The paper-trail machines are great. The voting machine prints out the ballot with your selections, which you have an opportunity to check visually before your put it in a completely separate counting machine on the way out. The paper ballots are retained just like they’re going into an old-fashioned ballot box.
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Those folk are “pre-heritage” Texans; they don’t count.
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That was a great book. Being a History nerd, I enjoy reading History and want to know the truth. I have been attending History lectures for the last 14 years or so. Best part of my retirement.
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The county GOP’s have pulled similar stunts before, randomly and perversely refusing to agree to consent-agenda voting efficiencies. For instance, the Houston 2020 presidential primary. By default, the two parties were guaranteed a 50/50 split of the voting machines, so half were loaded with the GOP ballot and half with the Democrat’s. Of course, that isn’t efficient in a heavily lopsided area. In 2020, the GOP decided not to agree to make the split 70-30 or whatever. They would get half the voting machines, no matter their projected numbers.
Houston’s Third Ward is something like 90% black, so you can do the math on the party breakdown there. There was a precinct there where the last voter cast their ballot at something like two or three in the morning. That’s over seven hours after the polls closed. Any prospective voters who didn’t or couldn’t stand in line for several hours went home or didn’t even bother trying.
The GOP is and has been experimenting with all sorts of ways to make voting in urban areas as inconvenient and problematic as possible. The GOP isn’t trying to win local races in these places as much as it is trying to depress democratic turnout in urban, and therefore Democratic, strongholds.
Meanwhile, if you live in a small town, a ten-minute wait is burdensome and it’s four minutes from your workplace to your home precinct. Try making that commute during a Houston rush hour or by public transportation.
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I’m sure you meant every Republican politician on the planet.
Republicans know the voting machines can be hacked to cheat because that is exactly what they do but the only way for republicans to make sure the democrats don’t unhack the republican hacks is by controlling who gets to vote and who counts the votes.
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Stupid fucks can’t even run a honest election. Who knew?
(WAves hand vigorously)
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The bedlam, chaos and disaster are features, not bugs. This is straight from the playbook for depressing the vote. Whether this backfires or works is completely up to the people they mean to discourage from voting. Will they stay home or will they get mad and do whatever is necessary to cast their ballot? What they are doing isn’t right, but the power to put an end to it is still in the hands of the people.
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Peter Brian Hegseth continues to oversee an active shooting ceasefire in “Operation Trust Me, Bro,” He lied about the price of the war and what it has done to the US military. He should be fired.
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Kash swinging from the chandelier, holding on for dear life. Here comes the shame!
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My take: “Things in motion tend to stay in motion.” And, from AI:
Dallas 1963 by Bill Minutaglio and Steven L. Davis is a highly acclaimed, fast-paced non-fiction book that examines the intense, right-wing political climate in Dallas leading up to John F. Kennedy’s assassination. It focuses on the city’s toxic atmosphere rather than conspiracy theories, highlighting key figures who created a “city of hate”.
Here are the key takeaways from reviews:
- Riveting Narrative: The book is frequently described as reading like a novel, providing a “cinematic” and “revelatory” look at the events.
- Focus on Culture, Not Conspiracy: It explores how local influencers—including wealthy oilmen, politicians, and preachers—fomented extremism, rather than delving into assassin conspiracy theories.
- Historical Context: Reviewers, such as in the Library Journal and CSMonitor.com, praise the authors for mapping the political warfare and social tension in Dallas from 1960 to 1963.
- Relevant Today: The book is often described as a sobering reminder of the dangers of political polarization, with critics drawing parallels between the 1960s environment and modern extremism.
- Critical Reception: Kirkus Reviews and other outlets note the thorough research and extensive use of primary documents to paint a “harrowing” and “devastating” portrait of the city.
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Houston. Big Ugly Swamp. Had family and customers there,
Mom went to HS there and hooked up with my AF Jersey Dad and escaped.
I am eternally grateful
eta: One time I was at a customer with no AC and it was 101F and poured down buckets of rain all day. Only hotter place I’ve been was Chichen Itza. Even Death Valley wasn’t as miserable.
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Do that again and you get blocked. Nothing personal, but AI is garbage and definitely not why I interact with anyone.
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Blocked by whom? If TPM, I have posted AI material before quite often. AI is sometimes garbage, but not always. I read the book and the AI recap is consistent with what I read (my opinion). The benefits and risks of AI are still being debated.
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Blocked by me. I hold no further moderating authority, but I have no time or patience for AI slop.
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