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Why They Want to Suppress the Elderly Vote

by — ,

Before the Republican convention, I’d have said that the GOP ID card requirements to vote in various states were mostly going after minorities and the poor. And that the suppression of the elderly that goes along with it is a side effect against a group of people who generally vote for them: Suppress more black votes than elderly votes, and you still get a more Republican electorate.

But after hearing Clint Eastwood’s speech* I think they want to suppress them because the elderly people they’re around have lost it. Now, don’t get me wrong, Clint Eastwood has had a fantastic career as an actor and a director. And I think he deserves the right vote.

But if you’re a Republican, and all of the old people around you are yelling at “Obama” in an empty chair, well, at a certain point, you don’t want them voting either. I see it now. My advice would be to spend time with a wider array of the elderly.

* And for serious, I just listened to it on the radio, so I didn’t realize he was talking to an empty chair. I’m not sure if that makes it worse or better, but at least it fills in some gaps.

Comments

  2. 2

    My oh my Carl… this is one stupid post… even for you! Suppress the elderly.

    Bwaaaaaaa haaaaaaaa haaaaaaaaa haaaaaaaaaa haaaaaa haaaaaaaa haaaaa haaaaaaa haaa haaaaaaa haaaaaaaa haaaaaaaaa haaaaaaaaaa haaaaaa haaaaaaaa haaaaa haaaaaaa haaa haaaaaaa haaaaaaaa haaaaaaaaa haaaaaaaaaa haaaaaa haaaaaaaa haaaaa haaaaaaa haaa haaaaaaa haaaaaaaa haaaaaaaaa haaaaaaaaaa haaaaaa haaaaaaaa haaaaa haaaaaaa haaa haaaaaaa

  3. 3

    Before we went to the mail-in ballot, I voted over at the local school across the street. They always asked me for some form of ID and checked my name against their official voter list. Why is everone up in arms about voters having ID on them?

  4. 4

    Carl, I sort of agree with Puddles. Nothing can really top the funny that was Slick Willard’s convention. Have we ever seen such an Epic Fail?

    “A month from now, no one will remember a word from Romney’s speech, but a decade from now, we’ll still be talking about the time a confused Clint Eastwood had a debate with an empty chair, and lost.”

  5. 5

    re 1 and 2: Don’t you get it when someone is being a little humorous:

    i·ron·i·cal
       [ahy-ron-i-kuhl] Show IPA

    adjective
    1.
    pertaining to, of the nature of, exhibiting, or characterized by irony or mockery: an ironical compliment; an ironical smile.

    2.
    using or prone to irony: an ironical speaker.

  6. 6

    I think Clint deserves the right to vote, but I don’t think he deserves the “right” vote (in his eyes, i.e. for Romney) so rich guys like him don’t have to pay taxes.

  7. 7

    @2 The fact you call something “stupid” doesn’t make it stupid. On the other hand, you calling it “stupid” may make you stupid.

  8. 8

    “The lasting effect of this? Well, you know the DNC at this very moment is cooking up a comeback and Twitter last night was alive with speculation — Oprah addressing an empty chair in Charlotte? And surely someone at the DNC had this idea — get an empty SUIT on a rack up onstage and have George Clooney address “Mitt Romney.“’

    http://www.newsday.com/enterta.....-1.3940970

    ………….

  9. 9

    @1

    And back to my point of a few days ago, how does the Republican party propose to avoid extinction as their two best constituencies die (Seniors) or become an ever shrinking percentage of the population (white males).

    I know, by opposing the Dream Act, lovin’ Sherrif Joe and Brewer, traditional marriage, cutting Pell grants, opposing equak pay, comparing rape to premarital sex and when religion and science conflict, always always always go with religion.

  11. 11

    Look Carl, Clint is a seasoned actor who showed us last night he can do stand-up comedy, too. We’re liberals, but we don’t have to be stuffed shirts (I’ll leave it to Republicans to be good at that), and there’s nothing wrong with us going along with the gag and laughing at Clint’s jokes. His skit was well done. As soft-core entertainment, it’s a welcome relief from the cloying Obama-bashing we get from the wingtard hate machine on a daily basis. Clint knows how to poke fun at someone without being vicious or hitting below the belt. He’s apparently the only Republican in the country who can do that. He’s funny. The rest of them are merely awful.

  12. 12

    @ 9

    Er, the senior population is expected to expand as the baby boomers transition into retirement.

    You DO understand that the senior population in this country is not fixed, don’t you?

    I felt it necessary to ask.

  13. 13

    “…always always always go with religion.”

    That’s one of the Reps’ biggest problems: they’ve had to ally with the far right religious extremists to gather support. They keep shooting themselves in the foot with other potential supporters, too. Witness the shabby treatment of Ron Paul by the Republican establishment at the convention. The Reps can say “good-bye” to any hope of getting the Libertarians to vote for Romney-Ryan after that rather distasteful display of arrogance on the part of the GOP leadership.

  14. 14

    “The Romney-Ryan teabag nutters crowd has a 3% chance of winning in Washington State.”

    I’d be surprised if it were that high! It’s impossible for the Reps to overcome the I-5 corridor of Democrats, liberals and progressives in an election for a national office.

  15. 15

    @ 13

    Both parties curry favor from their more extreme fringes during election season.

    They garner the votes, then they dump them until the next election season.

    More or less.

    I would say that Obama seems to be in the ‘less’ category, perhaps to his credit, since I would say he has moved the country further left than most Republican presidents seem to have moved it to the right.

    Which may hurt Obama this Fall. Or not. We’ll see.

  16. 16

    @12 He’s looking beyond the next 6 months. Baby boomers are already dying off and that trend will accelerate. When the boomers are gone the senior demmographic will be much smaller.

  17. 17

    Medicare is the one thing keeping Seniors alive, and out of the health-care debate: because they are covered by Medicare, it was primarily an issue for those under 65 to hash out. So if you take Health Care reform and Medicare changes off the table, then seniors normally follow a lifetime of habit and continue to vote for the same party they did in the past.

    But Paul Ryan put Medicare back on the table, along with most of the tea-bagging Republican Party. Promises not to make changes for those 55 and over aren’t worth much – once the fundamental system is changed, the age limits can dissapear easily. And once Medicare is back on the table, politically, the Republicans might experience a significant blow-back.

    So I think Seniors were specifically targeted, to reduce the amount of blow-back which Republicans experience. So far, not so much – but that might change.

  18. 18

    “…the senior population is expected to expand as the baby boomers transition into retirement.”

    And that’s why Medicare will fail in about 12 years, and Social Security will explode in about 25 years.

    For any young people reading these words, PARTICIPATE IN YOUR EMPLOYER’S DEFINED CONTRIBUTION PLAN (IF AVAILABLE) AND ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS DO AN IRA FOR YOURSELF. MAKE IT A ROTH IRA IS POSSIBLE, BUT A TRADITIONAL ONE WILL WORK, TOO!

  19. 19

    @13 ” They keep shooting themselves in the foot”

    I have less problem with the religio-fanantics than the faction that isn’t happy unless they’re shooting other people.

  21. 21

    Mass Shooting Of The Day (TM)

    “Three people are dead after an employee shot and killed two coworkers before turning the gun on himself at a New Jersey supermarket Friday morning, authorities said. … The victims were an 18-year-old woman and a 24-year-old man …. The gunman … was 23 years old. …

    “Police believe the suspect may have gotten into an argument with a coworker at the Pathmark before he allegedly left the store … and retrieved an AK-47 and a handgun from his car. …

    “Police said the victims were not necessarily targeted.”

    http://www.nbcnews.com/

    Roger Rabbit Commentary: Oh my dear Great Mother Rabbit Spirit, those poor young people. They just wanted a job, and to earn a living, and now they’re dead at ages 18 and 24. They won’t have lives to live, they won’t have families or children or grandchildren, or beach walks at sunset or marshmallows toasted in the fireplace on winter nights. Why didn’t this nutcase just shoot himself and let it go at that? Why did he have to take innocent people with him?

    More to the point, why do we let anyone in this country buy AK-47s and handguns without any kind of screening? This is what NBC News is reporting about the shooter: “Police said Tyler may have had a history of depression and mental illness.”

    Why do we allow such people to get guns? Better talk to the GOP and NRA about that. An election campaign seems like a good time to do this. I think maybe Obama and other Democrats should talk at next week’s Democratic convention about how the GOP’s gun politics have allowed a proliferation of guns to fall into the wrong hands with the result that shootings like this are now a nearly daily occurrence in the Armed States of America.

  23. 23

    President Obama pays a guy Big Bucks to come up with stuff like this. And you people are concerned about some imaginary schemes to suppress elderly voters?

    Watch your mouth — everyday phrases like “hold down the fort” and “rule of thumb” are potentially offensive bombshells.
    At least according to the State Department.
    Chief Diversity Officer John Robinson penned a column in the department’s latest edition of “State Magazine” advising readers on some rather obscure Ps and Qs.
    Robinson ticked off several common phrases and went on to explain why their roots are racially or culturally insensitive. The result was a list of no-nos that could easily result in some tongue-tied U.S. diplomats, particularly in an administration that swaps “war on terror” for “overseas contingency operation” and once shied away from using the word “terrorism.”
    For instance, Robinson warned, “hold down the fort” is a potentially insulting reference to American Indian stereotypes.
    “How many times have you or a colleague asked if someone could ‘hold down the fort?'” he wrote. “You were likely asking someone to watch the office while you go and do something else, but the phrase’s historical connotation to some is negative and racially offensive.”
    He explained: “To ‘hold down the fort’ originally meant to watch and protect against the vicious Native American intruders. In the territories of the West, Army soldiers or settlers saw the ‘fort’ as their refuge from their perceived ‘enemy,’ the stereotypical ‘savage’ Native American tribes.”

    The country is more split than 4 years ago, in deeper financial trouble and you people are focused on this?

  24. 24

    The Pentagon escalated its threats today, against an ex-Navy Seal who wrote a book about the bin Laden raid, suggesting he may face criminal prosecution.

    DoD has notified the ex-SEAL that he is “in material breach of violation” of non-disclosure agreements he signed when joining and leaving the Navy.

    “A senior Defense official on Thursday said, ‘There has to be consequences’ for someone who violates the non-disclosure agreements ….”

    The Pentagon also said disclosing “the tactics, techniques, and procedures” used in the raid could aid America’s enemies and jeopardize currently serving SEALs in future missions.

    http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_new.....-raid?lite

  26. 26

    President Obama has ordered the V.A. to beef up its suicide prevention services.

    http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_new.....vices?lite

    Roger Rabbit Commentary: I’m waiting for our Republican friends to call these V.A. employees lazy, overpaid, non-producers. I’m waiting for Mitt Romney to echo Saint Ronnie’s words, “Government is the problem, not the solution.” Maybe he’ll propose outsourcing these services to some private contractor who’s more concerned about how much profit he makes than how many veterans’ lives he saves.

  28. 28

    @12

    You do understand that the percentage of seniors likely to be lifelong Democrats as they were utterly repulsed by Republicans while they were youth and middle aged is increased in the same fashion that current seniors likely to be lifelong republicans die? Or are you claiming that the political leanings of seniors 20 years out will be identical to current seniors?

    Keep poisoning the well. It only tastes a little funky now but eventually it’s lethal.

  29. 29

    @23 You’ve obviously never worked in government, and you don’t look like a good candidate for government employment.

    Let me explain. When you’re employed in a government job, performing government functions and exercising government powers, you don’t get to choose your customers. You have to deal with the entire public, including people who have sensitivities you may not be pesonally aware of.

    This sort of thing is done in government because there was a problem. Someone, in some office or other, said something that rubbed a citizen’s sensitivities the wrong way and the citizen complained to a congressman or whoever. So a procedure is being developed to prevent it from happening again.

    When you work in government, the public is your employer, and the public is entitled to courteous treatment by government employees in their dealings with government agencies. In our multicultural society, one person’s slang is another person’s insult or put-down. That’s just the way it is. Government agencies have to develop procedures for dealing with the public that serves everyone’s needs without offending anyone’s sensibilities. It’s part of the job.

    If you can’t do that, if you think these procedures are some kind of joke, you don’t belong in government service. That’s just the way it is.

    One more thing: Get that damned bold key on your keyboard fixed, so the rest of us don’t have to wear sunglasses to read this thread.

  30. 30

    @ 16

    Baby boomers are already dying off and that trend will accelerate. When the boomers are gone the senior demmographic will be much smaller.

    Idiot RR, you’ll be dead before the baby boomers will be. Most of the baby boomers are still in their late-40s and 50s. The first of the baby boomers only became eligible for retirement benefits in the last few years (post-WWII means the earliest of them were born in 1946 and began receiving benefits as 62-year-olds in 2008). The baby boomer wave into retirement phase of life is just beginning.

    Look at the bright side, tho. You’ll have plenty to tell them about what Hell is like when they get there.

    Idiot.

  31. 31

    “Dark-horse presidential candidates Gary Johnson and Virgil Goode may not be household names, but with a little help from super PACs, they could peel away precious support from Republican Mitt Romney … in some key state races.”

    http://openchannel.nbcnews.com.....-race?lite

    Roger Rabbit Commentary: Contributing to these guys might not be a bad idea.

  32. 32

    @23 & 29

    Let’s not overlook that the private sector also has diversity officers. They’re called human resources and they ensure that the company follows labor laws and anti-discrimination laws. They are who an employee first contacts if a superior or colleague is harassing them. And every small or large corporation has a Human Resources department.

    Furthermore, the idea that every decision by every small department and obscure federal employee is both the result of direct Presidential supervision and approval is just silly. Is the CEO of Bain capital responsible when the office manager ordered a little too much white out? I guess, but making an issue out if it is moronic.

  33. 33

    @ 31

    What makes you think Gary Johnson won’t hurt Obama?


    But that’s when just Obama and Romney are tested. When the Democratic polling firm places Johnson in the mix, Obama’s lead shrinks to 42-38, with Johnson drawing 13 percent.

    The crosstabs show Johnson, the Libertarian Party nominee, takes a bite out of Romney’s hide in a three-way matchup, but also does damage to Obama as well because he picks up 24 percent of the independent/other vote.

    When pitted against Romney alone, Obama takes 47 percent of the independent/other vote. With Johnson in the matchup, Obama takes just 34 percent.

    http://www.politico.com/blogs/.....29386.html

  34. 34

    @ 32

    Is the CEO of Bain capital responsible when the office manager ordered a little too much white out? I guess, but making an issue out if it is moronic.

    Moronic is RR’s specialty. Add in verbose and off-topic and you’ve pegged him about as well as can be done.

  35. 35

    16. Roger Rabbit spews:

    @12 He’s looking beyond the next 6 months. Baby boomers are already dying off and that trend will accelerate. When the boomers are gone the senior demmographic will be much smaller.

    And most of us aren’t racists, like “Bob”.

  36. 36

    The Pentagon escalated its threats today, against an ex-Navy Seal who wrote a book about the bin Laden raid, suggesting he may face criminal prosecution.

    Must be the truth isn’t setting some people free.

  37. 37

    @30 “Most of the baby boomers are still in their late-40s and 50s.”

    Baby boomers are defined as those born between 1946 and 1964, which makes the youngest boomers, not “most” boomers, “in their late-40s and 50s.”

    “you’ll be dead before the baby boomers will be”

    What makes you think I’m not a boomer? A lot of my former friends and classmates — who, like me, were boomers — are already dead so it’s not possible for me to be dead before those boomers.

    And you call me an idiot?

  38. 38

    DUMMOCRAPTS are scared of Romney. Why? He’s not one of them. He’s a man people love!

  40. 40

    @ 37

    What makes you think I’m not a boomer?

    Senility doesn’t usually set in until around 70. You gotta be 75 or older. Some days from what you post I think you must be 90.

  41. 41

    @38 Don’t you wish he was a man of the people! This election would be winnable for the GOP if they had a candidate with more charisma than a toadstool. Saddled with Rmoney, it’ll be tough.

  42. 42

    @39

    Puddy’s drugs are WAY better than mine. Mine make me a little relaxed but he’s got hallucinogens. Do you share? I’d like to spend a day knowing Dick Cheney is a super nice guy.

  44. 44

    @9 More importantly, how does the GOP survive if one of its historically most reliable blocs of voters (older people) are willing to believe the party leadership’s promises that they’ll somehow be spared in the upcoming slash-and-burn of Social Security and Medicare about as much as they believe the moon is made of green cheese?

    Hell, the Democrats are having a bit of trouble with that one, too.

  45. 45

    I admit it.
    I am afraid of the Rmoney campaign.

    Rmoney’s trotting out an old white guy yelling at an invisible black guy on a chair about problems that don’t exist and letting him ramble on so that the the most important speech of Rmoney’s political career gets bumped out of prime time shows that his campaign strategy is even more unexplainable than his unexplainable policy positions.

    We all should be very afraid of rich powerful crazy dudes.

  47. 47

    @45

    The post Suoer Bowl analysis was right. Clint is clearly in the tank for the Democrats.

    Convincing Romney otherwise and talking them into a roll at the convention will get him a Lifetime achievement Academy Award. Once more Librul Hollywood Elites rise up and humiliate conservatives. They should shut up and sing.

    “I come not to praise Caesar….”

  48. 48

    Republican National Convention, or Farce?

    In theatre, a farce is a comedy which aims at entertaining the audience by means of unlikely, extravagant, and improbable situations, disguise and mistaken identity, verbal humor of varying degrees of sophistication, which may include word play, and a fast-paced plot whose speed usually increases, culminating in an ending which often involves an elaborate chase scene. Farces are often highly incomprehensible plot-wise (due to the large number of plot twists and random events that often occur), but viewers are encouraged not to try to follow the plot in order to avoid becoming confused and overwhelmed.

  49. 49

    @46 Correct. Some folks start losing their marbles at a considerably earlier age. Early-onset Alzheimer’s can manifest itself in people in their thirties.

    Of course, there are also those who never had many marbles to lose in the first place, as exemplified by some of HA’s more illustrious trolls.

  50. 50

    Texas was surely shameless:

    A federal court on Thursday struck down a Texas law that would have required voters to show government-issued photo identification before casting their ballots in November, ruling that the law would hurt turnout among minority voters and impose “strict, unforgiving burdens on the poor” by charging those voters who lack proper documentation fees to obtain election ID cards.

    http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08.....wanted=all

    Great! A fucking poll tax! I guess they’re really HARD CORE in TX about “free stuff”..

    **rolls eyes**

  51. 51

    @46 I was conceived during the six days between the bombing of Nagasaki on August 9, 1945 and Japan’s surrender on August 15, 1945.

    I suspect when Americans realized the war was over they got drunk and had little accidents in bedrooms all across the country.

    Which makes me either the last war baby or the first baby boomer. Your choice.

  52. 52

    Huh?
    But the progressives havebeen telling us that the republican party is made up of a bunch old white people…..now you are saying that the republicans want to surpress the vote of old white people..

    Lmfao..you fucking morons need to get your story straight.

  53. 53

    Marco Rubio starts his speech… NBC News runs commercials for the first 2 minutes 50 seconds.

  56. 56

    @53 Puddles, Well the FREE Market for PROFIT broadcaster was not going to break away from Clint Eastwood for a commercial break.

    You did not build NBC!

    Now, had you been watching the network WE built, PBS, you would not have needed to endure a commercial break.

  58. 58

    “This is a high-stakes election,” he continued. “The consequences are greater than any election, and I know everybody in here [ filthy rich plutocrats] wants their children and grandchildren to inherit the same country we did. I honestly believe those are the stakes.”

    same link as 55..

    Great! A pitch for aristocracy and oligarchy.. They’re shameless.

  60. 60

    @36

    So Bradley Manning’s I. The brig ’cause the Pentagon is political?

    Careful, that “I hate Obama and the media so much I know they caused it to be cloudy on my birthday” shirt is showing.

  63. 63

    I heard the President talking about Afghanistan today. Is that still an issue? Romney never mentioned the name of the country we’ve been at war in for nearly 11 years.
    Come to think of it, Invisible Obama has talked more about issues and policy than Slick Willard.

  64. 64

    “Clint is clearly in the tank for the Democrats.”

    With a movie coming out in three weeks, it seems more probable that Clint was in the tank for himself.

    Gus Lobel (Clint Eastwood) has been one of the best scouts in baseball for decades, but, despite his efforts to hide it, age is starting to catch up with him. Nevertheless, Gus-who can tell a pitch just by the crack of the bat-refuses to be benched for what may be the final innings of his career. He may not have a choice. The front office of the Atlanta Braves is starting to question his judgment, especially with the country’s hottest batting phenom on deck for the draft. The one person who might be able to help is also the one person Gus would never ask: his daughter, Mickey (Amy Adams), an associate at a high-powered Atlanta law firm whose drive and ambition has put her on the fast track to becoming partner. Against her better judgment, and over Gus’s objections, Mickey joins him on his latest scouting trip to North Carolina, jeopardizing her own career to save his. — (C) Warner Bros

    Speaking of jeopardized careers, say, like Mitt’s, whoever came up with the idea of putting their prime-time bet on Clint doing live improvisational stand-up is probably in some really, really deep shit today. Gawd, what if it was Mitt’s idea? That’d be too much!

  65. 65

    Deep Irony:
    Clint’s performance art at the RNC will kill the box office for his movie.

  66. 66

    51. Roger Rabbit spews:
    @46 I was conceived during the six days between the bombing of Nagasaki on August 9, 1945 and Japan’s surrender on August 15, 1945.

    Another day that will live in infamy.

  69. 69

    @67 Kornflake Konservative,

    I like it!
    Another example of imaginary Obama for your side to scream about.

    You’re a dipshit.

  70. 70

    http://www.nationaljournal.com.....m-20120831

    CAMPAIGN 2012

    Romney in New Orleans Asks Where the Water Came From

    By Jackie Koszczuk

    August 31, 2012 | 3:09 p.m.

    Surveying the flood damage produced by Hurricane Isaac, newly minted Republican nominee Mitt Romney on Friday told Gov. Bobby Jindal that he had come to Louisiana to learn — and then asked where all the water came from.

    So assholes like “bob” here can photoshop pictures of the President so they can make fun of him.

    Awesome.

    I prefer to mock a clueless out-of-touch vulture Capitalist asshole like Willard Mitt Romney who actualy provides verifiable fodder for mockery.

  71. 71

    “Clint’s performance art at the RNC will kill the box office for his movie.”

    Then that’d make it two fails, one for Clint and one for Mitt.

    Wingnut humor so oftens escapes me. Take the idea of clown hair photoshopped on Obama. As wingnuts laugh hysterically, I wonder, “Um, where’s the connection?” It might be at least kind of funny if the president was at all clownish, but he isn’t. Obama is many things and a number of those are disappointing and could be the source of biting humor, but being clownish just isn’t one of them. It must have something to do with the wingnut construct of Obama, not the real man. The cunning, evil commie-jihadist who is hell-bent on destroying America and bringing Shatia’ Law to a town near you. In clown hair? Um, OK.

  73. 73

    @70 Look, it is not fair to expect a patrician of Slick Willard’s stature to know where water comes from. This is specialized knowledge that the help can provide him.

    When his nanny gave him water as a child, do you think he cared where it came from? It came from the Help!

    Perhaps Slick Willard was thinking that some bad servant put all that unwanted water in LA and then, because he likes to fire people, he could recommend this person be fired.

  74. 74

    @73
    Dude, when there’s a storm headed for your house, you charter a jet and fly to one of your other houses. Everybody knows that!

  75. 75

    @70
    From the comments section of that article:

    myerman
    Last night at RNC: make fun of rising oceans. Today: doesn’t understand where the water comes from. Classic.

  78. 78

    @74

    Don’t be so gauche. You would never be in the area this time of year. That’s what the palm springs estate or the suite at the Ritz Carlton waimea are for.

  79. 79

    Deep Thought:
    After “corporations are people”, “I like being able to fire people”, #Romneyshambles and now “Did the water come from the sky, or the rivers, or the ocean?”, maybe it is time for Slick Willard to follow failin Palin’s example and write stuff he is going to say on his hand.

  80. 80

    @64 I think they did it because otherwise no one would watch the GOP convention and that would upset the advertisers.

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