’)The Republican party fully supports the Bull Connor/George Wallace agenda.
McCain supporters heckle early voters
Photographer Joe Eddins and I headed over to the closest one and found a steady line of voters hoping to cast ballots early. Most seemed to be Obama supporters and several had come from the rally. Nearly all the voters were black.
Also at the polling site was a group of loud and angry protesters who shouted and mocked the voters as they walked in. Nearly all were white.
As you can see from these videos, no one held anything back. People were shouting about Obama’s acknowledged cocaine use as a young man, abortion and one man used the word “terrorist.” They also were complaining that Sundays are for church, not voting.
Blah, blah, isolated incident, blah, blah not representative of all McCain supporters. The mantra we’ve heard for the last few months, and the same mantra we’ll hear for the next 14 days and possibly the next 4-8 years. They’re always shocked that gambling is going on around here.
And I’ll say kudos to the conservative Washington Times for documenting this story.
Lee Atwater would be so proud!
Any idea where in NC this was? I live there so I’d like to know if this is something that is happening in my area. Thanks!
Ok, next time I’ll actually watch the video before I ask a stupid question.
it is really hard to be proud of my state when things like this continue to happen.
First Amendment = Bull Connor & George Wallace (both dems, btw).
You have to be kidding, right? Also, is the Obama supporter a bull connor?
Everyone in the video is following the election laws and staying the required distance from the polling place. How again is this bull connor?
I don’t see any fire hoses, german shepherds (trained by democrats), or anyone blocking the polling place door.
And, is Obama’s presence at a rally really an emergency that requires the polls to be opened outside of normal business hours? Yep, because Obama doesn’t want the sheeple to lose that thrill in their leg and forget who to vote for.
P.S. I hate commenting here because you rarely let any of my comments see the light of day, but it’s worth a shot. So much for being open minded and debate! I suppose when your opinions can’t stand the scrutiny, it’s time to sit down in the moderator’s chair.
here’s a little blog post that you inspired. enjoy
(Did you turn off the moderator function? If so, kudos to you!)
“P.S. I hate commenting here because you rarely let any of my comments see the light of day…”
Don’t post links. Links can cause problems.
By the way, after reading your post, if none of them made it through, it would be no lose to anyone here.
Syco, I felt the same way this morning when I read in the Asheville Citizen-Times that someone shot a baby black bear, covered it with an Obama sign, and dumped it at the entrance to Western Carolina University. (Of course, I’m assuming that move was made by someone who is anti-Obama.) The incident made me feel sick to my stomach, much as the video above does. Still, it’s important to remember that we’re talking about Fayetteville and Cullowhee here. They are two of the most entrenched, backward-thinking, socially conservative and, yes I believe it’s true, racist areas of the state. I know that living in the liberal bubble of Asheville can be a bit misleading but NC really is in play! I moved here from Maryland (the conservative Eastern Shore that Oliver mentioned in an earlier post) where I knew my state would go Democrat and I felt like voting was a mere formality. Living in a battleground state means that I have a responsibility to do more than just get upset and yell at my computer screen. The dead bear and the slashed tires in Fayetteville mean one thing to me – I need to get my butt over to Obama headquarters tomorrow afternoon and phone bank like crazy. I really hope you’ll do the same.
Wendeler, could you tell me why so many conservative commenters neglect to acknowledge the fact that the current Democratic party is nothing like the 1960s version in terms of racism? All the racist bastards left the Dem party for the greener pastures of the GOP. We’ve been over this a number of times on this site. Try to keep up, Sparky.
BTW, I don’t think that anyone should be heckled going into a polling place. I look forward to burying these assclowns next month.
I see. So people exercising their first amendment rights are somehow the same as Bull Connor and George Wallace? Puh-lease.
When I went to vote in 2004, I had a Bush/Cheney sign in my car window. When I was pulling up to the polling area there were about 7-8 Kerry/Edwards supporters near the area where I pulled in my car. When they saw the sign, they lightly booed and made some comments (as supporters of opposing candidates WILL DO!). According to you, that was them getting out the fire hoses and calling in the Natl Guard.
“OMG!!!! THEY YELLED NOBAMA!!!! THE FASCISTS!!!’
To the people complaining, three words:
Life. Get one.
Does it bother any of you cons that members of your party are referring to the opposition candidate as a terrorist and a socialist? The way the ‘Bush is a nazi’ crowd irritates me?
I must be missing something. Are StWendy and Jay actually defending people who came out to heckle people on their way to vote?
(P.S. StWendy–don’t believe everything some osteocranial case tells you–candidates don’t get to decide when the polls are open, not even Mr. Obama.)
I see. So people exercising their first amendment rights are somehow the same as Bull Connor and George Wallace? Puh-lease.
Lee Atwater would be so proud.
Does it bother any of you cons that members of your party are referring to the opposition candidate as a terrorist and a socialist?
As a terrorist, yes. As a socialist, not at all. But what the hell I am supposed to do? Become a Democrat and join with my fellow Democrats in calling McCain a murdering fascist warmonger?
I must be missing something. Are StWendy and Jay actually defending people who came out to heckle people on their way to vote?
Actually, if you watch the Youtube video and read the story, it says that Obama held a rally in that same area on that day, so I am guessing those people were already there. And again, they’re exercising their first amendment rights. Why do you hate American, Quaker?
The real issue of course, is the attempt to take such trivial things and parlay into something RACIST.
What else is new?
Wow Quaker- perhaps you should watch the video rather than rely on Oliver’s commentary. What is the protest about? The local election board opens the polling place on an emergency basis to coincide with an Obama rally?
How would you treat this if it were a local Republican election board did the same after a Sarah Palin Rally.
My favorite part is the guy who insists that Obama is a veteran. Good chuckles there! (Lots of folks on both sides have no idea what they are voting for, but hey- it’s a free country…)
Hecklers are the tip of the iceberg of Republican nastiness these days. Voter suppression, on a national scale, but particularly in the swing states, is where the action is. Still.
Oliver has said that he thinks Greg Palast’s concern with this is paranoid and over-the-top, but I believe he should think again. At this point Obama’s major obstacle to the Presidency isn’t McCain voters but systematic, orchestrated VOTER SUPPRESSION. If you dismiss Palast and Robert Kennedy Jr., how about Bob Herbert in the NY Times today? This link may work:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/21/opinion/21herbert.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin
Reading it felt validating because the lily-livered, mealy-mouthed, oh-so-even-handed MSM has ignored it.
Democrats have to fight this thing now, and vigorously, or we’re going to have a re-run of 2000 and 2004 in the swing states. Trust me, it will be even harder to take this time.
[...] Oliver Willis writes: [...]
“would be no lose to anyone here.”
Yeah… i know what you mean.
I don’t agree with these people’s tactics… it’s not like they’re going to change any of the voters’ minds. However, I think they’re there not there to heckle the voters, but to protest the “emergency opening” of the polling place because Barry held a rally nearby.
Sorry – I hate imprecise writing but I just committed some. By “voter suppression” I meant to include voter disenfranchisement, challenges to registration that succeed in discouraging or disabling voters, illegally removing voter names from rolls, etc. etc. Ohio defeated the Republican legal challenge but that’s only one state, and only one means that the Republicans will try there, most likely.
They also were complaining that Sundays are for church, not voting.
Clearly, Sunday’s are not days for loving thy neighbor either.
Marty: What is the protest about? The local election board opens the polling place on an emergency basis to coincide with an Obama rally?
Got any support for that at all? Any? Didn’t think so.
Took all of ten seconds to find that polling places all over the state opened on Oct 16th.
And again, they’re exercising their first amendment rights. Why do you hate American, Quaker?
So the answer to my question is, “Yes, Jay is defending people who turned out to heckle people on their way to vote.”
Glad we have that cleared up.
As a terrorist, yes. As a socialist, not at all. But what the hell I am supposed to do? ?
Are any of McCain’s policy proposals “socialist”? Or does he want to abolish Social Security and get rid of progressive taxation once and for all? Because otherwise, that’s socialist. And please let me know of a single industrialized nation which is not at any level socialist. Thanks in advance.
Become a Democrat and join with my fellow Democrats in calling McCain a murdering fascist warmonger
Which of he Democratic candidates or official campaign spokes people are caling McCain a “murdering fascist warmonger”? Which prominent Democrats are? Thanks in advance.
I think Quaker’s got the right idea here. Conservatives will scream bloody murder if they perceive an imbalance in media coverage that might sway votes, but evidently intimidation at an actual polling location is a-okay.
The claims that the polling place was opened on an “emergency basis” on the request of the Obama campaign is false. We have early voting in NC. The polls all over the state have been open since LAST THURSDAY.
Another attempt at creating a “zombie lie.” It has been discredited TWICE in this thread, yet StWendy and Marty repeated it.
When I say the claim is false, what I am saying is that StWendy and Marty are lying sacks of shit.
You guys really think people going to vote should be yelled and screamed at? Nice.
What is the protest about? The local election board opens the polling place on an emergency basis to coincide with an Obama rally?
Marty, why on earth would you believe some random guy standing on a street corner about this? As the tape demonstrates (with the man insisting that Obama is a veteran), people standing on street corners are often mistaken about even simple facts.
If you or StWendy have any evidence that this particular gentleman is correctly informed about the practices of the Fayetville board of elections, I’d love to see it. If you don’t have that evidence, then you’re asking us to be as easily gulled as you.
My apologies.It wasn’t discredited twice on this thread, just once, and also once on the comment section of StWendeler’s OWN LINK to HIS BLOG.
Lying sacks of shit, both of ‘em.
and also once on the comment section of StWendeler’s OWN LINK to HIS BLOG.
Yeah, but according to St Wendy, “facts are to be ignored.”
That lone Obama supporter is a hero. Seriously. What a brave dude.
If those McCain supporters think that display of negativity is going to change anyone’s mind going in to vote, they’re idiots. If anything, it’s going to turn the indecisive few off and possibly push them over the edge towards Obama at the last moment.
So the answer to my question is, “Yes, Jay is defending people who turned out to heckle people on their way to vote.”
Right, so if you sided with the ACLU on the side of the KKK, does that mean you support the KKK? You’re conclusion is asinine Quaker. I expect better.
but evidently intimidation at an actual polling location is a-okay.
Who was being intimidated? Where in those videos does it show anybody being intimidated? Give me a freaking break. That sounds almost as stupid as people who were complaining about intimidation in Florida because there were COP CARS parked near polling stations with sheriff’s deputies helping to control traffic.
Republicans being Republicans
You guys really think people going to vote should be yelled and screamed at? Nice.
Seriously. I mean, it’s not like they were going to get abortions or anything.
“…People were shouting about Obama’s acknowledged cocaine use as a young man…”
Wish I’d been voting early there- I’d have reminded one of those peckerwoods about the current president’s coke use at age 40.
“That sounds almost as stupid as people who were complaining about intimidation in Florida because there were COP CARS parked near polling stations with sheriff’s deputies helping to control traffic”
Nope, no voter intimidation here. Nosiree. Never happened. Ayers, Rezko. Rev. Wright. Mooslims.. Bzzzt. Da-do-run-run-run. da-do-run-run…bzzt…
Right, so if you sided with the ACLU on the side of the KKK, does that mean you support the KKK? You’re conclusion is asinine Quaker. I expect better.
You’re quite selective in whose rights you’re willing to stand up for in this case, Jay.
There are two kinds of people who side with the ACLU in their defense of the Klan: those who think the Klan is an ugly, racist, violent organization, but one with enforceable rights; and those who think the Klan is doing the right thing.
The first group usually takes pains to express their support for the rights of the Klan while expressing their opposition to the Klan’s aims.
Would it be impertinent for me to point out that you have neglected this rote nicety in your otherwise admirable support for the First Amendment rights of those heckling people on their way to cast a legal vote?
Lastly, please refrain from flattering yourself that you hold standing to “expect better” from anyone.
So, do the McCain people not realize that they were allowed to vote early too? Are they THAT stupid that they’re trying to intimidate all early voters? Sheesh… the stupid, it burns.
Jay: Who was being intimidated? Where in those videos does it show anybody being intimidated?
So if a crowd of people screams at you as you walk down the street minding your own business you’d be completely unaffected by that?
Because a crowd of people exercising their First Amendment rights never intimidates anyone. Not those trying to integrate schools. Not those trying to walk into family planning clinics. And certainly not those trying to vote.
Stay stupid, Jay. It’s nice to know there is some consistency in thee world.
Quaker, your pretzel twisting logic works for awhile, but if you’d get to the point sooner it would make things a lot easier for everybody else. I said I defended their right to do what they were doing and you decided on your own to equate that with me supporting what they do. To be honest, I really don’t have an opinion either way. I don’t see anything in those two videos that amounts to intimidation. I don’t hear all of the supposed screaming and yelling and anger that the writer spoke of or even in the two videos. Cripes, an Obama supporter was standing amongst the very same people.
So if a crowd of people screams at you as you walk down the street minding your own business you’d be completely unaffected by that?
Yeah, the crowd of people going into vote look really scared. Like I said, I had people booing at me near a polling station in 2004. I guess I should have broken down and started crying because they were intimidating me!
Because a crowd of people exercising their First Amendment rights never intimidates anyone. Not those trying to integrate schools. Not those trying to walk into family planning clinics. And certainly not those trying to vote.
Oh give me a fucking break Sean. There’s about 20-25 people at most. They’re like 100 feet away. You’re comparing this to protesters who blocked access to abortion clinics and integration of schools in the 60’s? Don’t go out on a limb there Sean. You wouldn’t want to compare to extreme examples of true intimidation.
You’re also assuming, wrongly, that the polling station was only there for Obama voters.
Good Lord. I’ll leave all of you now to continue fulminating about the RACISM and INTIMIDATION!
Jay: Who was being intimidated? Where in those videos does it show anybody being intimidated?
Well, what I did was imagined a handful of the different sorts of people I know, and thought about whether each would think twice about passing a protest to get into their respective polling place. And I believe that yes, some of them would. And I’d hope that the south in particular would want to make a clean break with that sort of thing given their history with disenfranchisement.
I find my optimism is rarely rewarded.
Hey, looky here! An arrest for voter fraud.
Whoopsie!!
LMFAO
I said I defended their right to do what they were doing and you decided on your own to equate that with me supporting what they do. To be honest, I really don’t have an opinion either way.
OK. You “don’t have an opinion” about whether or not the protesters should heckle people on their way to cast a legal vote. However, you do support the hecklers’ right to heckle.
And in the process of pointing out the twisty-headedness of my reasoning, you still can’t muster up even a word of condemnation for the protesters.
This differs from “supporting what they do” in what way, Jay?
What I don’t get is why are these folks yelling at the voters?!? They didn’t open the polling place themselves. Why not go down to the board of elections and protest there directly if the purpose of the protest was REALLY in opposition to the fact that the polling place was open? OH, BECAUSE IT REALLY WASN’T! Polling places all over NC have had or will have Sunday voting.
So, why did these people feel the need to yell and scream at people who were exercising their constitutional right to vote? I’m not screaming racism b/c I’m not inside their heads. The bottom line is, McCain supporters are protesting Obama supporters as they exercise their constitutional right at a legally established voting place, during a legally established time. This is sad.
We have come so far, yet we are still so far away…
Despite their professed piousness, these goons apparently think Sundays are for thuggish heckling.
“What I don’t get is why are these folks yelling at the voters?!?”
That’s a good question. They went to a polling place to heckle voters. I wonder if any of them actually voted themselves. I suspect the whole crew is headed for a major “Doh!” on Nov 5.
If, as they said, “Sundays are for church,” WHY IN HEAVEN’S NAME WEREN’T THEY AT CHURCH?!
Oh, the hypocrisy…