US Politics October: This is how we roll in the Hussein Clown Posse

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > US Politics October: This is how we roll in the Hussein Clown Posse

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Islam is the Lite Rock FM: Jul 27, 2007; by exmarx

comes along bort posted:

The only absentee ballot you should be filling out is one that came from the board of elections in the county you're voting in that you requested yourself. The NCSBE website has a voter lookup to see when your ballot was returned and scanned in i.e. your vote was counted.

In NC the chair of each county board is elected but the governor gets to appoint the other members, so each county right now has a Republican majority which has led to shenanigans like closing voting sites on college campuses and packing 10,000 people into a single precinct in towns with only 20,000 people.

College kids don't have skin in the game so they shouldn't vote.

gently caress the GOP.

# ? Oct 13, 2014 17:14

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# ? Jun 7, 2024 03:56

Trabisnikof: Dec 24, 2005

comes along bort posted:

In NC the chair of each county board is elected but the governor gets to appoint the other members, so each county right now has a Republican majority which has led to shenanigans like closing voting sites on college campuses and packing 10,000 people into a single precinct in towns with only 20,000 people.

It was incredible to listen to local election officials try to explain how moving a polling site from next to a college campus, to an "agricultural events center" with 6 parking spaces and a mile walk from the nearest bus stop was in fact, easier to access for the community.

# ? Oct 13, 2014 17:47

Evil Fluffy: Jul 13, 2009; Scholars are some of the most pompous and pedantic people I've ever had the joy of meeting.

Good Citizen posted:

Remember that one Supreme Court election in Wisconsin where the dem favorite declared victory and then suddenly some Podunk county found just enough ballots hidden away somewhere that the GOP favorite got enough votes to disqualify a recount?

Good times

E: for the people who forgot this fun case: http://www.forbes.com/sites/rickungar/2011/04/13/something-smells-in-waukesha-county-wisconsin-and-its-not-the-cheese/

It's a shame that there will never be vote security laws passed. I'd settle for the same level of security used on slot machines, with tampering being a felony and immediate blacklisting from any government related work (including as a contractor).

# ? Oct 13, 2014 18:25

anonumos: Jul 14, 2005; Fuck it.

OAquinas posted:

Wasn't there some reported scandal involving a Koch group sending out thousands of invalid ballot forms "by accident"?

People in NC have been receiving wrong voting information courtesy of Koch funded groups, yes.

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/koch-group-faces-investigation-nc-over-bogus-voting-info

quote:

Last week, the public learned that the Koch brothers� Americans for Prosperity created quite a mess sending out incorrect voting materials to many North Carolina voters. This week, the group finds itself under investigation.

To briefly recap, the far-right organization provided voters with contradictory information about the registration schedule, mislabeled envelopes, incorrect contact information for the state Board of Elections, and incorrect information about county-clerk notifications. The AFP�s materials encouraged North Carolinians to refer questions to the Secretary of State�s elections division. In North Carolina, the Secretary of State�s office doesn�t have an elections division.

Zack Roth reported yesterday that the mailings have prompted a state investigation.

Joshua Lawson, a spokesman for the state board of elections, said his office opened the probe Monday after receiving a formal sworn complaint from the state Democratic Party about the mailers, which were sent recently by Americans for Prosperity (AFP). Lawson said state law requires the board to open an investigation if it receives a sworn complaint.

In the complaint, Casey Mann, the state Democratic Party�s executive director, accused AFP of an �attempt to utilize misleading, incorrect, and confusing voter registration mailers as a means of discouraging or intimidating voters in the 2014 general election.�

AFP concedes it made �a few minor administrative errors,� and it will have to hope that investigators believe the Koch-financed group was simply incompetent � the alternative explanation is that AFP tried to mislead voters on purpose, which would be a felony.

http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/koch-group-behind-faulty-mailers-isnt-first-time

quote:

A Koch brothers group is being investigated for sending mailers with incorrect information about how to register to vote to hundreds of North Carolina voters�and one cat.

Joshua Lawson, a spokesman for the state board of elections, said his office opened the probe Monday after receiving a formal sworn complaint from the state Democratic Party about the mailers, which were sent recently by Americans for Prosperity (AFP). Lawson said state law requires the board to open an investigation if it receives a sworn complaint.

In the complaint, Casey Mann, the state Democratic Party�s executive director, accused AFP of an �attempt to utilize misleading, incorrect, and confusing voter registration mailers as a means of discouraging or intimidating voters in the 2014 general election.�

Deliberately misleading people about how to vote is a felony.

Lawson said that as part of its investigation, the board had already been in contact with lawyers for AFP, and has urged the group to disseminate correct registration information in order to undo the damage.

AFP has said the mailers were an honest mistake, not an effort to mislead voters. But this isn�t the first time that the group, which came to prominence as part of the tea party movement, has sent out inaccurate voting information. And it�s also been involved in organized efforts to make voting harder.

# ? Oct 13, 2014 18:37

Eggplant Squire: Aug 14, 2003

I'd love to see someone propose a law to make repeatedly sending out faulty voting information a felony with a twenty year jail sentence just to see which scum objects and what absurd reasoning they use. The amount of stuff people in power get away with because "well you don't know that I'm doing this stuff with malicious intent, I could just be incredibly incompetent :smugdog:

" is really irritating.

# ? Oct 13, 2014 18:44

anonumos: Jul 14, 2005; Fuck it.

Radish posted:

I'd love to see someone propose a law to make repeatedly sending out faulty voting information a felony with a twenty year jail sentence just to see which scum objects and what absurd reasoning they use. The amount of stuff people in power get away with because "well you don't know that I'm doing this stuff with malicious intent, I could just be incredibly incompetent " is really irritating.

Misleading voters IS a felony...

# ? Oct 13, 2014 18:45

Eggplant Squire: Aug 14, 2003

anonumos posted:

Misleading voters IS a felony...

Yeah but what's the jail sentence? (sorry it was redundant and poorly phrased when I said it there)

I mean maybe it's already that high but it doesn't seem like you hear about people going away for that long.

EDIT:
Actually looking into punishments, it seems like it wasn't a federal crime and there was a bill to fix that.

https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/112/s1994#overview

quote:

Deceptive Practices and Voter Intimidation Prevention Act of 2011 - Amends the Revised Statutes and federal criminal law to prohibit any person, whether acting under color of law or otherwise, from knowingly misleading voters regarding: (1) the time or place of holding any federal election, (2) the qualifications for or restrictions on voter eligibility for any such election, or (3) an endorsement.

It died for obvious reasons. I am not well versed in these so I'm not sure if what it did was covered in existing laws or not.

Eggplant Squire fucked around with this message at 18:55 on Oct 13, 2014

# ? Oct 13, 2014 18:47

Teddybear: May 16, 2009; Look! A teddybear doll!
It's soooo cute!

Radish posted:

Yeah but what's the jail sentence? (sorry it was redundant and poorly phrased when I said it there)

I mean maybe it's already that high but it doesn't seem like you hear about people going away for that long.

Generally felonies have a jail sentence of at least a year and a day.

# ? Oct 13, 2014 18:50

Eggplant Squire: Aug 14, 2003

Teddybear posted:

Generally felonies have a jail sentence of at least a year and a day.

Good to learn, thanks.

# ? Oct 13, 2014 18:54

Fried Chicken: Jan 9, 2011; Don't fry me, I'm no chicken!

It is important to remember that according to the legal reasoning you do not actually have a right to vote. A right to vote isn't spelled out in the constitution, instead merely a list of criteria that cannot be used to deny you the vote. If they used criteria not on that list they should be in the clear, and arguing disparate impact to violate that criteria is on its last legs and should be gone by this time next year in a 5-4 decision.

It is this same legal reasoning that Art 1 sect 8, the general welfare clause, means that congress can only collect taxes to fund the military, but cannot do so for a bill on the grounds of general welfare. This is why anything they pass can be challenged and has to jump through a bunch of hoops to be constitutional rather than just pointing out "universal health care serves the general welfare of the citizenry"

It is amazing home all these people obsessed with "what the founders intended" :freep:

manage to twist any hint of lack of explicit clarity to mean their agenda is right, rather than just using the reasonable person standard. And while there are issues where the reasonable person standard would fall (mainly in the realm of minority rights, because the reasonable person standard effectively means the opinion of the majority) it only really gets invoked in those instances and not when it would apply to the general population

Basically it's capture of the government process by an elite group to serve their own ends and beat down "the mob" in a nutshell

# ? Oct 13, 2014 19:51

SubponticatePoster: Aug 9, 2004; Every day takes figurin' out all over again how to fuckin' live.; Slippery Tilde

Teddybear posted:

Generally felonies have a jail sentence of at least a year and a day.

It may vary by jurisdiction, but more accurately (at least here) misdemeanors cannot carry a sentence of longer than a year. For example, a 3rd degree felony can carry a sentence of 0-5 years. A Class A misdemeanor would have a sentence of 0-365 days in jail. Of course in practice, you could be sentenced on 2 Class A's ordered to run consecutively and spend more than 1 physical year in the pokey.

Mostly our differences come from where you serve your time. Misdemeanors go to the county jail, felonies go to the state prison.

# ? Oct 13, 2014 19:57

Joementum: May 23, 2004; jesus christ

Mitt Romney tells a joke.

quote:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wy8JttV64to

# ? Oct 13, 2014 19:58

Caros: May 14, 2008

Joementum posted:

Mitt Romney tells a joke.

Mitt Romney meanwhile, could prove who he is merely by exposing his circuitry.

# ? Oct 13, 2014 20:16

Dystram: May 30, 2013; by Ralp

Fried Chicken posted:

It is important to remember that according to the legal reasoning you do not actually have a right to vote. A right to vote isn't spelled out in the constitution, instead merely a list of criteria that cannot be used to deny you the vote. If they used criteria not on that list they should be in the clear, and arguing disparate impact to violate that criteria is on its last legs and should be gone by this time next year in a 5-4 decision.

It is this same legal reasoning that Art 1 sect 8, the general welfare clause, means that congress can only collect taxes to fund the military, but cannot do so for a bill on the grounds of general welfare. This is why anything they pass can be challenged and has to jump through a bunch of hoops to be constitutional rather than just pointing out "universal health care serves the general welfare of the citizenry"

It is amazing home all these people obsessed with "what the founders intended" manage to twist any hint of lack of explicit clarity to mean their agenda is right, rather than just using the reasonable person standard. And while there are issues where the reasonable person standard would fall (mainly in the realm of minority rights, because the reasonable person standard effectively means the opinion of the majority) it only really gets invoked in those instances and not when it would apply to the general population

Basically it's capture of the government process by an elite group to serve their own ends and beat down "the mob" in a nutshell

Just as the founders intended.

# ? Oct 13, 2014 20:20

Joementum: May 23, 2004; jesus christ

Quote of the day, �It should be called the Republican conservative health care act.� ~ Larry Pressler, Independent, ex-Republican, candidate for Senate in South Dakota on Obamacare.

# ? Oct 13, 2014 20:31

JT Jag: Aug 30, 2009; #1 Jaguars Sunk Cost Fallacy-Haver

Joementum posted:

Quote of the day, �It should be called the Republican conservative health care act.� ~ Larry Pressler, Independent, ex-Republican, candidate for Senate in South Dakota on Obamacare.

This is the sort of pivot the entire Republican party should be making. Instead, I'm guessing statements like this are the reason he's running as an independent.

# ? Oct 13, 2014 20:34

zoux: Apr 28, 2006

Joementum posted:

Quote of the day, �It should be called the Republican conservative health care act.� ~ Larry Pressler, Independent, ex-Republican, candidate for Senate in South Dakota on Obamacare.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JUCfX1P1ik

# ? Oct 13, 2014 20:37

Ralepozozaxe: Sep 6, 2010; A Veritable Smorgasbord!

Joementum posted:

Quote of the day, �It should be called the Republican conservative health care act.� ~ Larry Pressler, Independent, ex-Republican, candidate for Senate in South Dakota on Obamacare.

Gotta make sure people know its both Republican and conservative.

# ? Oct 13, 2014 20:42

anonumos: Jul 14, 2005; Fuck it.

Caros posted:

Mitt Romney meanwhile, could prove who he is merely by exposing his circuitry.

As I watched that video, I thought the punchline of that joke would be "So I tried to cash a check and to prove who I was I bought the bank."

# ? Oct 13, 2014 20:43

Munkeymon: Aug 14, 2003; Motherfucker's got an
armor-piercing crowbar! Rigoddamndicu𝜆ous.

anonumos posted:

As I watched that video, I thought the punchline of that joke would be "So I tried to cash a check and to prove who I was I bought the bank."

"...and fired everyone!"

# ? Oct 13, 2014 21:02

Sir Tonk: Apr 18, 2006; Young Orc

http://www.washingtonian.com/articles/people/the-best-worst-of-congress-2014/

quote:

Tweet Master

Senate

1. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa)

2. Cory Booker (D-N.J.)

House

1. Justin Amash (R-Mich.)

2. Sean Duffy (R-Wis.)

Clueless

Senate

1. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.)

2. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.)

House

1. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.)

2. Corrine Brown (D-Fla.)

Best Cook

Senate

1. TIE: Roy Blunt (R.-Mo.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.)

House

1. Louie Gohmert (R-Tex.)

2. Grace Napolitano (D-Calif.)

Cruz pretty much walked away with this year's awards. I need to talk to some more staffers up in DC, sounds like they can't stand him.

# ? Oct 13, 2014 21:06

Joementum: May 23, 2004; jesus christ

Gohmert winning a cooking award does not surprise me. He gave up a larger office, closer to the Capitol, in favor of a smaller one because it has a ledge outside the window where he can barbeque.

But no Twitter award for Steve Stockman? That's the only thing he's actually done in office! He was robbed.

# ? Oct 13, 2014 21:09

My Imaginary GF: Jul 17, 2005; by R. Guyovich

Sir Tonk posted:

http://www.washingtonian.com/articles/people/the-best-worst-of-congress-2014/

Cruz pretty much walked away with this year's awards. I need to talk to some more staffers up in DC, sounds like they can't stand him.

Senate
1. Susan Collins (R-Maine)

I think it has more to do with Ms. Collins' influence than most others.

# ? Oct 13, 2014 21:12

zoux: Apr 28, 2006

I'll take this opportunity to remind everyone that Shelia Jackson Lee is actually the worst person from Texas in Congress.

# ? Oct 13, 2014 21:12

Joementum: May 23, 2004; jesus christ

zoux posted:

I'll take this opportunity to remind everyone that Shelia Jackson Lee is actually the worst person from Texas in Congress.

She has made a floor speech every day that she's been in office and the House is in session. Gohmert only makes one once a week. Though, to compare, her daily one is five minutes long and his weekly one is typically over an hour.

# ? Oct 13, 2014 21:14

zoux: Apr 28, 2006

I can't stand shameless grandstanders.

# ? Oct 13, 2014 21:16

Fried Chicken: Jan 9, 2011; Don't fry me, I'm no chicken!

Edit: beaten

Doesn't Goehmert have what is regarded as a lovely office (in terms of location and status because of its location) but he picked it because it has the fire escape and he can barbecue out on it? He has one of those grill/smoker combos and constantly has something going for his staff and people who stop by.

Guy is batshit crazy but I can see voting him best cook for that. Hard to beat a good brisket. Get a nice point cut, trim it down to about 1/3rd to 1/2 an inch of top fat, hit it with a simple dry rub and smoke it for 14 hours, the fat will melt through the meat keeping it real juicy and drawing in the rub flavoring. Or do a whole package so you have the leaner pieces from the flat for sandwiches, the burnt ends from the point for shredded moist.

# ? Oct 13, 2014 21:16

Dr. Tough: Oct 22, 2007

What exactly is "The Ask"?

# ? Oct 13, 2014 21:18

My Imaginary GF: Jul 17, 2005; by R. Guyovich

zoux posted:

I can't stand shameless grandstanders.

Why do you follow national politics then?

Serious question, I haven't met one politician who feels shame for what they do. Can you think of any? (Besides Mitch)

Dr. Tough posted:

What exactly is "The Ask"?

I love you, will you give me 20 grand? How? When can I expect the check? Will wire transfer make it easier for you?

# ? Oct 13, 2014 21:18

zoux: Apr 28, 2006

There are levels of grandstanding.

# ? Oct 13, 2014 21:20

My Imaginary GF: Jul 17, 2005; by R. Guyovich

zoux posted:

There are levels of grandstanding.

Tell that to Paul Ryan.

# ? Oct 13, 2014 21:21

zoux: Apr 28, 2006

Reps also tend to be way worse because there are 434 other Reps they have to stand out from and they are all running for Senator. Put a mic in front of a Rep and you are getting the business for sure.

# ? Oct 13, 2014 21:22

got any sevens: Feb 9, 2013; by Cyrano4747

Munkeymon posted:

I hear Ohio is worse

Anyone know if there's any evidence that TV ads motivate voters at all?

The kind of idiots that watch ads. Which is over half the country. The same idiots that are still undecided until they get into the voting booth.

# ? Oct 13, 2014 21:23

Joementum: May 23, 2004; jesus christ

zoux posted:

Reps also tend to be way worse because there are 434 other Reps they have to stand out from and they are all running for Senator. Put a mic in front of a Rep and you are getting the business for sure.

Chuck Schumer is *by far* the biggest media hound in Congress.

# ? Oct 13, 2014 21:24

zoux: Apr 28, 2006

Joementum posted:

Chuck Schumer is *by far* the biggest media hound in Congress.

Yeah well some people are just shitheads.

# ? Oct 13, 2014 21:25

My Imaginary GF: Jul 17, 2005; by R. Guyovich

Joementum posted:

Chuck Schumer is *by far* the biggest media hound in Congress.

Is he still doing that pissfight to take Reid's place?

# ? Oct 13, 2014 21:25

Fried Chicken: Jan 9, 2011; Don't fry me, I'm no chicken!

What the most dangerous place in Washington? Between Chuck Schumer and a camera. Guy did cameos on alpha House and parks & Rec, and even did a surprise walk on in a Shakespeare in the park performance of a winter's tale this summer

# ? Oct 13, 2014 21:28

Nonsense: Jan 26, 2007

Chuck Schumer is insane in the yogurt lobby and also the product he represents is legit gross.

# ? Oct 13, 2014 21:30

Oracle: Oct 9, 2004

quote:

The kind of idiots that watch ads. Which is over half the country. The same idiots that are still undecided until they get into the voting booth.

Seriously? People still actually watch commercials? I would've thought with the rise of DVRs (I mean every cable company I know of offers some kind of dvr service) commercials would just plain be ineffective anymore and were just a dinosaur.

I know whenever I'm out I'm always jarred by commericals, I'm so used to blipping through them at home.

# ? Oct 13, 2014 21:30

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# ? Jun 7, 2024 03:56

zoux: Apr 28, 2006

Nonsense posted:

Chuck Schumer is insane in the yogurt lobby and also the product he represents is legit gross.

Israel?

Oracle posted:

Seriously? People still actually watch commercials? I would've thought with the rise of DVRs (I mean every cable company I know of offers some kind of dvr service) commercials would just plain be ineffective anymore and were just a dinosaur.

I know whenever I'm out I'm always jarred by commericals, I'm so used to blipping through them at home.

Hulu Plus

# ? Oct 13, 2014 21:31

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > US Politics October: This is how we roll in the Hussein Clown Posse

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