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Conservatives’ heads explode at the thought of making voting mandatory

If there’s one thing the GOP does not want, it’s everybody voting, because that way they’re sure to lose.  That’s why they spend so much time and money trying to keep people from voting and making up fake “voter fraud” arguments.obama vote

Obama’s recent comment that maybe mandated voting (like they have in other countries such as Australia) might be a good idea has produced the desired response from the right. It’s kind of fun to watch, really, as the outrage boils over. Andrea Tantaros on Fox argued against it, saying, “Do we really want everybody voting?”

Well, yes.  Isn’t that what democracy is about?

Let’s make it clear that there is no proposal or bill being discussed at the moment. Such a thing could take wildly different approaches, such as tax breaks for voters to small fines for those who do not. In places that have this, there is usually an option to vote for “none of the above” or otherwise case a blank ballot as a protest.

Conservatives scream that this violates liberty, because the government should only be forcing people to do things like having invasive unnecessary medical procedures before getting an abortion.

But there is a price to pay in a democracy. You are required to do jury duty, for instance. If there is a war, you can be required to serve in the military and die for your country. Why is requiring you to vote harsher than requiring you to die?

And think about the advantages. Politicans who win elections where 90% of the people actually do vote can clearly claim a mandate. Mandatory voting insures that the winner really does represent all the people and not just the few who find time and make the effort to get out and vote (usually the older and richer segments of our population).

Sometimes I just admire those Republicans who, when they’re not aware they are being recorded, admit that all this anti-voter movement has nothing to do with voter fraud and everything to do with keeping Democrats away from the polls. Because if there is one thing we have learned from past elections, it’s that Republicans will do everything in their power to win elections — except get the most votes.

Editorial cartoon: The Race

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Ted Cruz and the Constitution

Supporters say that they like Ted Cruz because he “supports the Constitution.”

What bullshit.ted-cruz

Ted believes states should decide civil rights issues such as gay marriage (which, of course, he opposes). Rights should not be voted on. That’s the same argument the segregationists gave and they were wrong too. For Cruz to claim the Constitution allows states to deny basic rights shows that he doesn’t understand the Constitution.

He also does not support the 1st Amendment, especially the Establishment Clause. He’s constantly bitching about how religion is under attack — you know, the whole fake War on Christmas crap — and there’s a reason he gave his announcement the other day at a college that teaches the world is only 6000 years old.  Cruz hates the Constitution, because it prevents him from forcing kids to be taught his church’s creationist story in public schools.

Cruz passed laws when in Texas having to do with immigration which Texas has no power to regulate, and has said that states have the right to do so despite the Supremacy Clause.  That’s hardly the reaction you’d get from someone who “respects the Constitution”. He proposed something called “interstate compacts” wherein states could get together and nullify federal laws they don’t like. You know, ’cause that worked so well for the confederates before.

As for rights of criminals, he was one of many who fought to take away the rights of American citizens who were suspected of terrorism, despite the Constitution’s guarantees. Sadly, he wasn’t alone there, but that hardly makes him a lover of the Constitution.

And you know that part of the Constitution that says the president signs treaties? Cruz supported the GOP Iran letter, so it’s clear that he has no respect for the Constitution’s separation of powers in these matters. (Of course, if it was a Democrat doing that to a Republican President, he’d be screaming “treason”).

Editorial Cartoon: CINO

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Tired of the Gun Control Shuffle

Whenever there was another mass shooting, I used to post about the “Gun Control Shuffle”:

1. Have a mass shooting.

2. Bury the dead and cry.

3. Politicians talk about the need for gun control so this never happens again.gun-deaths-us-other-countries-chart

4. Gun manufacturers, through their lobby group the NRA, warns that the government is out to take everyone’s guns.

5. Gun lovers buy lots of guns because they believe the NRA and the right-wing media.

6. Gun manufacturers’ income skyrockets.

7. Gun manufacturers use this money to bribe politicians through their lobby group, the NRA.

8. Despite overwhelming public support, no gun control passes.

9. Another mass shooting occurs.

Repeat every few months.

However, I found that instead of repeating the Shuffle post every few months, I was doing it every few weeks.  And lately, it seems like I would have to be doing it every few days.

Have you noticed?  Have you noticed how we’ve become so used to it that it hardly even makes the news? That everyone just says “Well, that’s it. There’s another shooting” and then walks away, as if there’s not a damn thing we can do about it?

I guess we as a society have decided that lives just aren’t as important to us as guns are; that there is no number of deaths that will make us do anything about the problem; that we just are giving up and letting the small percentage of gun nuts bully us all into letting them have their way.

 

Editorial cartoon: So much in common

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Aaron go Bye

“I am resigning even though I am not corrupt. I’m also not gay. I am not a crook. These are not the droids you are looking for.”

Corrupt Republican representative Aaron Schock resigned today, admitting no wrong doing.Y4HQJ

The closeted anti-gay Schock was brought down not by his hypocrisy, but by numerous ethical violations which kept piling up so fast that he had to do something.  Let’s see:

I’m assuming his resignation is part of some deal to not have charges brought against him or something similar, or perhaps there is more corruption out  there that we just don’t know about that this deal will keep secret.

In any event, good riddance.

 

(thanks to Glenn Hauman for that terrible pun headline — it is St. Patrick’s Day, after all)

 

 

 

 

 

Editorial cartoon: An historical analogy

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Grunt! Oog! Obamacare bad because written by women and minorities!

Me just caveman lawyer. Your modern world confuses and frightens me. But me know one thing:  Obamacare bad because written by white women and minorities.

At least three of these people will probably disagree with the idea that women don't understand the Constitution.

At least three of these people will probably disagree with the idea that women don’t understand the Constitution.

This, almost literally, is what the chief lawyer who argued recently before the Supreme Court about Obamacare said.

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, he said that this law was different because it was written by “white women and minorities.”  If you can understand why that makes it different from any other law, please enlighten me, but apparently, to Attorney Michael Carvin, that makes it suspect and clearly unconstitutional.  As we all know, we need white men making these decisions about our laws.

Hey, if nothing else, the fact that the people who hired him see nothing wrong with this statement tells you what kind of people are behind this latest attempt to overturn the will of the majority.

Editorial cartoon: Lt. Cotton and his letter