Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Hooray.....a 21st Century Poll Tax

"Okay....so we'll replace the whiny broad with Alito and everything will be in place..."


On Monday, the Supreme Court handed down a ruling on the biggest voting rights case since the Bush v. Gore debacle around the 2000 Presidential election. The Roberts Court ruled, by a 6-3 margin, that states can require voters to produce photo identification without violating their constitutional rights. These are the kind of verdicts one can expect with a majority-conservative bloc on the Court, but it is disappointing to me personally to see Justice John Paul Stevens join the majority in upholding this ridiculous law.

Identification requirements for voting are currently in place in more than 20 states with varying degrees of specificity. This decision upheld an Indiana state law that requires a government-issued photo identification document, such as a driver's license or a passport, in order to vote. Republicans, who have pushed these voter ID laws across the country, say they will combat voter fraud. Democrats decry these laws as unnecessary and as having a disenfranchising effect on the poor, minorities, the elderly, the handicapped and other social classes who do not have easy access or funds to purchase photo identification. I side, of course, with the Democrats on this for the following reasons

1) "Voter fraud"....the Phantom Crime:
Care to take a guess how many voter impersonation cases were prosecuted in entire history of the state of Indiana? Zero. Zip. Nada. Hardly the "burning issue" that the Republicans make it out to be. Nationwide, out of the 120 federal prosecutions for voter fraud brought by the Bush Justice Department (which has made vote fraud one of its top priorities), there have been a grand total of 86 convictions for vote fraud between 2002 and 2006....during which period close to 400 million votes have been cast.

The Brennan Center For Justice, a non-partisan civil rights advocacy group, knocked down each of the allegations of voting fraud to show it is a phantom crime, one hardly worthy of state-level review, let alone the Supreme Court.

2) "Voter Fraud"...the last refuge of whiny Republicans who couldn't steal the election themselves:
But then, that is the Republican's M.O. - screaming "voter fraud" when they can't win an election legitimately at the polls. When asked for proof, they point to the well-worn myths of voter fraud in Chicago during the 1960 election. While this makes for a chuckle-worthy urban legend, the truth is that voter fraud was investigated and the findings of vote-count error (not fraud) fell short of reversing the results for either Nixon or Kennedy. Not to mention the embarassment of Republicans having to go back 48 years for proof of Democratic shenanigans in a national election. Everyone knows that, for the past half-century, no one has been able to lie, cheat and steal to win elections better than Republicans.

3) "Voter Fraud"....or the new Poll Tax
Republicans have tried for years to devise new methods to disenfranchise traditional Democratic voting blocs. From busting and weakening unions to fraud robo-calls to poor and minority areas to outright poll intimidation, Republicans have used the forces of thuggery and fraud to depress the Democratic vote in crucial contests. The newest cudgel used by Republicans to disenfranchise Democratic voters is the ID requirement.

This photo ID requirement to vote is nothing less than a 21st century poll tax or literacy test, a undue burden placed on the lower classes to deny them what is their right, not their privilege. Jeffrey Toobin explains further:

"So it will be in Indiana, where the law creates a series of onerous barriers to voting. Consider one: you can get a government photo I.D. by showing your birth certificate, but you can’t get a copy of your birth certificate unless you can produce certain official photo I.D.s. And, with up to twenty million Americans of voting age lacking government-issued identification, the matter of requiring photo I.D.s has broad implications. "

It's safe to assume that the folks reading this blog have either a driver's license or a passport or both. However, we must consider the millions in this country who have to take some form of public transport to work each day, who never travel outside of the country, who are paid in cash or do not have checking accounts, who do not have the ability to drive.....in short, the classes in our society who do not have the luxury to stand in line at the DMV and pay $50 (for a driver's license") or even $15 (for a state photo ID) or go to their local post office or county clerk's office to purchase a passport for $100. This is everyone's right, not a pay-to-play boondoggle. Why on earth are we putting obstacles in the way of citizens to exercise what is their Constitutionally-ordained right?

Because Republicans will lie, cheat and steal at every opportunty to win elections they can't win legitimately.

Monday, April 28, 2008

This Week's Rock Death - Runner-Up

It was so close for this week's choice for Rock Death that I felt I had to give space to this week's runner-up, Leslie Harvey. This guy died in pretty horrific fashion:

(from his Wikipedia entry):
Leslie (Les) Harvey (1945, Glasgow Scotland - May 3, 1972, Swansea, Wales) (brother of Alex Harvey) was a guitarist in several Scottish bands of the late 1960s and early 1970s, most notably Stone The Crows - previously known as 'Power'. It was while on stage with Stone the Crows at Swansea Top Rank in 1972 that he was killed, electrocuted by touching an unearthed microphone with wet hands.

Holy. Shit. Could you imagine being at a concert, rockin' out and such, when the lead guitarist gets Kentucky-Fried onstage? That would probably not be a memory to hold onto. As bad as the audience must have felt, pity the poor roadie who realizes that he's picking up the charred remains of his summer meal ticket and now must hope there's another tour where they aren't as lax with the live electrical equipment.

Anyway, poor Les gets screwed over this week because a) I'm a huge fan of Lester Bangs' writing and b) I couldn't find a picture of the poor dead bastard on the Interwebs.

Friday, April 25, 2008

Friday YouTube Nugget

Amid all the detritus and nonsense on YouTube, one can occasionally find a gem of artistic presentation....an interesting reinvention of an existing (familiar or not) song or film. This week's installment takes one of my favorite Pixies songs (1989's Wave of Mutilation) and sets it against scenes from Jean-Luc Godard's Pierrot le fou (Pierrot Goes Wild) from 1965. The song and the film share common themes of alienation and a desire to escape from convention...another clever touch was recognizing that the film's heroine is name-checked in the song. Cheers to the creator of this video:

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Hey....Wha'Happened?!!

The "Hillary in '08" Campaign: January 20, 2007 - April 22, 2008


Dearly beloved:

We are gathered here today, not to mourn, but to celebrate an historic campaign. No woman in U.S. history has won as many primaries or delegates as the campaign of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton. She has inspired millions and crashed through the "glass ceiling" of electoral politics and, for that, I applaud her.

However....she will go down with the 2004 Yankees, the 2007 New England Patriots and Goliath as one of the biggest choke artists ever. How did she squander a commanding lead in the polls, a vise-grip lock on superdelegates, all that campaign funding and the momentum she got from New Hampshire?

In the words of the great Fred Willard as Mike LaFontaine in "A Mighty Wind" (click on image):





Will Senator Clinton be able to return to her work in the Senate after this crushing choke job?

Will Senator Clinton decide to run for President again, given how much of a trainwreck her campaign turned into?

Anything else, Senator Clinton?

Friday, April 18, 2008

Friday YouTube Nugget

Inspired by their frenetic performance on Saturday Night Live last week, I'm posting Gnarls Barkley's Run from their new CD, The Odd Couple. Enjoy.

Thursday, April 17, 2008

Questions Inspired By Netflix Choices

WARNING: SPOILER ALERT









In Hostel, how is it that the protagonist gets two fingers cut off by a chainsaw, but appears neither to go into shock nor bleed to death. In fact, he seems not much worse for wear a few hours after losing his digits. Hmmmmm.....

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

A Message From The Boss



Dear Friends and Fans:

Like most of you, I've been following the campaign and I have now seen and heard enough to know where I stand. Senator Obama, in my view, is head and shoulders above the rest.

He has the depth, the reflectiveness, and the resilience to be our next President. He speaks to the America I've envisioned in my music for the past 35 years, a generous nation with a citizenry willing to tackle nuanced and complex problems, a country that's interested in its collective destiny and in the potential of its gathered spirit. A place where "...nobody crowds you, and nobody goes it alone."

At the moment, critics have tried to diminish Senator Obama through the exaggeration of certain of his comments and relationships. While these matters are worthy of some discussion, they have been ripped out of the context and fabric of the man's life and vision, so well described in his excellent book, Dreams of My Father, often in order to distract us from discussing the real issues: war and peace, the fight for economic and racial justice, reaffirming our Constitution, and the protection and enhancement of our environment.

After the terrible damage done over the past eight years, a great American reclamation project needs to be undertaken. I believe that Senator Obama is the best candidate to lead that project and to lead us into the 21st Century with a renewed sense of moral purpose and of ourselves as Americans.

Over here on E Street, we're proud to support Obama for President.


Bruce Springsteen

http://brucespringsteen.net/news/index.html

Monday, April 14, 2008

And Now....a Word From Our Sponsor....

I'm very happy to introduce our first corporate sponsor. This is a local attorney who specializes in.....well, I'll let him explain


While You Were Sleeping

Lost in the hubbub of Friday's news dump (Red Sox jersey buried in new Yankee Stadium! Vanilla Ice arrested for smacking his wife!) was a pretty fucking important story....the President of the United States of America admitted he approved the use of torture:


"President Bush says he knew his top national security advisers discussed and approved specific details about how high-value al Qaeda suspects would be interrogated by the Central Intelligence Agency, according to an exclusive interview with ABC News Friday.

'Well, we started to connect the dots in order to protect the American people.' Bush told ABC News White House correspondent Martha Raddatz. 'And yes, I'm aware our national security team met on this issue. And I approved.'"

Allow me to repeat this, since this is a fairly gobsmacking revelation....our President, who swore twice on the Bible to uphold the Constitution, was briefed on and approved the use of torture on captured suspects. High-level cabinet meetings, involving the President's closest advisers.....all to discuss whether they should smash testicles, pull out fingernails or deliver atomic wedgies to the poor saps, er, "suspects" they happen to capture. No consideration of 231 years as an independent nation which respects human rights and due process. Not to mention, not having our highest levels of government approving torturing innocent people.

It's been asked before and I will ask it again here and now: Will someone please give this asshole a blowjob so we can impeach him already?!!!

Friday, April 11, 2008

Friday YouTube Nugget

To commemorate the change in seasons, how about a classic song from the mid-70's holiday special A Year Without A Santa Claus. Ladies & Gentleman....may I present Mr. Snow Miser & Mr. Heat Miser:

Monday, April 07, 2008

High On You

Apropos of nothing, I think this is one of the great album covers of all time. Dig the irony...


Stanley Cup playoffs start on Wednesday...

and the Sabres are nowhere to be found. This sucks.

Saturday, April 05, 2008

Friday, April 04, 2008

Friday YouTube Nugget


40 years ago today, an assassin's bullet robbed us of one of our nation's greatest figures and a man who inspires all of us, even today, to dream of a better world for all people. In honor and loving memory of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr:



His last public words, April 3, 1968:

Well, I don't know what will happen now. We've got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn't matter with me now. Because I've been to the mountaintop. And I don't mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land. And I'm happy, tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.

Tuesday, April 01, 2008

I'm famous

Check out the cover of today's JobFinder in the Buffalo News and you'll find a rapidly-aging, fat-necked, squinting corporate drone who looks like he'd rather be anywhere but the middle-management hell he finds himself in day after day after day...