I hadn’t thought of it, but it’s true. In-person voter fraud is kind of like false accusations of rape. They’re both exceedingly rare, but Republicans base whole elements of their political philosophy on treating them as epidemics. In the first case, it’s an excuse to disenfranchise black and brown people. In the latter, it’s an excuse for date rape.
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BooMan
Martin Longman a contributing editor at the Washington Monthly. He is also the founder of Booman Tribune and Progress Pond. He has a degree in philosophy from Western Michigan University.
And the countdown starts for the national media to initiate reporting drawing this very equivalency regarding rape. What will be the rape equivalent of this? It is, no doubt, looming on the horizon.
My comment on in-person voter fraud is here: http://www.boomantribune.com/comments/2014/2/9/124855/7776/5#5
what do you think about Anonymous’ claim they prevented Rep vote stealing via hacking in 2012?
An interesting claim, but I don’t think so. Too many precincts to be covered.
In-person voter fraud must also be the only crime that is literally harmless because of its rarity. Mrs. Potiphar’s rape accusation was very tough on poor Joseph, but the tiny number of fake voters that succeed in voting is too small to affect election results, or even the point spread for the gamblers.
Instead of elaborate preparations to steal one vote but misrepresentation or false registration, political machines steal hundreds of votes per precinct after hours by faking the voting record on non-voters. Typically, less than 50% of registered voters actually vote, at least knowingly. That’s why when both parties suck, I vote for a third party instead of staying home, so my vote can’t be stolen.
Except that’s not the kind of fraud Republicans are anxious to stop. They’re only worried about the stuff that doesn’t happen, wonder why? Thanks for the tip–an excellent reason for never missing a vote.
The great thing about in-person voter fraud is that it already is illegal.
As for false accusation, the fact is, anyone can be falsely accused of anything. It does happen. So by the republican reasoning, no criminal law should ever be passed, and all existing ones should be repealed, because charges brought under them might occasionally be false. That is patently absurd. I think that’s why we have courts and due process, isn’t it?
This and false rape report are examples of the “look over there” technique. The bad guys accuse the good guys of doing something that is supposed to be equivalent to what the bad guys are actually doing.
Such infractions do sometimes occur, but the most important point is not simply that they are rare, but that they are irrelevant.
It’s just another use of the sucker punch to disorient before hitting with the real punch. Sometimes it takes the form of projection; other times other feints. But it is a deliberate, calculated tactic and not just perverse craziness. Treating it as a tactic and understanding what is coming next allows for the proper defense and riposte.
Protecting the right to register and the right to vote is going to be critical in the next three elections. (Don’t neglect planning for the 2018 midterm.)
I hadn’t read your excellent comment before posting mine, but I think they complement each other nicely.
Have the cons ceased to use false accusations of rape against black and brown men?
Possible their hatred of women is so great it overrides even that ancient conservative tradition.
They’re both exceedingly rare, but Republicans base whole elements of their political philosophy on treating them as epidemics.
You can extend that thought to a large number of events.
Like the almost-mythical gun owner who saved lives shooting at would-be criminals in his house.
Or the Cadillac-driving welfare mom.
Or the woman who had an abortion who later regretted it and wished abortion was illegal for everyone.
Or the gay man who saw the light and magically became hetrosexual.
Or the business owner who shut down because of Obamacare.
Or the 1%-er named John Galt who gave up and moved to a cave because the Democrats won an election.
Or the Arab militant who got scared and found Jesus because his country was bombed to shit.
Or the teenage girl who decided not to have premarital sex because she couldn’t get the HPV vaccine.
Or the welfare kids who decided to be lifelong Republicans after their health care benefits and school lunches were defunded.
You know, I could go on endlessly, using the various state GOP platform planks as inspiration, but I need sleep. You get the point.
Great list of examples. The point I get out of it is this. Don’t waste energy fighting against the points themselves. In the individual case they may be false, but I can grant that all of them happen now and then.
But laws are passed not because the grievances they seek to remedy apply to every person in every instance without exception, but rather because they seek to remedy a general problem.
So these are the exceptions that prove the rule, because if there was no general rule, they wouldn’t be exceptions to it.
The reason republicans are so good at thinking these things up is that so many of their leaders employ so much of their ingenuity in inventing ways to either scam or — as the case may be — to monkey wrench the system.
I’m not sure that I’m right, but it seems to me that the only verified cases (ie: people got caught) of in-person voter fraud involved mistakes (people who voted absentee in on place and in person in another jusridiction) and Republicans trying to prove how easy it is.
Does anyone have any other recent examples (within the last 10 years)?
I remember one case where a dad voted for his son or vice versa. Apparently the replaced voter could have voted and was ok with it but just didn’t want to go to the polling place. Not exactly a threat to the republic.
Apart from that borderline case and the Republicans doing it as a stunt, I can’t think of any cases where somebody deliberately cast a vote they knew shouldn’t have been cast.
Actually vote fraud is not like false rape accusation in that false rape accusations, while rare, do happen sometimes. Real vote fraud just doesn’t happen anymore.
Projections of 6-8 inches in Philly, 8-10 inches a little farther west (Norristown) and a band of 10-14 inches a little farther west. Ice of varying intensity per individual location. Be safe and warm.
The End is Nigh: Major Winter Storm Brewing from Louisiana to Maine