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That's Bull!

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67 comments

That's Bull!

POSTED: Tuesday, March 13, 2012, 10:29 PM

Pennsylvania is getting hosed, and somewhere down there Birmingham's segregationist sheriff Bull Connor is probably smiling. The voter ID law that's expected to pass in Harrisburg and then get Gov. Tom Corbett's signature is the most embarrassing piece of legislation since I became a Pennsylvania resident. A state that's neglecting the needs of its poorest citizens will waste hundreds of thousands of dollars to instead suppress their votes, to "solve" a problem that doesn't exist.

Corbett added that some precincts in the past have voted over 100 percent, which he said demonstrates fraud, but he did not give examples in the interview. His top elections official, Secretary of State Carol Aichele, could not cite any instances of voter fraud when asked by a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee earlier this month.

I've covered politics in Philadelphia for a while, and I'm not sure what Corbett is even talking about. I don't think he knows what he's talking about, either. In fact, I think he's lying. In fact, since this voter-suppression law was introduced last year, top Republican officials have repeatedly lied to justify a law that isn't needed. Apparently, there are no consequences for lying in Pennsylvania politics.

The good news is that in states like South Carolina and Texas, the Justice Department has stepped in to try and stop voter ID laws. That's because those states are covered by the Voting Rights Act, because of their history of racially discriminatory laws. But the Justice Department probably has no standing in Pennsylvania, because we don't have a modern history of discriminatory laws.

Until now.

We should be so proud. Just like the firefighters' windbreakers say in the photo at top, this is a "BFD." Because in a matter of hours, Tom Corbett will pick up a pen, and channel the spirit of Bull Connor.

Will Bunch @ 10:29 PM  Permalink | 67 comments
67 comments
Comments  (67)
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 6:51 AM, 03/14/2012
    Kerry "Mittens" McRomney can't "close the deal." That 28% favorability rating is killing the GOP! lolz.....NEXT!
    The Fundamentals of the Economy are Fine
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 7:20 AM, 03/14/2012
    If I were a smoker, I would have to show and ID at Wawa to buy tobacco products, the consequences of which effect only me. Yet, in liberal fantasyland, I wouldn't have to do one thing to prove my identity to perform an action that can effect over 300 million people.
    jmc
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 7:24 AM, 03/14/2012
    Why is it that I wouldn't have to show ID to engage in the basic Constitutional right of voting, but must go through what amounts to a colonoscopy to engage in the basic Constitutional right of owning a firearm?
    jmc
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 7:33 AM, 03/14/2012
    jmc - Will and his bunch will have to get back to you on those questions. Oh yeah, it's all Bush's fault.
    fredgwynne
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 7:56 AM, 03/14/2012
    As always, Will jumps into the argument days late. Hopefully, he wil move back to whatever state he came from and find the inner peace he seeks on voting rules. BTW, how's that list of 37 coming along? Nervous?
    jimmymack
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 9:09 AM, 03/14/2012
    "Hopefully, he wil move back to whatever state he came from and find the inner peace he seeks on voting rules"

    He doesn't have the energy to climb a flight of stairs & leave his parents' basement!!!
    JaysonStudd
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 8:29 AM, 03/14/2012
    "Look over there!" "Hey whats that over there?"
    Anything to distract from this Epic Failure that is Barack Obama -WPE Worst President Ever.
    What happened to ALL THOSE PROMISES Obama made? Was that George Bush's doing too?
    What a inexperienced, community organizer we have for President.
    Keep The Change
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 8:35 AM, 03/14/2012
    So it's racist to ask someone for their ID to vote? What controls are there to prevent voter fraud if we can't ask someone to prove they are who they claim to be. Is it also racist to ask someone for their ID if they want to get served alcahol at a bar or a state store? Considering that the state of Pennsylvania owns and operates the liquer stores is this state sponsered racism? To anyone who thinks that this isn't about attempts to steal an election and that voter fraud will not happen check this out:
    http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2012/03/13/OKeefe%20Video%20Exposes%20Voter%20Fraud-Friendly%20Policies%20in%20Vermont
    Phishface
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 8:39 AM, 03/14/2012
    "That's BULL!"

    Kinda like Obama's claims on how much Obamacare will cost. We find out yesterday that it's double, yes DOUBLE, what he promised. And *crickets* from Bunch. Lying is only OK for democrats.

    http://www.businessinsider.com/obamacare-is-going-to-cost-double-what-obama-said-2012-3
    .bp-philly.
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 8:45 AM, 03/14/2012
    bp-philly,
    Saw that story too. Is it time to rename the"Affordable Care Act" to "It's getting less and less affordable, by the day, care act"
    Phishface
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 9:02 AM, 03/14/2012
    Willl, you have nothing to fear. The "poorest citizens all have photo IDs. They use them to get food money, rent money, child assistance money, medical attention money and a few of them even use it to apply for a job every now and then. You need to get a job every now and then to qualify for unemployment money.
    DonQ
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 9:04 AM, 03/14/2012
    Will, in Nov '10 the NAACP reported a 9% voter turnout among PA's African Americans... and an overall turnout of less than 50%. I think apathy is a way bigger problem than asking people to identify themselves will ever be. I'm sure you have these stats at your fingertips - and that makes your phony indignation about "suppression" that much funnier.
    michael_b
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 9:20 AM, 03/14/2012
    "Papers, please! We do not think you are who you say you are!" Thank god we have a Governor willing to put to rest this menace of voter fraud washing over our fair Commonwealth. Its a political ploy using the Office of the Governor to try and suppress likely Democratic voters. Meaning that Republican money has been spent studying demographics and the likely positive affect of requiring picture IDs. Since this has been laid bare, the question remains how do the people combat it? Is it possible to eventually get these people to go through the hassle of getting picture IDs to the point where it empowers them to vote in greater numbers than before the law? jmc you are functionally stupid. voting = firearms purchases. Yes, at their core they are the same thing. I'm sure RG will be chiming in any time now railing against this horrid intrusion into the liberties of the individual.
    Murrayman
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 9:28 AM, 03/14/2012
    This is all to distract voters from the real issues again and to further infuriate the right base as evidence from the postings here. from 2006 to 2002 Bush, congress, and the courts all republican controlled with 99cent gas, and a big surplus in the treasury. By 2006 the treasury surplus through horrible econimic policy was turned into the largest deficiet - First it was the taxe breaks for all the rich americans (yes the rich benedfitted greatly) then all out war. The first nation in the history of the world to wage 4 wars (Iraq, Afghan, Terror, and Drugs still)and cut taxes. That means you republicans speant like crazy sailors on bombs, oil, and haliburton. What did that do for America? Gas prices roses to almost $4 because baby W and evil dick invaded Iraq, your lack of any regulation and malfeasance in the justice department (hiring industry insiders to runs it) has lead to extreme corruption of our financial industry which ruined the economy. Now you want power back and are running on a platform to tax less and spend less...Why should we vote for republicans again?
    Atlas
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 9:30 AM, 03/14/2012
    ===}}} What's really embarrassing is the Democratic opposition to this common sense legislation. {{{===


    Common sense legislation = spending money on a problem that isn't proven to exist, using a methodology wouldn't solve that problem even if it did exist (as easy as it is to acquire fake ID, someone intent on fraudulent voting would not be deterred by ID laws).

    This is a political proxy, a law intended to serve political expediency. Anyone who doesn't admit that stamps "toady" on their forehead.
    Talking point sleuth


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About this blog
Will Bunch, a senior writer at the Philadelphia Daily News, blogs about his obsessions, including national and local politics and world affairs, the media, pop music, the Philadelphia Phillies, soccer and other sports, not necessarily in that order.

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