Dirty tactics in the presidential race

[xoxoxoBruce]

Originally Posted by Troubleshooter

Nah, there are way WAY more ignorant voters than there are qualified non-voters.

Ignorant and qualified are two different issues. :p
If there's a 35/40 % turnout your statement can't be true.

[richlevy]

Originally Posted by Troubleshooter

Please don't take this the wrong way but how autistic is he?

One of the biggest problems with democracy is the number of people that are unqualified to vote yet do so.

On the other hand, if with a bit of effort he is able to actually make a reasoned decision then I applaud you both because he is taking his responsibility more seriously than most.

On that nice guy note, does anyone actually know the full requisites for voting?

Citizenship, age, and residency. That's it.

It just so happens that there was an article in todays's Inquirer about Special-needs voters prepare for the polls .

Jeffrey has been working part time at a convenience store for 5 years. He is largely self directed. When a new job coach came on and told him to do something that he knew was wrong he corrected her.

I do not know how Jeffrey chose his party affiliation. If he did it becuase of what his parents believed, that is no different from many families. I have been very careful not to impose my beliefs on Jeffrey, but he does here my wife and I discuss politics and he watches the same TV commercials as anyone else. I will defend his choice even if he choses to disagree with me.

With the partisanship in this election and all sides being reminded just how important a vote is, there may be challenges. The Constitution and the law is on Jeffrey's side. He will make his choice tomorrow, hopefully with no need for assistance.

Everyone from gun users to pro-choice activists know the slippery slope argument. That is the argument that any restriction is a step on the path to prohibition. I would be loathe to go back to the days of written tests.

Such disfranchising laws included poll taxes, literacy tests, vouchers of "good character" and disqualification for "crimes of moral turpitude." These laws were "color-blind" on their face, but were designed to exclude black citizens disproportionately by allowing white election officials to apply the procedures selectively. Other laws and practices, such as the "white primary", attempted to evade the 15th Amendment by allowing "private" political parties to conduct elections and establish qualifications for their members.

[richlevy]

Well, I thought I would make it to election day but I was wrong. Sometime this evening my Kerry-Edwards lawn sign was stolen. I noticed it when I got home from work this evening.

I left a message for our police department and went to the local Democratic headquarters where I got two new lawn signs.

[elSicomoro]

I don't remember where this was, but some guy I saw on the news over the weekend went so far as to electrify his Bush-Cheney sign.

Damn straight...keep your fucking mitts off things that don't belong to you.

[Trilby]

All of the patients on my unit (psych) who wish to vote have the right to do so and will have help voting tomorrow from the social workers and a member of each party there to monitor that things are fair and no one is intimidated. If members of our society who wear tin foil hats and believe they are Jesus can vote, I'd have no qualms whatsoever with an autistic voter. Alzheimer's patients have the right to vote. This is, after all, the United States.

[wolf]

Being involuntarily committed to a mental health facility is not actually a judgment in terms of competency. You retain the right to do things like manage your own affairs, enter into contracts, marry, and vote.

I wasn't privy to this year's discussion of what to do in case a patient wants to vote, but in past years we have had staff from Activities and Outreach escort people to their home polls.

Along with other Cellar members I have met Rich's son. He is autisic, but in my experience of other clients with the same disability he is very capable, and able to understand things like the political process. He's a good kid. (What you folks here may or may not know is that as good as I am with the severely mentally ill, I'm not as smooth when dealing with the developmentally disabled. I usually end up getting sucker punched, as a matter of fact, because I'm not very good at reading the behavior cues). I've actually been very impressed in my interactions with the young Mr. Levy. He's much more socially able than I have come to expect, although there is no doubt of his disorder in even a brief interaction. I guess, Rich, what I'm really trying to say here is that you, your wife, and others in his life have done an excellent job in raising him and encouraging his independence.

[wolf]

Oh, the latest dirty trick ... Stormin' Norman is not endorsing Kerry, no matter what else you might have heard.

[Happy Monkey]

Indeed. The so-called "Schwarzkopf" call is a fake. He is not endorsing Kerry. General McPeak is, andd he's the one who made the call. Here's the original(wav).

According to the DNC:

"This is a desperate, pathetic, 11th hour dirty trick by the Republicans. In an effort to gin up a last minute media controversy and smear the Democrats, the Republicans intentionally spliced a recorded call by Four Star General 'Tony' McPeak and tried to peddle it to the press. This type of dishonesty is a fitting end to George W. Bush's failed Presidency, a Presidency that unfortunately for the American people, was also defined by deceit and deception."

I don't blame Schwarzkopf, I suspect someone just gave him the spliced tape, and he was justifiably outraged.

[Troubleshooter]

I don't know about you, but I would not want that man mad at me.

[Troubleshooter]

Originally Posted by richlevy

Jeffrey has been working part time at a convenience store for 5 years. He is largely self directed. When a new job coach came on and told him to do something that he knew was wrong he corrected her.

Regardless of his or your decision on who gets to screw us this term.

[Troubleshooter]

TO THE POINT ELECTION EVE HEADS UP #2

I have just been informed by Republican volunteers in southern Pennsylvania that registered Republicans 65 years and older are being systematically called and told that the location of their polling place has been moved, then given a wrong address.

Hundreds of Republican volunteers are now having to call these senior voters up and tell them about the dirty trick and to go to their regular polling place. If any of you have heard of similar dirty tricks in your area, please let me know at drjack@tothepointnews.com.

Bill Middendorf called me to explain that he can not publicly reveal details about John Kerry’s Other Than Honorable (OTH) Discharge as it would be a violation of the Privacy Act. He does, however, have complete confidence in Mark Sullivan, who was Bill’s Judge Advocate General when Bill was Secretary of the Navy, and who has revealed that Kerry’s OTH was expunged by Jimmy Carter.

The stor! y is now up on WorldNetDaily. For some strange reason, perhaps Matt Drudge\'s antipathy to the military, Drudge refuses to run it. The New York Sun will carry an article about it, written by Tom Lipscomb, tomorrow. The story of Kerry\'s OTH, breaking on election eve and election day, will have an impact.

Jack Wheeler


To The Point - The Oasis for Rational Conservatives. http://www.tothepointnews.com

[warch]

Dr. Jack is quite a piece of work! A real life Indiana Jones!

[Troubleshooter]

Originally Posted by warch

Dr. Jack is quite a piece of work! A real life Indiana Jones!

I don't get it.

[richlevy]

Well we voted at 7:30 this morning. We waited in line about an hour in a polling place where I have never had to wait more than 10 minutes. Jeffrey was able to vote on his own, although the election people were ready to help him if he needed it. He even split his vote instead of voting the party ticket.

The only difference was a poll watcher at a table. She was writing down peoples names. Whiole she did not ask for ID, most people thought it was easier giving her drivers licenses to copy off of. She had a sheet of paper on the table authorizing her as an official poll watcher. There was no mention of her affiliation, if any.

One of the women who works with me, the one who has the anti-Kerry wall, took off to do volunteer work at the polls for the Republicans. Lord help whoever she decides to challenge.

BTW, I heard about people waiting in long lines (3-4 hours) in Ohio because polling places which had 5 machines in the last election only had 2 or 3 in this one. Was this deliberate? With all of the Federal money being thrown around after 2000, how could they have underestimated turnout in what everyone knew would be the largest election in US history? I'm glad a judge has ruled that if you are in line when the polls close, you get to vote. From a bipartisan fairness perspective, that just makes sense.

I did hear about someone slashing the tires of the vans Republicans were going to use in their get out the vote efforts. Does Radar have an alibi?

[lookout123]

hey rich - good job on getting your son out to vote. oh and you too i guess.