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I'm sure Florida's Gov. Rick Scott will come around on some reasonable gun control laws about the same time he decides to actually do something for the voters of his state other than disenfranchise them with long lines at the polls -- which is never. He did his best to feign concern for both issues on Soledad O'Brien's show this Wednesday morning: CNN Anchor Blasts Florida Governor For Ducking Gun Control, Demands Action Before ‘I Cover Another Tragedy’:

Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R), who has an A rating from the National Rifle Association, refused to say if he would support stronger gun safety measures in the aftermath of the shooting in Newtown, Connecticut.

Appearing on CNN’s Starting Point on Wednesday, Scott repeatedly dodged host Soledad O’Brien’s specific questions about which reforms, if any, he would support, at one point responding to a query about limiting assault rifles with a trite, “I support the Second Amendment.” O’Brien repeatedly pressed Scott for a more detailed reply, but the Florida governor claimed that the nation must “respect the families, mourn their losses” but avoid a detailed conversation about what can be done to prevent such tragedies in the future:[...]

During the GOP convention in Florida, Scott made headlines when he rejected a request by Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn (D) to temporarily ban guns in the downtown area.

I'd like to see someone ask this guy how in the hell it is that a crook like himself ever managed to get elected as the governor of Florida in the first place. I'm not holding my breath for that to ever happen though.

Full transcript below the fold.

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Charlie Webster, the chairman of Maine's Republican Party, sees "dozens of black people" voting on Nov. 6 as evidence of voter fraud because "nobody in town knows anyone who’s black."

In an interview with WCSH's Don Carrigan earlier this week, Webster said that Democrats were winning elections because they blocked an effort by the Republican Party to repeal same-day voter registration, which requires an ID and proof of residency.

"Let's just look at what happened on Tuesday," he explained. "I mean, literally hundreds of new people came in. We don't know if they're residents or not but they came in and voted. And there's no way of knowing that."

"In some parts of the state -- for example, in some parts of rural Maine, there were dozens -- dozens of black people who came in and voted election day. Everybody has a right to vote, but nobody in town knows anybody that's black. How did that happen? I don't know, but we're going to find out."

When Carrigan pressed the party chairman for specifics about where fraud occurred, he vaguely referred to "several rural Maine towns" and promised an investigation to find out more.

"What I'm doing is purchasing a post card, we're going to mail it in and thank people for registering to vote and see whether it comes back," Webster said.

"So, you think the Democrats bussed in people?" Carrigan asked.

"I just think that the system, without some kind of an ID or without some kind of way to check, is fraught for abuse," Webster insisted. "I'm just telling you my personal opinion. I believe it's a problem."

Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan also recently pointed to African-American turnout to explain his loss to President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden.

“We were surprised with the outcome,” the Wisconsin Republican told WISC-TV’s Jessica Arp. “We knew this was going to be a close race. We thought we had a very good chance of winning it. I think that the surprise was some of the turnout, some of the turnout especially in urban areas, which definitely gave President Obama the big margin to win this race.”

(h/t: Think Progress)

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MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell reminded viewers why, even though millions of voters are apathetic as to whether making their voices heard on election day matters or not, if the Supreme Court and its impact for generations to come isn't enough to make people realize that it does make a difference -- maybe seeing what happened in Washington State will.

Marijuana possession cases in Washington state going up in smoke:

Prosecutors in Washington state's two most populous counties plan to dismiss scores of misdemeanor marijuana possession cases following passage of a landmark voter initiative earlier this week to legalize pot for adult recreational use.

Washington and Colorado became the first U.S. states to remove criminal sanctions for personal possession of an ounce (28.5 grams) or less of marijuana as voters approved ballot measures on Tuesday to legalize recreational use of the drug, setting up a possible showdown with the federal government.

Washington state's legalization measure passed with more than 55 percent of voters supporting it and fewer than 45 percent opposed, and will take effect next month.

But prosecutors in Washington's King and Pierce counties - which contain the cities of Seattle and Tacoma - moved swiftly to announce they were dropping 225 pending possession cases currently in the pipeline.

"The people have spoken loudly in Initiative 502, and there seems to be no point in continuing to prosecute cases for conduct that's going to be legal in a couple of weeks," King County Prosecuting Attorney Dan Satterberg told Reuters.

Pierce County Prosecutor Mark Lindquist said, "I don't believe any jury is going to convict on a simple marijuana case after this initiative has passed."

Now if we could see something done on the federal level on this issue, we'd be getting somewhere. As more and more states continue to legalize, I think we're going to see that happen sooner and not later.

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Bill Maher had some fun in this Friday's edition of New Rules with everyone from the wingnuts who doubted Nate Sliver's math, to Sean Hannity, to Ted Nugent and Victoria Jackson, to Fox News and their fearmongering about the New Black Panther Party.

And he reminded everyone that when it comes to reelecting our first black President, with white people, far too often it's one step forward and two steps back in regard to race relations in this country. Having Fox or right wing hate talk off the air would go a long way towards remedying that situation. As Maher noted, there is one thing to be hopeful about on that front, which is that like The Beach Boys, their fans are dying from old age.

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Karl Rove was back on Fox again this Thursday, still making excuses for blowing through all of those billionaires' money and with a major dose of projection when it comes to which party believes in voter suppression -- Karl Rove: Obama Won 'By Suppressing The Vote' :

Mitt Romney lost the election because President Barack Obama engaged in voter suppression, according to Republican political strategist Karl Rove.

"He succeeded by suppressing the vote," Rove said in an interview on Fox News with anchor Megyn Kelly on Thursday afternoon, "by saying to people, 'You may not like who I am and I know you can't bring yourself to vote for me, but I'm going to paint this other guy as simply a rich guy who only cares about himself.'"

Rove didn't actually give any examples of ways in which Obama made it harder for people to exercise their constitutional right at the polls -- things like voter ID laws, which have been pushed by GOP legislatures around the country. In fact, Obama specifically said in his victory speech that it was unfair that people had to wait in line for hours to vote, which occurred in part because Republicans reduced the time period for early voting.

Rove did say that Obama had aired attack ads and painted Romney as out-of-touch with the concerns of ordinary voters, but these are fairly common tactics in politics, and Rove is certainly no stranger to them.

"Fifty-three percent in the exit polls said on Election Day that Mitt Romney's policies would only help the rich. And they voted for Obama by a 9 to 1 margin," added Rove. "Of the 21 percent of the electorate who said that the most important characteristic in a president was that he cares about people like me, they voted for President Obama by almost a 9 to 1 margin. They effectively denigrated Mitt Romney's character, business acumen, business experience and made him unworthy."

Kelly then pointed out that whoever runs in 2016 on the Democratic ticket is not likely to go any easier on Republicans. Rove replied that the GOP needed to be quicker to responding to attacks, saying the Romney campaign did not do so effectively enough.

"The first group to respond to the attacks on Bain Capital was not the Romney campaign, it was American Crossroads with an ad in July. We don't do defense all that well," said Rove, saying it was sometimes more effective to have the candidate appear in an ad and respond directly to the charges being leveled.

Someone needs to explain the difference to Turdblossom between voter suppression and running a good campaign.

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Conservative MSNBC host Joe Scarborough on Monday attempted to shut down any talk of voter suppression by shouting "Benghazi! Benghazi! Benghazi!" over and over again to change the subject to the September attacks on Americans in Libya, a topic that Republicans believe hurts President Barack Obama.

During a discussion about the tight presidential race in Florida, co-host Mika Brzezinski attempted to point out that Republicans had restricted early voting, creating long lines and chaos for voters in some counties.

"You just feel like you have to finish with a story, Republicans bad, [Florida Gov.] Rick Scott bad, voting suppression," Scarborough complained, throwing up his arms. "I have three words: Benghazi, Benghazi, Benghazi. I'm wandering around my ranch house muttering the words, 'Benghazi.' I mean, seriously, are we going here? Are we really going here?"

"But you know what?" Brzezinski attempted to continue. "We've had a..."

"Benghazi! Benghazi! Benghazi!" Scarborough interrupted.

"It's absolutely a story," NBC's David Gregory said of the long voter lines.

"Benghazi's a story," Scarborough quipped.

"It's something we have to watch very carefully," Gregory added. "And by the way, I think the Benghazi issue, I think there are real questions about Benghazi. There are serious questions... well, he brought it up!"

"Why do you want to cover up Benghazi?" Scarborough shouted, pointing at MSNBC.com executive editor Richard Wolffe. "Benghazi! Benghazi! Benghazi!"

"Is the voter story I just read a story?" Brzezinski asked Republican strategist Steve Schmidt.

"Benghazi, Benghazi," Scarborough muttered as Schmidt tried to answer.

"I mean, kind of," the Republican strategist admitted. "Is it possible a local elections officials in Florida screwed up the early voting? Yes. Is it part of some big, giant Republican conspiracy out there? Absolutely not."

"So what happened in Benghazi?" Scarborough said.

"I think we can all agree, Republicans and Democrats -- whatever your preference -- they all should be able to vote," Wolffe explained. "Those lines are offensive wherever they are, whoever's responsible. Lines should not happen for several hours just to allow people to do that."

"I agree," Scarborough replied. "Just like I agree that we really need to get to the bottom of what happened in Benghazi."

(h/t: Media Matters)

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Fox News host Brian Kilmeade on Monday suggested that the "best thing" that the presidential campaigns could do would be to send poll watchers to "intimidate people into playing it straight."

Appearing on Fox & Friends on the Monday before election day, Fox News senior judicial analyst Andrew Napolitano explained that campaign lawyers had found "ingenuous ways to challenge things."

"So no matter how well it's going, no matter how smoothly it looks, whoever's losing has an opportunity to make a challenge," Napolitano said. "The Democrats will say, 'Republican poll workers wouldn't let people who are authorized to vote, vote.' And Republicans will say, 'Democrats are voting twice. They also have people voting who aren't authorized to vote.' And the courts are not going to be able to resolve this on Tuesday night."

Kilmeade replied: "So, if you have presence there, if you're a Republican, if you're a Romney or Obama people, Republican on Democrat, the best thing you can do is to have a presence there to show -- maybe intimidate people into playing it straight. Correct?"

"Well, intimidation is actually [a crime]," Napolitano point out.

"Not intimidation," Kilmeade said. "Just go, 'Oh, that guy's over here and..."

"I'm watching," co-host Steve Doocy added.

Napolitano noted that most states allowed three poll watchers from each party at each polling place, but "the only way there won't be all this litigation is if one of them wins by substantial numbers in given states."

"And these are poll watchers, not dancers," Kilmeade concluded.

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 made it a crime to "intimidate, threaten, or coerce, or attempt to intimidate, threaten, or coerce any" voter.

Title 18 U.S.C. 594 specifies fines and/or jail time for "[w]hoever intimidates, threatens, coerces, or attempts to intimidate, threaten, or coerce, any other person for the purpose of interfering with the right of such other person to vote or to vote as he may choose."

(h/t: Mediaite)

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Here we go again with Florida leading the way with more voter suppression -- Florida Early Voting Fiasco: Voters Wait For Hours At Polls As Rick Scott Refuses To Budge:

Once again, Florida and its problems at the polls are at the center of an election.

Early voting is supposed to make it easier for people to carry out their constitutional right. Tuesdays are notoriously inconvenient to take off work, so many states have given voters the option of turning out on weekends or other weekdays in the run-up to Election Day.

But in Florida this year, it has been a nightmare for voters, who have faced record wait times, long lines in the sun and a Republican governor, Rick Scott, who has refused to budge and extend early voting hours.

"People are getting out to vote. That's what's very good," said Scott.

People are getting out to vote -- but many of them are having to wait in line for three or four hours to do so. One contributor to DailyKos claimed it took 9 hours to vote. In Miami-Dade on Saturday, people who had gotten in line by 7:00 p.m. were allowed to vote; the last person wasn't checked in until 1 a.m., meaning it took some individuals six hours to cast a ballot.

"We're looking at an election meltdown that is eerily similar to 2000, minus the hanging chads," said Dan Smith, a political science professor at the University of Florida.

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We've got stories that continue to come out about voter suppression everywhere from Arizona, to Colorado, to Pennsylvania to you name it, and stories like this one just coming out this week -- Florida 'Glitch' Wipes Out 1000 Early Votes In Black Area.

And this recent news from Ohio where their Secretary of State Jon Husted is doing his best to become the next Katherine Harris or Ken Blackwell -- Last-Minute Ohio Directive Could Trash Legal Votes And Swing The Election.

But never mind all that. If people don't like it that the Republicans are doing their best to keep them from voting or their votes from being counted, well that's too bad according to Mitt Romney's number one neocon fan-girl -- Wash. Post's Jennifer Rubin Dismisses Voter Suppression Concerns As "Sour Grapes".

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A man registering voters in Nevada may have implicated the Republican Party in a felony when was caught on video recently telling potential voters to register "non-partisan" because "I don't get credit for Democrats."

Nevada television station KOLO obtained cell phone video of a man, who claimed he worked for the Republican Party, revealing that he was paid by the number of voters he registers, but only if they were not Democrats.

"Could you do me a favor?" the man asked a potential voter. "Mark non-partisan on there. I'll get credit for it. I don't get credit for Democrats."

"I am a Democrat," he added. "So I still do Democrats if I have to, but I'm working for the Republican Party. I have to get two an hour and I don't get credit for Democrats."

According to the Nevada Revised Statutes, "It is unlawful for a person to provide compensation for registering voters that is based upon: (a) The total number of voters a person registers; or (b) The total number of voters a person registers in a particular political party."

Nevada Secretary of State Ross Miller, a Democrat, told KOLO that he prosecuted ACORN in 2008 for paying bonuses based on the number of registrations, but enforcing the law might not be possible in this case because there was no clear violation.

"It is alarming that he was making some suggestion that he wouldn't be credited for a registration if it came under a particular party affiliation, but there's no explanation what that meant," Miller said.

A spokesperson for Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney said that he was not aware of any paid workers registering voters on behalf of the campaign when that video was recorded last Friday, the station reported.