Democrats vote on November 5!

[Boo]

Mead,

The attempt to deprive someone of a basic right is never funny. It doesn't matter if the person is ignorant through their own fault, a lack of education or because they are gullible. This is not a "joke" being perpetrated on a presumably educated populace in a "gotcha" fashion. This is a deliberate attempt, targeted specifically at people who are unfamiliar with the election and voting process, to deny them their right to vote.


It is morally and ethically wrong and it is illegal.


It needs to be prosecuted to the full extent of the law and has no place in any society that believes in the fundamental right of an individuals ability to participate in the process of democracy. Many Republicans in the US scream loud and long about the rights of people all over the world to be able to participate in freely held open elections. Yet they will tolerate this type of activity in the US and label it has humor.

If you want to laugh at the overwhelming stupidity of human beings go watch "Jack***".




Boo

 

[Lonewulf]

Mead,

The attempt to deprive someone of a basic right is never funny. It doesn't matter if the person is ignorant through their own fault, a lack of education or because they are gullible. This is not a "joke" being perpetrated on a presumably educated populace in a "gotcha" fashion. This is a deliberate attempt, targeted specifically at people who are unfamiliar with the election and voting process, to deny them their right to vote.


It is morally and ethically wrong and it is illegal.


It needs to be prosecuted to the full extent of the law and has no place in any society that believes in the fundamental right of an individuals ability to participate in the process of democracy. Many Republicans in the US scream loud and long about the rights of people all over the world to be able to participate in freely held open elections. Yet they will tolerate this type of activity in the US and label it has humor.

If you want to laugh at the overwhelming stupidity of human beings go watch "Jack***".




Boo

Well, I have a new favorite poster.

 

[dudalb]

Oh, please. Your conclusion that this is a deliberate attempt to mislead Democratic voters is a result of astute analysis, but my conclusion that this is a joke relies too much on speculation? Why is one conclusion mind reading, and the other not?

It is also pretty insulting to Democratic voters that they would be dumb enough to fall for something like this.
God, it is freaking unbelievable the way ,on the verge of what looks like it will be the biggest victory they have had since 1964, that some Dems are so paranoid as to get into a hissy fit with what looks like a low level prank.
And Lonewolf is not even a US Citizen.

 

[Lonewulf]

God, it is freaking unbelievable the way ,on the verge of what looks like it will be the biggest victory they have had since 1964, that some Dems are so paranoid as to get into a hissy fit with what looks like a low level prank.

I'm an independent, not a democrat. Although recent events have certainly caused me to lean a certain way, since the other way sure seems fraught with peril.

I'd like you to explain how using an actual logo of a branch of the United States government and deliberately making a document seem official is NOT a first class demeanor according to the law cited above.

I am not paranoid, though. But I sure am aware of how disgusting people can be, how dishonest, and how far they are willing to go. What also disgusts me is how people like you will always defend it as "JUST A JOKE LOLOMG".

And the only reason I'm throwing a "hissy fit" (nice one) is because I've dealt with year after year of conservatives talking over and over again about "honor", "duty", "sacrifice", and the ability to fight for our freedoms. Palin stated to supposed hecklers that they should (paraphrased) thank the armed forces for fighting for their right to heckle her.

Yet the people who support these people spit on the right to vote and have the gall to call it a "joke". Where's your honor, duty, sacrifice, when it comes to one of our most fundamental rights as citizens? Oh right, it's just a prank. LOL SO FUNNY.

Well, I suppose you should thank the veterans who died for your right to forge a document by the United States government... oh wait.


EDIT: Also, yet another note: How is the fact that we're close to winning justify this? So if McCain was close to winning, I could be justified in forging fake documents and spreading it around, even though it goes contrary to all of the points brought forward throughout the election? Are you SERIOUSLY going to put forth the point that "almost winning" by one side justifies any strategy by the other side, even when it violates federal law?

This is your stance?

And Lonewolf is not even a US Citizen.

First of all, I am "Lonewulf", not "Lonewolf". Surely spelling it with a u is not that difficult.

I am also a US Citizen, born to two parents from the United States as they took a vacation in Germany, currently living Overseas as my mother serves, as a civilian, the U.S. Armed Forces. Notably as an accountant for the army. She has gotten awards several times, including from a four star general, and from a three star general. She has served the U.S. Armed Forces in Korea and got an award for professional employee of the year.

My grandfather served in almost all of the recent wars outside of Vietnam; World War II and the Korean War, to be specific. He was a tank commander. I needn't go on about his awards, I think, as I do believe people get the point.

I assure you that my family has done much for this country that I supposedly am not a citizen of.

She helps support the same system that protects the same rights the people that made such a document (and people like you who defend them) spit on.

And I can't help but think you're deliberately lying here to get a rise out of me, as I've stated over and over again on this forum that I am a citizen of the United States.

 

[Shalamar]

Its only wrong if the democrats, or if groups 'affiliated' with the democrats perpetuate vote fraud, or voted registration fraud.

If the republicans do it, its a hilarious harmless prank.

 

[RandFan]

I think that anyone posting such rubbish should be hunted down, their houses burned and their computers smashed across their heads. They are terroists. They are not fit to live in America. They are stupid, vain and selfish.

I'm not a Democrat but I'm glad this isn't typical of the sentiment of most Democrats or Obama. We won't solve problems of divisiveness by giving in to our most based emotions.

Alec Baldwin on David Letterman.

“...we have to find a way to come together as a country, because we can’t let it be the way it’s been the last 8 years where there’s been this acrimony and this bitterness. We have to find a way somehow to do that.

“But I do think that if Obama wins we will have seen something wonderful happen in our lifetime politically, and it’s been a long time since we’ve had that happen in this country.”

I've never voted for a Democrat presidential candidte in my life. I'm proud to be voting with Alec this election and I'm proud that Obama represents the better angels of our nature.

 

[dudalb]

Its only wrong if the democrats, or if groups 'affiliated' with the democrats perpetuate vote fraud, or voted registration fraud.

If the republicans do it, its a hilarious harmless prank.

I find it hard to believe that anybody in an official GOP capacity would sign off on anything this stupid. Even given that the GOP is totally evil, which seems to be where you are coming from, would they do anything that will not work ?

It does sound like a stupid attempt at a prank to me.
And your "Dems GOOD, GOP BAD" simplemindeness is noted.

 

[RandFan]

Is there some additional information or coroboration? I find the whole story rather shaky. If there is a legitimate attempt to suppress voting then that is a serious issue. That said I don't see much here beyond some claims and the sources are all blogs with circular links. Shouldn't we find the truth before we get outraged?

 

[Meadmaker]

The problem I have is how official they attempted to make it look.

Does anyone by chance have a full sized image of the logo in the upper right hand corner? It looks like a stereotypical politician holding up his hands in a vaguely Nixonian sort of gesture. My guess is that it isn't actually the logo of any official Virginia organization, but I could be wrong.

 

[Lonewulf]

Is there some additional information or coroboration? I find the whole story rather shaky. If there is a legitimate attempt to suppress voting then that is a serious issue. That said I don't see much here beyond some claims and the sources are all blogs with circular links. Shouldn't we find the truth before we get outraged?

Snopes says it's happened.

http://www.snopes.com/politics/humor/voting.asp

If the joke was so obvious, why did Snopes have to explain it?

And it does seem that the form was passed around in Virginia, as said on that page. The document used the logo of the Commonwealth of Virginia and the Virginia State Board of Elections.

I find it hard to believe that anybody in an official GOP capacity would sign off on anything this stupid. Even given that the GOP is totally evil, which seems to be where you are coming from, would they do anything that will not work ?

It does sound like a stupid attempt at a prank to me.
And your "Dems GOOD, GOP BAD" simplemindeness is noted.

So, no one registered as republican on the ticket did this? "Republicans" refers to more than official politicians, you know. Or maybe you're actually claiming that the only Republicans there are, are all simple politicians, with no common citizen voters at all?

Perhaps it is a harsh judgment. Maybe a democrat or an independent did this.

Hmm... what are the chances of that?



And yes, I would most likely be criticized if I tried to pull off a prank like this against conservative voters, and I certainly would be arrested and charged with a first class misdemeanor -- as would be befitting of the crime.

 

[dudalb]

Please Note that Snopes says it is Political Humor, Lonewolf.
I agree it is a very lame atempt, but Snopes pointing out this is not the first time this joke has made the rounds sort of shoots holes in your "The GOP is behind this" theory.

 

[RandFan]

Snopes says it's happened.

http://www.snopes.com/politics/humor/voting.asp

If the joke was so obvious, why did Snopes have to explain it?

And it does seem that the form was passed around in Virginia, as said on that page. The document used the logo of the Commonwealth of Virginia and the Virginia State Board of Elections.

Snopes says it's might be a political dirty trick. I'm not convinced but it could be. It looks more like a lame attempt at humor. How many fliers were passed around? Was it a pervasive problem or incidental?

 

[Lonewulf]

Please Note that Snopes says it is Political Humor, Lonewolf.

Read the whole thing and not just snip out the parts that don't support you.

Here, I'll type in all caps to help you read.

"THIS FORM OF HUMOR MOVED CLOSER TO 'DIRTY TRICKS' COLUMN THAN THE 'FUNNY JOKES' COLUMN IN LATE OCTOBER 2008, WHEN IT CIRCULATED ON FLIERS BEARING THE NAME AND LOGO OF THE VIRGINIA STATE BOARD OF ELECTIONS...

Hm, so they'd consider it closer to the "Dirty Tricks" column. Since snopes decides all, as you've just stated above, this makes me right, and you wrong.

Case closed, QED, blah blah, conversation over.

Also, Lonewulf again. It's not hard to spell.

I agree it is a very lame atempt, but Snopes pointing out this is not the first time this joke has made the rounds sort of shoots holes in your "The GOP is behind this" theory.

I have no idea what you're saying here. Perhaps you are attributing things to me that do not belong to me. Please take them back and go away.

Also, I notice you have failed to apologize for your misleading statement about my status as a U.S. Citizen.

Whatever it takes to win, I guess?

Snopes says it's might be a political dirty trick. I'm not convinced but it could be. It looks more like a lame attempt at humor. How many fliers were passed around? Was it a pervasive problem or incidental?

-.-

There's nothing I can do here. You cannot see how they made an attempt to make the document look official, do you?

Sigh.

People will defend anything.

 

[RandFan]

And yes, I would most likely be criticized if I tried to pull off a prank like this against conservative voters, and I certainly would be arrested and charged with a first class misdemeanor -- as would be befitting of the crime.

Should your house be burned down?

 

[T.A.M.]

It is a joke. I'll try to explain.

This sort of humor is found all over the place. The basic genre is making fun of other people's stupidity, whether that stupidity is real or imagined. In order to fall for this sort of announcement, you would have to be very, very, stupid. Despite its official looking appearance, no one with an ounce of knowledge of how we run elections could possibly fall for this. So, imagining someone actually believing it gives a humorous image. You picture an absolute moron showing up at his local elementary school on Wednesday morning asking where they can find the voting booths. Incredibly, someone, somewhere in Virginia, will probably do it.

There's a related style of humor which depends on a sort of temporary gullibility. It's a bit funnier, because it is intended to be temporary. I am not so fond of this style of humor, because I fall for it all the time. True story: In college, a girlfriend was talking to me about jokes and she said, "Well, did you know that the word 'gullible' isn't in the dictionary?" I dutifully looked puzzled and said, "Really?" As she laughed, I realized that once again, I had been caught. Fortunately, laughter is a very effective form of aphrodisiac among young people, and all hurt feelings were quickly forgotten.

With this message, the jokester pictures someone reading this official form of announcement, checking their calendars, maybe making arrangements to come in late Wednesday instead of Tuesday, before they finally say, "Wait a minute...".and realize the joke.

It's really a bit like a political form of "candid camera". I liked Candid Camera when I was a small child, but one day I realized that their jokes were just realistic enough that someone might believe them and do something rash, and someone could get hurt.

I voted "no strong feelings", but I had to think about it. In a different mood, I could have voted "Democrats can't take a joke." For my money, the thing that makes it not very funny is that it looks so real. I think if just a few more obviously satirical touches would have been added, it could have been funny.

So it is ok to dupe the uneducated, or even the "dunce" into rendering their constitutional right NULL AND VOID, by misleading them into missing the vote on election day? It is easy to make light of it, knowing you in particular would be too smart to fall for it.

No matter what attempt to rationalize this is made, it is still horrible. I wonder what would happen if this was done to some of the REP LIVs in West Virginia? Not gonna know, because it seems REPs have the lock on trying to suppress voting.

TAM

 

[Lonewulf]

Should your house be burned down?

What the **** kind of question is that?

Oh, I get it. Equating me with another poster.

I don't agree with leftysergeant, and you certainly know me better than that.

However, with how quickly some conservatives are for calling Obama a "terrorist" for his middle name and his "connection" to Ayers, I'd call the people the pranksters in this prank closer to terrorists than Obama is. At the very least, Obama certainly respects the law of the land and the political system far more than they do.

I'd also state that, even having said that, the word is pretty useless. They committed a crime that goes contrary to the country they claim to support. Comparing them to terrorists is pretty silly, though.

 

[RandFan]

There's nothing I can do here. You cannot see how they made an attempt to make the document look official, do you?

Hey, I don't simply accept something because it's posted on an Internet site. I'm a skeptic. I've already said that if there really was an attempt to suppress voter turn out then that is a serious issue. How many fliers were there? What was the potential effect?

So knock of the bullying BS.

 

[Shalamar]

I find it hard to believe that anybody in an official GOP capacity would sign off on anything this stupid. Even given that the GOP is totally evil, which seems to be where you are coming from, would they do anything that will not work ?

It does sound like a stupid attempt at a prank to me.
And your "Dems GOOD, GOP BAD" simplemindeness is noted.

I was wondering if someone would make such a baseless claim. But I have heard people make such claims before. A co-worker has claimed that Democrats engage in rampant voter fraud, and republicans would never ever do such a thing.

Honestly? I don't think officials in either party would do such a thing. Ever. Do people affiliated with the parties do such things? Sure. Anything to ensure that their chosen party wins the vote.

This just continues to show that while many people here on the JREF claim to be openminded, and skeptics, that all such things are immediately thrown out the window when politics are in place.

The same people that scream 'FRAUD' over Acorn, seem to claim that this is a harmless prank. If even ONE person falls for it, and tries to vote on the 5th, then it is not a harmless prank.

 

[RandFan]

I don't agree with leftiesergeant, and you certainly know me better than that.

You didn't respond to him so I didn't know. Your outrage at boorish behavior seems to be narrow in it's scope. Sorry for my assumption.

 

[Lonewulf]

Hey, I don't simply accept something because it's posted on an Internet site. I'm a skeptic. I've already said that if there really was an attempt to suppress voter turn out then that is a serious issue. How many fliers were there? What was the potential effect?

I would be pissed about this even if there were only 5 fliers made. The number seems rather inconsequential to me.

You didn't respond to him so I didn't know. Your outrage at boorish behavior seems to be narrow in it's scope. Sorry for my assumption.

I can honestly say that if I felt Lefty was serious, at all, in his statement, I would have responded appropriately.

However, Lefty didn't actually put any effort into his statement. This flier had considerably more effort put into it.

I also don't believe that waiting to see what effect something has is necessary to declare that thing as wrong. Do I have to wait until the knife enters the woman to declare that it was wrong to try to stab her? I mean, it MIGHT have only entered a centimeter...