Wednesday, March 14, 2012

I.D. Please?


“(Wall Street Journal) - HOUSTON -- The US Justice Department on Monday blocked Texas from enforcing a law that requires voters to show state-issued photo identification at the polls, saying it would disproportionately affect Hispanics.”



When I go to the bank to withdraw funds, I have to produce a photo ID.

When I go to shoot some stick, I have to produce a photo ID just because it’s an 18 + establishment, yet I’m 39.
 
When I go to the airport I have to produce a photo ID to check in and then again to board the plane.   (With some of those delays, I can see people aging enough to warrant this)

If I want to buy an alcoholic drink, I have to produce a photo ID.  Heck, there are times I’ve had to produce an ID simply because the person I was with wanted to buy a drink.  Mind you, I don’t look anywhere close to an illegal drinking age, and being a full 18 years older than it, I get really testy when some jackwagon who isn’t even old enough himself to drink,  stops me at the door saying he needs to see my license.  Really? Does the gray hair look fake to you?

Here in Massachusetts it’s actually a common practice for businesses to ID everyone, just so they can limit their liability should any issues arise.  (I blame the judicial system)  Its crazy I know, but it’s the truth.  TD Garden does it all the time. You want to buy alcohol? You need a Mass photo ID.  No out of state IDs allowed and no temporary IDs either. Don’t care if you’re 72 and retired, you want a drink, they need a photo ID.

The point is, as much as I don’t like it, I understand it.  So when I go to the polls and they ask me for my ID (which they do) it’s no big deal for me to pull it out.  I gladly comply because I understand that in this day and age, with identity theft being a very real concern, it is far too easy to portray that you are someone you’re not.   That being said, wouldn’t it be in our collective best interest to support a law that requires you to prove who you are in order to vote?   The opponents say it “disenfranchises minorities, old people and students”.   Really?  So you’re telling me those people don’t have a driver’s license or state photo ID of any kind?  Or those same people never got on a plane? Or drank in public?? And because they have no ID, they wont go and vote?  I’m not buying it….

Lets take the Texas example…    The Department of Justice (DOJ) thinks by adding this law, it will make it disproportionately more difficult for specifically Hispanics in that state to vote.    So what, they don’t have a license? ?  Why is that?   Do they not drive??   I find that hard to believe. Do they not drink in public?  I find that even harder to believe.   Is there a good reason they can’t march up to their state offices and get a photo ID like anyone else?? You bet your ass there is, and the reason has nothing to do with cost, time or inconvenience. 

In the numbers Texas submitted to the DOJ, it suggests that Hispanics are more likely to NOT have a state ID or a driver’s license than any other voter.   So why is that the voter’s problem?   If these registered Hispanic voters are so inclined to vote, will they let the need to produce a photo ID stop them?   I hope not. OK so you could argue it’s about money.  But in most states it’s only about $20 to get the proper document.  And some states are even waiving that fee, so it can't be cost.

So if its not cost, than why is the Hispanic community in Texas is at a such a great disadvantage when you ask them to get a photo id just to prove who they are?? What are they afraid of??

I think we all know the answer to that, but before I go further, I want to make it clear this post is not about Hispanics.  Its about voter fraud and if you think it doesn’t affect you, you seriously need to wake up.  Voter fraud has the power to sway elections away from what the people really want.  Don’t believe me?  Check out what happens in some states that don’t require a photo ID to vote. 
   
Mississippi – 

In 2008, Madison county Mississippi had more than 123% registered voters than people over the age of 18. Nearly 500 registered voters were over the age of 105 and others have been registered for four decades but never cast a ballot.  This is the same year Mississippi had 190,000 new voters register for vote.   It was so bad; the State Secretary, Delbert Hosemann had this to say:
"It is terrible. Combined with the fact that we don't have voter ID in Mississippi, anybody can show up at any poll that happens to know the people who have left town or died -- and go vote for them. Whenever we have a third party determined by payment, for example, as they did in Benton County -- 'walking-around' money -- and they determine what that vote is going to be, they've taken your vote, whether they may have voted like you would have or not, they've still thwarted the process and they've still have taken your vote away from you”



Texas-

The 6,000 voters found by Texas Watchdog amount to less than a percent of Dallas County's more than 1.2 million registered voters. But elections have been decided by fewer votes:

  • By 253 votes, Democrat Roberto Canas Jr. defeated Republican Lisa Fox in November 2006 for a county criminal court post.
  • In March of this year, (2008) Bob Romano defeated Jim Rea by 291 votes to win the Democratic nomination for state House District 105.
  • George W. Bush actually won Florida by 1,665 votes in 2000, according to a hand recount after the election commissioned by USA Today, the Miami Herald and Knight Ridder.



Also ask yourself this - If the Supreme Court voted back in 2008 that requiring a photo id does not violate a voters civil rights, what the hell is the Obama administration and his Department of Justice doing trying to rule against it?   



 This writer is very much tired of is bowing down to the minorities in this country.  If we actually did anything for the “good of the people” (which infers the majority by the way), all of the bleeding hearts come out to portray the folks those decisions didn't include as victims.  They are not victims, they just happen to be part of a group smaller than the majority.  That doesn’t make them any less of a citizen, neighbor, or voter, does it?  Not in my eyes.  In the eyes of the bleeding heart however, it absolutely does.

Can we get back to making everyday decisions that make this country a better place to live? Can we make this a better place for those who are willing to fight for what they believe and a better place for those who want to work and earn everything they receive?  It starts with getting the right voters, you know.


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