One giant step for voting rights.

There has been some good news from a couple of court rulings regarding voting rights, lately.

The first ruling was against the state of North Carolina, where state republican legislators have been watching their state turn slowly blue and decided to do something about it. They did what republicans always seem to try and do: limit access to the ballot box.

"A federal appeals court on Friday struck down the heart of a North Carolina voting law seen as the strictest in the nation, finding that Republican lawmakers intentionally discriminated against African-Americans when they passed it.

A divided 4th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that the measure's provisions "target African-Americans with almost surgical precision."

The ruling is just the latest court win for voting rights advocates. A different federal appeals court ruled this month that Texas's voter ID law is racially discriminatory and must be softened."

The Court said the right wing legislators targeted and went after African American voters with "almost surgical precision". Now that's some scary stuff.

Ya'll might want to think about that the next time you say that voting is not important.

The other favorable ruling for those who cherish our right to vote comes from Wisconsin.

"A federal judge threw out multiple aspects of Wisconsin's voter ID law on Friday, leaving the law itself intact but ruling unconstitutional many restrictions on voting passed by the GOP-controlled Legislature and Republican Gov. Scott Walker.

Two liberal groups filed a lawsuit in May challenging the laws, including a requirement that voters show photo identification. U.S. District Judge James Peterson agreed with arguments that the laws were enacted to benefit Republicans and make it harder for Democratic supporters to vote, and ordered a range of changes."

Whoops.


What's that they say? Oh yeah: "The best laid plans of mice and men always go awry".  






  

Governor, there is a billionaire on line one for you.

There is a sign over the free- weights in my gym that says, "If you can't put it down, don't pick it up." The good governor of Wisconsin has picked up some very heavy weights and now he has a problem. (I mean when the "Cheese Heads" start "bashing" you in Wisconsin, if you are that state's governor; that is not a good thing.)

Governor Scott Walker is looking worse ever day. He has dug himself in such a deep hole that it's hard to see him getting out of this one. He has exposed himself to be nothing more than a political ideologue and not a practical politician who cares about the well being of the people of Wisconsin. It's so bad that even his fellow wingnut governors are backing away from him.

The unions have offered to give a little, but Walker won't move. He has become the darling of the wingnut and FOX News crowd, and they are telling him to dig in and fight the good fight. He claims this is about balancing the state's budget, but who is he kidding? This is about cutting off a major source of money for the dumbocrats. Wisconsin is "Ground Zero".

The wingnuts hope to break unions one state at a time, and they were hoping that the dominoes would start falling with the Badger state. They haven't. Not yet. Of course getting punked by a left wing blogger and showing the country what a fraud you are doesn't help your cause.

"UPDATE, 11:54 a.m.: In a key detail, Walker reveals that he is, in effect, laying a trap for Wisconsin Dems. He says he is mulling inviting the Senate and Assembly Dem and GOP leaders to sit down and talk, but only if all the missing Senate Dems return to work. Then, tellingly, he reveals that the real game plan here is that if they do return, Republicans might be able to use a procedural move to move forward with their proposal. "If they're actually in session for that day and they take a recess, this 19 Senate Republicans could then go into action and they'd have a quorum because they started out that way," he says. "If you heard that I was going to talk to them that would be the only reason why." Then the fake Koch says this: "Bring a baseball bat. That's what I'd do." Walker doesn't bat an eye, and responds: "I have one in my office, you'd be happy with that. I've got a slugger with my name on it."

12:09 p.m.: Another key exchange: FAKE KOCH: What we were thinking about the crowds was, planting some troublemakers. WALKER: We thought about that. My only gut reaction to that would be, right now, the lawmakers I talk to have just completely had it with them. The public is not really fond of this.The teachers union did some polling and focus groups... It's unclear what Walker means when he says he "thought" about planting some troublemakers, but it seems fair to ask him for clarification."

Wow! So this wingnut governor takes (what he thinks is) a call from a fat- cat wingnut donor but won't negotiate with his fellow citizens from his own state? I guess money talks and all that other stuff walks in Wisconsin as well.

Let them eat cheese.

As the wingnuts in Washington keep calling for more cuts, the states are now preparing to pass on those cuts to their citizens. In "cheese country" the natives are restless, and hard working union workers stormed Madison today demanding justice. The republi-clown governor is threatening to end 50 years of collective bargaining which protects Wisconsin workers, and as I write this post there are some dumbocratic state legislatures from Wisconsin on the run. (As long as they don't go to Pittsburgh they should be fine.)

At some point during this debate folks are going to have to start looking at the "haves" and their sacrifices. The only folks making a sacrifice right now are "have- nots" and the hard working folks in the middle. Americans seem to know it, but you would never hear about it in the press.

The new demons for wingnuts are public sector employees, such as school teachers, police officers, health- care workers, and firefighters. According to wingnuts, it is their pension plans and onerous salaries that are holding us down. They are the reason America can't rise out of this recession.------Not a war that was never paid for, tax breaks and shelters to major corporations, and tax cuts for the very wealthy among us who do nothing towards reinvesting in the economy. Not "hyper-speculation" on Wall Street which...well, we all know that story by now.

But the okie doke continues, and everyone of you are falling for it.

Here is an example:

Public sector employees are much better compensated than private sector employees. That might be true, but there is a reason for that: Public sector workers are older and better educated than private sector workers, so yes, it makes sense that they would make more in terms of pay.

Here is another myth:

Social security is going broke any day now, and it is imperative that we raise the age of retirement here in A-merry-ca. This, of course, is false, and it is just another wingnut talking point you all have been hoodwinked into believing. I have to co-sign with Robert Reich who writes that social security is not responsible for the federal deficit, and it took in more in payroll taxes than it paid out. -----BTW, it actually lends what it has left over to the...wait for it... federal government.

I could give you more, but I think you get the point.

As I watched those protesters in Madison I kept thinking about Tahrir Square. Could it happen here? People won't really protest, take to the streets, and call for a revolution unless they lose all hope. ("A hungry mob is an angry mob.") That's why all those tea party protesters were such a joke. After fighting Obama- power all day they went home to their leather sofas, flip flops, and tea by the pool. Those union workers are about to lose their jobs and their homes. They might be feeling something else in their gut.

I feel it too. But the thing is, most of the people in A-merry-ca are afraid of that feeling.