Jonathan Chait Really Upset Over Voter Suppression In Obama’s Illinois

20 Aug, 2013 by William Teach

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Oh, wait, sorry, Jonathan Chait, another in a long line of Liberal race baiters and grievance mongers, doesn’t bother to mention Obama’s homestate and their voting restrictions, but instead whines about North Carolina in completely raaaaacist terms.

Modern Vote Suppression Better Than Jim Crow, Still Pretty Bad

A pervasive sense of racial victimization has afflicted conservatives during the Obama years – the feeling that they are beset by a combination of false accusations of racism and actual anti-white racial animus that they dare not denounce lest they trigger still more false accusations of racism. That bundle of grievances resurfaced last week when North Carolina Republicans passed sweeping restrictions on voting rights, and Hillary Clinton declared in a speech, “Anyone who says that racial discrimination is no longer a problem in American elections must not be paying attention.”

Cast once again as the heirs to the political tradition of the segregated South, conservatives have lashed back. It is certainly true that modern Republican vote suppression pales in comparison with the pre-1965 version, in method and scale, to the point where equating the two is absurd. Segregated states used violence and “literacy tests” to disenfranchise the vast majority of the black population. The modern analogue instead works around the margins. Nobody is forcibly prohibited from voting. Instead, bureaucratic hurdles discourage some small share of disproportionately Democratic voters from voting.

Four points. 1st, what fantasy world do liberals like Chait live in? 2nd, read the rest of Chait’s race baiting article for a good laugh. Or perhaps you’ll be at the screen with the same type of face your spouse makes when you’ve done something really dumb. 3rd, let’s make sure to note that the pre-1965 voter suppression, which involved violence, occurred at the hands of Democrats.

4th, let’s note that Chait fails to call out any of the Democrat/Northern states which feature similar laws. Illinois, Obama’s home state, requires ID to vote. Granted, it does not go as far as NC’s in requiring picture ID to vote at the polling place on election day. But, for early voting, you are required to have government issued picture ID. People need two forms of ID in order to register to vote. The number of early voting days is 15, compared to NC’s 10 (which includes increased hours and polling places). The national average of those states that do feature early voting (not all do) is 21. You must vote in your own precinct on election day.

Hawaii has required ID for a long time. VP Joe Biden’s home state of Delaware requires some form of ID to vote, not necessarily a picture ID, you could use a utility bill. In order to vote early, you have to have a legitimate excuse. Same with absentee voting. There is no same day registration to vote in Delaware as of yet.

Why is Chait not complaining about those states? Because, apparently, he, like many in the Democrat Party, think Blacks in the South are incapable of obtaining a proper ID and following the rules. Maybe he, like the other Dems, think Southern Blacks are too dumb, to incompetent, to poor to obtain a proper ID. Perhaps Chait is remembering the days when Democrats suppressed Black voting rights. Going after Illinois, Delaware, Hawaii, and other states that see lots of Dems elected would blow out the raaaaacism narrative Democrats like Chait need to validate their fantasies, as well as whip the voting base up.

I like this comment by Morgan Frost about the article

All of this is terribly amusing, but it doesn’t explain why it should be so burdensome for someone to identify himself before casting a vote. An ID card is easy to obtain and is cheap (or, in case of need, free). It’s necessary to purchase alcohol, get on a plane, buy a gun, drive a car, or enter a courthouse. As a voter, I believe that demonstrating that I am who I claim to be prior to casting my vote secures my right, rather than undermining it.

Well, you know, Morgan, raaaaacism.

Crossed at Pirate’s Cove. Follow me on Twitter @WilliamTeach.