another point of view. Glass houses.
John Johnson Reply:
August 15th, 2012 at 4:25 pm
I’m going to toss Anita’s name out there to refute that Dem’s will listen statement.
Anonymous says:
Man, there are some idiots on this blog. Paul, go back to writing about how chili is overrated and how Caro is wrong (for some reason ).
Altruism and empathy. Those may be noble attitudes, but they make for fiscally irresponsible policies.
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JohnBernardBooks says:
Learn to deal with facts, dems need voter fraud to win an election, ie Al Franken. They will die on the vine like a piece of rotten fruit with out voter fraud.
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Joe Biden says:
THE REPUBLICANS ARE GONNA PUT Y’ALL BACK IN CHAINS!
Folks, where’s it written we cannot lead the world in the 20th century in making automobiles?
We’ve got a president, a true leader, who is articulate, and bright, and clean and a nice-looking guy. YOU ARE FOOLS, FOOLS, IF YOU DO NOT REELECT BARACK OBAMA AS OUR PRESIDENT!
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Blue Dogs says:
Morrow, do you think that LBJ also gave the order to have both Dr. King and Bobby Kennedy assassinated as well ?
We know Louis Farrakhan with the FBI’s help killed Malcolm X because Malcolm knew about Elijah Muhammad’s sleeping with young girls.
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Robert Morrow Reply:
August 15th, 2012 at 9:12 pm
The FBI coordinated with the Chicago police for the murder of Black Panther Fred Hampton.
My father’s first cousin was a cook at the Chicago race tracks and he remembers the Chicago police coming to celebrate at the tracks after the murder of Fred Hampton. My dad’s cousin told me this personally.
The FBI was behind the Hampton murder. They used Chicago police to do it.
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Robert Morrow says:
1) I think LBJ, Texas oil executives Clint Murchison, Sr., H.L. Hunt and US military intelligence were at the core of the JFK assassination. LBJ, Hoover & Allen Dulles played key roles in covering it up.
2) I think elements of the US government, perhaps Army intelligence, perhaps outside right wingers had MLK killed on April 4, 1968, just days after LBJ withdrew from the presidential race on 3/31/68 because his approval rating was 38% and RFK was about to steamroll him in the Demo primary.
LBJ immediately began (secretly) supporting Nelson Rockefeller for president in spring, 1968. I bet most of the so-called “political junkies” on this blog did not know about the LBJ-Rockefeller connection. Read Robert Dallek on that. Because of Nelson Rockefellers deep ties to US intelligence & GHW Bush I think he may have been involved in the JFK assassination as well.
I think the MLK murder was most definitely a conspiracy, I have no idea if LBJ was involved. The FBI was pretty much at war with MLK.
3) I do not know if RFK’s death was a conspiracy. I do know that LBJ, Hoover, FBI & CIA were gloriously ecstatic at the murder of RFK and were doing the 1960′s equivalent of slapping high fives and chest bumps. RFK would have opened the investigation into the JFK assassination and LBJ, CIA, Hoover & Texas oil men would have been in the crosshairs.
4) The shadow government hated Ted Kennedy with a blood passion and he was definitely surveiled, spied on and a possible target for assassination as well. The military was spying on Ted Kennedy and also tried to spy on Ethel Kennedy, the deceased wife of RFK.
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Robert Morrow says:
I’ve been seeing a lot of Bill Clinton on TV. Everyone knows about wild Bill’s rape of Juanita Broaddrick on 4/25/78 when he was the highest law enforcement official in Arkansas. But there were other victims; when Bill goes into rape mode his face gets beet red and he starts talking horny-like. Clinton also likes to “bite lips” to disable his victims – a common tactic of rapists -and he tore up Juanita’s lips too.
Consider the following passage from Roger Morris’s 1996 book “Partners in Power:”
“A young woman lawyer in Little Rock claimed that she was accosted by Clinton while he was attorney general and that when she recoiled he forced himself on her, biting and bruising her. Deeply affected by the assault, the woman decided to keep it all quiet for the sake of her
own hard-won career and that of her husband. When the husband later saw Clinton at the 1980 Democratic convention, he delivered a warning.
‘If you ever approach her,’ he told the governor, ‘I’ll kill you.’ Not even seeing fit to deny the incident, Bill Clinton sheepishly apologized and duly promised never to bother her again.”
[Bill Clinton later appointed this woman's husband to the Arkansas Real Estate Commission.]
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Robert Morrow says:
(Neither Roger Morris of Michael Isikoff are part of the “right wing conspiracy.”
Bill Clinton – sex pervert story #413, a fave of mine:
From Michael Isikoff’s “Uncovering Clinton:”
A woman told Isikoff that after she rejected President Bill Clinton’s advances, he decided to “finish it himself.” Mega-pervert in action ===>
Clinton started getting physical, trying to kiss her, touching her breasts. The woman said she was stunned. She had no idea how to respond. “I’ve never had a man take advantage of me like that” … As Clinton pressed himself on her, she said, she resisted- and finally pushed him away. What happened after that? I asked. Clinton turned away, she said. She hesitated, and she said softly and with apparent discomfort, “I think he finished the job himself.”" [!] [p.162, Uncovering Clinton]
Then Bill started calling this woman at her work; he called her many times in January, 1997, around the time of his 2nd inauguration.
http://www.amazon.com/review/R1W4SC0VL8JH2A/ref=cm_cr_pr_perm?ie=UTF8&ASIN=0609805584&linkCode=&nodeID=&tag=
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John Johnson says:
Robert, the people you “report” on might indeed have “issues” but what you obviously don’t comprehend is that you are every bit as “sick” as they are. You compulsion/perversion is not normal, and your calling yourself a “historian” while doing it is laughable.
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Robert Morrow Reply:
August 15th, 2012 at 11:56 pm
Just exposing the perverts and psychopaths who you vote for – be they a Clinton, Bush, Perry, LBJ, Nixon.
Why in the world to you think someone has “issues” if they rape someone or “finish the job himself” after a woman rejects their advances?
It seems like “presidential timber” to most voters. Remember all the years the Demos defended Clinton on his womanizing (with some sexual assualts, dropping his britches thrown in)?
And google “GHW Bush and Franklin Scandal.” … that one really blows their minds.
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John Johnson Reply:
August 16th, 2012 at 7:25 am
You have a compulsive perversion, Robert. It is not normal. Seek help.
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Robert Morrow Reply:
August 16th, 2012 at 10:48 pm
In 1982 when Bill Clinton was running for governor of Arkansas, Hillary Clinton told Little Rock, AR private investigator Ivan Duda:
“I want you to get rid of all these bitches he’s seeing … I want you to give me the names and addresses and phone numbers, and we can get them under control” – Hillary Clinton, 1982. [p.99, The Truth about Hillary]. (Chelsea, born in 1980, was 2 years old at the time.)
And the aftermath of Bill’s rape of Juanita:
Juanita’s friend Norma Rogers-Kelsay found here in her hotel room after the rape. Juanita says “I was sitting there crying and so upset at the time … I felt like the next person coming through the door [was coming] to get rid of [my] body. I absolutely could not believe what had happened to me.” Reporter Jon Doughtery says Kelsay “found Broaddrick in a state of shock, her lip swollen, mouth bruised, and her pantyhose torn at the crotch.” Kelsay told Fox news on 2/2/99 that Juanita “was hysterical – her lip was blue and bleeding and her hose was severely torn in the crotch area.” Kelsay says Juanita “told me they had intercourse against her will.” Kelsay told NBC News that Juanita was in “quite bad shape” and her “lips were swollen, at least double in size.”
13 years later in March, 1991, just before Bill announced for President, he pulled Juanita out of a health care conference and Bill’s first words were, “Can you ever forgive me? … That was the old me. I’m not the same now. I’m a new man.” [Sellout, p. 131]
Juanita replied “You can just go to hell” and she walked awa.
Elizabeth Ward Gracen on Bill Clinton:
Here is what Elizabeth, the 1982 Miss America, who tearfully confided to friends that she did not want the sex with Bill in 1983, later said in 1998:
“I think [Bill] is a very dangerous, manipulative man and I’ve had to be very careful. There was a lot of pressure on my family and friends, people were being staked out. I was a little bit afraid for my safety at one point. It’s just not an area where you are safe.” [Toronto Star, 9-17-98]
“Yes, I was physically scared. We are talking about the presidency of the country here, and between the friendly calls on one hand telling me to get out of town for my own good and then talking about smear tactics on the other, I got scared. Yes, physically scared. There were always veiled threats. Always. I did nothing wrong except one stupid night a long time ago. But now this last year has become very frightening.” [NY Post, 9-27-98, by Steve Dunleavy]
Elizabeth received threatening phone calls and her belongings were ransacked while Elizabeth was on vacation in St. Martin by 3 men in suits (according to a witness). Her manager Vincent Vento said these intimidating phone callers said “You should really keep your mouth shut about Bill Clinton and go on with your life. You could be discredited. You could have an IRS investigation.” [NY Post, 1-13-99] Within a few weeks, the IRS was sending audit letters to Elizabeth’s parents’ home, which was not listed on her tax filings.
paulburka Reply:
August 17th, 2012 at 8:15 am
Robert — It’s a free country, it’s a free blog, but I strongly urge you not to use the blog to raise issues that are not pertinent to contemporary events.
rw says:
Congrats to Mr. Rove who has somehow managed to give marching orders to legislators in 37 states. Well done, sir. Now can you please do the same for Illinois and California?
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JohnBernardBooks says:
Obama has completed the dem fraud process. While denying fraud exists Pres Obama was elected.
The chickens have come home to roost.
Vote early and vote often dems need it.
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Blue Dogs Reply:
August 23rd, 2012 at 12:18 pm
What about the mysterious death of then-US Commerce Secy Ron Brown, who was also the former DNC chairman back in 1996 ?
It seems like Brown was going to snitch on the Clintons, so he had to go: plane crash and when they examined his body, there was a bullet in his head.
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Joe Biden says:
BACK IN CHAINS FOLKS! YOU’LL BE WORKING ON THE CHAIN GANG. Better vote for Barack before it’s too late. The Republicans are evil and they is GONNA GETCHA BACK IN CHAINS!
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Tom says:
Voter ID laws present an added burden to three groups: the poor, the elderly and minorities. Which happen to be three groups that vote predominantly democratic. Yes, they could get a picture ID, but the GOP believes many won’t, and thus it helps the GOP win elections.
Could it be any clearer?
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longleaf Reply:
August 17th, 2012 at 5:41 am
The elderly support Romney.
http://www.klfy.com/story/19160305/poll-seniors-for-romney-youth-for-obama
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South Texas White Boy says:
Thank you John Johnson for recognizing and pointing out Robert Morrow obvious mental illness. He needs help before he hurts someone or himself.
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Robert Morrow Reply:
August 16th, 2012 at 3:35 pm
… and which political hack/fraud do you support?
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JohnBernardBooks says:
Hillary has testicular fortitude
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJ3NiOemzRY
too bad most dem men don’t….just say no to voter fruad.
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Robert Morrow Reply:
August 16th, 2012 at 3:37 pm
actually, Hillary is seen as “castrating” and that is her problem.
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Joe Biden says:
I had lunch with Barack and Hillary today and I told ole Barack flat out – you ain’t dumping me off no ticket! The Republicans are GONNA TRY TO PUT HIM IN CHAINS BY CHAINING HIM TO THIS 8.3% UNEMPLOYMENT! I told him he needs me out there fighting for him to be reelected. Ole Joe has been around the block once or twice in the cut throat world of Delaware politics. I told him I’m gonna bring a BAZOOKA to their pea shooter fight and win this thing for us! FOLKS, THE REPUBLICANS IS GONNA PUT YOU BACK IN CHAINS! YOU BEST BE VOTIN FOR BARACK!
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Tomlaredo says:
You all say there is NO voter impersonation fraud. How can you prove that if the voters are not being matched with a photo ID to the voter registration card.
I know of several people who live in condos in Laredo who get voter registration cards sent to their condo by mistake. All they would have to do is sign it, and take it to an early voting site and vote. How do you prove it was the wrong person?
The last local race for county commisioner here was won by 4 votes…a few extra voter registration cards one way or the other…..
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Vote Police Reply:
August 16th, 2012 at 3:34 pm
How many of those people signed the card they inadvertently received and used it to cast a fraudulent vote?
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JohnBernardBooks Reply:
August 16th, 2012 at 4:01 pm
how many democrat election judges looked the other way when someone was an obvious fraud. Dems win do anything to win.
Don’t believe it ask a dem lawyer. Everyone I talked has said the same thing. “Doesn’t matter who’s right or wrong, all that matters is who wins.” It’s ingrained in their minds. Ask OJ’s attys.
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JBB alternate says:
Look, I voted three times in the last election but it was not voter fraud or impersonation because I really am three different people.
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JohnBernardBooks Reply:
August 17th, 2012 at 6:30 am
I like watching you lose arguments with yourself.
Its a liberal trait.
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Anonymous says:
If the state would sponsor some sort of reduced price ID card drive maybe a month before the election I could get behind that. An inner city kid or a senior citizen who doesn’t drive is not going to get a CCL or a passport. Democracy is for everyone whether you are rich or poor,D or R, responsible or not.
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paulburka Reply:
August 17th, 2012 at 9:54 am
Not a chance. The state doesn’t want these people to vote. That’s the whole idea.
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Tom says:
Voting is a right, not a privilege. That’s why they call it the “Voting Rights Act.”
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JohnBernardBooks Reply:
August 17th, 2012 at 10:12 am
“Even though the US Constitution has several amendments which stop voter discrimination, it lacks a sufficient base to guarantee as a right.”
http://www.fairvote.org/voting-a-right-a-privilege-or-a-responsibility
Voting should be respected not abused by democrats to steal elections.
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BCinBCS Reply:
August 17th, 2012 at 1:17 pm
JBB
I hate myself for having to say this but:
You’re a f**king IDIOT.
Name one election that has ever been stolen by either party because of voter impersonation.
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JohnBernardBooks Reply:
August 17th, 2012 at 6:53 pm
yes I know, I deal in facts and all liberals find that maddening. That bothers me because I wouldn’t want to see a democrat go off the deep end.
anon Reply:
August 24th, 2012 at 4:26 pm
BC, JBB is worthless. Ignore him as everyone else on this blog does.
Robert Morrow says:
Yep. Notice how posting graphic details on Bill Clinton’s rape of Juanita Broaddrick is crossing the line.
It was pretty much a miracle when NBC’s Lisa Meyers interviewed Juanita Broaddrick on that rape in early 1999. NBC purposely kept delaying that interview (which had been taped for weeks) until AFTER the Senate impeachment vote on Bill Clinton. About 1/2 the Senate voted to kick Clinton to the curb.
One reason Clinton did get impeached was that House members would go to the evidence room and read the graphic details of Clinton’s 1978 rape of Broaddrick. He actually raped her twice within 30 minutes and his actual quote to a paralyzed Juanita was “My God, I can do it again!” before the second one.
I think a lot of House members voted to impeach Clinton over the Broaddrick rape rather than the pertinent issues of lying in the Paula Jones depositions about an affair with Lewinsky or obstruction of justice.
The Clintons (and the Bushes) have committed a lot worse crimes than mere perjury.
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Tom says:
The end of the article reference by JBB:
Should the ability to vote be considered a privilege, thereby allowing disenfranchisement of certain groups of voters, or a right, granted to as many people as legally possible? For us, the answer is clear: respect for every vote and every voice means that while we honor voting and our nation’s heroes, we oppose the government having the power to infringe upon our fundamental right to elect our representatives and exercise our voice through our vote.
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JohnBernardBooks Reply:
August 17th, 2012 at 6:55 pm
so why do democrats disrespect the vote by cheapening it with voter fraud?
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Bill says:
Why do you cheapen the discussion by speaking out?
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eal1953 says:
I live in Fort Bend County. We have approximately 25,000 Voter registrations cards that have gone missing. 20 trays destined for 77406 on 3/30 and 30 trays for 77494 on 4/5. Most never arrived. This means it involved 2 separate instances of “misappropriation.” Ballots by mail can be requested within 60 days of the election. All the cards were destined for heavily Republican areas. If there are some nefarious intentions for these cards–no one will know until they present to vote and are told their ballots have already been cast. Those people who do NOT vote will never know their votes have been stolen. There have been convictions of voter fraud in 46 states since 2000. It does exist. Just look at Minnesota. It gave us Al Franken and the 60th vote for Obamacare. Now they have found most of the 1100 votes found were cast by ineligible felons and cast for Franken.
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