Shameless in Ohio (Toledo, Republic: 2014, loan, living in)

[WRnative]

It's sad when it takes the NY Times to shine the spotlight on Republican efforts to turn Ohio's democracy into the "New South."

Ohio's local newspapers largely, at best, only have objected with lip service to Republican efforts to limit voting rights. While sometimes bemoaning such tactics as egregious gerrymandering, the Ohio newspapers continue to endorse the perpetrators of these affronts to democracy.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/13/op...?emc=eta1&_r=0

Has anybody's local newspaper in Ohio actually covered these ongoing efforts to pervert democracy in Ohio, especially by refusing to endorse those who seek to limit voting rights and fair representation?

[residinghere2007]

The only places I hear about this sort of thing is actually black media outlets, primarily small print newspapers and radio programs.

I don't see anything on local news or major papers about it in my area of NW Ohio.

[Natural510]

So much flies under the radar here because, as much as Ohio supposedly means to national politics, most people here are apolitical and just vote for whatever party they affiliate themselves with (if they even vote). For instance, I'm sure the majority in this state are pro-choice, yet there's been nearly no mention of the elimination of funding to Planned Parenthood by the state GOP (including Kasich). People outside the state seem to care more about what goes on in Ohio than the people who live here.

[residinghere2007]

Originally Posted by Natural510

So much flies under the radar here because, as much as Ohio supposedly means to national politics, most people here are apolitical and just vote for whatever party they affiliate themselves with (if they even vote). For instance, I'm sure the majority in this state are pro-choice, yet there's been nearly no mention of the elimination of funding to Planned Parenthood by the state GOP (including Kasich). People outside the state seem to care more about what goes on in Ohio than the people who live here.

ITA with the bold. I will mention that I live in Toledo and also am pro-choice and we have a small but dedicated group of people who actually do keep this specific issue in the spot light here. Due to measures passed in the past 6 years many clinics have been forced to close in Ohio and we only have one clinic left in Toledo that does abortions. People outside of Ohio think of Toledo as a "small" city but our metro area is mid-sized and encompasses nearly a million people and it is rather sad IMO for there only to be one clinic left. PP doesn't even do abortions in Toledo. Families come from all over the midwest (especially Indiana) and from the near south (KY and TN) to use our clinics here in Ohio due to restrictions in those states.

I think people get blinded by Kasich because he is rather moderate on a lot of concerns of the citizens here and so they don't pay attention to his anti-choice stance and actions he has taken to remove the choices of families in this regard. I agree that I feel a majority of the state are pro-choice, not because they personally agree with abortion, but more like I feel about it in that I don't think the government should regulate the personal medical decisions of families and women. I also feel it is ridiculous to continue to only focus on a specific sort of medical procedure and that if all the proposed and passed abortion regulations were expanded to other forms of medicine that people would never stand for it.

[OhioJB]

I didn't click on the article, but I'm assuming it has to do with gerrymandering. Both parties have done so in the past. Wish my memory was better on it but it seems there was something on the primary ballot regarding having a commission draw the districts so they would be fair to both sides. Or maybe it was a proposed bill, I don't recall exactly.

[WRnative]

Originally Posted by OhioJB

I didn't click on the article, but I'm assuming it has to do with gerrymandering. Both parties have done so in the past. Wish my memory was better on it but it seems there was something on the primary ballot regarding having a commission draw the districts so they would be fair to both sides. Or maybe it was a proposed bill, I don't recall exactly.

It was about the Ohio Republicans passing Jim Crow-like voter suppression laws.

Read the article before commenting on it.

[thinkalot]

Far from Jim Crow like laws.

Read your history before commenting on it.

[WRnative]

Originally Posted by thinkalot

Far from Jim Crow like laws.

Read your history before commenting on it.

The Republican voter suppression laws in Ohio might not be physical intimidation nor a poll tax, but they have the same purpose.

E.g., some long-time voters would have to spend scarce dollars in order to get a personal ID, such as by obtaining a birth certificate. For those who are living in great poverty, they might conclude it's not worth the cost, which is well understood by the Republican legislators who pass such bills.

Whenever someone passes a law with the obvious intent of suppressing voters, they certainly are passing laws in the spirit of Jim Crow.

The New York Times obviously was concerned by the Ohio Republican efforts, such as this one:

<<The judge struck down a 2014 Republican-sponsored state law that, among other things, required that absentee ballots be thrown out for essentially trivial mistakes. This, the judge ruled, discriminated against minority voters in violation of the Voting Rights Act, including homeless people disqualified for not providing precise addresses.>>

Gerrymandering is a direct threat to democracy and has greatly polarized our politics. It marginalizes the votes of millions of Ohio voters.

Those who minimize these affronts to democracy obviously don't believe in fair elections IMO.

Absent fair elections, the democratic process is corrupted.

Any student of history would know this.

[residinghere2007]

Originally Posted by WRnative

The Republican voter suppression laws in Ohio might not be physical intimidation nor a poll tax, but they have the same purpose.

E.g., some long-time voters would have to spend scarce dollars in order to get a personal ID, such as by obtaining a birth certificate. For those who are living in great poverty, they might conclude it's not worth the cost, which is well understood by the Republican legislators who pass such bills.

Whenever someone passes a law with the obvious intent of suppressing voters, they certainly are passing laws in the spirit of Jim Crow.

The New York Times obviously was concerned by the Ohio Republican efforts, such as this one:

<<The judge struck down a 2014 Republican-sponsored state law that, among other things, required that absentee ballots be thrown out for essentially trivial mistakes. This, the judge ruled, discriminated against minority voters in violation of the Voting Rights Act, including homeless people disqualified for not providing precise addresses.>>

Gerrymandering is a direct threat to democracy and has greatly polarized our politics. It marginalizes the votes of millions of Ohio voters.

Those who minimize these affronts to democracy obviously don't believe in fair elections IMO.

Absent fair elections, the democratic process is corrupted.

Any student of history would know this.

ITA with you. On the bold, I don't think that many people are truly knowledgeable about recent history on this subject.

Also, I think I only hear about it on black media outlets primarily because the mainstream media tries to separate us on these issues and act like this sort of thing does not affect all demographics when it does.

[thinkalot]

Originally Posted by WRnative

The Republican voter suppression laws in Ohio might not be physical intimidation nor a poll tax, but they have the same purpose.

E.g., some long-time voters would have to spend scarce dollars in order to get a personal ID, such as by obtaining a birth certificate. For those who are living in great poverty, they might conclude it's not worth the cost, which is well understood by the Republican legislators who pass such bills.

So these long time voters never opened a bank account, went to a hospital, never cashed a check, flew on a plane, never drove, got a loan? They have no utility bill?

Not even close to Jim Crow.