By Hook or By Crook …

Posted on by under Election 2018, Election 2020, Law and justice, Political commentary, Social commentary

There are a couple of ways to win an election.  One can work hard, put together a sincere platform that addresses the concerns of the people, talk to the people, make sure your name and platform are well advertised and hope for the best.  Or … you can spread lies and ‘disinformation’, pick and choose your audience, take money from special interest groups to bombard the airwaves and social media with your ads, and if all else fails, make sure those who wouldn’t vote for you don’t get to vote.  It is my opinion that if you have a viable platform and reasonable ideas for improving the welfare of the nation and its people, your best bet is the first method.  However, if you have no real platform for your plan is to profit from the office you seek, if you care not a whit about the ‘average Joe’, then you will likely choose the second path.

Throughout history, there have been crooked politicians in both parties, and that will likely never change.  However, in this, the 21st century, corruption runs rampant mostly in the Republican Party.  It is republicans who are in the pockets of the NRA.  It is republicans who deny climate change and instead support the fossil fuel industries, for that is where they get their large donations.  It is republicans who aim to cut social safety net programs and who fight against subsidized health care in any form or fashion. And it is mainly republicans who have redistricted their states in order to minimize the effect of the minority vote.  It was the republican candidate running for president in 2016 who encouraged the tapping into private information of his opponent and making it public.

There is an all-important election coming up in just over 17 months, and the republicans are already hard at work.  Not, mind you, developing strong ideologies and working on plans to help the poor and working classes be successful in their lives.  Not working on a plan to improve our failing education system.  Not working on plans to develop renewable energy sources or clean up the environment.  But rather, among other things, they are working on ways to keep ‘the other side’, the democrats, away from the polls.

Texas is one state that has a two-week ‘early voting’ period, and in the past, mobile polling stations have been used in areas where residents might not otherwise be able to access a polling place.  Elderly, poor, and college students are among those for whom access is often difficult, so these mobile polling stations would set up shop in places like assisted living communities, food banks, college campuses, and even office buildings.  However, this week, a bill has been passed by both chambers of the state legislature that would ban the mobile polling stations.  Initially, the bill would have exempted nursing homes and retirement homes from the ban, but the state senate blocked the exemption.  The bill is now on Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s desk awaiting his signature.

The ‘justification’ for this bill … “Supporters of the bill say it keeps authorities from giving some people an easier way to vote, while excluding others from that opportunity.” Is that not the biggest crock of you-know-what???  The true reason can be none other than to keep the elderly, disabled, poor, and college-students from voting.  Those groups tend to be more likely to vote for a democrat, for their interests are more closely tied to humanitarian causes than republicans.  I call foul on this one.

I now turn from Texas to Florida …

In 2018, after years of the Republican-dominated state legislature’s resistance to the idea, Floridians included a referendum measure, Amendment 4, in the statewide midterm ballot that would automatically restore voting rights to convicted felons once their sentence has been served (except those convicted of murder and sexual offenses).  The people of Florida overwhelmingly approved the measure with a 65% majority.  In fact, Amendment 4 received more “yes” votes (5.1 million) than any single candidate in the state last November.

However, the state legislature has now passed a bill that is only awaiting Governor DeSantis’ signature, that would place an additional requirement on those returning to society … they must fully pay any and all restitution and court fees before being allowed to vote.  Think about this one … they’ve been in prison, so they have no job and it will be difficult for them to get one, but in order to restore their rights as a citizen, they must come up with sometimes tens of thousands of dollars.  First, it was likely their poverty that led them to whatever crime they committed, and now they are even poorer with no means to even rent an apartment or buy food, but they are expected to pay fees that they may not have even known existed.  Again, just like the Texas law, this law would disproportionately affect the poor and minorities.

Those are just two of the current attempts to disenfranchise the people who are most likely to vote for a democrat.  Restrictive voter ID laws, gerrymandering, closing or reducing the hours of polling places in poor and minority neighborhoods are happening all around the country.  I can only conclude that the Republican Party has no viable platform on which to run honest campaigns, thus they must resort to all manners of trickery.  GOP once stood for Grand Ol’ Party.  No longer is there anything ‘grand’ about them.

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28 thoughts on “By Hook or By Crook …”

  1. I love how you keep me “fired up” of Trump world, political fiascos on each day of our road trip. My home state of Florida as always is a key state in the next election.

    Liked by 2 people

    • I’m glad you love it … several of my readers are threatening to send me the bills for their ulcer medications! Another of my Florida friends says he thinks Florida is ready for a turnaround … fingers crossed!

      Liked by 1 person

  2. This may win them ‘seats’ but it cannot win them votes.
    How damn silly they would look winning an election where in terms of votes they are the minority party…..oh they’ve done that already and look what it got them…. A national source of vilification.

    Liked by 2 people

    • Sad but true. The courts will likely smack these down, but … the very notion that our governments, both state and federal, are willing to trample the Constitution to win elections is repugnant. Where are the people with consciences? How do these jokers sleep at night?

      Liked by 2 people

  4. Florida very nearly turned blue in 2018, the governor’s and senator’s races were very close. Unless trump and Russia do a total election fraud in 2020, I believe the Latino and black vote will carry the Democratic candidate. But, the bigger picture is that democracy world-wide is under assault from Putin. We are in dark times and trump has insured that none of our long time allies will stand with us. Divide and conquer – they have nearly accomplished it. But, I trust that the resolve of true patriots has been underestimated.

    Liked by 2 people

    • I strongly suspect DeSantis could not have won if the election had been fair and honest. I hope you are right and they turn things around in 2020! You are quite right … Russia played a role in Brexit, and currently there are populist candidates running for election in a number of European nations hoping to destroy the EU from within. The world is changing and not in a good way, I fear. I wonder what it will look like in 20 years, if we don’t manage to destroy the entire planet by then?

      Liked by 2 people

  5. Jill, thanks for sharing. Two comments from this Independent and former GOP voter. First, if the only way to win is to cheat, then you may need to check your message.

    Second, living in NC with GOP majorities in both houses since the 2010 election, I have witnessed various laws to suppress votes and gerrymander elections. These efforts have been ruled unconstitutional, modified a little and declared unconsitutuonal again. I mention my voting affiliation, as I want to say the following. While both parties push the envelope, what the GOP has done here in NC is blatant, Jim Crow like cheating, The only voter fraud I have witnessed was perpetuated by a GOP Congressional candidate who won last fall in District 9 due fraudulent absentee ballots – he resigned. Then, the Chair of the GOP in NC resigned for selling influence for the state insurance commissioner office. To be fair, about ten years ago the Democrat Speaker was sent to jail for accepting money to influence votes.

    We must have fairness – I don’t care who is in charge; but the GOP has taken cheating to new heights.

    Keith

    Liked by 4 people

    • I agree … if you need to cheat to win, then you are obviously lacking a viable and coherent message, or are known to be dishonest from the start. You are so right … we must have honest elections, but you and I both know what the odds of that happening next year are, right? Sadly, I feel like I could almost write the playbook.

      Liked by 1 person

  6. These are dangerous times, democracy is under increasing threat. Increasingly it is been depicted as a problem, a road block. Discredit it, play on people’s fears and then circumvent it. It’s been done before. Already the legal system is being skewed and politicised. Both our countries are in big trouble,

    Liked by 3 people

    • I think you’re right … they see their power slipping through their fingers with each court ruling against them, each new subpoena, and they are going in 20 different directions trying to foil the efforts to impose any law and order, any sanity, in our government. Sigh.
      Cwtch

      Liked by 2 people

  9. Maybe we should take up praying … ???

    Quite frankly, I’m getting a bit sick and tired of the CRAP the Repukes are pulling. Every day it’s something different. The old saying … by hook or by crook … most definitely describes their actions.

    Liked by 4 people

    • Hah! I don’t think so …

      Yep, I am beyond sick and tired of it all. They are in every nook and cranny trying to destroy as much as they can, to block and obfuscate wherever possible, and to undermine the foundation of our government by trampling the Constitution. They remind me of a child with ADHD running from room to room, knocking things over and peeing on the rugs!

      Liked by 2 people

  10. Hello Jill. Great post. The republicans know the majority of the country doesn’t want what they are selling so they have decided to ditch the democracy thing and go full authoritarian one party rule such as China and Russia. What happened to all those people screaming freedom and so afraid the black President would take their rights away? Hugs

    Liked by 3 people

    • Hey Scottie! The republicans, I think, see their dream slipping through their fingers and are responding with whatever authoritarian measures they can … it is very frightening, for I’m not sure there are any limits to their perfidy. As for the people that were so afraid of Obama taking away their democratic freedoms … let’s face it, there was nothing more there than full-blown, all-out racism. I believe that at least in part, Trump’s election was a push-back against 8 years of an African-American president. Sigh.

      I see you changed your profile pic! I almost didn’t recognize you! Hugs!!!

      Liked by 1 person

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