Republicans are fighting for military voting rights.

Email Print posted by KenTX 08/04/2008 09:35:02 PM EST

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Senate and House Republicans are working hard to pass legislation that makes it possible for all overseas military personnel have an opportunity to vote in the upcoming 2008 election, and to ensure that every vote is counted.

Strangely, they are encountering a lack of cooperation, and in some cases, outright resistance from "patriotic" Democrat Lawmakers. 

Democrats want all convicted felons to have the right to vote.

Democrats want all voter fraud criminals to have the right to vote.

Democrats want all illegal aliens to have the right to vote.

D

But when it comes to military personnel, Democrats aren't too interested in the subject. Why do you suppose that is?
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Republicans are fighting for military voting rights. | 32 comments (32 topical, 0 hidden)
Republican Are Putting on Political Theatre (none / 0)

Lets see, theres  big difference between legislation and , from Kens refference:

 

"Blunt has introduced a resolution demanding that the Department of Defense do a better job of enabling the military overseas to vote in the November elections."

 

Ohhh how bold, how..well...resolute...a resolution! Now thats got'em shakin in their boots at the Pentagon.

But no matter...the "blogers" where you dug up this drivel have a totally different agenda in mind other than a deep concern about military voters, to wit comment number 1 for the story you linked:

Congress is no longer ruled by the great Almighty,(!!! the same one that told Bush to invade Iraq no doubt) but by a demonic mind. It encourages liberals to use devious and unadmirable (sic)tactics that will keep them in power.

Too many of the Republican members failed to get a good dose of scripture while coming through the education system.( Ken did you take your Scripture and Fiber pills today?)  Most of the pre bible ban legislatures are gone, replaced by luke warm Christians and secular minds. This bodes ill for our country's future.

Our government was not established on the non religion of Satan, but on the Judeo-Christian Bible. We now have a severly dysfunctional congress as a result.

Amen...now about voting...hello?

By the way...if your brain dead (R) buds in DC knew anything about the military..they would know that most of the troops that requested absentee ballots will have recieved, voted and returned the ballots by Nov 1

Why? Well..there a voting officer in eachj command that makes it happen and Congress ( D) passed The Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act Aug. 15, 1986. This bill consolidated previous federal acts affecting U.S. military personnel and civilians overseas and provides for a federal write-in absentee ballot for use in general elections for federal offices only.

State elections on the other hand , have a mish-mash of absentee laws, however most allow authorized special blank absentee ballots for military members and others who have difficulty voting with regular absentee ballots. Except for oddly enough Texas.

Why does Red state Texas hate the troops?

by MRFred on 08/04/2008 10:35:44 PM EST

Democrats could double down. (none / 0)
Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid could fast track legislation to ensure that every overseas military person will have expedited service when it comes to absentee voting.

So far, Democrats have made comments like this.

by KenTX on 08/04/2008 10:44:35 PM EST

[ Parent ]
Oh...you mean , (none / 0)

the law also stipulates that voting materials be carried “expeditiously and free of postage" and is administered by the Secretary of Defense, who delegates that responsibility to the Director of the Federal VotingAssistance Program at the Department of Defense (DoD).

Like that?

No matter I noted above that allows the states to make rules in regard to submission and deadlines that suit there locale. Tha should now be rendered moot by "Big Government" ?

Is that what you saying here , more fedral intrusion?

 

by MRFred on 08/04/2008 10:59:39 PM EST

[ Parent ]
Oh yeah (none / 0)

if your so concerned about the troops and voting you could lead a petition drive to have Texas (R) accept authorized special blank absentee ballots for military members for state and local elections as stipulated and requested in Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act Aug. 15, 1986.

I'm sure you get right on it.

by MRFred on 08/04/2008 11:19:21 PM EST

[ Parent ]
Have you bought the bridge yet? (none / 0)

 

You will buy anything the Republicans dish up, won't you? Service people don't have problems voting if they do things in time. If they don't, they suffer the same consequences as the person who puts off voting until Wednesday morning when the lines are shorter.

Another non-issue from the people who brought you Terri Schiavo, Monica Lewinsky, and Reverend Wright...

by MedfordTim on 08/05/2008 01:45:52 PM EST

Every vote should count... (none / 0)

 If your so concerned about the troops and voting you could lead a petition drive to have Texas (R) accept authorized special blank absentee ballots for military members for state and local elections as stipulated and requested in Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act Aug. 15, 1986.MrFred

 

So far, Ken has made comments like this.

by MRFred on 08/05/2008 03:40:30 PM EST

Every vote should count.... (none / 0)
But if the election is close, and overseas ballots will determine the outcome, Democrats don't want to count military votes.

By contrast, Republicans have introduced legislation to make it easier for military people to vote, and have their vote counted.

Democrats want to count the votes of ex-felons.

Democrats want to count the votes of illegal aliens.

Democrats want to count the votes of fraudulant voters.

But Democrats don't want to count the votes of military personnel.

by KenTX on 08/05/2008 11:50:52 PM EST

[ Parent ]
Blah blah blah (none / 0)

Once again, Ken is either woefully uninformed or completely dishonest.

Here is the Wiki on "Caging Lists".  An illegal, shameful activity Rove and Tim Griffin got caught doing to take soldiers votes away.

Ken, hate to say it, but you've become boring.

Oh well, you and Favre can walk into the sunset together.

by ProfRich on 08/05/2008 11:59:46 PM EST

[ Parent ]
Same challenge goes to Rich. (none / 0)
Either address Al Gore's actions in the 2000 Florida recount, or walk off the field.

Why did Al Gore try to block military votes from being counted?

Why are Republicans trying to pass legislation to make it easy for overseas military personnel to vote?

The answer that you're trying so hard to avoid admitting is obvious to all readers. Military people vote overwhelmingly Republican.

By contrast, voter fraud cheaters vote Democrat.

by KenTX on 08/06/2008 01:45:25 AM EST

[ Parent ]
Easy (none / 0)

If Gore did that, he was wrong.  In 2000, there is no doubt the military was overwhelmingly Republican.

Now why the fuck did Rove and Griffin hijack the federal government to cage votes, largely US soldiers in combat in Iraq, in 2004?

The reason is overwhelmingly obvious, the military is sick of Bush and is switching to the Democrats.

Either defend the vote caging or walk off the field.

I answered your challenge.  Your up.

by ProfRich on 08/06/2008 01:53:56 AM EST

[ Parent ]
easier (none / 0)
If Karl Rove did anything illegal, I have no doubt that he will be prosecuted by Democrats. But you and I know that will never happen, so he must have not done anything illegal.

Here's a question for you. Why are Republicans pushing so hard for military ballots? Forget about your allegation of politicizing an issue.

My Republicans want 100% turnout among military people because the numbers favor us. Your Democrats are not interested in growing the number of military votes.

By contrast, Democrats are very interested in the votes of ex-felons and "multi-voters" and illegal aliens. 

by KenTX on 08/06/2008 02:11:07 AM EST

[ Parent ]
Was caging wrong though? (none / 0)
In your view.  Not your political view.  Not the whole "I'm sure if it was illegal blah blah blah" bullshit.  Is caging wrong?  Is removing the registration of legal voters the right thing to do?

by Spencer on 08/06/2008 02:19:58 AM EST

[ Parent ]
good question (none / 0)
"Is removing the registration of legal voters the right thing to do?"

No. But removing the registration of illegal voters is the right thing to do.

The reason Democrats are going nuts over the new Voter ID laws is because it reduces voter fraud. Everybody has some form of government-issued identification. States will even supply these cards for free.

Democrats don't want Voter ID, because they want people to be allowed to commit voter fraud. In the words of ProfRich: "When I heard what the Supreme Court had done I was as depressed as anyone in America.  I could hardly post last night."

This is what we're fighting.

by KenTX on 08/06/2008 02:33:31 AM EST

[ Parent ]
There's no point in continuing. (none / 0)

You're caught in a talking points loop.

Caging is removing the registration of legal voters.  You know, like soldiers and other people who might occasionally miss the mail for whatever reason.  So surprise, you didn't answer my question, because it would have required you to be intellectually honest.

by Spencer on 08/06/2008 02:48:12 AM EST

[ Parent ]
Spencer, (none / 0)
you have an opportunity to embrace the truth, but your partisan bias will simply not allow it.

Republicans are pushing hard for Military Voter Rights legislation.

Democrats are fighting efforts to expand military voting.

You refuse to address the issue of this thread.

by KenTX on 08/06/2008 02:56:58 AM EST

[ Parent ]
Now you get it! (none / 0)

 

you didn't answer my question, because it would have required you to be intellectually honest.

If you were looking for some Paul on the Road to Damascus conversion...forget it. He will never, ever, admit or yield on any point no mater how many facts you present, no matter how hard you hammer him, and believe me..Ive hammered him pretty hard.

 Ken simply ignores facts that interfere with his( and the right wing spin machine's) slant on reality. That's why he reposts the same old shit over and over and over again.

So, simply restate your points louder and cruder, and restates his points louder and cruder... until the readers get bored and move on to the next blog...usually after about 12 hours of no new comments.

In case your wondering, this is at least the fourth iteration of the "military voting"  non-issue. Now I'll wait for the epitaphs to come flying..."old goober", "vile cocksucker"  ect.

 

 

by MRFred on 08/06/2008 11:22:02 AM EST

[ Parent ]
Political theater (none / 0)

Ken these boys want to come home.

"My Republicans want 100% turnout among military people because the numbers favor us."

Capital Eye says the 2008 presidential candidates that so far have been the "top recipients of military money" are Republican Rep. Ron Paul (the only "anti-war" candidate on the GOP side of the presidential race) and Democratic Sen. Barack Obama.

They know they have lost the current military vote but they are trying to regain their credibility with veterans of other wars and republican war hawks.

The rest is explained well by a real veteran like Mr Fred.

by z1p101 on 08/06/2008 02:43:50 AM EST

[ Parent ]
Are Democrats promoting GI Voter Rights? (none / 0)
No. They aren't supporting the Cornyn legislation because they want to block military votes, just like Al Gore did in 2000.

by KenTX on 08/06/2008 02:50:06 AM EST

[ Parent ]
Your (none / 0)

reading disability is at 10 and you need to take it to 2.

Read this entire thread again or have someone read it to you. Start with the one that says Oh...you mean.

BTW, isn't Cornyn a Texan?

by z1p101 on 08/06/2008 03:00:28 AM EST

[ Parent ]
The Spining Wheel spins on.... (none / 0)

Spin( or lie, your choice) Why are Republicans trying to pass legislation to make it easy for overseas military personnel to vote?

They aren't..it's a resolution..a non binding resolution.

 Spin: Why did Al Gore try to block military votes from being counted?

 Because of this provision by the Director of the Federal Voting Assistance Program at the Department of Defense

Always complete and return your absentee ballot regardless of when you receive it, even if you have already submitted a back-up Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot . Your local election official will ensure that only one of the ballots is counted. 

They didn't..many election supervisors in FL counted both of them. But of course the Republicans knew this....they where, in many cases the election supervisors Gore was challenging ballots that did not comply with the law.

 

No matter, this is typical a chicken hawk dodge ...if Ken had served he would know that for federal elections military personnel are under Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act Aug. 15, 1986. This bill consolidated previous federal acts affecting U.S. military personnel and civilians overseas and provides for a federal write-in absentee ballot for use in general elections for federal offices only.

The legislation provides expedited service and free postage for ballots for all military members under the auspices of the Director of the Federal Voting Assistance Program at the Department of Defense (DoD).

State elections on the other hand , have a mish-mash of absentee laws, however most allow authorized special blank absentee ballots for military members and others who have difficulty voting with regular absentee ballots. Except Texas. 

Ducking the challenge : All Hat and No Cattle Ken to put his small money where his ample mouth is:

 

If your so concerned about the troops and voting you could lead a petition drive to have Texas (R) accept authorized special blank absentee ballots for military members for state and local elections as stipulated and requested in Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act Aug. 15, 1986.MrFred

 

So far, Ken has made comments like this.Why does Red state Texas hate the troops?

by MRFred on 08/06/2008 09:51:11 AM EST

[ Parent ]
Its so simple, a cave man can do it (none / 0)

or..better still, a Fox news caveman

But, when FOX News tried to log onto the Federal Voting Assistance Program, a website administered by the DoD*, to obtain an absentee ballot, the process looked simple.

* see previously ignored posts that discuss Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act Aug. 15, 1986.

The problem seems to be the mail. It takes 18 days for the U.S. Postal Service to deliver mail to Iraq and 18 days for it to be returned.

Could be worse ,its 25 days for Korea.

It has been the case for years....by the way the postal service only delivers the mail to the FPO and APO in the US. The DOD delivers the mail the rest of the way and back to the US. It is then rembursed by the postal service. That's right..the same DOD that is controlled by the Republicans and Mr Bush.

All it would take is an executive order form the "Commander in Chief" to expedite mail delivery.  Cant seem to find one...I'll keep looking.

So why do Republicans keep reintroducing legislation tha covers the same ground over an over again? Spin!

by MRFred on 08/06/2008 01:52:58 PM EST

[ Parent ]
Hey Fred, (none / 0)
I'm not kidding. Either address the Gore actions in the 2000 recount, or walk off the field.

by KenTX on 08/05/2008 11:52:43 PM EST

[ Parent ]
Please..... (none / 0)

So now your the referee?

If you so concerned about military voters you could start at home...you know, like any rugged, personally responsible conservative would do and address the injustice of Texas's (or you home county's failure) to allow the military the exercise of full voting rights, expedited service and streamlining of BIG GOVERNMENT red tape. You know like I asked well before you tossed this red herring on the field  here and here

Start walkin'....

( PS: You guys get any damage from the storm?)

by MRFred on 08/06/2008 10:02:35 AM EST

[ Parent ]
Damage from the storm? (none / 0)

I am still waiting on my promised rain here in Austin!

But seriously, my grandmother-in-law is wheelchairbound in Beaumont but was fine.  Scary though since we aren't down there to help.

Oh, and when is Ken going to drop this and stop looking like such an idiot? (on this topic anyway).

by ProfRich on 08/06/2008 11:55:13 AM EST

[ Parent ]
Experience shows (none / 0)

the small storms are the ones that can catch you off guard.

In 2004 we had 4 roll accoss here...the one with the lowest winds 50 mph, here caused the most damage on my house at the time. New roof. Dont ask me why. Seems they generate microbursts, tornadoes, all kinds of nasty things regardless of pure size. One funny thing was I found some frogs in my car...an Acura..with the windows rolled up tight...no leaks...how they got there ,who knows? I guess they got in the vent through the AC somehow.

by MRFred on 08/06/2008 12:18:42 PM EST

[ Parent ]
You better get right with the christian right (none / 0)

Frogs in your car from a storm?

That's some biblical shit.

by ProfRich on 08/06/2008 12:24:59 PM EST

[ Parent ]
No (none / 0)
clever frogs....

by MRFred on 08/06/2008 12:38:18 PM EST

[ Parent ]
Oh yeah... (none / 0)
Oh, and when is Ken going to drop this and stop looking like such an idiot? (on this topic anyway).

Free country. Besides the point isn't the actual voting rights, the military have numerous avenues to vote...they know that, its the appearances, the spin. This is where Lieberman, for all practical purposes became a Republican:

"Until then, the Democrats had conducted a full-scale effort to persuade counties to disqualify any overseas ballots that lacked postmarks or witness signatures.

Overseas also , unfortunately, included the military.

The law I discussed requires those two things, the witness is ususally the unit voting officer as a rule. If he/she didn't sign...it was because they didn't follow the establish voting procedure. Thats all that's required.. a postmark...which all APOs/FPOs are supposed to provide and a witness...the unit voting officer. Doesn't get much simpler than that. But the Rethugs picked up and spun the military angle:

 But on that morning, with Republicans attacking the Gore-Lieberman campaign for eliminating the votes of hundreds of men and women in the armed forces, Mr. Lieberman effectively disavowed the strategy.

Mark Herron, a Democratic lawyer in Tallahassee who drafted a memorandum detailing legal grounds on which to disqualify overseas ballots, said that when Mr. Lieberman failed to defend him on television, ''I was watching with horror.''

''Al Gore and I don't want to ever be part of anything that would put an extra burden on the military personnel abroad who want to vote.''  Joe Lieberman

"We could never effectively communicate why we were right because we got ourselves in a position where it looked like we were trying to throw out military ballots when we were trying to throw out illegal ballots.''


 Now you know the rest of the story, the true story. And that is why Ken hits this over and over again.

You see the spin is the thing, not the facts. The Repugs got a good bounce off that and they return to it over an over an over.

by MRFred on 08/06/2008 12:37:46 PM EST

[ Parent ]
thanks for all this great info (none / 0)

by desertpear on 08/07/2008 02:40:19 AM EST

[ Parent ]
Its so clear now (none / 0)
Being a "member" means you can impose censorship on other members. This must be troll heaven.

by MarkRussell on 08/06/2008 10:46:36 AM EST

[ Parent ]
Yuhh huhhh.... (none / 0)
Awww gonna take away the ball?  Gee whiz!!! Awwww ... yer mother wears Army Boots!!

by pictman on 08/06/2008 01:14:48 PM EST

[ Parent ]
hup hup... (none / 0)
our daily installment of as the troll the spins...

by pictman on 08/06/2008 01:51:50 PM EST

Republicans are fighting for military voting rights. | 32 comments (32 topical, 0 hidden)
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