Tom Toles for July 21, 2017

Exactly their purpose!

That’s been their goal all along. To engineer and enshrine a permanent hold on power.

They have found a formula that more often than not pays off handsomely in elections. And they have worked assiduously to assemble control of most statehouses in the country, which allows them to control the drawing of legislative districts. While I am no historian or political scientist, I have to believe that the same thing has been done before in US history by another party. Certainly there have been crooks, hacks, drunks, and con men in the White House well before now. This too shall pass. But not without effort from We the People.

VOTE-SUPPRESSION – {a rhyme}

Here’s a fact which Republicans note: -

- Many a voter would choke their throat, …

… so their party’s boat

can stay afloat

only if fewer folks vote.

=======

Hey, Non-voters: Use It or Lose It!

Electronic vote counting makes voter suppression a moot point. The results can be whatever the company supplying the machines wants it to be.

Without transparent hand counting, no election is legitimate.

“The people who vote decide NOTHING. The people who COUNT the votes decide EVERYTHING!” Att; Josef Stalin.

Make voting mandatory.

I wish there was a mandatory path to full citizenship – the right to vote – that included a short term of military or civil service to the country to help it grow and prosper in some significant way and as a requirement, acquiring an understanding of how the government of this country actually works. Demonstrating proficiency in that knowledge should be a prerequisite to register as a voter in federal elections and voting should be a tax deduction. Currently, I am certain that there are immigrants who have become citizens that have a more complete understanding of how this country is supposed to function than those who were born here and have no idea of even where to look to find that information and just pick and choose the odd phrase or two that suits their biases.

As an american citizen, I consider myself pretty literate, but when I was tutoring a Moroccan immigrant, I was astonished when he rattled off the bill of rights and all of the amendments nearly perfectly. BTW! Super, requiring knowledge of how the government works is the perfect excuse for not voting…t’would keep the goofballs from electing one of their peers to the oval office.

A very familiar GOP strategy.

Every democracy in the world makes it easier for its citizens to vote. Except one. USA! USA! USA!

WAITINGMAN ABOUT 1 HOUR AGO“Every democracy in the world makes it easier for its citizens to vote. Except one. USA! USA! USA!”

I would count that as false. Also, we are falling away from being a democracy.

Finally the Republicans control everything, now they never have to give up their power.

Talk about thinking out-side-of-the-box.

You can still vote. You just can’t cast your ballot.

Didn’t know White house tapes could stick on ballot boxes.

Interesting reactions! I recall, during the so-called “Arab Spring” in one of the northern African nations, the existing government was forced to have national elections. Several ‘parties’ ran candidates, including an extremist Muslim group. Their candidate was interviewed and was asked, among other things, how they would handle subsequent elections. The reporter was told that, after THEY were elected, there would be no more elections, since their country would then have the perfect government and it couldn’t be improved upon. The conversation was reported in the news and, since that particular political party was leading in the polls, it was assumed the outcome was secured. A few weeks before the election, the military staged a coup and took over the country. It seems the generals didn’t believe in ‘perfection’!

A mandatory vote with the power of a no-confidence vote and a holiday to vote on or barring that mail-in votes and all votes should be paper votes counted by hand.

Here’s another thing : Election season should last no longer than 6 weeks.