Bootsie is is a little shit.
The FL stasi show up at the door of someone who legitimately signed a petition and vaguely insinuate . . . what? That a crime has been committed, by someone who illegitimately signed the petition in the name of the poor bastard being threatened by the police (which person of course by definition did not commit the crime).
That is some fascist bullshit
How about writing, “the ‘free’ state of Florida”?
They actively want people to remain ignorant so they can fully exploit it to the hilt. Thank you, Republicans. Let’s hope you all burn in hell.
It sounds as if the overall campaign is to intimidate voters, and as such, it should be stopped by court order. How about rushing into federal court to get an injunction?
Dear Hubby wants to know why any of these people are answering the door much less answering the questions. He insists that, if you know it’s wrong, why would you entertain any of this.
I told him, you don’t know these people.
He asked, what’re they gonna do? Crack heads open if you don’t answer?
I said, yeah, probably. And they’re doing this at the behest of the governor.
Why is anyone tolerating this?
I guess they are worried fatso may actually lose in the FL general election.
Just Googled. Proposition 3 is a citizens initiative. Recreational MJ.
“Were you stoned when you signed this? Your name is Spicoli?”
The fascism of the GOP is clear and getting more so.
Did you tell hubby that this “new” police force can get any and all information on you that they want.
Will part of their investigation be to ask the Dept. of Revenue in FL to see your tax returns? Request an audit perhaps?
I also wonder if this “new” police force will interview any state, county, or city elected Dem politicians, it they signed the petition.
Oh I know the answer.
Yes, of course they will.
One of the people interviewed for the article said the cops showed up with about ten pages of personal information (I’m not sure exactly what was included), stuff they really had no need to know.
Is he saying that if a police officer were to show up at your door, announce themselves as a police officer, that he would refuse to answer and expect that this would work out? It might, but think about how much privilege is required to challenge the police.
I think what your husband is really saying is that he is furious with these police for doing things that are unlawful, and he sincerely wishes that he would have the opportunity to shout at them, to mock them, to disobey them, or even just passive aggressively ignore them. I empathize with that point. I wish I could yell at them, too.
This is so abusive! I hope the ACLU is talking to these people?
Here’s the thing: there is no reason I can think of for the State to verify signatures after the petition has been certified, by knocking people’s doors and demanding proof.
When a petition is submitted, the sponsoring organization first looks at it and makes sure all the i’s and dotted and the t’s are crossed, and then makes sure it has plenty of extra valid signatures to account for challenges by another organization, or I guess by the state. That’s why you hear about 1.5 or 2x the signatures required being submitted. They can see before submitting how many are going to be challenged because the name or address is printed illegibly, or the person does not appear on the voter rolls, or required information is missing.
An organization (or the state) can challenge particular signatories, and at that point, the sponsor has the option of proving that the person is actually a registered voter, and if necessary that the signature is close enough to the one they used to register. Or, they can just opt to let the challenge stand because they’ve got like twice as many signatures as they need anyway. If enough signatures remain after the challenge process (which has deadlines, too) to put the question on the ballot, it gets put there, end of story, right?*
Any signatures that were being challenged would already have either been removed from consideration by this point, or they already would have been investigated, found good, and counted. The question is already on the ballot.
Election police have no reason to show up at someone’s door at this point. Whether or not their signature was counted has already been decided!
Voter intimidation seems to be the most obvious reason for the election police to be knocking on doors. But another reason might be that “evidence” gathered on those people who try to cooperate might be used to invalidate their vote, particularly for mail-in ballots. Gotta match those signatures! If they really were investigating fraud, those interactions would surely be postponed until after the election for the very reason we are all outraged by this stunt. And even then, I would think there would be a very high legal bar to clear first.
*Except in Arkansas, apparently, where they can throw out petitions due to a missing photocopy that isn’t required, even though the affected signatures could have all been left off because they already had so many for the abortion question. Calvinball rules.
May the Force be with Kamala.
I notice Trump, and the Trump wannabes, all have such dead eyes and ugly mouths. Leon Golub’s ‘Mercenaries’ come to life. I think Trump learned it from Roy Cohn.
I hope TPM stops discussing Ron DeSantis the way the MSM does. Yes his ideas are based on debunked conspiracy theories. But he KNOWS that. Yes his actions are autocratic and anti-democratic but he KNOWS that. His policies are motivated by cruel bigotry and he KNOWS that. Not mentioning that DeSantis knows full well what he’s doing and why he’s doing it covers up the real story. Cataloguing his atrocities is part of the story. That fact that atrocity was the goal is a bigger part. He wants to hurt gay people. He knows there’s no gain for the people in Florida in doing that. He just wants to do it. He knows there’s no voter fraud. He wants to corruptly administer elections in Florida and to do so says he must fix the nonexistent fraud. He wants to hurt trans people even though those trans folks are hurting no one. He’s a big believer in “if you’re not like me you’re not right” and see’s those that are not like him deserving pain for being that way.
Sure make a point out of these wretched policies but stop skimming over the wretchedness behind them. Who DeSantis is belongs on A1 above the fold. Don’t say gay can be on page 5. Not the other way around.
Verifying signatures is the excuse for knocking on the door. Causing fear and anxiety in the folks on the other side of it is the reason. How many times must we see DeSantis fabricate a problem and use fixing that problem as a method to execute harmful policy?
There must be a time-space continuum thread where Ted Cruz is not a total SOB.
Florida government is now cosplaying secession.
Not for cutesy reasons – this is Overton shit. I now expect lots more subtle wishcasting along the lines of “former American states.”