Actually according to unbiased investigations there are aalmost NO cases of actual voter fraud int he last 25 years. A grand total of 633 total cases NATIONWIDE. In 25 years. Not thousands, not millions and certainly not enough to justify the great amoutns of voter disenfranchisements and hoops the conservatives have gone to to make it difficult for hte poor and workign class to vote.
In Ohio according to the Attorney general's office there have been only 13 cases of Voter fraud since the year 2000. 13 in 14 years. Not a bad ratio consideirng just how many of Ohios 11 million ballots have been cast.
•••••Editor's observation: Likewise, with all those millions of ballots cast, there's obviously been no suppression.
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Voter suppression efforts that Republicans have been engaged in would not have stopped that one idiot from doing what she did. That is unless you are going to eliminate absentee voting.
•••••Editor's note: Brad, and how do you feel about vote fraud on a massive scale as has been documented in Chicago and elsewhere? You know it has happened and you know who has benefited.
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Destroy our democratic republic? Really?
It seems to me that we are wanting to expand our democratic republic, not destroy it. The Senate passed a comprehensive immigration bill that the most conservative house members refused to allow a vote on because they knew there were enough votes among Democrats and moderate Republicans that it would pass. How democratic is that?
In a recent article, you noted that first generation immigrants are more likely than others to work hard to support their families. Isn't that the essence of what you ask of all Americans?
The people fleeing the violence, poverty and hopelessness of their native countries want to become Americans. They want it so much that they are willing to risk death to get here. Are they doing it according to Hoyle? Maybe not. But something tells me that if it were a bunch of Ukrainians fleeing the violence in their country, a lot fewer Americans would be as upset about it.
And once here, many are willing to fight and die in our armed services in defense of a country where, given the opportunity, the conservatives would still deport them after their enlistment was up.
Far right conservatives would deport a kid that was brought here as an infant, that has gone through high school and now wants nothing more than to be able to go to college, get a job and pay taxes like every other American.
And above all else, don't forget that it is conservatives that are behind every effort to suppress the rightful vote of certain segments of our democratic republic.
It is not the liberals that are changing what it once meant to be an American.
•••••Editor's note: Brad, living on the Left Coast, you perhaps missed the Ohio story of liberal poll worker Melowese Richardson, who was sentenced to five years in prison on four counts of voter fraud. But, as always, you begin with a conclusion and work backward to support it.
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I like Linda Roades description of a fence. If the USSR could use such a fence to keep people in, surely we could use such a fence to keep people out. There is no rationale for what is going on at the border other than the liberals' insane desire to destroy our democratic republic. Which, on reflection, is an explanation for most of their promulgations.
Peggy Noonan recently wrote a piece in the Wall Street Journal reflecting that it looks like the US is going to split into two countries. I think she is correct. Matters such as this border situation and the countless other lawless acts of the current administration are hastening the day of the rent of the fabric of America that has endured so long. Funny, I don't think I am even sad about it.
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Growing up in Highland County when farmers took pride in strong fences, I have an appreciation for the value of boundaries. One of the lasting lessons was that for a determined cow, horse, pig, or rabbit a fence was an inconvenience, as they jumped, dug, or simply ran through it to freedom. They stayed within the fence only to the extent to they chose to do so.
Later, serving in the U.S. Army 'toe-to-toe-with-the-Commie-foe' in what was then West Berlin, I lived behind what has to be the highest form of physical border security: the Berlin Wall. Traveling on the troop train west across what was then East Germany, I also had a chance to see how the Soviet Union secured its sovereign borders. As I recall, every two hundred yards, there was a manned guard tower, with searchlights, as well as mounted patrols, walking patrols, dog patrols, tank traps, concertina wire, a killing field, topped off with an impressive wall of reinforced concrete. Along the border, there were trip wires, as well as mine fields. Despite this, there were people determined to leave their homes and families under the Soviets to take their chance on getting to the West. Thousands succeeded by going under, over, and even through. I daresay that President Reagan realized that maintaining such a wall was unsustainable. When he challenged the Soviet Union by increasing our own military capabilities, they could not afford both that level of security and national defense. The Soviet Union dissolved.
If the cows, horses, pigs and rabbits remain on their side of a fence only at their own choice, the question of how to keep men, women, and children from Latin America within their own borders is key to the strength of our own border. My simple observation is based on the ultimate law of supply and demand: in the U.S. we have a high demand for cheap, unskilled labor. they have a great supply of cheap, unskilled labor. In the U.S., sadly, there is a great demand for cheap drugs. Latin America has a great supply of drugs, as well as the logistical capability of transporting those drugs.
I realized that fences alone were not the solution to keeping livestock on their side of the fence--if they had adequate water and forage, most were inclined to stay put.
My view is that if American businesses would be more diligent in checking the documentation of their workers, and if we could get the drug problem under control, this flood of illegal immigrants would pretty much evaporate.
I look forward to hearing Sheriff Jones' views on other areas of local (and national) interest: hungry children, schools graduating students without basic skills for employment, access to emergency medical care, and drug trafficking in his own county.
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The problem is in Washington is, that neither the Democrats nor the Republicans will do what is right for the American people unless it will gain them brownie points at election time. Or, somehow they will be getting a lot of money to vote a paticular way. We can set at our computers all day, 7 days a week and play the blame game but until the folks that are put in Washington or anywhere else for that matter do what is actually right for the American people, nothing will get any better. In fact, it will just get worse.
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Maybe you guys should try easing up on Brad, and not paint broad generalizations.
Both the Left and the Right have good points.
Fact is, we have a problem with immigration which arguing will not solve.
The way I see it:
If left to the Democrats, all illegals will be given carte blanche, which will never end well due to the burden of a massive influx of immigrants which our system cannot handle, due to the lack of bonafide employment, housing and healthcare, thus causing immeasurable strain on the economy and the general welfare of the citizenship which the taxpayer sponsored government is there to protect, not to mention the influx of persons who wish nothing more than to create the downfall of this great nation, including those who wish to siphon money to foreign countries, create avenues for drug smuggling and terrorists.
Left to the Republicans, they would attempt to deport all parties involved, causing yet another financial strain, or worse yet, resolve to do nothing and let any immigration bill languish in a legislative hell.
It is up to both parties to pressure the other to take legislative action to come up with the best solution possible, and end the current quagmire.
Will the end-game be ideal to either side? Probably not, but extremism demonstrated by the current leadership on both sides are like sharp edges of a gem in the rough. It takes a little polishing to expose the true beauty, even if imperfection remains.
Just my $.02
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LOL ole Brad. Just like a liberal to disregard the Constitution and judgments of the Supreme Court, that is unless it favors him. When I read Brads comments, it's like the light is on, but no one's home. Oh by the way, Sheriffs in Ohio are elected by the people of that county, an elected official. Every Sheriff takes an oath to uphold the U.S. Constitution as well as the State Constitution. Sheriff Jones is doing his elected job.
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I kind of wonder if Brad here doesn't live in a sanctuary city, where by dictate all the city employees do the will of the city mayor or city commission, so much for it being the purview of the federal government. States that issue drivers licenses to illegals, another case in point. The xenophobe comment was right out of the socialist playbook. Any one that doesn't agree with a liberal has to be racist. The sheriff's money quote in a video was "You can't buy a job in Ohio" Yet we're having a conversation (democrats and republicans) about giving work permits and amnesty to five million plus illegals.
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I believe we have the makings of an intelligent dialogue.
Brad,
Thanks for the clarification!
•••••Editor's observation: I would agree with both of you on that count. Thanks.
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