Doonesbury by Garry Trudeau for July 24, 2012

Blacks applied for the anti-fraud squad but they didn’t have the proper IDs.

Next on his tour; FL, GA, MS, TX, SC, TN, PA, IN, KS, WI, VA, MI, MN, NH and MO.

Looks like it’ll be another day for our favorite trolls to spew their venom-laced inanities. Wonder if we’ll break yesterday’s record ?

You libs are so compassionate in your desire that everyone has a vote. Illegal aliens, Disney characters, deceased people…

Thanks to everyone who pointed me in the direction of ‘Jim Crow’ laws. Twenty years ago, I visited an old college friend in Atlanta Georgia and one day whilst he was working, I went to visit the Birthplace of Martin Luther King. There all the trips are guided, and I was the only ‘white’ on our particular tour and as we waited I sensed an unspoken hostility towards me. Before the tour started, the Guide asked where we all came from and why we had come. When I said I was from the UK (and found the concept of segregration within my lifetime absolutely shocking) with hostility just disappeared. My theory is that the others were concerned I was ‘troublemaker’ with preconceptions and intended just to make trouble. This (a several other incidents) made me realise how deep-seated and institustionalised racist behaviour is in large sections of white americans. From some of the posts here, it appears the situation has improved marginally, if at all.Yours saddenedMike

Vote early, vote often!

Frankly, given that in all but a few Scandinavian nations, “democracy” has ceased to have any meaning but to give people the illusion that they have a voice in how they are ruled, does voting matter anyway?

“Estimated to be over 100,000” while the actual number found once investigated has been… 2.

Next stop on the tour, Hawaii and its Obama-supported, Civil Rights Commission-opposed racially discriminating Akaka bill…

Same-o here, guys, in NM, where our ex(?)DA gov has spent a couple million of our broke state’s funds…taxpayer money! to root out voter fraud…they haven’t FOUND any.

We will remember.

Like I said yesterday, rioting in the streets if Romney wins with the help of Republican voter suppression laws.

When Obummer gets beat the libs will cry voter fraud

Here in Wisconsin, Governor Walker’s voter suppression efforts have been put on hold until after the November election by the court. If we didn’t win one once in a while, we’d probably start breaking and stealing things.

Just keep reminding everyone that he his back

Racists suck. So do illegal voters.

pschearer, wonder what the ratio between the two is….50 million to 3? Yup, better to let the racists win, rather than those 3 “voters”…I remember when conservative meant something good…..even economically, but now they don’t even understand how money can be used….they just sit on it!

I wonder how many Republicans are prejudiced? 60%? I know they got a lot of racist democrats in the sixties because Dems were FOR voting rights for minorities….

In Maine, our governor (Republican, won with 38% of the vote) set up an investigation on voter fraud for the same style of voter ID law proposal and claimed to have found ONE count of fraud, because the guy died a few days before Election Day. Turns out, it was an absentee ballot filed a week before he died. Bravo!

The portion of Jim Crow pertaining to voting suppressed votes of certain citizens who could legally vote. Voter ID is intended to suppress votes from foreign nationals who cannot legally vote. Garry is barking insane.

If it weren’t for yesterday’s comment thread, I would not have figured out what yesterday’s comic was about until seeing today’s.

Libs want EVERYONE to vote. Especially illegals, felons, dead people, and they want them to vote often! Anyone here from Chicago? Rahm is giving free lessons on how to cheat at the polls.

So, voter fraud can’t happen? Well here is an article from the New York Daily News that says 1.8 MILLION dead people still registered to vote.http://articles.nydailynews.com/2012-02-14/news/31060958_1_voter-registration-system-voter-rolls-lists

Prove it.

GT,This is a fantastic toon today, not only for the subject matter but also for the symbolism. Highway 31and the civil rights marches of the 1960s. The cotton field. And the gloved hands of an old fashioned minstrel show. James Crow is a fantastic addition to Doonesbury’s symbolic characters like Mr. Butts.

Republicans believe if you’re not a White Male, and Straight, or if your education goes beyond Third Grade, you’re not eligible to vote,

Eric Holder required NAACP members to show photo IDs before they were allowed to hear him say that requirements to show photo IDs are a return to Jim Crow laws. Hypocrisy much?

Thanks again to Garry for having the cojones to tell it like it is!

I must have miss the 2000 strip when Trudeau covered when the Democrat party sought the disenfranchisement of the military vote on a postal technicality. Bleeding hypocrite.

This comic strip is becoming a parody of itself. Do libs really want Mexico voting in our elections?

NOBODY illegal has voted in New Mexico. Why would they? If anything they’d be easier to buy and intimidate by the REEPS…and Guard sargie-babykins, yo momma certainly never wore jump boots…

You really better get with the program, kid. The world is moving, and if you keep this up, you’ll be in a white cone-headed sheet soon…and a corrupted mean man is not happy nor even a useful American citizen, but an enemy of humanity.

Cruelty is NOT a good aspect for a knight or a soldier in civilian life, do you understand? nor for somebody who supports the Constitution. Go look in the mirror…I forgive you.

Holy Mother of Pearl – ENOUGH ALREADY – everywhere else in life, if you want to do something, you have to have ID. Cash a check, buy a beer, get some smokes, get a speeding ticket, go to the doctor, etc etc ad naseum. If you want to vote, when at the polls, just show that you are eligible to vote. Simple. Enough of this stupid rhetoric – grow up already.

Funny think is a majority of people surveyed across party and racial lines agree that voters should show photo ID in order to vote.

Keep in mind, folks, that if you’re a Republican, you’re made up numbers are just as valid as real numbers!

No, republicans use imaginary numbers because their values are always less than or equal to zero.

pouncingtiger;

You did not include IL. I’m offended! We are just at racist here as anywhere else! Just ask Rahm (in Chicago) or Pat (in Springfield). So, come on! Add our illustrious state to that list of yours!! We can then join those August Olympian champions of “Jimmy Crow”!!

When I was in Alabama in the early 60’s, I was there long enough to vote once. On the ballot there was a crowing white rooster by the name of one of the candidates, to show illiterate white people how to vote.

Talk about “fanning the flames of racism!” Of course, Doonesbury doesn’t have to tell the truth, does he? The Dems are best at “voter massaging,” so they accuse the GOP of it. Now I’ll sit back and wait for the trolls to insult me instead of answering my charges.

I think that answers your question.>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Yep, asked and answered. It’s only 10:30 AM (EDT) and there’s over 65 comments.And I see the usual blatherers are up early.I’m just occasionally checking in and scanning the comments ( if that’s what some of them can be called ? ) and biting my tongue.Have a great day Susan !

Ah, who cares? The real death-of-democracy action took place quietly over the last decade, with the deployment of electronic voting machines that facilitate easy and untraceable vote fraud..Indeed, the real question of interest is why, with the technology in place to allow The Correct People to dictate the outcome of the “voting,” they are still going to the effort to try and make voting difficult (for The Incorrect People) with things like voter ID laws. It could simply be public relations, throwing a little red meat to the teabag crowd. Or it could be the foot-in-the-door for more widespread laws against being black, Hispanic, or poor (as Trudeau seems to be suggesting). Or it could be the next step in the ongoing Big Brother program: once you’re forced to show a machine-readable ID (and ALL state ID cards are machine readable these days) in order to vote, it’s pretty much inevitable that the ID information and the vote itself will be linked, allowing The Correct People to determine your choices, from president down to dogcatcher, and deliver appropriate rewards and punishments based on that info.

Two points and an anecdote:1. People vote from their address, which is checked during registration, and that address goes onto the election list and is checked off, so it would be difficult to register numerous times.2. Troublemakers (probably GOP) fill out registration cards as Mickey Mouse, which must legally be submitted to the elections commission, which then discard them. If registration people discarded the cards, you’d be the first to scream fraud..I once knew an African-American who told me he registered as a Republican in CT, thinking he would get better benefits from them since they could use him as a token. One year he went to vote, only to be told, “But Mr. Brown, you’ve already voted.”Apparently, the Republicans didn’t trust him to vote with them.

AS I STATED BEFORE: Have you ever made a purchase at a Pa. state Liquor store? Need State photo ID. Cash a check? State Photo ID. Hell over here in Pittsburgh Kennywood Park is getting ready to sell beer in the park and one of the requirements is State Photo ID. I have NO PROBLEM showing State Photo ID when I vote and have done it since I first voted at the tender age of 18. So DEAL. WITH. IT!

I do, but it doesn’t seem to make any difference…

Jim Crow Was actually a civil rights proponent, He was trying to end discrimination. Typical of the party that secceded over the fear of losing slavery, formed the KKK and mostly voted against the Civi;l Rights Amendment (the democrats)

Mr T. hits the nail on the head. It is about time somebody talks about the covert racism which exists concerning the President.

To the comment that J Crow was a civil rights proponent—-nonsense. J Crow was a minstrel show character created by a white man in “black-face”. There never was, and isn’t now, anything benign, let alone heroic, about J Crow. Bravo to Trudeau for revealing the racist nature of voter ID laws.

And let’s not forget the thousands of LEGITIMATE voters that were ALSO purged from Florida’s voter roles, far more than ineligible voters purged including a decorated WW2 vet who fought throughout Europe to defend our rights, including, it seems, your right to call him “illegal”.

I don’t get it, why can’t we make certain that non-citzens don’t vote? Is someone afraid of hurting their feelings? I like to believe that the US is a nation of laws and the reason the US is (was) the most looked up to nation on the planet was we enforced those laws.

After PA. passed it’s voter suppression law the governor said something like " We have accomplished our mission of giving PA. to Romney!" Republicans DO NOT BELIEVE IN DEMOCRACY. They want us all to be slaves to their wealthy overlords.

Are Jimmy Crow and Mr. Butts related? They have the same eyes.

Thanks, jmrocher2001, for the real story! TWO fraudulent votes-not 100,000- AND ONE OF THEM VOTED REPUBLICAN.

The rightwingers here keep talking about felons voting, but felons are able to get drivers licenses, so they’ll still be able to vote under the GOP rules. Illegal aliens can’t register to vote so even if they had photo ID, they couldn’t vote. ID laws only prevent you from pretending to be someone else, a trick which would fail as often as it worked—which is why it never happens.

In Pennsylvania GOP pols are pushing a photo ID law that has gone to court.. The laws supporters admit that there is no known history of in-person voter fraud in the state and none expected in 2012.

Pennsylvania officials released a study finding that more than 758,000 registered voters in the state — many of them in its urban center of Philadelphia — lacked driver’s licenses.

It’s true that those 758,000 people also can’t cash checks or rent cars. But if they registered to vote, they should be allowed to vote.

“Ye blind guides, who strain at a gnat, but swallow a camel”!

Funny how neo-cons keep beating the drum about “keeping illegals from voting”, despite the infinitesimal numbers found when investigations are done – but have no problem disenfranchising thousands of students, elderly, and those (mostly women) with recent name changes. Of course, the whole fear-of-illegals is just a variant on classic tribalism themes to rally people together against the supposed outside threat.There’s nothing wrong with making sure people are eligible to vote. But contrary to what some are saying, one doesn’t need a government photo ID for much in life – I go years between being asked to show my ID. And if said ID costs people money, or requires money be spent to acquire supporting documents, or requires navigating distances or bureaucratic jungles, then some are just going to opt out, effectively becoming disenfranchised.

In Florida, for example, at least 20% of those in Miami-Dade purged from voting lists recently for being non-citizens were in fact citizens and eligible to vote; if that rate of errors holds true for the rest of the state, the number of voters dropped incorrectly from the rolls would exceed 35,000 – and overwhelmingly black or Hispanic.

Camels must go down real smooth…

Interesting take. I guess since BHO is doing the most voter suppression this toon can be true. Funny how things have turned around on who is doing the suppresing and who used to do it. Hold it, Jim Crow laws were put forth by the DNC and never supported by the RNC. Historical fact there. So Garry, which are you pointing the finger at? These laws were done by Pres. Wilson to suppress the old slave populations.

PS, material source, ‘The White Washing of American History’.

“democrat party” = illiterate

did anyone note that the hands in white gloves all look like cartoon characters, ala Mickey Mouse?

Ssock-It is hard not to dislike someone who has full faith and conviction in total lies. Especially when the lies have shown over and over to be just that-real lies.Romney has just passed McCain as candidate who has told most lies in a presidential campaign.when W divided us between the haves and have nots-we have continued that dialog. We are near a new revolution and I expect it within the next 4 years no matter who wins.It will not be to free the slaves, it will be the ignorant and prejudiced against the knowledgeable and tolerant. Of course, racism is a big thing with GOP so that will still be in the mix.

Tigger, you repeatedly fail when you think you know what we are thinking. After seeing the surprisingly large number of voters who don’t have ID, (I rely on the actual studies that have been done, not my own personal opinion), I would not support an ID requirement regardless of who introduced it. It’s a matter of principle, not politics.

Normally I don’t post on this strip, especially when he wanders so far from the truth it can’t even be called bent, …

“Normally I don’t post on this strip”Then don’t, if you have nothing intelligent to add.

Typical GT cr@p!! Overdone as usual…

Crows have black beaks.

“The economy started to tank the moment he was elected.”

Wow, what an incredible piece of revisionist history. Do you actually believe that garbage?

Fact: The US economy lost 2.6 million jobs in 2008, the worst year on record since the end of WWII.

Fact: The mostly widely used indicator of the economic outlook in the US, the DJIA, began 2008 near 13,000 and ended the year near 9,000.

No revision can change the fact that Bush left the economy in horrible shape, and Obama inherited the mess.

Is it me or are the hands of the fraud-busters, mickey mouse gloves??

Ah, yes after reading all the posts, mousing of the populace has been noted

DNFTTThe Mods prefer we flag inappropriate comments.There is a difference between inappropriate and incredibly stupid. I’m guessing the moderators won’t remove a comment unless it contains profanity, a personal threat or personal, private information. I’m ok with that. It’s obvious that some people keep making the same ridiculous comments, even when their “facts” have been thoroughly proven false. I know they will never see the light, but lurkers can read and figure it out for themselves.

Waiting man…that’s just dumb

The Jim Crow laws were all created and passed by members of the Democrat Party. Most voting fraud is committed by members of the Democrat Party in support of Democrat candidates who didn’t have enough support to win honestly. In the last election, Democrat Party thugs intimidated voters at a polling place, but the Democrat attorney General directed his attorneys to drop the case. There is a pattern here. Democrats have systematically discriminated against minorities and have promoted most voter fraud but blocked prosecution of the guilty.

That’s a hoot coming from you! We all read your comments about the “Usurper Kenyan”.Disliking someone for their politics isn’t racism.

We all know what “Kenyan” represents. In the “south” right after the Civil Rights Act, I noted Alabama and Georgia had pretty quickly “cleaned up their act”. It was in FLORIDA that I saw my first “segregated” restrooms and drinking fountain. The blacks got an outhouse, compared to the air conditioned “white only”, and the dirty hose off a bib was “colored”, while the refrigerated fountain was “white only”.

And yes, sadly, some of my “Democrat” friends have gotten all “Dixiecrat” since Obama ran for President. Old bigotry doesn’t die easily. The Republicans ARE of course the “new Dixiecrats” in the south, and Ohio and Oregon used to be prime places for KKK activity. It IS a “national syndrome”, not just in the south, or even totally in “red states”.

There’s a concept called “friction” that states a certain measurable amount of a desired activity will decline if the bar is set too high or people have to jump through too many hoops to perform the activity, even if a large part of the population believes the hoops are reasonable and serve the public good.

It’s an easy enough concept for conservatives to understand when they’re complaining about regulations affecting business activity and job creation, but impossible to understand when it comes to the affect of these laws on students and elderly Black people who’s records weren’t properly kept during the Jim Crow era.

There is a solution though…in both cases, the laws should be like a “revenue neutral” change in the tax code. If you increase the friction by requiring something, the same law should do something else to make it easier to perform the desired activity by an equivalent amount.

For example, India had a problem with benefits fraud and people who never had proper ID. They took the initiative to go out in the field and take biometrics on millions of the most destitute citizens. We should do the same for elderly Black citizens who have issues with their original ID and birth certificates.

It doesn’t have to involve biometrics, but some program needs to ensure that all elderly African Americans, poor and disabled voters of all races have their ID problems resolved long before any law like this takes effect.

The college student issue can be resolved by internet voting or some sort of improved absentee ballot system. Most college students almost by definition have access to some form of internet.

So there’s common ground that can be found if it’s really fraud that’s bothering conservatives, and they aren’t just trying to cynically gain electoral advantage or protect themselves against changing demographics.

That having been said, we’re not going in that direction.

If the Governor of Wisconsin passes an ID law and then closes all the DMVs in Black areas of the state, it’s hard to characterize that as anything but the character in the cartoon.

The economy was in freefall before the 2008 election; anyone who reads a newspaper (even the Wall Street Journal) knows that. Obama slowed the decent, and saved many jobs, but no one was powerful enough to completely stop the collapse that began under Bush.

Hey, Guard SGT, here’s an idea:Since GT’s views and his fans bother you so, do your blood-pressure a favor and DON’T READ HIS STRIP.I, in turn, will promise not to read “Mallard Fillmore,” which is about as funny as an autopsy anyway.To each his (or her) own.

I looked up the Washington State Governor’s race…it would have helped if you’d told me you were talking about 2004.

It was close and went to the courts, much like Bush and Gore, but the Dems won the case this time. I still see absolutely no evidence of fraud, though I’m sure many on the loosing side will.

George Mason, one of the greatest of the founding fathers, and a man often spoken of with approval by the right, believed that any man who is going to be governed by a set of laws has a natural right to a say in how those laws are written.

Here’s another case of “found” votes, but this time the recount took the win from the Democrat and gave it to the Republican. Would you call “fraud” on this one, too?

Fine job at nailing baaad behavior. Keep it up GT.

Yeah people think that buying cigarettes and booze is more important than voting, you have to show ID for those!!! If you buy these things when why not show ID to vote?

You should save that reply to paste again. Half a dozen righties have chimed in to say the same thing, obviously not bothering to read each other’s posts.

Someone let me know when this delusion is over and it’s safe to read DB again.

Re: the comic — quelle surprise!!!

The Know-Nothing Party has returned from the 1850s to join so-called Republicans at the Tea Party. Hood and robe optional, but a ‘list of names’ will get you a seat in the House.

I love how Jimmy’s eyes are drawn almost identically to those of Mr. Butts!

Susan Newman / Solange (and others).I did not intend my post to imply that the UK was a ‘racism’ free country. Certainly as Solange, points out, historically (200 years ago) Britain had an appalling record regarding slavery, and I would never for one moment suggest that there is not still a lot of latent racism in the country. However, I never meant to imply any country was free of racism. My main point was my sadness at how ‘deep-seated’ the racism still appears to be in certain sections of the US population.By, the way, Sorkhl Razil, Trudeau is spelt Trudeau, the pun stinks!

Which comment are you referring to? If it’s the comments Nantucket made about Katherine Harris, I watched them too, and they are true.

No, President Bush was “elected” because they stopped the recount that was necessary to find out who the true winner of Florida was, long before all the votes had been recounted and before the absentee votes were even counted, and sent the thing to the Supreme Court. WE will never know who the real winner should have been.

Oh. CNN. Why didn’t you just SAY so?

‘And your bigotry and hate are showing!’How can I put this in terms you might understand? I’ve got it!“I’m rubber and you’re glue. Anything you say bounces off me and sticks to you.”

Try Texas. To get an ID you have to go to a DPS office. Only 81 out of 254 counties in Texas have an office. Concealed carry licenses (issued by the state) count as ID; student IDs (also issued by the state) don’t. Wonder where that law is going?