Democrats Suppress the Vote

The following is my reply to an editorial in the New York Times, 9 October 2011.  Here I have added a few sentences and corrected a few misspellings. --- HM

Opinion

The Myth of Voter FraudBack to Article »

New restrictions on voting are really intended to keep people who vote Democratic from the polls, particularly the young, the poor, the elderly, and minorities.

28.

Hugh Murray

Milwaukee

October 10th, 2011

10:11 am

Even if it were true that there was no voter fraud in the past (and there has been fraud), should we await until there is massive voter fraud to do something? States are correct in requiring IDs now.

I am one of the elderly, and I want my vote to count and not be voided by illegal aliens voting, or others who vote twice.

The Obama Justice Dept. has refused to demand that states remove the dead from the voter roles, as required by law. Perhaps the Chicago politician hopes to win reelection with the graveyard vote.

The editorial assumes that the Democrats want the number of voters to increase. I recall in Wisconsin in 2004 how the states Democratic Party went to court several times to prevent the name of Ralph Nader appearing on the ballot. (Had the Democrats succeeded, they would have effectively disfranchised some 16,000 Nader voters.  The Democrats failed in their plot in Wisconsin, but did prevent Nader from appearing on ballots in several states.)  In the same election, Democratic operatives, including the son of a Democratic Congressperson, slashed tires of vans meant to transport elderly Republicans to the polls. Democrats seek to curb the vote of those who might vote for other parties. And Democrats use unfair tactics to do so.

The Democrats will stop at nothing to win. To prevent fraud, all good citizens should demand voter ID at the polls.

What Became of the Peace Movement?

WHAT BECAME OF THE PEACE MOVEMENT?

            After the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon Building near Washington, the United States retaliated.  A war in Afghanistan was followed by a war in Iraq.  But many on the Left opposed these wars.  Demonstrations against President Bush, Vice President Cheney, Halliburton Corporation, and the Republicans grew in size and frequency.  One mother of a soldier killed abroad led picketers near Bush’s ranch.  The peace demonstrations were conducted in many cities and participants often held signs equating Bush with fascism, Hitler, and other negatives.  The peace demonstrations were a part of the Left wing and Democratic Party arsenal.

            But with the election of Democratic President Obama, the peace demonstrations evaporated.  The Peace Movement was linked to the Democrats, and the leaders did not want to disrupt the Democratic Administration.  As Obama continued the wars with little change, all the arguments that the Movement had used for several years were just as valid, indeed more so, for the wars were continuing years longer with more casualties.  But there was no visible Peace Movement.  It should not embarrass the Democratic Party and the Obama Administration.

            Yet, how could the Democrats mobilize the base?  If the Peace Movement and peace demonstrations were now an embarrassment, what else could be done?  Worse, the struggle over ObamaCare had brought many anti-Democrats into demonstrations within the amorphous Tea Party rallies.  The elections of 2010 provided some Democratic wins, but overall, it was a massive defeat.

            Then, newly elected Republican Governors in Wisconsin, New Jersey, and a few other states began to reign in the inflated budgets left by outgoing Democratic regimes.  Suddenly, teachers, and government unions and students and the idle Left all began to mobilize in raucous demonstrations.  They occupied the Wisconsin capitol in early 2011, and Democratic municipalities refused to restore order.  Bullying and threats became part of the scene.  Popular democracy was obstructed by Democratic Parties using mob tactics, aided by friendly politically activist judges.  These mobs attempted to shout over, drum over, stamped over, the duly elected representatives of the people.  In the end, they failed.  Despite the obstruction, Republican policies were slowly enacted and implemented.  Unions, feeling threatened by loss of dues and power, became frantic.

            By Autumn 2011 the Democrats had resurrected the Peace Movement demonstrations, but not to demand peace.  Now, the same crew of demonstrators were on the street to demand the end of greed!  Close down Wall Street, attack the banks, raise taxes on the rich!  But this was the same set of people who peopled the peace movement.  The anarchists, the Communists, the Socialists, the Trotskyists, the Left – it was the same group of people, but with a change in cause that would not embarrass Obama.  They simply turned their anti-war signs round and wrote anti-greed screeds.  They met the same friends and heard similar speakers.  They were still anti-war, but that was now backburner, because they want to reelect President Obama.  Peace is less important that a Democratic victory.  If the Republicans should win, then they will start marching again for peace.  But for the moment, for the Movement, today they march against greed.  Against profits.  Oh, and can you donate a few dollars so I can remake my signs?

            Peace?  Greed?  Their only principle is electing Democrats.

  Eugene Kane is a writer for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.  He often presents Black nationalist views in his column.  This describes events in Milwaukee.  My comment follows Kane's article.

A comment re Eugene Kane’s comment in Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 1 October 2011

Eugene Kane | In My Opinion

Scrap yard death is littered with enough blame to go around

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    Perhaps more than anything else, the death of Shelton D. Smith was a lesson about consequences.

    Just 16 years old, Smith lost his life in May when he was shot and killed while attempting to steal from a scrap metal yard. The shooter, 54-year-old David A. Helton, was sentenced to 12 years in prison last week after being found guilty of second-degree reckless homicide.

    Helton was living in a trailer at the H&R Scrap Metals yard at 9000 W. Fond du Lac Ave. when he shot Smith, who had climbed over the fence and into the yard with two other young males and an adult.

    As they were throwing old motor parts over the fence, Helton fired his shotgun, striking Smith and killing him at the scene.

    At the time, I couldn't imagine a more combustible crime story for Milwaukee: a white guy living in a trailer shoots and kills an unarmed young black criminal during a robbery. On the surface, it seemed like a troubling tale about a vigilante shooting involving a good boy gone bad.

    Smith was reportedly a promising athlete and student with dreams of going on to college. His family members were understandably upset at his death and insisted even though he was caught stealing, Smith was essentially a good kid who had followed the wrong crowd.

    It turned out he paid for his bad judgment with his life, which his family felt was way too high a price.

    Helton, a self-described loner who came to live in the scrap metal yard with the permission of the owner, told several different stories to police after the     shooting.

    He was convicted after Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Richard J. Sankovitz decided that Helton's version of the events - that it was an accidental shooting - simply didn't hold water.

    "Many accidents could be avoided if people thought about what could happen," Sankovitz told Helton during sentencing.

    "You didn't think about it, and Mr. Smith didn't think about it, either."

I talked with Johnathan Safran, the attorney representing Smith's mother, Tisha Monique Gardner, who said the family was considering further legal action against Helton and possibly the owner of the scrap metal yard.

    Safran said no decision had been made on a wrongful-death lawsuit yet, although the family wasn't totally satisfied with the judge's 12-year sentence . For his part, Safran said he felt police and the district attorney's office had investigated the shooting well although he also expressed reservation about the length of the sentence.

    "I don't think 12 years is enough for taking somebody's life."

It's a good bet Smith's family will pursue some sort of financial claims from the scrap metal yard owner. Even if the owner didn't consider Helton an official night security guard, his presence in the scrap metal yard suggested some sort of arrangement.

    "He definitely seemed to be a nighttime presence ," said Safran, who noted Helton's living arrangement in a trailer at the scrap yard may have violated city housing ordinances.

    Another messy detail is that, in an unrelated case, Smith's mother faces serious child neglect charges for 11 of her 12 children in a case out of Dane County. Safran is aware of those charges but said Smith wasn't living with his mother at the time of his death.

    It turns out to be a complicated story about a group of people who clearly didn't consider all of their options before acting, with tragic results.

    If Smith had thought twice about riding along with a group of friends who planned to rob the salvage yard, he'd likely be alive today.

    If Helton had a better understanding of gun laws, he would have realized what it meant to open fire on someone who wasn't directly threatening his life.

    Let's not forget the scrap yard owner who probably didn't fully appreciate the consequences of having an armed person living on his property without any training or authority.

    With a lawsuit looming, the search for justice for Smith's family may prove messy, with the release of more embarrassing details about the slain teenager's upbringing. That's another consequence to consider. When children aren't raised properly, they can make poor decisions that can cost them their lives.

    It's a lesson worth learning.

Here is my comment -- Hugh Murray

  Here is a poor white man living in a scrap yard.  Liberals automatically sneer, he is a loser.  The poor man discovers 3 thieves throwing some of the merchandise over the fence to be stolen.  He stops it - about the only why flash mobs and other thieves understand - with violence.  So he killed a thief.  If the guy had not been thieving, he would not have been injured.  It's time to allow store owners to protect their property from those who simply take.  Thieves should be punished, and if they seek to run away, shoot them faster.

   The man is poor.  He lives in a scrap yard.  If he allows thieves to take everything, will he even be allowed that meager existence?  That property is part of his life.  He should defend it with everything possible.  Its loss will mean the loss of his life.  Of course, rich liberals cannot understand the poor.  That is why they are liberal and have such sympathies for criminals and vote Democrat.

   Justice for the poor of all colors means total defense of property from thieves.

   The man should not be sentenced to any time in jail.  The mother of the thief should be charged for raising a criminal.

A comment re Eugene Kane’s comment in Milwaukee Journal Sentinel 1 October 2011