Bush calls for renewal of Voting Rights Act

[sabra]

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2006-07-20-bush-naacp_x.htm

Bush calls for renewal of Voting Rights Act


WASHINGTON (AP) — President Bush on Thursday urged the Senate to renew a landmark civil rights law passed in the 1960s to stop racist voting practices in the South.

"President Johnson called the right to vote the lifeblood of our democracy. That was true then and it remains true today," Bush said in the first address of his presidency to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People's annual convention.

Acknowledging his administration's bumpy relations with black voters, Bush said he wants to change the Republican Party's relationship with African-Americans.

"I understand that racism still lingers in America," Bush said. "It's a lot easier to change a law than to change a human heart. And I understand that many African-Americans distrust my political party.

[ThomCat]

1. This can only mean one thing.

It was going to get renewed regardless. They didn't have enough support to kill it. So now they want to take credit for it.

[zreosumgame]

5. he wants to do a signing statement

then he can alter it so more people can be prevented from voting...

[notadmblnd]

9. oh yeah, it's going to get renewed but I also think it's part of their new

strategy to convince African Americans to switch parties. Here in Michigan a couple of weeks ago, the leading African Newspaper in our state (The Michigan Chronicle) ran an ad in their paper saying that Democrats don't really care about African Americans and haven't done enough to support their causes. They did a little comparing of Jennifer Granholm with Hitler, in which there was a little stink about. Although they fained outrage with the ad, I'm almost certain that Dick (Amway pyramid scheme) DeVos was behind it.

[lonestarnot]

14. And you think they will fall for this shit? Wait until the NAACP

meeting! LOL

[notadmblnd]

15. I'm not hearing people talking about switching over yet

but I did hear a republican for US House of Reps speak today and she presented herself as what she called a "progressive republican." I said I had never heard this term before, and am thinging now that maybe we are seeing the beginnings of the splitting of the republican party?

[napi21]

2. So why didn't he tell his AH lackeys in Congress to do that last week?

Nooooo, he needed the photo op to do THAT!

[IndyOp]

3. Why not? They still own the voting machines and can disenfranchise

millions and millions with provisional ballots, spoiled ballots, and, of course, just not bothering to count some ballots...

A. Disenfranchisement: Suppress the Vote!

Information in this section, except where noted, is from Greg Palast’s “Armed Madhouse"

Over 3 million votes were cast but never counted in the 2004 presidential election. Millions more were lost because voters were prevented from casting their ballots – including those illegally denied registration or wrongly purged from the registries. The new black boxes played their role… but the principal means of the election heist – voiding ballots, overwhelmingly of the poor and Black, Native Americans and Hispanics – went unexposed, unreported and most importantly, uncorrected and ready to roll out on a grander scale in 2008. (All information on this page, except where noted, is from Greg Palast’s “Armed Madhouse”).

Provisional Ballots Rejected: About 1.1 million. Provisional ballots are given if there are problems with the voter’s registration or ID, if there is an error in the voter rolls or if they are “challenged” by GOP. Provisional ballots should be counted unless there is evidence the voter was lying – which is extremely rare.

Spoiled Ballots: About 1.4 million punch-card, optical scan, and e-vote ballots were cast but not counted. About ¾’s of a million African-American votes were not counted, about ¼ of a million Hispanic and Native American votes were not counted. Remaining 400,000+ uncounted votes belonged overwhelming to the poor.

In New Mexico the margin of victory for the Presidential race was 5,988 votes. E-voting machines in Kerry-leaning precincts failed to properly register a presidential vote on more than 20,000 ballots.

Absentee Ballots Rejected: Over half a million in 2004. In swing states, absentee ballot shredding was pandemic. (Florida conveniently labels the voter’s party on the ballot envelope).

In Arapahoe County, Colorado, three times more absentee ballots mailed to Democrats “failed to return” as compared to Republican ballots. Voters from Kerry precincts were 265% more likely to have their absentee ballots tossed out when they did arrive at the clerk’s office.

Voters Barred from Voting: Incompetence and trickery that prevented people – primarily racial minorities, low-income voters, and Democratic voters - from voting included: Destroying voter registrations * Failing to process registrations in a timely manner * Illegally re-registering Democrats as Republicans * Illegal purges of voter rolls * GOP challenges to voter registrations via ‘caging’ * Voter intimidation and misinformation campaigns * Forgot to mail absentee ballots in Florida, Ohio, and to nearly 3 million Americans living abroad * Phone-jamming Democratic candidate lines provided to help voters having problems on election day * Creating impossibly long lines at the polls as a result of GOP challenges to voters; too few functioning voting machines; changing polling station locations; merging polling stations to save money * GOP volunteers ‘picked up’ absentee ballots from Democratic voters.

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/IndyOp/28

[drm604]

11. Maybe what we need to do is all register Republican and vote absentee. n/t

[Oak2004]

13. Sounds like a good idea to become a "republican" in some

places -- not a real one, just one that can avoid being purged from the voter lists or have their ballot disappear in the mail.

Of course then they'd just disenfrancise those "republicans" some other way.

[Mandate My Ass]

4. how white of him (eom)

[Roland99]

6. He "understands" that racism still lingers? Good thing he "understands"

:eyes:

[Botany]

7. I live in Columbus, OH

This is from a white area that was liberal but it was just the same in black areas.

Bush got Florida in 2000 because 90,000 blacks were purged by DBT / Choice Point for Jeb & Harris
in Ohio in 2004 360,000 blacks were blocked from voting by "house cleaning" of voter lists
prior to the election .... they had to vote provisionally .....

Bush talking about the voting rights act is like Hitler going to a synagogue. What crap.

[patdem]

8. NOW we know why the repuks put in on the back burner when it came up

the first time...got give bush cover at NAACP! What a bunch of political hacks..like THAT will make blacks vote for repukes!

[Az_lefty]

10. why hasn't tihs voting rights act become permanent law?

what am I missing here???
:shrug:

[The Wielding Truth]

12. Rove-r at work! If you can't stop us at the polls, tell us you're

fighting for our right to vote. BIG B.S.ALERT!

Any reason any voter would support *? Can't think of an honest one!

[superconnected]

16. In other words, it's an election year.

[6000eliot]

17. That's rich

considering the degree to which his campaigns in 2000 and 2004 were responsible for disenfranchising black voters. I wonder they all didn't puke at the same time on the spot.

[progressivebydesign]

18. Pandering mothafucka! Does he think they are STUPID???

He must.. cuz he refused to talk to them for years.. and suddenly shows up like he's some fucking savior. They should walked out on the bastard.. should have turned their backs. Does he think they're stupid? Do they really think he fucking supports the VRA?? He doesn't. Fuck him.. he's just pimping for candidates after the destruction of Katrina. they shoulda had Kanye West talking, instead..