Voting While Black by BOB HERBERT

[goddess40]

"state troopers have gone into the homes of 40 or 50 black voters, most of them elderly, in what the department describes as a criminal investigation. Many longtime Florida observers have said the use of state troopers for this type of investigation is extremely unusual, and it has caused a storm of controversy.

The officers were armed and in plain clothes. For elderly African-American voters, who remember the terrible torment inflicted on blacks who tried to vote in the South in the 1950's and 60's, the sight of armed police officers coming into their homes to interrogate them about voting is chilling indeed."


Hey Florida, what's going on down there? Is your Dem Party on this problem? I wish I could say this is unbelievable but I know that it is. What a mess. Those bush brats sure have their nerve don't they, you are so unlucky to have two of them lording over you. We'll help get rid of the one by sending him back to Texas, I don't think we can help you with the other one though.

I hope everyone made it through the storms OK. Give me a tornado any day over a hurricane.

edit: I guess I should tell you I'm from way up north in Wisconsin.

[whistle]

1. Howard Dean addressed the issue of racism during his run...

...in the primaries: "In 1968, Richard Nixon won the White House. He did it in a shameful way – by dividing Americans against one another, stirring up racial prejudices and bringing out the worst in people.
They called it the "Southern Strategy," and the Republicans have been using it ever since. Nixon pioneered it, and Ronald Reagan perfected it, using phrases like "racial quotas" and "welfare queens" to convince white Americans that minorities were to blame for all of America's problems.The Republican Party would never win elections if they came out and said their core agenda was about selling America piece by piece to their campaign contributors and making sure that wealth and power is concentrated in the hands of a few.To distract people from their real agenda, they run elections based on race, dividing us, instead of uniting us."

He went on to point fingers at politicans who use race code words to avoid dealing with rael issues and failures: "Every time a politician uses the word "quota," it's because he'd rather not talk about the real reasons that we've lost almost 3 million jobs.Every time a politician complains about affirmative action in our universities, it's because he'd rather not talk about the real problems with education in America – like the fact that here in South Carolina, only 15% of African Americans have a post-high school degree."

See the whole Howard Dean speech at:
http://www.blackcommentator.com/68/68_cover_dean.html

[goddess40]

2. I love Howard

Isn't he wonderful!

[whistle]

3. Yes, but unelectable as president, would have made a great president

...my support is with Kerry/Edwards

[The Backlash Cometh]

4. Link?

Is there a number for minorities to call if they experience this kind of intimidation?

[Orangepeel]

5. the Dem party is on it as much as it can be

in the sense that the Democratic party is the reason that it's in the paper at all and the reason that complaints have been filed.

The "investigation" that is leading to the voter intimidation is an attempt to delegimitize the election of Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer, a democrat with a strong political future. He won relection last May with 51% of the vote (narrowly avoiding a runoff). He had a strong GOTV effort in the African American community, using a consultant that is now the focus of the "investigation." (a consultant, by the way, who has been used by both parties and who has (had?) an excellent reputation for honesty before this smear campaign).

Interestingly, the "investigation" started immediately after Dyer introduced Senator Kerry at a campaign event.

[Zing Zing Zingbah]

6. I'm more afraid of the tornadoes than the actual hurricane

Most buildings don't have basements in Florida.