DOWNLOADS: (57)

PLAYS: (200)

Embed

Oh look! It's Fox's favorite Brit and the Brown-Haired Guy Who Isn't Steve Doocy doing what they do best on this Friday's Fox & Friends -- lying and fearmongering.

This works out so well for them. They get to bash the EPA, the IRS and "big government," pull out their favorite crucified abused conservative victim card and make excuses for why their candidate got his ass kicked in the last presidential election.

Jason Easley has more on the huge game of projection we had going on here: Fox News Claims That US Government Rigged The 2012 Election For Obama:

Fox News has invented a new reason why Mitt Romney lost the election. They are claiming that government bureaucrats unfairly tilted the playing field for Obama in the 2012 election.

On Fox and Friends Stuart Varney said, “It’s bigger than the IRS. There’s a suspicion here that the machinery of government has been used to suppress conservatives. That the election in fact was not a level playing field. There was a tilt, and it was orchestrated by government bureaucrats. You just mentioned the EPA, Environmental Protection Agency, almost always when liberal groups apply for a waiver of document fees, they were granted that waiver. Conservative groups had to pay. Now that’s a form of financial pressure on conservative groups. Then you’ve got disaster relief funds. Four states, red states run by Republican governors, were denied disaster relief funds. Then you’ve got the IRS. It’s not just the tax exempt office. Conservative supporters, supporters of conservative groups, they were audited. Republican donors, audited. And there’s a consistent pattern here. So Republicans, conservatives are looking back over the last four years and saying there is a pattern. There is a pattern of going after conservatives which affected the election. The government bureaucracy was used as a hammer in a way that it was not supposed to be used.”

Brian Kilmeade claimed that it was hard to argue with these examples because there are actual living breathing people that have proof of it.

It is really easy to argue with Varney’s examples, because they are either not true or come from dubious sources.

Go read the rest of the post for more and his breakdown of why their claims don't hold water and as he noted, President Obama won the election despite Republicans' best efforts to suppress as many Democratic voters as possible across the country.

Don't look for this stupidity to end any time soon folks. They've been using the IRS "scandal" to do everything from attacking "Obamacare" to letting every conservative crackpot who has ever been audited to claim they had a big target on their head with no proof whatsoever, to claiming that the union members who work at the IRS were helping President Obama get re-elected. It's never going to end as long as there's a Democrat in the White House. Never.

DOWNLOADS: (226)

PLAYS: (1781)

Embed

Jon Stewart took the GOP and their propaganda arm, Fox "News" to task for their recent effort to rebrand the Republican party after their losses in the last election. After showing clips of some pundits complaining that their "messaging was bad" Stewart wondered if this might solve their problems:

STEWART: If only people knew what the Republicans were about. What the Republicans need is some kind of twenty four hour a day, seven day a week perpetual messaging refinement and distribution resource. Preferably one cloaked in the trappings of journalistic authority, but without any of its ethical constraints.

What would we call such a place? Elephant News is too obvious. Insane Clown Posse is already taken. Ferret! Ferret News! I'll work on it.

Yeah, it's just too bad they haven't had a chance to adequately get their message out to the voters. After noting that the Republicans don't want to actually change any of their policies, but just make them sound more palatable to the public instead, Stewart told his viewers that there's just one person left that they could turn to in order to save them, which is their wordsmith Frank Luntz -- or there's that other option, which is rigging elections if they can't win over the voters.

Stewart's got their number alright. Lie, obfuscate, "rebrand," pretend you give a damn about representing your constituents when you don't, propagandize and when that doesn't work -- cheat.

DOWNLOADS: (181)

PLAYS: (1740)

Embed

An election worker in Oregon is facing a criminal investigation for allegedly altering multiple ballots to benefit Republican candidates.

In a press release on Monday, Clackamas County spokesperson Tim Heider said that 55-year-old Deanna Swenson had been "relieved of duty immediately after the alleged ballot tampering was discovered."

Swenson, who was registered as a Republican, was accused of filling in a Republican straight ticket on ballots where voters did not specify a choice.

Contacted by Willamette Week, Swenson tearfully insisted that it was "only the two" ballots that had been altered.

The Oregon Department of Justice began an investigation last week after an elections official reportedly observed ballots being altered.

"At this point, it is unclear how many ballots the employee at issue had access to, or what will be done with those ballots," the sheriff's office said on Monday.

At a Monday emergency meeting, officials in Clackamas County announced that the altered ballots would not be counted. Since ballots were anonymous, disenfranchised voters would not be given a chance to re-cast their votes.

Swenson has worked in elections since at least 2000, according to the Clackamas County spokesperson.

Blue Oregon's Kari Chisholm reported that the Oregon City woman's Facebook page indicated she "liked" various conservative personalities, candidates and organizations including the Republican National Committee, The Tea Party, Paul Ryan VP, the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), Ann Romney and Fox News.

If convicted of a Class C felony for ballot tampering, Swenson could face five years in prison and a fine of up to $125,000.

DOWNLOADS: (280)

PLAYS: (555)

Embed

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)

DOWNLOADS: (194)

PLAYS: (1346)

Embed

Here we go again with more dirty tricks from Republicans trying to steal another presidential election -- Tea party groups work to remove names from Ohio voter rolls:

Lori Monroe, a 40-year-old Democrat who lives in central Ohio, was startled a few weeks ago to open a letter that said a stranger was challenging her right to vote in the presidential election.

Monroe, who was recovering from cancer surgery, called the local election board to protest. A local tea party leader was trying to strike Monroe from the voter rolls for a reason that made no sense: Her apartment building in Lancaster was listed as a commercial property.

"I'm like, really? Seriously?" Monroe said. "I've lived here seven years, and now I'm getting challenged?"

Monroe's is one of at least 2,100 names that tea party groups have sought to remove from Ohio's voter rosters.

The groups and their allies describe it as a citizen movement to prevent ballot fraud, although the Republican secretary of state said in an interview that he knew of no evidence that any more than a handful of illegal votes had been cast in Ohio in the last few presidential elections.

"We're all about election integrity — making sure everyone who votes is registered and qualified voters," said Mary Siegel, one of the leaders of the Ohio effort.

Some Democrats see it as a targeted vote-suppression drive. The names selected for purging include hundreds of college students, trailer park residents, homeless people and African Americans in counties President Obama won in 2008. [...]

The tea party groups, scattered around the state, have joined forces under the banner of the Ohio Voter Integrity Project. It is an offshoot of True the Vote, a Texas organization that has recruited volunteers nationwide to challenge voter rosters and work as poll watchers.

True the Vote was founded by Catherine and Bryan Engelbrecht, a couple who run an oil field equipment manufacturing firm in Rosenberg, Texas.

In Ohio, election records show, one of the project's top priorities has been to remove college students from the voter rolls for failure to specify dorm room numbers. (As a group, college students are strongly in Obama's camp.)

Voters challenged include 284 students at the Ohio State University campus in Columbus, 110 at Oberlin College, 88 at College of Wooster, 38 at Kent State — and dozens more from the University of Cincinnati, Miami University, Lake Erie College, Walsh University, Hiram College, John Carroll University and Telshe Yeshiva, a rabbinical college near Cleveland.

So far, every county election board that has reviewed the dorm challenges found them invalid.

Here's more from ProPublica on True the Vote -- A Reading Guide to True the Vote, the Controversial Voter Fraud Watchdog.

DOWNLOADS: (158)

PLAYS: (1024)

Embed

After the Obama campaign filed their lawsuit in Ohio, which Mitt Romney subsequently went out and lied about, claiming that they were trying to disenfranchise military voters, which they're not, as Karoli explained here, wingnut Rep. Allen West took to his Facebook page to attack the President as well and throw some more flames about whether he deserves the title of "Commander in Chief."

As a retired Army officer I am appalled at the Obama administration’s actions to bring a lawsuit against the State of Ohio for the early voting privileges it extends to our Men and Women serving in uniform. To have the Commander in Chief make our US Servicemen and Women the target of a political attack to benefit his reelection actions is reprehensible. The voting privilege extended to these Warriors who represent the best among us should not be a part of the collective vision of this inept President who is more concerned about his reelection than sequestration. As a Combat Veteran, for this President to unleash his campaign cronies against our Military is unconscionable….how dare this President compare the service, sacrifice, and commitment of those who Guard our liberties not as special and seek to compare them to everyone else. Barack Obama is undeserving of the title Commander-in-Chief.

Quite astounding coming from this man: Allen West (R-FL) Brags about Torturing Iraqi Policeman. Yeah, that's who I want to hear from when it comes to judging whether President Obama deserves his title or not. Spare me.

For her part, Greta Van Susteren did at least press West about why he thought it was alright to disenfranchise all of those other Ohio voters and he did not have a good answer. His response was basically that they go "above and beyond" what everyone else in the state is doing, therefore they should have extra time to vote.

How about those veterans West? You think they deserve the same amount of time to vote as those currently serving? I don't know what it's going to take to get some meaningful, national laws protecting everyone's rights, making the availability of early voting mandatory everywhere and getting rid of these rigged voting machines, but we're long past due for all of it.

DOWNLOADS: (331)

PLAYS: (1570)

Embed

I'm not sure what impact this had on the recall election this Tuesday night in Wisconsin, but I agree with state Sen. Lena Taylor that those responsible ought to be held to account for this voter suppression tactic. Maybe if we had a few more people going to jail for pulling these type of stunts, they'd be less likely to do it in the first place. It's shameful that Republicans have proven themselves once again willing to do whatever is necessary to suppress voter turnout in order to make sure they win elections.

Wisconsin State Senator: investigations and prosecutions needed for voter suppression:

Investigations and criminal prosecutions are needed for election fraud in Tuesday night's gubernatorial election, Wisconsin State Senator Lena Taylor said. Taylor wrote to the state's Government Accountability Board, arguing that "It is imperative that your agency uphold the law and criminally prosecute any person that is engaged in voter suppression and disenfranchisement tactics." Robocalls have been made to citizens in Wisconsin misleadingly telling them that they needn't vote if they already signed the petition to recall Governor Scott Walker. "It is my understanding that a reporter did call and find out that that call did come from the Republican Party,"

Taylor said, speaking on The Ed Show. "I'm looking forward to the GAB doing an investigation, and I think the Attorney General also should have done and should be doing an investigation of anyone who is attempting to intimidate or to give misinformation to voters in order to suppress votes."Taylor said that the robocalls were an obvious attempt to reverse the momentum that the pro-recall side has made. "They know that the momentum is with [Milwaukee Democratic Mayor]Tom Barrett and they’re determined to cheat and do whatever they can,” she said. “I will characterize this robo-call, frankly, as a disgusting tactic. A fear tactic."

IMHO anyone engaging in this sort of activity ought to be facing some severe criminal penalties and looking at some real jail time for doing it. I'm no expert on Wisconsin law and do not know what the punishment is if they can prove who was making these calls. I was glad to see the state Senator call for the matter to be looked into. I'm sick to death of this type of tactic being allowed to go on and I hope sincerely that Ed Schultz follows up on it so what happened receives some further scrutiny than just the coverage on his show this Tuesday evening.

DOWNLOADS: (321)

PLAYS: (1469)

Embed

I don't know how many regular MSNBC viewers we have here at C&L, but this ad by Andrea Mitchell has been sticking in my craw since I first saw it air not long ago. As part of their "lean forward" series of ads featuring their various hosts, Andrea Mitchell decided to weigh in on the issue of voter disenfranchisement. The trouble here is she refuses to identify just who is doing the disenfranchising.

Somehow the word Republican never manages to leave her lips. Sorry Mrs. Greenspan, but there is one party out there doing their best to make sure people can't vote at unprecedented levels because they know it's bad for them if too many people vote.

Here's more from AlterNet on the topic -- The Cancer of Voter Suppression: The GOP's Silent Coup.

Their article pointed to a new report issued by the Brennan Center for Justice, entitled, Voting Law Changes in 2012.

Here is their executive summary of the report:

Continue reading »

DOWNLOADS: (135)

PLAYS: (319)

Embed

After passing a series of restrictive voter ID laws in every state where Republican governors and state legislators made gains the last election, as Rachel Maddow pointed out this Tuesday night, they've continued to prove that they really don't care all that much about breaking their own rules.

Whether it be the Indiana Secretary of State found guilty of voter fraud that might be reinstated by Gov. Mitch Daniels if a judge decides to downgrade his felonies to misdemeanor charges, or Dick Lugar who has had voter fraud charges filed against him by his "tea party" primary challenger, or the fact that the Republicans weren't too worried about ID's during their own caucus in Iowa, they continue to prove as Rachel noted, that IOKIYAR.

Sen. Bernie Sanders is requesting that the GAO take a look at the impact of these new laws which he discussed with Rachel in the segment above. Here's more on that from the Senator's web site -- The Right to Vote:

February 21, 2012

A group of U.S. senators on Tuesday asked the Government Accountability Office to study what they called an "alarming number" of new state laws that will make it "significantly harder" for millions of eligible voters to cast ballots this November. Sens. Bernie Sanders, Patrick Leahy, Richard Durbin and Bill Nelson sent a letter asking the non-partisan research arm of Congress for the review of new laws in at least 14 states.

The study is needed "to ensure that all citizens have the opportunity to exercise their constitutional right to vote and are not unreasonably hindered or burdened in that process," the letter said.

Some of the new restrictions, the senators added, are tantamount to poll taxes.

Continue reading »

DOWNLOADS: (2353)

PLAYS: (1376)

Embed

Karoli reported on this Sunday, but the details are even more disturbing as they come in ...

After Signing Law Disenfranchising ID-less Voters, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker Closes 10 DMV Offices:

Earlier this year, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker became one of the many GOP governors to sign a law disenfranchising voters who do not have a photo ID — a law that disproportionately affects elderly voters, young voters, students, minorities and low-income voters. Having disenfranchised tens of thousands of Wisconsin voters, Walker is now making it harder for many of these voters to obtain the ID they need to regain their right to participate in the next election:

Gov. Scott Walker’s administration is working on finalizing a plan to close as many as 10 offices where people can obtain driver’s licenses in order to expand hours elsewhere and come into compliance with new requirements that voters show photo IDs at the polls.

[...]

Lest there be any doubt, there is absolutely no legitimate purpose behind Walker’s voter ID law. Although Republicans justify these voter disenfranchising laws by claiming that they are necessary to combat voter fraud, a recent study by the Brennan Center for Justice found that only 44 one-millionths of one percent of votes are cast by people who commit voter fraud.

The day I see this guy recalled can't come soon enough. Let's hope they get rid of some of their Senators in the mean time in the upcoming recall elections.