Olbermann Enters O'Reilly/Cuban Fray; #'s on Photo ID Disenfranchisment; 55%: Bush Impeachable

A few quick items of note from BRAD BLOG, as we speed eastward through Colorado today.... -- Brad

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VIDEOS: Olbermann Enters the Fray in O'Reilly v. Cuban Dustup
As Fox 'News' Anchor Sputters and Fumes, MSNBC Fact Checks O'Reilly's Claim About Chances of FDR 'Incarcerating' Cuban for Producing a Film
Also Notes Dallas Mavericks Upcoming, Previously Scheduled 'Support the Troops' Night...

This one just gets more amusing by the day.

(NOTE: Can't tell for sure, but I may have seen actual whisps of steam coming out of O'Reilly's ears during his latest video "tirade"!)

SUMMARY OF OUR STORY SO FAR, PLUS THE LATEST VIDEO BARRAGE:
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=5300

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By the Numbers: Photo ID Poll Restrictions Disenfranchise Minority & Elderly (read: Democratic) Voters
Some Quantitative Numbers from the Brennan Center in Response to the GOP 'Voter Fraud/Photo ID' Scam...

FULL STORY: http://www.bradblog.com/?p=5299

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Poll: 55 percent of Voters Say Bush Has Committed Impeachable Offenses
52% Believe Cheney Is Impeachable...

FULL STORY: http://www.bradblog.com/?p=5296

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Reactions Counted at the Sold Out 'Uncounted' Premiere
Overflow Crowd in Nashville Prompts Scheduling of Several Additional Screenings...



FULL STORY: http://www.bradblog.com/?p=5301


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---
Brad Friedman
Publisher/Editor, The BRAD BLOG
http://www.BradBlog.com

You have to have a photo Id to open a bank account, register a car, cash a check, and a million other things that people do every day.
Just about every state offers a non Driver's license ID that is acceptable at just about anyplace you go.

moreso when the RealID act kicks in.

And if you know a lot of poor people, you will know that many do not have bank accounts, registered cars, checking accounts to write a check from, and a plethora of other things that "normal" people have.

Tying voting to having an ID ties it to paying 20 bucks for the damned thing. That is an indirect poll tax.

:thumbsup:

and I have a lot of experience in being poor, something like 59 plus years

You think that there is no excuse to not have an ID or that these laws are disenfranhising too many people because it effectively sets up a poll tax?

Because if you think the former, then the article says you are wrong. Just because 88% have an ID doesn't mean it is okay to disenfranchise the other 12%.

I was Eating Ramen noodles and generic labeled soup, and getting public assistance for help with my rent. I still had to have a photo ID to get anything done anywhere I went.

And I would like to know that 1 person, 1 vote is in effect. I don't like the idea of repugs being able to walk into a half dozen polling stations, giving different names and negating my one vote.

Glad to know you are Mr. Responsible...good for you!!

But being responsible is not a requirement for voting, either. Just that you are American, registered, and of voting age.

You want it to be one person-one vote, but by this articles stats alone 1 person = 0 votes for big segments of society. And it hurts the Dems more than the pukes. Your preferred treatment is killing the patient.

And there is a level of poor that means no eating anything many days....much less Ramen noodles. And entire communities are set up understanding the ID is a real issue.

If you did vote, you would know that when you give your name, they cross it off of a list. "You" cannot vote again, even if someone impersonates you and gives your name.

It is not a perfect system, but it *does* indicate when there has been fraud. For example, you show up and demand to vote!

And what if you already voted? The person who shows up pretending to be you looks pretty foolish. And will probably be arrested.

The bottom line is, "one person, one vote" does not excuse the fraud being perpetrated by the photo ID requirement.

The worst part is, it would actually make it easier to perpetrate large-scale fraud without detection. Just make up lots of ID's with your photo, register at 20 different polling places, and show up and vote. It would take all day, but no one would question it.

We all know ID's can be fabricated. I do not care how good they are. If they are good, they are expensive and will disenfranchise people.

And they are totally unnecessary!!!!!

The only sure-fire way to prevent polling fraud like this is the indelible purple ink on the hand. I would wear that ink proudly.

# 21.8% of black Indiana voters do not have access to a valid photo ID (compared to 15.8% of white Indiana voters - a 6 point gap).

# When non-registered eligible voter responses are included - the gap widens. 28.3% of eligible black voters in the State of Indiana to not have valid photo ID (compared to 16.8% of eligible voting age white Indiana residents - a gap of 11.5 percent).

# The study found what it termed "a curvilinear pattern (similar to an upside down U-curve)" in the relationship between age and access to valid ID - younger voters and older voters were both less likely to have valid ID compared to voters in the middle categories. 22% of voters 18-34 did not have ID, nor did 19.4% over the age of 70. (compared to 16.2% of Indiana voters age 35-54 without valid ID and 14.1% for 55-69 year olds).

# 21% of Indiana registered voters with only a high school diploma did not have valid ID (compared to 11.5% of Indiana voters who have completed college - a gap of 9.5%).

# Those with valid ID are much more likely to be Republicans than those who do not have valid ID. Among registered voters with proper ID, 41.6% are registered Republicans, 32.5% are Democrats.



So those are the numbers. Perhaps when you mean "people" who use their ID's every day, you mean middle-class people. America is made up of far more people than just those that live in the suburbs.

I had to go to Kinkos and photo copy my Driver's License to send with my mail in ballot for the local elections here. Printer was on the fritz) The inconvenience for the elderly to get out to the nearest Kinkos to do this, those who are housebound having to ask people to do this for them. Whatever happened to the secret ballot?

I just looked at the people I have had interaction with on a daily basis and how many of them use their ID on a daily basis.

There are large segments of society that have no birth records, no ID, and apparently are invisible to the great majority of Americans.

But they still have the right to vote.

Look at those numbers and tell me that ALL these people not having the right to vote because of an ID law is worth stopping a few Ann Coulters from replicating their vote in two locations.

The proponents of voter ID can't produce a single instance of voter fraud in most states. None. It's a nonexistent problem, yet it is fiercely pushed forward by the Rove-inspired GOP. Why? The Brennan Center report lays it all out. This was at the heart of the U.S. attorney scandal. Rove told Gonzalez he wanted the U.S. attorneys to do everything they could to find (or invent) instances of such fraud taking place.

Simply put, the burden placed on voters rests disproportionately on certain groups, and it is an unnecessary impingement. I look for another 5-4 vote, with the Four Horsemen - Scalia, Thomas, Roberts and Alito - jumping at the chance to vote for this. That leaves Kennedy again, and I don't like the odds.

The other folks here did a good job of responding to your questions. Thankfully, as I've been on the road and offline the entire day. If you'd read the linked article on this, you'd have had more details to start with.

But what must be underscored is the non-existence of this problem. Yes, Ann Coulter DID commit voter fraud (see http://www.BradBlog.com/CoulterFraud for details) but it's *exceedingly* rare, even by the DoJ's own numbers, and Photo ID wouldn't have made any difference in Coulter's case.

For a view of what the DoJ has found in the last five years of trying *really* hard to find "voter fraud" anywhere that they could, but couldn't, see this great piece:

"In 5-Year Effort, Scant Evidence of Voter Fraud"
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/12/washington/12fraud.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

Then see this landmark report:
"The Politics of Voter Fraud"
http://www.bradblog.com/Docs/PoliticsofVoterFraudFinal.pdf

The GOP claims of massive Democratic "voter fraud" is a scam. Period. One they've created in hopes of keeping *millions* of Democratic voters from being able to cast their legal vote.

is there a chance that we'll have a transparent election process?

I don't even like to think about this....

...But the question is, how long one will it take to get it.

The more noise YOU guys make, the sooner that will likely happen.

Please keep making noise!

nevertheless prefer that Congress doesn't impeach him. Seems to me that they respect the office of the president more than they respect our Constitution. Or, maybe a sizable portion of those people are Dems who think it would be a politically bad move?