bluescribbler
bluescribbler's JournalA Bad Law is a Bad Law
https://www.democracydocket.com/2020/03/a-bad-law-is-a-bad-law/#more-4093A Bad Law is a Bad Law
By Marc Elias on March 9, 2020
The American philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote that “Our debt to tradition through reading and conversation is so massive, our protest so rare and insignificant…that in large sense, one would say there is no pure originality…Old and new make the warp and woof of every moment.”
This observation is as true in law as it is in literature or philosophy. In the area of voting rights, all too often public outrage and our collective resources focus on the latest law aimed at making voting harder while overlooking the similarly restrictive law that has been on the books, in plain view, for years or even decades. Not all bad voting laws are new. Sometimes a suppressive or unfair law remains in place because no one focused on its implication for the rights of voters. And, more often than not, a newly enacted suppressive law copies existing precedent in another state.
Take, for example, laws restricting the collection of completed mail ballots by third-party get out the vote
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A Bad Law is a Bad Law
By Marc Elias on March 9, 2020
The American philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote that “Our debt to tradition through reading and conversation is so massive, our protest so rare and insignificant…that in large sense, one would say there is no pure originality…Old and new make the warp and woof of every moment.”
This observation is as true in law as it is in literature or philosophy. In the area of voting rights, all too often public outrage and our collective resources focus on the latest law aimed at making voting harder while overlooking the similarly restrictive law that has been on the books, in plain view, for years or even decades. Not all bad voting laws are new. Sometimes a suppressive or unfair law remains in place because no one focused on its implication for the rights of voters. And, more often than not, a newly enacted suppressive law copies existing precedent in another state.
Take, for example, laws restricting the collection of completed mail ballots by third-party get out the vote drives. In Arizona, many African American, Hispanic and Native American communities relied on third-party ballot collection to ensure that their ballots were delivered on time and their votes counted. In 2016–in an effort to gain partisan advantage–the Arizona legislature passed a ban on ballot collection that was intentionally aimed at decreasing electoral participation by minorities. This new Arizona law drew rightful condemnation from voting rights groups and advocates, and ultimately led to a lawsuit that struck down the law as a violation of the Voting Rights Act and U.S. Constitution.
Read the whole article at the link
Memo to New Yorkers
Also to People from New Jersey and Connecticut. 
Berkshire County, MA is not your playground! People live and work here. The hospitals here are overloaded. Governor Baker has implored you to stay home, yet still you come. Yesterday I watched a few cars drive by the home. I admit that this is not a statistically significant sample, but I feel that is illustrative. Out of 11 cars, 1 had CT plates, 2 had MA plates. The rest had NY plates. You're cleaning out the grocery stores of things the residents need to survive. I get it. I really do. You want to escape the hotbed of disease that is New York City. But, do you ever think that maybe you are bringing the disease to the people who live here? Given that we know that you could have the virus for as many as 14 days without symptoms and be contagious, you could be infecting the very people who cannot shelter in place or work from home. Please, please stay home. If you must come here, please bring enough food and other supplies so that you can self quarantine for at minimum 14 days. Self quarantine means do not leave the house, condo, Air Bnb where you choose to stay. Do not go to the store. Do not go out for a walk. do not hop on your bike for a spin around town. Do not take your kayak out on the river, pond or lake. Regardless of how healthy you feel, you may be infected and you may infect others. I repeat, Berkshire County is not your playground!
Finally, the perfect word to describe this person.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10157518542804862&set=a.10151908177649862&type=3&theaterFuck Jared Kushner: The Rude Pundit
https://rudepundit.blogspot.com/2020/04/fuck-jared-kushner.htmlThere's a certain kind of Ivy League college graduate who is just a total wad of fuck. Usually, they come from inherited wealth, are legacy admissions, and barely had to do any work the entire time they were in school because they have never had to any kind of work. I've had my run-ins with these louche fucks who believe that every word out of their inbred idiot mouths is a gold coin of wisdom and not a dingleberry of nonsense.
<snip>
Donald Trump's wan, soft-voiced, soft-skinned, creepy-as-fuck and evil-as-hell son-in-law, who probably describes boning Ivanka in detail for Trump, either gets tossed into whatever issue Trump is too paranoid to actually ask an expert to get involved in - Israel/Palestine peace negotiations, the opioid crisis- or, more likely, he's gotten a whim about something and thinks he can solve it. More than probably, he's figured out an angle on how to profit from it.
<snip>
Every time it seems like Trump couldn't make things worse, he makes them worse. He has the worst, most incompetent fucknuts around. And they all believe that they are smarter and better than they are. Their failure to see what failures they all are is literally killing us now.
And fucking Jared is now in the middle of it. Jared Kushner is a pile of shit who thinks it's a man, and until someone steps on him and wipes him off their shoes, he'll always think he's more than a foul lump of excrement.
Hillary would have been on this like a dog on a bone.
She would not be standing there giving us pie in the sky or excuses.
While we're praising the heroes among us, let us not forget
Postal workers. They're out every day delivering mail to every address in the USA. They handle mail which may carry the virus to ensure tat it arrives in a timely manner.
Massachusetts Democrats cancel state convention
They had already suspended caucuses for the cities and towns which had not yet caucused. (My city did hold caucuses before the pandemic hit in force.) Mass has only one statewide election this year, for US Senate. Rep. Joe Kennedy III is challenging Sen. Ed Markey. The campaigns agreed that since the Senator had already won more delegates and the Cong. had passed the 15% threshold, Markey has won the party's endorsement and Kennedy will be on the primary ballot in September.
I do feel badly for the delegates who were elected for the first time and were excited to be attending their first convention, but I feel that the party has done the right thing, and has made the best possible decision given the circumstances in which we find ourselves.
Profile Information
Gender: MaleHometown: Massachusetts
Home country: USA
Current location: Massachusetts
Member since: 2002
Number of posts: 2,116
