Clinton slams Alabama’s ‘discriminatory’ voter law

[riversedge]

Source: the Hill



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By Sarah Ferris - 10/17/15 02:34 PM EDT

Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton on Saturday accused Alabama lawmakers of advancing “discriminatory” laws to roll back voting rights, as she looks to shore up support with black voters.

In her first visit to Alabama as a presidential candidate, Clinton elevated her call for voting rights as she condemned the state’s decision last week to close 31 driver’s license offices. Nearly all of the offices were in predominantly black neighborhoods.

She urged Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley and his Republican-controlled legislature to keep the offices open, and “not just for one day a month."


“Here in Alabama, without the right kind of ID, it’s nearly impossible to vote,” she said as the packed room boomed with applause.

“It’s hard to believe we are back having this same debate about whether every American gets a chance to vote,” she declared, raising her voice as the cheers grew louder. “This is a blast from the Jim Crow past.”

Alabama’s decision to shutter driver’s license offices – which the governor said is a result of budget cuts – has drawn attention nationwide because of the state’s strict voter ID law passed last year.

Democrats have claimed the decision is politically driven because each of the closures takes place in neighborhoods with populations that are at least 75 percent black................

Read more: http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/257243-clinton-slams-alabamas-discriminatory-voting-law

[forest444]

1. She ain't whistlin' Dixie.

[George II]

2. I saw most of the speech, she truly is "fired up, ready to go!"

[longship]

3. Good for her.

But fortunately this is not in the Hillary group, because I am going to say that the extent that she did not say this is the extent to which she would not be a viable Democratic candidate. And she knows that, and I am sure that she believes that.

So there really is no news here.

News would be a GOP POTUS candidate supporting the closing of these license bureaus.

BTW, the governor has relented. The license bureaus will remain open. Thanks to the blow back.

[murielm99]

6. I am glad to hear they are staying open.

Sometimes publicity helps.

[yallerdawg]

9. Missing the point?

This is the 50th Anniversary of Bloody Sunday and the Selma Voting Rights March. President Obama and Gov. Bentley both spoke at the foot of the Edmund Pettis Bridge.

Then, because the Republican government chose not to raise taxes to pay for Alabama government services, they have to cut services.

What and where?

So far, 3 weeks into the 2016 Budget, driver's licenses in the Black Belt. 5 State Parks closed, primarily in the Black Belt.

This is just 3 weeks into 2016 Fiscal Year!

Seeing this pattern, guess where services will continue to be cut?

If Hillary comes down here, and says the nation is watching, we get "...no news here?"

[McCamy Taylor]

4. K&R

[Ed Suspicious]

5. Good. Pat on the back.

[Indepatriot]

7. She walked right into the Governor's office and told him "CUT IT OUT"!!!!

in no uncertain terms...

[Igel]

8. It's an eternal meme.

Making it, well, eternal.

County offices are closed. But we focus on service to the "neighborhood", which is rather poorly defined.

While MJ came down on the side of the initial claim, somebody asked them, "So, what facts weren't you told and so you know about that would have influenced your opinion if you had known them?" Always a horrible question. It creates uncertainty, and we really can't handle uncertainty and questioning authority.

http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2015/10/closer-look-alabamas-driver-license-office-closures

But they're county offices, and a county is likely not to have a lot of them. Perhaps 1. Perhaps 2. Given the total number of offices and the number being shut, most of these service not a small neighborhood but an entire county. That means it's the county (or at least a nice fairly large area around the rural field office) that's the service area and the only relevant definition of "neighborhood."

Then there's the triviality that these closures targets mostly rural, part-time offices but it's part 1 of a three-stage program. Nobody's even tried to make the same claim about the second or final stages. They're hung up on a statistically manipulated claim based on the first stage. It's like firmly insisting on not knowing stuff that might influence their preformed, off-the-shelf opinion. Emote before understanding. Saves all that mental work.

Collier says 33 rural field offices, which operate on a part-time basis, will close on Oct. 1.

On Jan. 1, all district offices across the state will close. This move will leave only 12 offices open statewide.

According to ALEA, these closures will cause many residents to drive more than an hour to reach a driver license office and will substantially increase the wait times for services.

By March 1, only the driver license offices in Huntsville, Birmingham, Montgomery and Mobile will be operational.

http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2015/08/alea_to_begin_phasing_out_driv.html

Now, there's probably still even more to know in order to form a fact-based opinion (the only kind worth having). But then we'd probably have to start asking how the claimants defined "neighborhood" in the first set of claims and if "neighborhood" is the same as "service area" and whether there are alternative means of getting ID and then, well, the political rhetoric has gotten bogged down in facts instead of memes and Memnosyne is invoked to keep all the facts in mind and who wants her involved? And we haven't even gotten to the second stage, about which people are oddly quiet. Possibly because that's too far in the future to be on their short-term radar, possibly because it doesn't provide psychological comfort and support. And then there's the third stage. (I mean, what would happen if the remaining offices were in pre-existing service areas that were more than 25% black?)

[rockfordfile]

10. I agree.