“Voting is a privilege, not a right,” said one GOP official

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2011/dec/14/state-gops-worst-enemy-republicans/

Jon Ralston:

State GOP’s worst enemy: Republicans

By Jon Ralston (contact)

Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2011 | 2 a.m.

Political parties, generally, are made up of two sorts of regulars: The half-crazy and the full-on nuts.

Anyone who has been to a central committee meeting knows this is indisputable. If you haven’t, rent “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” and you’ll get the idea. snip

“Voting is a privilege, not a right,” one GOP official, Woody Stroupe, declared, apparently thinking the confab had been called on gaming licenses and not the most sacred right in a democracy. Stroupe, according to a Review-Journal report, also announced, “We might as well invite the Chinese over here. You can’t vote in your country, but you can vote in our state.”

Miller’s aides seemed puzzled, as would any sentient human being. And then it got worse.

[barbtries]

1. oops! that's driving,

asshole. voting IS a right.

[midnight]

16. I wonder how long it took America to go from a horseless carriage to it's a privilege?

I grew up in a community of ranchers, and many drove a horse without considering it a privilege but instead a method to move around freely. I wonder how many more years it will take ALEC to get us to think voting is a privilege of only those with a certain amount of money, status, or property.... They are closing in on it...

[nadinbrzezinski]

2. Full nut...

[justiceischeap]

3. I think if you enter into politics as a career

you should be mandated to take, at least, remedial civics courses.

[EC]

19. Or require them to take the citizenship test

to make sure they at least know more than immigrants.

[barbtries]

4. read the article

and came back to kick again. i think it may be written by a republican, or anyway a person who holds no love for the democrats, but...well, it's so illustrative of the fact that the republicans have gone off the rails.

[hifiguy]

5. Another repuke asshat who has never read

the Constitution. Voting is a RIGHT, dickweed.

[Bandit]

6. Where does it say that in the Constitution?

When the Constitution was written, Senators and Congressmen were chosen by state Governors and State Legislators. I don't believe there is a single Federal election on anything..

[hifiguy]

8. 15th Amendment

Section 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.

Section 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

[JitterbugPerfume]

21. +

+

[zipplewrath]

12. Remember, not all rights are explicitly in the Constitution

The "right to vote" doesn't equate to "a right for there to be an election". Once there is an election, there is a right to vote and each state is allowed to defined who, within the restrictions of the (amended) Constitution, which (now) ensures equal protection.

[ProdigalJunkMail]

14. oddly enough...

<snip>
It does require that Representatives be chosen and Senators be elected by "the People,"
</snip>

This is totally backward...

sP

[NYC Liberal]

18. The 14th Amendment refers to the right to vote, and provides punishment

for states that violate it:

"But when the right to vote at any election for the choice of electors for President and Vice-President of the United States, Representatives in Congress, the Executive and Judicial officers of a State, or the members of the Legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such State, being twenty-one years of age, and citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion, or other crime, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such State."

Granted, it doesn't include women.

But if only this was actually enforced. There's no "Congress may reduce." It says "the basis of representation SHALL be reduced."

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

7. We're almost there with freedom of speech and assembly

[OffWithTheirHeads]

9. Republicans think breathing is a privilege! Fuck em.

[Motown_Johnny]

10. If this fool's oath of office included defending and/or upholding the Constitution

then he is in violation of that oath and should be censured (at the very least).

[jwirr]

13. They say that about education also. I think it would probably be correct to say that they think

that about almost all social issues. They are entitled but we are not.

[surfdog]

15. Kind of a gray area..

I might agree with him.

I look at it as a privilege that can be taken away , kind of like the "right to own a gun" .. it is a privilege that can be taken away.

I could bomb a dozen churches on Sunday morning and shoot at the police when they show up at my house , ..and STILL have Habeas Corpus rights. HC is a right , and it can't be taken away.

Americans can vote and own guns as long as they behave. I guess in my mind , a right can't be taken away , I have a right to it.

[grantcart]

17. Priceless quote from the article

It may sound half-crazy or even full-on nuts, but the only thing that can save Nevada Democrats next year might be the Nevada Republican Party.

[Odin2005]

22. They really believe that.

They are of the belief that only white male property-owners should vote.