And now, a few words on voter ID

Like most people with an ounce of decency and sense of fairness, I am outraged by yesterday's Appeals Court panel that reinstated voter ID for the November elections in Wisconsin. And not just because of the outcome, but the fact that it took a handful of hours after hearing arguments to have this 3-person crew make their decision. That seems to indicate the fix was in, and you sure wonder what's going on behind the scenes with these people, much like with the Randa decision on John Doe (interestingly, that case was heard on Tuesday and a decision has yet to be made).

And get a load of the GOP judges' "reasoning".

During arguments Friday, Judge Frank Easterbrook, a Ronald Reagan appointee, cited figures that 2.4 percent of whites in Wisconsin can't obtain the needed ID to vote, while 4.5 percent of blacks can't. He asked whether that 2 percent gap between whites and blacks makes the law discriminatory.

Well given that it makes black people almost TWICE AS LIKELY TO BE AFFECTED, yeah I'd say that's discriminatory. Especially when we know the people pushing the most for voter ID are racist white Republicans from suburban Milwaukee, and their spokespeople on AM radio.

But the most absurd part about this ruling is that it's put into effect less than 8 weeks before the November election. And a sizable amount of Wisconsinites have already registered under the old rules.

.@Wisconsin_GAB spokesman says 11,815 absentee ballots have already been mailed to WI voters without photo ID instructions. #news3

— Jessica Arp (@news3jessica) September 12, 2014

So are these people able to be disenfranchised, despite already being in the equivalent of the voting booth? That development alone tells me that voter ID may be stopped before the election, because you can't have two different sets of rules for registration for the same election. Maybe this stupid, racist law is upheld for future elections, but it makes no sense that it would be in place for November.

But there's a side effect here. I'm angrier than ever at this Wrecking Crew known as the Wisconsin GOP, and it makes me even more determined to take extra steps to get people informed about voting, and to kick these people's asses in November. And in judging from posts on Facebook and Twitter, I am far from the only one, and this is the type of decision that drives casual people into caring about the election, and bringing their buddies to vote Dem along with them. It better, because these bastards will not do the right thing until they are shut down at the voting booth.

Unlike the song's title, I encourage you to get mad AND get even. But it's a good excuse to play a good tune, especially since yesterday was the 25th anniversary of PUMP being released (which is a solid 10th grade memory for this guy)



P.S. This is also more evidence that we need to have federal judges on 10-year terms, subject to a maximum of one renewal. These people think they're bulletproof and can make up whatever shit they want. They need to be brought back to reality and some sense of accountability. And our House members have to start putting impeachment on the table if these people are getting out of hand. That procedure is there for a reason.