1-866-OUR VOTE - Remember that number

[RamboLiberal]

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/13/opinion/13herbert.html?hp

More than 80 percent of the population of Detroit is black. This is very well understood by John Pappageorge, who is white and a Republican state legislator in Michigan. "If we do not suppress the Detroit vote," said Mr. Pappageorge, "we're going to have a tough time in this election."

Oops! Republicans aren't supposed to actually say they want to suppress black votes. That's so retro. It's so Jim Crow. This is the 21st century, and the thing now is to do the dastardly deed, but never ever acknowledge it.

That's where our friend Pappageorge went wrong.

After his startling quote was published several weeks ago in The Detroit Free Press, Mr. Pappageorge, who is 73, apologized and said he certainly never meant to suggest that anything racist or illegal take place. But he reiterated to me in a phone conversation last Friday that he did indeed mean that the vote in Detroit needed to be kept down.

A lot of other Republicans have similar views about the vote in areas with large African-American populations. Most blacks vote Democratic. If those votes can be suppressed, Republicans benefit. And there is increasing evidence that a big effort to suppress the vote among blacks and some other heavily Democratic voting groups is under way, which is why it is important to keep the following phone number handy:

1-866-OUR VOTE.

[yardwork]

1. I think that this happens a lot in rural areas too

I think it has always happened, in fact. I think that there are lots of small towns, especially in the south, where most of the African American residents have never dared to vote.

I have a strong feeling that a number of red states would turn blue in a hurry if the black vote weren't suppressed there as a matter of standard operating procedure.

We have a long way to go before freedom "reigns" in America.

[serryjw]

2. That is WHY I am a poll moitor with PFAW!

Go and sign up!


www.electionprotection.org
866 204-1941

[DeepModem Mom]

3. Thanks for posting, rmp -- Herbert...

is really stepping up to the plate on this.