Go Debbie Wasserman-Schultz!! Tell it!!

from The Hill.com:

DNC chairwoman: Republicans 'literally' want to revive Jim Crow laws
By Michael O'Brien - 06/06/11 12:24 PM ET


Republicans would "literally drag [the U.S.] all the way back to Jim Crow laws," the chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) charged over the weekend.

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) accused Republicans of trying to resurrect Jim Crow laws in the form of stricter laws at the state level that could limit access to ballots by some voters.

"Now you have the Republicans, who want to literally drag us all the way back to Jim Crow laws and literally — and very transparently — block access to the polls to voters who are more likely to vote for Democratic candidates than Republican candidates," she told host Roland Martin on "Washington Watch" this weekend [emphasis hers]. "And it’s nothing short of that blatant."

A series of state legislatures, now under the control of Republicans after the wave election in 2010, have enacted reforms to ballot access laws, which could shape the 2012 vote at the margins. The laws are ostensibly nonpartisan, but Democrats and watchdog groups have warned that they would have the impact of depressing turnout for constituencies typically loyal to Democrats.

She backed off her use of the language in a statement on Monday afternoon.


"Jim Crow was the wrong analogy to use," she said. "But I don't regret calling attention to the efforts in a number of states with Republican dominated legislatures, including Florida, to restrict access to the ballot box for all kinds of voters, but particularly young voters, African Americans and Hispanic Americans."


Wasserman Schultz was speaking specifically about one example: a law sought by Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) requiring voters to produce a valid ID.

The DNC chairman likened a similar law in Georgia to a "poll tax," one of the laws used by states with Jim Crow laws to deny blacks the right to vote in the century since the Civil War. The Supreme Court has struck down many of those laws as unconstitutional because of their disparate impact, and the Civil Rights laws of the 1960s sought to end Jim Crow in practice.

"So, you’re literally just throwing a barrier in the way of someone who’s trying to exercise their right to vote," Wasserman Schultz said of the modern-day laws. "And the reason that it’s not necessary is because we already have very legitimate voter verification processes, signature checks that are already in place; and there is so little voter fraud, which is the professed reason the Republicans are advancing these laws. There’s so little voter fraud, and I mean you’re more likely to get hit by lightning than you are to see an instance of voter fraud in this country, but Republicans are imposing laws all over the country, acting like it’s not — voter fraud is rampant, and it’s ridiculous."

I've been saying for forever and a day that Literacy Test, Poll Tax, Voter ID - it's all the same. Different name, same purpose....

VOTER SUPPRESSION.

And, the 'excuse' they use is Voter Fraud, which, is in fact, a FRAUD ----it DOES NOT EXIST ON ANY SERIOUS LEVEL.

Just to hear someone actually say it.....yes yes yes yes.

Michael Steele vs. Tim Kaine

DNC Sets Up McCain Lies Wiki

Count the Lies

It's past time that they did this.

DNC Tells Hillary Holdouts - ' Time to Get Real'

From TPM Election Central:

Seems as if the DNC is finally tired of the ridiculousness from some Hillary supporters. Tired of the threats, pouts, and whining. Tired of the meetings with McCain fundraisers. Tired of leaks to the media about what gymnastics Obama is supposed to do to get their support.

So, they've sent a letter to some holdouts:

Dear Democratic Friends:

2008 is a Democratic year-at all levels in all the states. The opportunity is ours. We just have to seize it.

We experienced an exciting, intense, sometimes difficult, campaign to nominate our presidential candidate. Now it's over. Barack Obama won.

I supported Hillary Clinton and am proud and pleased that I did. But she lost. Barack Obama won. It's over.

It is time for all Democrats, supporters of Senator Clinton and all other contenders for the nomination, to stand with him to secure his election and the election of Democrats at all levels of competition.

I must confess a bit of fatigue and irritation with people who continue to carp, complain, and criticize the results of the primary and lay down conditions for their support. The Los Angeles Lakers didn't establish conditions to recognize the Boston Celtics as NBA Champions; Roger Federer did not demand concessions before recognizing that Rafael Nadal defeated him at Wimbledon.

It is time to act in a mature and resourceful fashion. It's time to put the primaries behind us. It's time to support Barack Obama without conditions or demands.

It's time to WIN for Barack Obama, the Democratic Party, America, and our future. We have an unparalleled opportunity. I hope we will all do everything we can to seize the moment.

See you at the Inauguration.

Sincerely,

Don Fowler
DNC Member At-Large, South Carolina
Former Chair of the Democratic National Committee

Alice Germond
Secretary, Democratic National Committee

It's.about.time.

Don't care what they do, but this needed to be said. Stop coddling them. Either they'll support Obama or they won't. But, not one more nanosecond of pretense that folks should even give a rat's ass about them.

Barack Obama On NPR

Responds to Clinton on the issue of Michigan and Florida...

Listen Here

Hillary Clinton Spews More Lies in NPR Interview

In an NPR interview that aired today, Hillary Clinton offered more lies and distortions about Barack Obama and the Democratic Primary. Listen Here.

It is clear to me that there might be something pathologically wrong with this woman.

She suggests that the results from the ceremonial Florida and Michigan contests should be counted as is (because she "won"). She goes on to play the victim by suggesting that it was not her fault that Obama took his name off the ballot and didn't compete in the States.

In response to the issue of Barack Obama's name not being on the ballot in at least one of the two States, Clinton says:

(taking his name off the ballot)

"That was his choice".

There she goes again....attempting to mislead voters and play the victim. But those of us who have been paying attention all along understand that when the DNC stripped Florida and Michigan of their delegates, that part of the punishment was to have candidates avoid competing in the two States. Obama was not the only candidate who took his name off the ballot (as if that matters). But she is clearly trying to trick voters into believing that Michigan and Florida were normal primaries and that the results should be counted. She is also trying to send the message that she was somehow robbed of her delegates.

From ABC News: (regarding the Florida and Michigan results)

The results were meaningless since the elections violated national party rules. The DNC stripped both States of their delegates for holding the primaries too early, and all Democratic candidates — including Clinton and rival Barack Obama — agreed not to campaign in either state. Obama's name wasn't even on the Michigan ballot.

Source (page 2)

So the idea that the results in Florida and Michigan were fair and should be counted (since they were in her favor) is utterly ridiculous. How on earth can delegates be fairly and properly allocated in States where all of the candidates did not compete on a level playing field...and in States that the candidates were in fact told to avoid by their Party leadership? Her "i'm the victim" routine is also absurd, and it's getting a little old.

Here is the agreement that Hillary Clinton broke.

It is ironic that during the interview...when Hillary Clinton is caught lying, she ends up telling even more lies to cover up the lies she has already told. Talk about a tangled web.

Clinton Advisor Who Pushed to Have Delegates Stripped from Florida and Michigan, Now Wants Them Included

Even though he was one of the people who pushed for the removal of delegates from Florida and Michigan just a few months ago, Clinton operative Harold Ickes has now flip flopped and (because his candidate is struggling) wants to add the stripped delegates... AFTER the vote has already taken place under the sanctions.

The effort to steal the election has officially begun, as Clinton & Co. begin to lobby to have Michigan & Florida added to the process.... AFTER the candidates had agreed not to campaign in those States... and there was no real competition there. There is no doubt that the delegate issue had an impact on voter turnout in those two States, so I don't know how those delegates could be added in good conscience. Furthermore, Obama was not even on the ballot in Michigan.

However, Nancy Pelosi - one of the Democratic Party chiefs- believes that the nomination should not be decided based on delegates from Florida and Michigan.

See report from the Kansas City Star:

Clinton aide who backed sanctions against Florida and Michigan now wants to end them

WASHINGTON - A top adviser to Sen. Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign voted for Democratic Party rules that stripped Michigan and Florida of their delegates.

Now Harold Ickes is arguing against the very penalty he helped pass.

In a conference call Saturday, Ickes said the Democratic National Committee should reconsider its sanctions on the two states, which held early contests in violation of party rules.

He said millions of voters in Michigan and Florida would be otherwise disenfranchised.

Ickes explained that his different position essentially is due to the different hats he wears as both a DNC member and a Clinton adviser in charge of delegate counting.

Clinton won the primary votes in Michigan and Florida, and now she wants those votes to count.

“We had promulgated rules,” Ickes said, “and those rules said the timing provision … provides for certain sanctions, automatic sanctions as a matter of fact, if a state such as Michigan or Florida violates those timing provisions.

“With respect to the stripping, I voted as a member of the Democratic National Committee. Those were our rules, and I felt I had an obligation to enforce them,” he said.

Clinton won after all the Democratic candidates agreed not to campaign in either state because they violated the party rules.

Clinton, who flew into Florida on primary eve but did not hold a public rally, argued that her rival, Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, had violated the pledge by airing a national ad campaign that also showed on Florida television stations.