Before Democratic Congressman John Lewis was a senior Member of Congress, he was a student activist who risked his life to fight for equal rights in the American South, including the right to vote. Lewis is now speaking out against voter ID laws being used by the right-wing to suppress Americans' voting rights.
Tonight, Martin Bashir explained that Lewis denounced a federal voter ID amendment that fellow Georgian Rep. Paul Broun (R) introduced. Lewis took to the floor to denounce Broun's effort, leading the Republican to withdraw his amendment. Lewis joined the show to discuss his battle against voter suppression laws. "They're trying to steal this election before it even takes place," said Lewis.
The congressman explained his support for the Voter Empowerment Act, which would make it easier for Americans to vote and provide more accountability within the nation's voting systems. "The vote is precious, almost sacred. It is the most powerful nonviolent instrument that we have in a democratic society," he said, explaining why he wants to protect voting rights.
Leave a Comment:
Mr. Lewis, everything you fought for all those years ago are being stripped away, one state at a time by these fascist teahadists. It is so disgusting!!!! Even MORE disgusting is the fact, no one ELSE has commented on this yet. Civil rights mean NOTHING to people anymore?
Well I'm a "survivor" of the sixties generation and remember those days. Disgusting! This is not the America so many worked and fought for. Americans: one citizen, one vote! How dare these people play games with our country. I'm proud of our president and what we're seeing now just seems to be behavior of racist sore losers. You will not win, you sore losers. America is about inclusion. Love your fellow man because hate destoys! We have a wonderful country, let's keep it that way. Back in the sixties, we had Vietnam and daily we watched our family members being killed on tv because of this war. That woke the younger generation up and this generation fought back against the war and destruction. We have a new war now. Wake up younger generation, this will be your country now. Obama can represent the best of both races instead of the spin being put on it. Remember: Obama accomplished the mission and has done many wonderful things. And, he never said "corporations are people, my friend." Geez!
Back in the sixties...it appears you had too much LSD.
Quit making it too easy for any dead or unverified person to vote.
Geez!
"Quit making it too easy for any dead or unverified person to vote."
Well, when dead or unverified persons are verified to have voted, you might have a legitimate bitch however, since dead or unverified persons voting is a Greedy Old Party, American Taliban fantasy, I'd say your point is moot. Worthless. Bull@!$%#.
What a hoot!
My point is moot.
Vdude, ever hear of Cook County and the election of JFK?
And, by the way it's spelled Bull$&%?.
dead people voted.
hmm links don't seem to work well: pjmedia.com/jchristianadams/2012/05/16/53000-dead-voters-found-in-florida/
Amazing that the U.S. can't have the same voting safeguards that ensure that only citizens of this country eligible to vote get to cast their one man(or woman) vote that every other Western Civilization country has a process of protectiomn.. a nationally approved ID indentifing the individual as an eligible voter. Amongst our immediate neighbors, nobody up in Canada or down in Mexico cry foul over the need to present an nationally approved ID inorder to vote.
There is politics at work here, but the shadiness comes from the side that wants the luxury of appealing to an expanding base of "undocumented" immigrants and ethnic and racial minorities, the Democrat Party looking for an edge.
"There is politics at work here, but the shadiness comes from the side that wants the luxury of appealing to an expanding base of "undocumented" immigrants and ethnic and racial minorities, the Democrat Party looking for an edge."
Prove that this is happening ... and no, what you imagine is not verifiable and irrefutable proof ...
thats because the blacks cry,riot and destroy communities when they dont get thier way and the liberal donkeys just cater to the blacks,america wake up
Kind a hard to commit voter fraud when you must show a valid I.D. If your privilege to vote is important to you,whats the big deal? If your not smart enough to obtain a state I.D maybe you should't be voting,maybe this is why our country is in the shapes it's in now.
Perhaps instead of making obtaining state I.D.'s onerous for the elderly, those living in rural areas, students etc. and make obtaining said I.D. an easier process I'd agree. But, we are fully aware that the Greedy Old Party American Taliban actively seek to make the process as hard as possible so the fight will continue.
Further, who are you to dictate who can and cannot vote? If memory serves me correctly, voting is a right afforded to every American citizen, not just the ones the teabagging American Taliban approve of.
Again with the "teabagging"?
Are you fixated on the practice?
Or just an expert?
And, to the point, cite your source for the ID onerousness "for the elderly, those living in rural areas and students (that have to have immunization records and thus IDs)...sans wikipedia por favor.
Jeff P. "Maybe you shouldn't be voting....." Wow it is people like you that are getting this country into serious trouble. So my mother who is 90 and doesn't have a license to "Go get a voter I.D." shouldn't be allowed to vote because she has to go out of her way to get one based on some lies the republican party deems to be a crisis which voter fraud isn't and never has been. Dude you sound just like Romney....heartless...
All states provide a form of official I D for citizens that do not drive, It's called a state I.D. My state provides me with a voter registration I.D. Your mother has no SS card,medicare card? How do people who don't drive fly on the airlines? Cash Checks? My Dr office ask for my ID when checking in. Again whats the big deal? Are you for fraud? If Obama grants amnesty for illegals will it be ok for them to just show up and vote?
I went to the bank today, got to the window with a new teller behind it and she asked me for ID. Thank the bank for good policy!
And lfor1's tired excuse about having to "go out of her way..." for ID.
Lame.
Very lame.
Jeffrey, step away from the crackpipe. It's eating away at the one, lonely brain cell you have remaining.
Voter fraud is an illusion in the minds of the teabagging American Taliban. And, "granting amnesty for illegals" so they can vote just shows how utterly delusional you and the teabagging American Taliban are.
Provide verifiable, irrefutable proof that illegals are voting. I await with bated breath ...
"I await with bated breath..."
Please provide "verifiable, irrefutable proof" of your "bated" breath.
I await with untwisted undies...
She should already have an ID....Come on...You have to have an ID to Open a Bank Acct....
I do not like this about trying to supress the vote, every United States citizen has the right to vote and it should not be supressed . It seems as though the Republican Party is trying to strip us of our Constitutional rights. We should all be outraged that they are trying to do this!! I know I am.
It's not the legimate voters that will be surpressed, but the illegitimate ones that are commiting fraud. I guess you weren't around when the Democrats won the Presidential Election in 1960 by 1) the Chicago machine getting out the "walking around" money for any stumble bum in their Democratic controlled precincts to get to the polls under assumed names, thereby carrying Illinois for Kennedy/Johnson by a slim margein, or 2) voting the graveyards in the "good old boys" counties down in Texas, Johnson's home state!
Bingo! Dead people tend to vote Democrat(ic)
Keith and maynard,
Provide proof that dead people are voting ... but, let me save you some time chasing your tails ... there isn't any.
I'm speaking of past practices well documented that I lived through...your disbelief of what was common knowledge in the 60s in Illinois and Texas just shows your youthfull starry eyed ignorance of the real world.
Vdude: "Illinois and Texas are states? Since when? Provide verifiable irrefutable proof of their statehood...I await with 'bated breath'"
Sorry Keith, Dems don't want documentation.
They only accept lies
no one is trying to strip anything from blacks,you have to show id to buy beer and cigeretts,this supression crap is bs and the blacks that finish school knows that,and illeagal s dont have the right to vote and they should be thrown out of this country,america wake up the liberal donkeys are ruin this great country
here in Pa..voter id laws were passed supposedly to stop a problem that has never happened....voter impersonation....it has never been recorded in PA history....to obtain a state issued ID once must produce a birth certificate...for the elderly...esp the African American elderly...they never had one issued...there was a time when black babies were not counted...
so now a person who has voted all her/his life cannot vote in this election..that is just plain wrong...
this is voter suppression..
Are this mythical black aged individuals without birth certificates covered by Social Security of SSI benefits, Medicare, or State General Assistance Benefits including Medicaid? Then they must have legimate identifications, right?
So what exactly is your beef here? I suspect it's that you want the "undocumented" immigrants to have the ability to sneak into the polling places, sent there no doubt by the Democrat Party supported voter registration non-profits that have had a history of voter fraud and have had their Federal funds cutoff (especially in their actions in the primaries of the Democrat Party and the General Election of 2008).
Ah, after recycling McCarthyism (and David Koch's rant that President Obama is a "hard core socialist"), Grandpa Fuzz is bringing back the ACORN strawman stuff the late and unlamented Andrew Breitbart managed to con a lot of people with. BTW, there's the same James O'Keefe behind this one who this time has been impersonating dead people in order to "prove" the existence of voter fraud.
I'd suggest close monitoring of the electronic voting machines system instead; Fuzzie hollers about what might've happened in Chicago in 1960 but ignores what did happen in Florida in '00... The notion that that enough phony single ballots could be produced to swing an election is a bit of logistical idiocy; immigrants who aren't U.S. citizens don't vote (and aren't permitted to register in the first place), and laws like this amount to racial and ethnic harassment, period.
And you have to watch out for O'Keefe. He was charged with a felony for his actions in illegally entering Senator Mary Landieu's office, accepted a plea bargain which reduced it to a misdemeanor and then sued some pundits who erroneously quoted an article that described him as a "convicted felon."
I'll go out on a limb and predict that if a few U.S. attorneys and such have their way, he won't be able to pull that stunt again...
Per Wiki, the U.S. General accounting office found no evidence that ACORN or any of its related organizations had mishandled any moneys they'd received in the last few years. You can read more about what a forthright citizen young Jimmy is here... His targets have included NPR as well...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_O'Keefe
Finally, here's ALEC, the "face" of all these behind-the-scenes manipulations of state legislatures...
http://www.thenation.com/article/161973/alec-exposed-koch-connection
I'll close this one by noting the Nation article proves the McCarthyism charges in my first paragraph.
The Kochs’ mistrust of public education can be traced to their father, Fred, who ranted and raved that the National Education Association was a communist group and public-school books were filled with “communist propaganda,” paranoia that extended to all unions, President Eisenhower and the “pro-communist” Supreme Court. Such redbaiting might be ancient history if fifty years later David were not calling President Obama a “hard-core socialist” who is “scary.”
(loud, unintelligible squawking sounds coming from the parrot cage)
McCarthiesm? Koch's issues with public eduction? Nothing in my post you were aempting to refute dealt with anythig like that. You're simplictic previously discredited tactics of attempting to discredit some one you wish to debate by putting up guilt by imaginary association strawmen is blatant, and should stop if you wish to have any sort of credibility left, Cab Driver.
Acorn is off the public teat, much to the dismay of the Chicago crowd! And you obviously weren't around to hear even CBS (then the bastion of the liberal media) take on Mayor Daley and the Johnson Texas Machine for stealing the 1960 election with their voting fraud!
CBS the "bastion of liberal media"? Okay, there was Cronkite, and I was a little young in 1960, but I was around for the issues involving the Smothers Brothers a few years later...
You know, the one where Tommy Smothers had to threaten to quit to get Pete Seeger on to perform this one?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXnJVkEX8O4
You do know what the song is about, right?
And for someone who spent his life growing fat--and silly--on the "public teat" you sure are hostile to the mammaries that nurtured you...
Okay, folks, I had to do a bit of fact checking--as usual--on Grandpa's Camp Swampy claims... CBS President Bill Paley might've been to the left of Grandpa, but he wasn't exactly a liberal. He threw his friend Edward R. Murrow under the bus, and per Wiki...
[Paley worried] the network's sponsors were uneasy about some of the controversial topics of the series, leading Paley to worry about lost revenue to the network as well as unwelcome scrutiny during the era of McCarthyism.
Dang, there's that "M" word again. That's McCarthyism, not mammaries...
Likewise he brought in James Arbrey to "cement" CBS's "lowbrow image" and serve as a counterweight to Fred Friendley, a former colleague of Murrow's. This ushered in the "T&A factor" that FOX Noise continues to exploit to today... See Mencken, Henry Louis: "Nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public." And yes, now T&A was a reference to mammaries...
Anyway, the fact that the media claimed fraud in the 1960 Elections is no proof it occurred at levels sufficient to change the election outcome. By a curious coincidence, however, that was the subject of my first e-mail exchange with Chris Matthews back in 2000... Chris pointed out to me that Nixon did nothing overt to contest the elections results although some legal actions were filed but came to nothing. Our exchanges continue (I was the one who informed Chris that Glenn Beck was a Mormon). Fuzzie is doubtless jealous, but he'll deny it.
Okay, I promised to link that Letterman nuking of Romney from The Late Show last night. Here you go (nope, no dogs this time):
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/22/david-letterman-spoofs-mitt-romney-day-one-ad-video_n_1536910.html
Finally, there were some figures offered on manufacturing jobs in Massachusetts from Romney's tenure as governor there. In 2004 when he took office, there were 328,000 manufacturing jobs in the Bay State. When he left, there were 298,000.
'Nuff said. Grandpa you really should quit fact-checking my material with those Fox Noise trolls... They'll lead you astray every time.
In the name of Al Franken,
SLC
I wasn't a "little young" in 1960, and as i recall, Nixon did relate that he decided not to take action in courts against the voter fraud because he believed it was a critical time in the Cold War and didn't believe that would result in a favorable united front against the Communist Soviet manace and an expanding military power in Communist China.
As I've told you before, I lived and worked in Massachusetts quite a bit of my professional career, and the formerly know "Taxachusetts" took some time and patience to turn around with a Democrat Party of free social spending controlled legislature. The old tool and die industries of manufacturing were well on their way out of New England states for the vibrant and sweet deal offerings of the Southeastern States (if not headed to the Pacific Rim due to the grants of Most Favorable Nation Trade status). Romney concentrated his efforts as Governor on strengthening the finanance industries, the transporation and warehousing industries, and the bio-medical and technology startups in the Boston Hub area that paid such large dividends in the last hears of his Governorship and the immediate years of his successor.
You can lie with statistics, but the truth is it was a transformational time in Massachusett's economy. Transformational...you remember that is what Obama promised us, Cab Driver. How does his brand that's nothing more than a growing like topsy government coupled with failed and failing "green energy technology" revolution working out for you? Are you driving your fares around in one of those expensive and inpractical Chevy Volts now? LOL!
Good posts, SL Cabbie ... keep up the good work
Chevy Volt taxi cabs...
I just spit out a mouthful of good dark beer on that laugher.
Too funny
I want to take a few minutes to share my views of things. I have gone thru most of life's experiences and I have learned how to separate myself from the illusion most people call life. I know human nature and cognitive structures of all people. The thing is that we all have internal antennae that connect us to GOD and the Universal Consciousness. Most people of the earth have chosen to disable it. Why? Because it is easier to live a lie and in a simi-concious state of existence. It is very hard to live in a world full of Hate and Oppression by the world leaders.
The truth is that the world leaders don't want us to be knowledgeable in the truth of the universe. They want us to diminish in population because they feel there are too many of us on the earth. The truth is that there are not too many of us here. We are just too populated in clusters that leave a horrible footprint on the earth. Truth....We have the technology and Knowledge to re-build our existence and way of life to restore our home to it's original state of Harmonious Balance in the Universal Divinity. Out existence is very precious and we are blessed to have the choice to live the way we want. However we all know that the current way in which we are living is not right and exact. How can we say things like My God is better than your God when we all know there is Only one GOD and It created all things in the Universe. We will always have Positive and Negative because they are equally important to keep things moving. WE just need to eliminate the Negativity in Human interactions with each other. Why would you look at someone and think I am better than they are. I should rule over them. We have been given dominion over all life here on this Marble but not over each other. The purpose was for us to seek out each other and unify to express the True Glory Of GOD. The Problem was in inventing Religion. There is nothing wrong in having a faith that differs from another person. We all see things in a different spectrum. If we both look at the same color swatch, the truth is that we are seeing different shades. So just because your surroundings and environment has showed you one way does not mean that there is not another way. There are multiple ways and routs to get to the same point. That point is that we are all created equal amongst each other. Yes some of us might be mentally or physically challenged but that is where those of Us that are knowledgeable and qualified should take care of them and nurture them. Not cast them away and call them names.
We should take more pride in ourselves and try to procreate with someone that has a track record of mental stability and of a kind, right, and exact nature. Then through natural evolution and genetics, we will continue to develop into our fullest potential. If we keep making babies out of pure lust and in appropriate behavior, we will continue to bring about a weaker genetic life form. There was a time where we needed to be fruitful, multiply, and re-plenish the earth. That time has long since passed and we are good to go as far as the numbers go. We need to focus on making the world in it's entirety, a place of peace, love, and Harmony. There is no reason for War amongst ourselves. The only reason we are battling ourselves is because the masses don't know about other battles in the universe. We are protected but that doesn't mean that we are safe.
It is time for Humanity to stop with the uncivilized , evil way of thinking and get into the next level of existence. It is our world leaders fault that you do not know the truth. If you want to know the truth get yourself some Generation 3 Military Grade Night Vision Goggles and go out to the country where the skies are free from city lights. Watch things like bugs and birds, planes and satellites. Get familiar with their movements and signatures. Then focus on the other sights. The objects that are traveling at speeds in excess of 1000 miles per hour and changing directions instantly. Notice the charged particle beams that go from one object to the next then notice the bright flashes/ explosions. Ask yourself why the North Pole and South Pole are off limits to National Satellite Imagery and why we cant have High Tech Night Vision here in the United States.
I am not angry about the past but I am getting angry about the now. WE couldn't handle the truth back in the day but we can now thanks to TV and Sci-Fi. I think we can accept that we are not alone and that we are constantly under attack from Non-Earth Originated Enemies that want to enslave us and Claim the Earth for themselves.
Ask yourself what can you do to find out the truth. It cannot be hidden forever. Especially now that more and more life forms know we are here. This is needed for us to get along with each other. Our differences between Races will not be so important once the world knows that there are other Races of Intelligent Humanoid Life throughout the Universe. We will truly call ourselves Human Beings.
We Have the Technology thanks to some of our friends, to protect ourselves form them. It just gets ugly from time to time. It really saddens me that so many of our Military and the Military of other World Powers are dying every day and week in Battles that we don't even know exist. Well I do....but you get the point. Knowing how and why they died won't change anything but at least we can be even more proud of them. I would sign up in a minute to defend my Country and my Planet from threats both foreign and domestic.
Wouldn't you?
there is no voter suspression,it is a bunch of bs that the blacks make up just like there is no war on woman,its a bunch of liberal donkeys trying to create a race war,america you need to wake up the liberal idiots are ruin this country
Thank you for you service Congressman John Lewis........
Black people alone didn't get president Obama in office. This is about people issues and if you are not involved with minorities or one, then you wouldn't understand. The issue for me is this I.d. Issue wasn't important when electing President Bush but when our present President got in office it was very surprising to Republicans so now that it could be a possibility our president could get re-elected republicans are throwing a curve.
Now let's ask the helpless, poor, and less fortunate who need President Obama back in office, let's ask them for i.d. For some individuals it's simply not affordable and for those without stableh homes what address can they use? This country is so hung up on color first and stuatus that it forgets its about all people and the differences we have.
I'm praying that God protects whoever is our new President because we the people are suffering.
Actions speaks louder than words--All Dem voters should show up EARLY and I mean EARLY at the polls (be prepared to stay--take a friend to hold your place for bathroom breaks--take something to eat--take folding chairs, books to read, etc).
Show up EARLY and make the lines so long that Republicans will think twice about trying to steal your right to vote. Don't give up and let someone take away your right to vote.
SHOW UP EARLY, BE PREPARED TO STAY FOR HOURS, & BRING A FRIEND, TOO.
LOL, yeah, lol, there's no voter fraud
Maryland Democrat quits congressional race amid vote fraud allegations
By Ben Pershing
This post has been updated
A Maryland Democratic candidate quit her congressional race Monday after her own party told state officials that she had committed fraud by voting in both Maryland and Florida in recent elections.
_____
But even though she's only one of thousands who commit voter fraud, there's nothing worse than MSNBC and Al Sharpton, the biggest frauds of all.
Thank you Mr Lewis For All your hard work for the right for all people and them that have no voice, keep up the good work and may God grace keep you