Motley Moose – Archive

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, the largest circulation paper in Wisconsin and the paper of record for the City of Milwaukee and Milwaukee County, penned a scathing editorial calling out the Republican legislature for their attempt to disenfranchise those who would vote for Democrats.

The editorial is in response to the blistering opinion from 7th Circuit Court Judge Richard Posner about that court’s big sloppy kiss to Gov. Scott Walker and his re-election campaign.

From the Journal-Sentinel editorial:

Five appeals court judges gave their colleagues the what-for Friday in a bark-peeling attack rarely seen in the legal genre. Led by Judge Richard A. Posner, himself a convert to the idea that voter ID equals voter suppression (good for him), the judges called the idea of voter fraud by impersonation “a mere fig leaf for efforts to disenfranchise voters likely to vote for the political party that does not control the state government.”

Which is precisely what is afoot in Wisconsin.

It has been clear from the day this rancid idea began working its way through the state Legislature that this was all about winning elections and not about the integrity of those elections. Voter ID makes it harder for certain classes of voters to exercise the franchise, including minorities, the elderly and the young. The fact that those categories of voters tend to favor Democrats should tell you all you need to know about the motivations of Republican legislators.

It’s about winning, baby, which is about integrity only in the sense that up is about down or that white is about black.

The editorial goes on to call out Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen who is contemplating an end around the Supreme Court’s ruling that Wisconsin’s voter id law cannot be used in the November 4th election. How, pray tell, does one defy the Supreme Court of the United States of America? Maybe J.B. stand for Jefferson Beauregard and he will rally the other crazee Republicans who wanted to include secession in the Wisconsin GOP platform this past summer to foment rebellion? Or maybe he is simply an idiot.  

More …

Last year the woman I loved was found murdered in the street where she lived. A week later on All Souls’ night I stood on the top step of a church and looked down at the people in the street holding candles for the “Take Back the Night” vigil. Wondering if her killer might be among them, I thought, “I’ll find you, whoever you are. However long it takes, I’ll find you.”

Welcome to The Moose Pond! The Welcomings diaries give the Moose, old and new, a place to visit and share words about the weather, life, the world at large and the small parts of Moosylvania that we each inhabit.

The President’s Weekly Address post is also an Open News Thread. Feel free to share other news stories in the comments.

From the White House – Weekly Address

In this week’s address, the President made the case for why it’s past time to raise the minimum wage. Increasing the national minimum wage to $10.10 an hour would benefit 28 million Americans, and make our economy stronger. While Republicans in Congress have blocked this commonsense proposal, a large and growing coalition of state and local leaders and owners of businesses large and small have answered the President’s call and raised wages for their residents and employees.

This progress is important, but there is more that can be done. No American who works full time should have to raise a family in poverty. That’s why the President will continue to push Congress to take action and give America its well-deserved raise.

AIDS Walk Austin is 9 days away, on Sunday the 19th. The Walk as a whole has raised about 32% of their $250,000 goal. Which is not close enough. Yeah, there’s still 9 days, and I’m no mathematician, but that’s a heck of a lot of money to raise per day.

This day, Friday, they have a challenge. If the Walk as a whole can raise $5,000 that will be matched. Come with me below the fold and I’ll tell you why you should donate.

This week we are watching for news out of the Supreme Court.

UPDATE 2: Emergency Stay Granted to Stop Implementation of Wisconsin Voter ID

… the basis was the Purcell objection, the proximity to the upcoming election and the risk of electoral chaos.

PDF of order (“Justices” Alito, Scalia, and Thomas dissented) is here:

the Seventh Circuit’s stay of the district court’s permanent injunction is vacated

Texas: A federal district court struck down the Texas Voter Id Law. The ruling issued an injunction, Texas said that they will appeal, so now we watch again.

UPDATE: 4th Circuit overturned by SCOTUS, extended registration in NC cancelled

… the full slate of changes passed by North Carolina this year, increasing restrictions on the voting process, is now back in effect for the election.

Justices Ginsberg and Sotomayor dissented (PDF) noting that the courts removal of pre-clearance in the VRA led directly to this outcome:

These measures likely would not have survived federal pre-clearance. The Court of Appeals determined that at least two of the measures – elimination of same-day registration and termination of out-of-precinct voting – risked significantly reducing opportunities for black voters to exercise the franchise in violation of §2 of the Voting Rights Act.

There are two important election related emergency requests that are pending. One is for North Carolina and is in the hands of Chief Justice Roberts. The other is for Wisconsin and is in the hands of Justice Kagan. Both matters have been fully briefed. Court watchers expect the North Carolina ruling to go in favor of the state and the Wisconsin ruling to go in favor of the voters. But tea leaf readers are really just guessing because as they say, the law is an ass, and the Supreme Court does whatever the heck it wants.

More below …

After the recent news release about bullets fired into the White House back in 2011, I though I’d revisit some of the worrisome thoughts I’ve had for years about the Secret Service and the safety of President Obama and his family. Why are we supposed to automatically trust those assigned to the protection of the President when it is patently clear that security has been lax? Could racism inside the agency be one of the variables that comes into play? In the spate of news articles and blogs about the Secret Service screw-ups recently, I find it interesting that few have linked the ongoing suit in the courts by black agents to what seems to be only slipshod security as a potential factor.  

On Sunday, Reince Priebus, Republican Party spokesliar, took to the airwaves to promote the New Republican Party, the one that is nicer to wimmins, not because they care about wimmins but because they realize that they need their votes.

And what better way to get women’s votes than to tell them just how compassionate you are … because women like compassion!!!

But something about his comment made me go to the Googles because I did not understand his use of the word. And look!!

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Breaking News E-mail

Gay marriages to resume as Supreme Court rejects appeals

The U.S. Supreme Court has turned away appeals from Wisconsin and four other states seeking to prohibit same-sex marriages, paving the way for an immediate expansion of gay and lesbian unions.

NY Times Breaking News E-mail

Supreme Court Clears Way for Gay Marriage in 5 States

The Supreme Court on Monday denied review in all five pending same-sex marriage cases, clearing the way for such marriages to proceed in Indiana, Oklahoma, Utah, Virginia and Wisconsin.

The move was a major surprise and suggests that the justices are not going to intercede in the wave of decisions in favor of same-sex marriage at least until a federal appeals court upholds a state ban.

This just got upended

UPDATE: What it looks like now

SCOTUSblog

This morning the Court issued additional orders from its September 29 Conference.   Most notably, the Court denied review of all seven of the petitions arising from challenges to state bans on same-sex marriage.  This means that the lower-court decisions striking down bans in Indiana, Wisconsin, Utah, Oklahoma, and Virginia should go into effect shortly, clearing the way for same-sex marriages in those states and any other state with similar bans in those circuits.

Over 30 states now must allow same-sex marriage.

More news items below …

Welcome to The Moose Pond! The Welcomings diaries give the Moose, old and new, a place to visit and share words about the weather, life, the world at large and the small parts of Moosylvania that we each inhabit.