Game of Thrones Author Rips Republicans for Voter Suppression

By on August 17, 2012 in News 8

Picture: "Yerpo" (CC)

Via The Raw Story:

From the author of a fictional world where seasons can last for years, a critique of tactics employed in our present world … where an election season can last for decades:

“I would be remiss if I do not at least make passing mention of how depressed, disgusted, and, yes, angry I’ve become as I watch the ongoing attempts at voter suppression in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Florida, Iowa, and other states where Republicans and their Teabagger allies control key seats of power,” George R.R. Martin wrote on his blog on Saturday.

“It is one thing to attempt to win elections,” he continued. “But trying to do so by denying the most basic and important right of any American citizen to hundreds and thousands of people, on entirely spurious grounds… that goes beyond reprehensible. That is despicable.”

Martin was referring to Republican efforts to pass laws that require a photo ID for voting, efforts that research shows suppresses the votes of poor, elderly, young and minority voters despite the fact that few cases of voter fraud have been documented.

The “Song of Fire and Ice” author went on to lament the disappearance of “Republicans of conscience” like Everett Dirksen, Clifford Case, Henry Cabot Lodge, William Scranton and Barry Goldwater.

Read the rest at The Raw Story.

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  • http://www.facebook.com/KaneVonDoom Kane VonDoom

    I disagree with a few political stances of Ron Paul but if you take just a quick glance at how the Romney Campaign and GOP leadership is treating the delegates who have voiced support for Ron Paul, it’s easy to see just how corrupt and un-American they are acting to illegally railroad in their own choice slates.

  • Francis Bacon

    Hey-Zeus. This is why American politics is such shit. 

    The voting system is already racked by fraud and the slightest move towards making voting more secure (let alone computerized, efficient and fraud-less as you would expect of a rich country in the 21st century that takes voting seriously) is shouted down by legions of the mentally infirm.

    There is more security at your local bar than there is in electing politicians. Wait, so are bars racist for necessitating ID? Or you could make ID cheap and available in black communities….etc. Of course this has nothing to do with racism but more to do with not even allowing the slightest modicum of voting integrity so the political establishment (R&D) can keep perpetuating voter fraud unchallenged. 

    I like disinformation, but for fucks sake sometimes you guys just paraphrase Democratic party talking points and pass it off as edgy. And George R.R. Martin is a shit writer btw. 

    • lifobryan

      reply above (or below) – forgive the inept & hasty reply button mis-hit

  • lifobryan

    You make a valid point – but I tend to see this one as a “five sides to every coin” situation:

    1 – Requiring an ID to vote is a perfectly reasonable safeguard against fraud
    2 – Ramming such laws through state legislatures with so little time before the election will probably reduce turnout by non-driving, elderly, or underprivileged citizens (who usually vote Democratic) … hence the opposition by Democrats to a perfectly reasonable concept.
    3 – Even if such laws were enacted years before an election (rather than two months) in order to give the ID-less reasonable time to react, would it solve any fraud problem?
    4 – Walden O’Dell, CEO of Diebold Inc, the manufacturer of the most widely used voting machines in the US, promised to “deliver the 2004 election” to GW Bush. And maybe he delivered & maybe he didn’t.
    5 - Requiring an ID to vote is a perfectly reasonable safeguard against fraud … when it comes to malfeasance among individual voters. The question is how widespread is this? And does this level of fraud deliver more votes than Mr. O’Dell’s machines?

    • Francis Bacon

      I’m certainly not defending Diebold, they are the central problem and whilst they exist there will never likely be a solution. 

      The simple truth is there is more quality control in obtaining alcohol than there is in selecting political leaders. 

      Registered voters should be able to provide SOME proof of ID, period. It doesn’t have to be a drivers license…it could be soc sec card, credit card, bank statement, pay stub, something with at least your name and perhaps dob on it. 

      Otherwise, what’s the point? Frankly I’m of the notion voting should be ultra-secure, sacred and there should be a series of hoops one has to jump through to vote (military service, or pass a civics test, etc). 

      But honestly the system is irrevocably fucked and voter fraud is RAMPANT. 

  • lifobryan

    oops – this was meant as a reply to Francis Bacon’s comment

  • lifobryan

    oops X2 …. I jeep hitting the wrong reply button. Gotta stop drinking while disinfo-ing ….

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