Good morning!

Before your minds get dirty on me, and I can see from the 99 comments (Woo Hoo! – that’s a record!) this morning that amongst all of the hot topics, the ending topic was of course “SEX”. :) Keep reading…It’s not what you think.

Everyone knows I am a huge animal lover and dogs are my choice for a domestic pet. But when I read starting reading the writes about Romney and his “Let’s-tie-the-dog-to-the-roof-and-take-a-12-hour-road-trip”, I just had to blog about it. (Thanks Caroline and Ursla for broaching the topic. You know I have to talk my two about this.)

I read this story on the internet written in 2007 during the 2008 campaigning, but I do not remember seeing it then or I would’ve blogged about it then. It looks like it is getting plenty of media time again and rightly so in my opinion.

Does it bother you that Romney put his dog in a kennel and tied it to the roof of his car? It does more than bother me. I find it to be simply cruel, inhuman, and lacking empathy, not to mention it is against Massachusetts law:

Massachusetts law prohibits carrying an animal “in or upon a vehicle, or otherwise, in an unnecessarily cruel or inhuman manner or in a way and manner which might endanger the animal carried thereon.”

But as you know Romney didn’t get arrested for it, nor did he get a fine of any sort that I am aware of.

And I don’t care if he provided a “wind shield” – The dog is isolated and vulnerable to the wind, the speed, not to mention that it was so very stressful for his dog Seamus, that the dog lost control of his bowels! If Romney didn’t know that the dog was stressed out during the ride, the diarrhea running down the back window of the car should’ve of been a clue!

But no, Romney pulls off at an “unplanned stop”, hoses the dog off, sticks him back up on the roof and continues on the drive. And from what I have heard on Snopes, he “made it clear to his five sons in the car that bathroom breaks would only be taken at predetermined breaks to gas the car” – Wha’at?! – If he’s not going to make an “unplanned stop” to let one of his sons relieve himself, don’t plan on him caring much about the dog. And we can see that he didn’t.

Here’s a recent write:

Mitt Romney Admits He Tied Family Dog To The Roof of His Car [Video]

When Mitt Romney tied the family dog on the roof of his car in an airtight container then drove for 12 hours to Canada, he had no idea it would come back 20 years later to piss off animal lovers around the country.

But piss them off it has.  In an interview with Fox News Romney, the front runner for the Republican nomination for President, admitted that he did it, and even more claimed that the dog really liked it.

He was confronted by the interviewer who said that in Romney’s own home state of Massachusetts the law is that you cannot (even in an airtight container) put your dog on the roof of a moving vehicle because it is considered inhumane.

Romney did keep his cool in the interview, and kept going back to his stock answer of “The dog enjoyed it, he wanted to be there, he got in willingly”

As you can see from the interview, the strangest part is when Romney tells the interviewer that the Kennel on top of the car was AIRTIGHT as if it is a good thing!

There has not been a huge backlash against Romney for the act (it was more than 20 years ago) but this week a protester in South Carolina strapped a stuffed dog to the roof of his car and hung a sign on the side of it saying “Dogs Against Romney”

What do you think about Romney tying his dog to the roof of his car for a twelve hour drive?

Watch the interview:

*L*S*O*S*

Readers: Romney justifies his actions by saying the dog got in willingly.

“He scrambled up there every time we went on trips,” Romney said. “He got [up] all by himself and enjoyed it.”

What an idiot.

And don’t you just love that Romney claims back in 2007 that “They’re (the critics) not happy that my dog likes fresh air”, and yet in this video he says that the container was “airtight”. (Again, like “airtight” is a good thing) Get your stories straight Romney – is your dog getting air or is he not?

An idiot, and a Lying Sack Of Shit. He belongs in the LSOS Club. Oops, forgot, he already qualified for membership.

Thoughts? Blog me.

Howie: Thanks. As always, I look forward to more.

ZL: Thanks. I liked it when I read it, and decided to adopt it for myself. :)

Mike: I agree with you. Can you imagine how lax our police force would be if the knowledge of aliens living amongst us or flying above us was out in the open? If it wasn’t obvious who the perpetrator was, they would most likely blame crimes on the aliens and do little if any investigation.  In fact they would probably get so lazy, and blame everything on the aliens…crimes, murders etc., that nothing would get done and criminals would have a field day, everyday, with very little convictions made.

Al: Good memory –  you are correct. It seems some people don’t learn. It was racist then and it still is.

Anna of Guam: Done. Senator Blas of Guam is now a member of the LSOS Club.

Ida: So well said!

Debra: That is one of the most ridiculous quotes I have ever heard.

Keep commenting –  Peace out.

Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my “loyal”(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.

Gratefully your blog host,

michelle

Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)

If you love my blog and my writes, please make a donation via PayPal, credit card, or e-check, please click the “Donate” button below. (Please only donations from those readers within the United States. – International readers please see my “Donate” page)

Or if you would like to send a check via snail mail, please make checks payable to “Michelle Moquin”, and send to:

Michelle Moquin PO Box 29235 San Francisco, Ca. 94129

Thank you for your loyal support!

All content on this site are property of Michelle Moquin © copyright 2008-2012

“Though she be but little, she be fierce.” – William Shakespeare Midsummer Night’s Dream 

“ Politics, god, Life, News, Music, Family, Personal, Travel, Random, Photography, Religion, Aliens, Art, Entertainment, Food, Books, Thoughts, Media, Culture, Love, Sex, Poetry, Prose, Friends, Technology, Humor, Health, Writing, Events, Movies, Sports, Video, Christianity, Atheist, Blogging, History, Work, Education, Business, Fashion, Barack Obama, People, Internet, Relationships, Faith, Photos, Videos, Hillary Clinton, School, Reviews, God, TV, Philosophy, Fun, Science, Environment, Design, The Page, Rants, Pictures, Church, Blog, Nature, Marketing, Television, Democrats, Parenting, Miscellaneous, Current Events, Film, Spirituality, Obama, Musings, Home, Human Rights, Society, Comedy, Me, Random Thoughts, Research, Government, Election 2008, Baseball, Opinion, Recipes, Children, Iraq, Funny, Women, Economics, America, Misc, Commentary, John McCain, Reflections, All, Celebrities, Inspiration, Lifestyle, Theology, Linux, Kids, Games, World, India, Literature, China, Ramblings, Fitness, Money, Review, War, Articles, Economy, Journal, Quotes, NBA, Crime, Anime, Islam, 2008, Stories, Prayer, Diary, Jesus, Buddha, Muslim, Israel, Europe, Links, Marriage, Fiction, American Idol, Software, Leadership, Pop culture, Rants, Video Games, Republicans, Updates, Political, Football, Healing, Blogs, Shopping, USA, Class, Matrix, Course, Work, Web 2.0, My Life, Psychology, Gay, Happiness, Advertising, Field Hockey, Hip-hop, sex, fucking, ass, Soccer, sox“

Good morning!

So Romney won New Hampshire last night. This article is perfect to post today. It really show what a hypocrite Romney really is.

Mitt Romney’s Test of Moral Fiber 

I was surprised when Mitt Romney’s son, Matt,resuscitated the “birther” issue in New Hampshire on December 29. Speaking at a campaign event, the young Romney deflected a question about his father’s refusal to release his income tax return by citing a proposal that President Barack Obama should first release his own birth certificate. Mr. Romney, who has since retracted his statement, apparently did not realize that, at White House urging, the state of Hawaii released the president’s long form birth certificate on April 25, 2011.

The White House deemed that action necessary to quiet a noisy debate that was distracting the country and damaging the national interest. The basis of the tempest was the Constitution’s Article II Section 1, which seems to prohibit anyone except “naturalized American citizens” born in the USA from serving as president. A small group of conspiracy crackpots, theorizing that the president was lying about having been born in Hawaii, found a bullhorn for their quackery on Fox News and hate radio. Like milk on a hot stove, the bizarre obsession of a lunatic fringe suddenly grew to envelop even the rational remnants of the Republican Party, drowning sane discourse on vital issues of public import. It was apparent from the outset that the topic’s steroidal appeal was its dog whistle usefulness in highlighting the “otherness” of America’s first African American president; there was no appetite among these conservative cohorts for applying the Article II Section 1 prohibition against the GOP’s 2008 candidate, John McCain, a white man born in Panama.

Mr. Romney’s initial choice to to stir life back into the issue raised consistency questions peculiar to the Romney clan. Mitt’s father — Governor George Romney of Michigan — was driven to distraction by his own “birther” movement when he ran in the Republican presidential primaries of 1968. Supporters of his opponent, Richard Nixon, argued that George Romney’s presidency would be unconstitutional because Romney had been born in Mexico where his grandfather and five wives had fled to evade America’s polygamy laws.

On a more salient point with relevance to the current campaign, the 1787 Constitutional Conventionincluded the Article II Section 1 prohibition due to the prevailing fear that a foreign power might otherwise gain undue influence over America’s democracy. Ironically, the greatest threat of that outcome today comes from those Super PACs which Romney’s allies and campaign staffers have pioneered in Iowa. Arguably, Super PACs now pose the most menacing platform for foreign and private interests to gain an alarming hold on the White House. Under the current Supreme Court holding in Citizens United v. FEC, there isnothing to stop foreign governments or foreign owned corporations from secretly donating hundreds of millions of dollars to Super PACs enabling them to pick favored candidates and destroy their opponents.

Prior to his withdrawal from the presidential contest on February 28, 1968, George Romney ran an extraordinarily honest, thoughtful and honorable campaign. The senior Romney, a former Chairman and CEO of American Motors Corporation, criticized the military industrial complex for lying to Americans about Vietnam and mocked the products of Detroit’s Big Three as “gas guzzling dinosaurs.” He was a vocal advocate of Civil Rights and anti-poverty legislation. He supported strong unions as the launching pad for America’s middle class and criticized conservative palaver about “rugged individualism,” unrestricted free markets, and wholesale corporate deregulation as “nothing but a political banner to cover up greed.” Romney, a Mormon bishop, refused to work on Sundays (with rare exception), fasted before big decisions, spurned dirty campaigning and other appeals to the dark forces of ignorance, greed, racism and division.

As Governor Mitt Romney grapples with his Party’s national banner, the test of his moral fiber will be the vigor with which he resists the dark impulse of ignorance, greed, vitriol, demagoguery and division and how robustly he safeguards America’s interest in a strong and independent democracy. Will Romney lead the GOP with the brand of decency that is his heritage, or will he choose instead to outsource indecency and mudslinging to surrogates and Super PACs?

********

Readers: Don’t you especially enjoy the reference to the fact that the question of McCain’s birth never became an issue?  And that the reason the law was passed was to prohibit foreign powers from taking control over the USA’s presidential choices. It was nicely pointed out that the republicans and STARK have done that with the passage of  Citizens United v. FEC.

Thoughts? Blog me.

Robert, RT: How delightful. I would enjoy that as well. Let me figure out some times and get back to you.

Brad: I’ve never given gays a thought with respect to being a girlz. So let me give it some. :)

John: That info you posted is just criminal, and disgusting.

That’s it for me today. Your turn.

Peace out.

Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my “loyal”(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.

Gratefully your blog host,

michelle

Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)

If you love my blog and my writes, please make a donation via PayPal, credit card, or e-check, please click the “Donate” button below. (Please only donations from those readers within the United States. – International readers please see my “Donate” page)

Or if you would like to send a check via snail mail, please make checks payable to “Michelle Moquin”, and send to:

Michelle Moquin PO Box 29235 San Francisco, Ca. 94129

Thank you for your loyal support!

All content on this site are property of Michelle Moquin © copyright 2008-2012

“Though she be but little, she be fierce.” – William Shakespeare Midsummer Night’s Dream

" Politics, god, Life, News, Music, Family, Personal, Travel, Random, Photography, Religion, Aliens, Art, Entertainment, Food, Books, Thoughts, Media, Culture, Love, Sex, Poetry, Prose, Friends, Technology, Humor, Health, Writing, Events, Movies, Sports, Video, Christianity, Atheist, Blogging, History, Work, Education, Business, Fashion, Barack Obama, People, Internet, Relationships, Faith, Photos, Videos, Hillary Clinton, School, Reviews, God, TV, Philosophy, Fun, Science, Environment, Design, The Page, Rants, Pictures, Church, Blog, Nature, Marketing, Television, Democrats, Parenting, Miscellaneous, Current Events, Film, Spirituality, Obama, Musings, Home, Human Rights, Society, Comedy, Me, Random Thoughts, Research, Government, Election 2008, Baseball, Opinion, Recipes, Children, Iraq, Funny, Women, Economics, America, Misc, Commentary, John McCain, Reflections, All, Celebrities, Inspiration, Lifestyle, Theology, Linux, Kids, Games, World, India, Literature, China, Ramblings, Fitness, Money, Review, War, Articles, Economy, Journal, Quotes, NBA, Crime, Anime, Islam, 2008, Stories, Prayer, Diary, Jesus, Buddha, Muslim, Israel, Europe, Links, Marriage, Fiction, American Idol, Software, Leadership, Pop culture, Rants, Video Games, Republicans, Updates, Political, Football, Healing, Blogs, Shopping, USA, Class, Matrix, Course, Work, Web 2.0, My Life, Psychology, Gay, Happiness, Advertising, Field Hockey, Hip-hop, sex, fucking, ass, Soccer, sox"

Good morning!

Bain, Barack and Jobs

By PAUL KRUGMAN

America’s recovery from recession has been so slow that it mostly doesn’t seem like a recovery at all, especially on the jobs front. So, in a better world, President Obama would face a challenger offering a serious critique of his job-creation policies, and proposing a serious alternative.

Instead, he’ll almost surely face Mitt Romney.

Stan: First let me say that I did not read your comment to Robert,RT from a few days ago otherwise I would’ve given you a nod for bringing up the 60 Minutes interview with Rep. Cantor, that I blogged about yesterday. I had a very social weekend planned so I pre-scheduled what I was going to blog about Friday through Sunday. And with 69 comments on Friday, I hate to admit it but I only did a quick look and really didn’t get to reading them until this morning.

As you can see from my write yesterday, I too think that Rep. Cantor is fine candidate for membership in the LSOS Club, and I have no problem labeling him as such. And thank you also for the kudos.

Paaie: I think you are right on, along with NC, MC,Nia, SE, OI. Michelle Obama is intelligent, strong, dedicated, persevering, and simply amazing. A wonderful woman of the world in my opinion. And Irma, the only reason they would hate her for her achievements is because she is black. If she were white they would be celebrating her achievements.

Howie: I agree with Ralph - this is a very scary story. What questions did you have when you were informed? My first question would be, “Is there anything that we can do?” So I ask this of you, Is there any answer to that question? It sounds like humans can’t do much except to stop polluting, but that doesn’t deal with the already huge problem at hand.

And as much as there are those aliens that are better able to adapt to a different composition of gas ratio than is present in our atmosphere will eventually become the dominant life force here, who might be okay with or even welcome this dire situation for humans, there must be aliens that are not so pleased with this. So perhaps any positive action on our part, would lead to alien intervention, which might be our only solution(?). I would love to hear your thoughts.

Readers: That’s all I can address this morning.  Happy Monday! Peace out.

Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my “loyal”(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.

Gratefully your blog host,

michelle

Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)

If you love my blog and my writes, please make a donation via PayPal, credit card, or e-check, please click the “Donate” button below. (Please only donations from those readers within the United States. – International readers please see my “Donate” page)

Or if you would like to send a check via snail mail, please make checks payable to “Michelle Moquin”, and send to:

Michelle Moquin PO Box 29235 San Francisco, Ca. 94129

Thank you for your loyal support!

All content on this site are property of Michelle Moquin © copyright 2008-2012

“Though she be but little, she be fierce.” – William Shakespeare Midsummer Night’s Dream

" Politics, god, Life, News, Music, Family, Personal, Travel, Random, Photography, Religion, Aliens, Art, Entertainment, Food, Books, Thoughts, Media, Culture, Love, Sex, Poetry, Prose, Friends, Technology, Humor, Health, Writing, Events, Movies, Sports, Video, Christianity, Atheist, Blogging, History, Work, Education, Business, Fashion, Barack Obama, People, Internet, Relationships, Faith, Photos, Videos, Hillary Clinton, School, Reviews, God, TV, Philosophy, Fun, Science, Environment, Design, The Page, Rants, Pictures, Church, Blog, Nature, Marketing, Television, Democrats, Parenting, Miscellaneous, Current Events, Film, Spirituality, Obama, Musings, Home, Human Rights, Society, Comedy, Me, Random Thoughts, Research, Government, Election 2008, Baseball, Opinion, Recipes, Children, Iraq, Funny, Women, Economics, America, Misc, Commentary, John McCain, Reflections, All, Celebrities, Inspiration, Lifestyle, Theology, Linux, Kids, Games, World, India, Literature, China, Ramblings, Fitness, Money, Review, War, Articles, Economy, Journal, Quotes, NBA, Crime, Anime, Islam, 2008, Stories, Prayer, Diary, Jesus, Buddha, Muslim, Israel, Europe, Links, Marriage, Fiction, American Idol, Software, Leadership, Pop culture, Rants, Video Games, Republicans, Updates, Political, Football, Healing, Blogs, Shopping, USA, Class, Matrix, Course, Work, Web 2.0, My Life, Psychology, Gay, Happiness, Advertising, Field Hockey, Hip-hop, sex, fucking, ass, Soccer, sox"

Good morning!

“Just noticing…”

…The republicans are aways claiming that Reagan didn’t raise taxes; he actually did it more than any other president during a recession.

I pulled a section from the article below found on the Huff Po:

Readers: This article tells the facts – an inconvenient truth that the republicans just don’t want to admit. This fits right in with the LSOS Club. And I think Rep. Eric Cantor qualifies to be a member – don’t you? For those of you Newbies just joining us today for the first time, LSOS means “Lying Sacks Of Shits“. Oooh I just love saying that.

Kraig: Done. Your mother Dorrie is now a member of the LSOS Club.

Norma: You’re welcome. Kelly is now a member as well.

Zen Lill: All is better than well, thank you. I HOPE you are too. I am having a very social weekend…and it is a very beautiful weekend. Out early and back late today. Give a call when it works for you in the coming weeks.

TK: I agree. But Newt was not factually correct nor politically correct. He was being racist.

UG: I smiled at what your young daughter said, and loved what you said.

Robert, RT: You articulate so well that even the hard to grasp would understand. Thanks for being here. FYI: I would enjoy hearing you speak live sometime.

RJ: You and me both. I was just having that exact conversation at a party last night. And when it comes to the republican party you can include women and OTW’s as well.

Junko: I don’t know if Ym is an alien or not, but his feelings towards women, or a least his lady love, seem rare to me. And if his actions meet those delicious words, he expresses…well then, he is truly a one of a kind. Not to say, that there are not men out there that do or could feel that way. Perhaps they have just not found a woman that they love so much that inspire the words of Ym: “She brings out what comes out in me. I just experience it.”

Anyway, thank you for the kind words. I don’t know if I inspire the exact devotion that Ym’s lady love does, but I do know that love and devotion show up in many different and special ways, and I certainly experience them with my love.

I wish you luck in finding your Ym. Hmmm…I have to smile….”Finding your Ym…” – that could be a little blog insider for the girls here. “Have you found your YM?” :) If you are ever in SF, I would love to meet you…and who knows…perhaps you will find your Ym here.

I’ll end it with love, and leave all of you wishing you a wonderful Sunday. The forum is now open. Blog me. 

Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my “loyal”(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.

Gratefully your blog host,

michelle

Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)

If you love my blog and my writes, please make a donation via PayPal, credit card, or e-check, please click the “Donate” button below. (Please only donations from those readers within the United States. – International readers please see my “Donate” page)

Or if you would like to send a check via snail mail, please make checks payable to “Michelle Moquin”, and send to:

Michelle Moquin PO Box 29235 San Francisco, Ca. 94129

Thank you for your loyal support!

All content on this site are property of Michelle Moquin © copyright 2008-2012

“Though she be but little, she be fierce.” – William Shakespeare Midsummer Night’s Dream

" Politics, god, Life, News, Music, Family, Personal, Travel, Random, Photography, Religion, Aliens, Art, Entertainment, Food, Books, Thoughts, Media, Culture, Love, Sex, Poetry, Prose, Friends, Technology, Humor, Health, Writing, Events, Movies, Sports, Video, Christianity, Atheist, Blogging, History, Work, Education, Business, Fashion, Barack Obama, People, Internet, Relationships, Faith, Photos, Videos, Hillary Clinton, School, Reviews, God, TV, Philosophy, Fun, Science, Environment, Design, The Page, Rants, Pictures, Church, Blog, Nature, Marketing, Television, Democrats, Parenting, Miscellaneous, Current Events, Film, Spirituality, Obama, Musings, Home, Human Rights, Society, Comedy, Me, Random Thoughts, Research, Government, Election 2008, Baseball, Opinion, Recipes, Children, Iraq, Funny, Women, Economics, America, Misc, Commentary, John McCain, Reflections, All, Celebrities, Inspiration, Lifestyle, Theology, Linux, Kids, Games, World, India, Literature, China, Ramblings, Fitness, Money, Review, War, Articles, Economy, Journal, Quotes, NBA, Crime, Anime, Islam, 2008, Stories, Prayer, Diary, Jesus, Buddha, Muslim, Israel, Europe, Links, Marriage, Fiction, American Idol, Software, Leadership, Pop culture, Rants, Video Games, Republicans, Updates, Political, Football, Healing, Blogs, Shopping, USA, Class, Matrix, Course, Work, Web 2.0, My Life, Psychology, Gay, Happiness, Advertising, Field Hockey, Hip-hop, sex, fucking, ass, Soccer, sox"

Good morning!

The republican Iowa Caucus is today. Do you think the party who claims that there is massive “voter fraud”,  would be so worried about “voter Fraud” that they would request an I.D. to vote at the republican Iowa Caucus? Nope – not a chance. No I.D. needed. Gee…do ya think it’s because there are no democrats to vote for at this election? No doubt. Typical actions of the republicans isn’t it? Just what kind of people would vote for this party when they are so blatantly hypocritical?

Here’s the write:

Republicans Require No Photo ID To Vote In Republican Iowa Caucus

For all of their years of claims that massive voter fraud is going on at the polling place, such that photo ID restrictions are required to ensure the integrity of the vote, you’d think that when Republicans have a chance to run their own elections, they’d be sure to want it to be as “fraud”-free as possible.

Nonetheless, despite onerous polling place photo ID requirements now passed into law in about a dozen states where the GOP controls both the legislative and executive branches, voters will be able to cast their ballot in next Tuesday’s “First-in-the-Nation” Republican Iowa caucuses without bothering to show a photo ID — even though the Republican Party itself sets their own rules for voting there.

Unlike most primary elections where an official state election board or agency sets the rules and runs the registration and balloting processes, the Iowa Republican Party runs its own state caucuses, determines the rules, tabulates all the votes and announces the results to the public and media themselves. They have complete control over the entire process, and yet they don’t bother to ask their own voters to show a state-issued photo ID before casting their ballot.

I wonder why that would be?

Actually, I don’t. I know exactly why that’s the case. Polling place photo ID laws, passed in states where Republicans took control in the wave election of 2010, are instituted for one purpose and one purpose only: to suppress the votes of voters such as the elderly, minorities and students, all of whom have a dastardly tendency to vote for Democratic candidates rather than Republicans. Since only Republicans are on the IA Republican caucus ballot, unlike general elections, the GOP has no interest in disenfranchising their own voters.

While the GOP likes to claim they’re attempting to institute these laws to curb “voter fraud,” they’re unable to show evidence of virtually any polling place impersonation that would supposedly be prevented by such laws. For example, in rejecting the South Carolina GOP’s new Photo ID restriction last Friday, finding that that the state’s own statistics showed the law would be racially discriminatory, the U.S. Dept. of Justice noted [PDF] that the state failed to point to “any evidence or instance of either in-person voter impersonation or any other type of fraud that is not already addressed by the state’s existing voter identification requirement and that arguably could be deterred by requiring voters to present only photo identification at the polls.”

That, even as independent study after study has documented how hundreds of thousands of perfectly legal voters are likely to be disenfranchised by such laws.

Of course, if “voter fraud” was truly a concern of the Republican Party, surely they would require that Iowa caucus goers present a photo ID before casting their vote. But, because such laws have never been about “voter fraud,” once again this year, the Party will not bother to require Iowa Republicans to present any such ID before voting in the all-important caucuses next week.

According to their own “Bullet-Point Guide to the 2012 Republican Party of Iowa Caucuses,” as posted at the state party’s website last week, only new registrants, those registering to sign up with the Republican Party and vote on the same day at the caucus, will be asked — but not actually required — to show photo ID:

Do you have to be registered Republican to participate in the Republican caucus? Yes. In order to participate in the Republican caucus, one must be a registered Republican in the state of Iowa. You do have the opportunity to register as a Republican at the caucus, provided that you have a valid photo ID with your current address on it (such as your Iowa driver’s license) or a photo ID and a document that proves your residence (such as a utility bill). For more information, visit: http://sos.iowa.gov/elections/voterinformation/edr.html.

As the information at the above-linked website of Iowa Secretary of State and Commissioner of Elections Matt Schultz (R) details, a photo ID isn’t actually even necessary to register and vote on Election Day either! Any Iowa citizen 18 or over can register as a Republican and then vote in the Republican IA caucus without a Photo ID being required of any of them.

The IA Sec. of State’s website notes (and as I confirmed with them yesterday):

If you cannot prove who you are and where you live with the documents [ed note: such as photo ID] listed above, a registered voter from your precinct may attest for you. Both you and the attester will be required to sign an oath swearing the statements being made are true.

Falsely attesting or being attested for is registration fraud. It is a class “D” felony and is punishable by a fine of up to $7,500 and up to 5 years in prison.

Cheryl Allen at the Sec. of State’s office confirmed to me Tuesday that while showing photo ID is the “easiest way” to register to vote there, it is by no means a requirement. Folks without photo ID are allowed to sign a simple oath, along with one attester, in order to verify that they are who they say they are.

So not only is it possible to register and vote on the same day in Iowa — something that Republicans have fought against allowing for most citizens in most other states — one doesn’t even need a photo ID to do it, in an election where the Republicans themselves set all of the rules.

It’s almost as if they realize that risking disenfranchisement of any of their own voters in their own caucus would be monumentally stupid — not to mention potentially illegal and/or unconstitutional to boot, though that has yet to stop them from doing the same in general elections where Democrats may be on the ballot.

Go figure.

Too bad 96-year old Dorothy Cooper and 93-year old Thelma Mitchell from TN and 84-year old Ruthelle Frank from WI, just to name a very few, aren’t residents of Iowa. They’d actually be allowed to vote in the much-ballyhooed First-in-the-Nation Republican Iowa caucus without a problem — just as they have been doing in their own states for decades… until Republicans in those states decided to change the rules this year and make it much more difficult, and/or potentially expensive, to exercise their once-free right to vote.

I attempted to reach out to the Iowa GOP’s Communication Director for comment on all of this yesterday, via both phone and email, but those messages have yet to be returned.

One last point for now… since it’s repeated so often in defense of indefensible photo ID laws, and so few respond to the misleading claims with the truth. Next time you hear a supporter of one of these voter suppression laws claim, as they do in their usual talking points, that photo ID is required to fly on a plane or to buy a beer or a pack of cigarettes, so why not for voting? Please let them know that, no, photo ID is not required to fly on a plane, as the commercial airlines are not about to keep millions of Americans who don’t have such IDs from flying. Furthermore, while I’ve purchased cigarettes and beer many times over the last several decades, I can’t recall the last time anybody ever required me to show a photo ID before doing so.

Nonetheless, even if photo ID were required for each of the transactions mentioned above (and it isn’t) each of those transactions are privileges in this country, as opposed to Constitutional rights, which cannot be infringed upon. Apparently the Republicans, in Iowa at least, are smart enough to appreciate that — at least when it comes to running their very own elections.

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Cross-posted at The BRAD BLOG…

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UPDATE: As Eric W. Dolan at RAW STORY points out, in picking up on our story, earlier this year, Iowa state Republicans in their statehouse passed a Photo ID restriction law, as sponsored by Republican Sec. of State Matt Schultz. The measure, thankfully, died in a Senate committee. And yet, when state Republicans had the chance to set any rules they wanted for voting in their own caucuses for President next week, they declined to require Photo ID of their voters. So what does that tell ya?

*H*Y*P*O*C*R*I*T*E*S*

Blog me. 

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michelle

Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)

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