Thursday, September 05, 2013

Bob Dylan Lyrics...

"Masters Of War"

Come you masters of war
You that build all the guns
You that build the death planes
You that build all the bombs
You that hide behind walls
You that hide behind desks
I just want you to know
I can see through your masks.

You that never done nothin'
But build to destroy
You play with my world
Like it's your little toy
You put a gun in my hand
And you hide from my eyes
And you turn and run farther
When the fast bullets fly.

Like Judas of old
You lie and deceive
A world war can be won
You want me to believe
But I see through your eyes
And I see through your brain
Like I see through the water
That runs down my drain.

You fasten all the triggers
For the others to fire
Then you set back and watch
When the death count gets higher
You hide in your mansion'
As young people's blood
Flows out of their bodies
And is buried in the mud.

You've thrown the worst fear
That can ever be hurled
Fear to bring children
Into the world
For threatening my baby
Unborn and unnamed
You ain't worth the blood
That runs in your veins.

How much do I know
To talk out of turn
You might say that I'm young
You might say I'm unlearned
But there's one thing I know
Though I'm younger than you
That even Jesus would never
Forgive what you do.

Let me ask you one question
Is your money that good
Will it buy you forgiveness
Do you think that it could
I think you will find
When your death takes its toll
All the money you made
Will never buy back your soul.

And I hope that you die
And your death'll come soon
I will follow your casket
In the pale afternoon
And I'll watch while you're lowered
Down to your deathbed
And I'll stand over your grave
'Til I'm sure that you're dead.

*******************************************
Without 
******Warning******
57,000 Virginians Could Have Their 
Voter Registrations
Cancelled!
*******************************************

Without Warning, 57,000 Virginians 
Could Have Their Voter Registrations 
Cancelled!

By Scott Keyes

Sept. 5, 2013—With two months until Virginians decide which of two polar opposites—Terry McAuliffe and Ken Cuccinelli—will be their next governor, tens of thousands of voters could be removed from the rolls in a statewide purge.

Approximately 57,000 Virginians have been flagged as being registered in another state, and counties are removing some from the voter rolls without any notice or opportunity to rebut the claim.

Before conservatives lose their marbles that this is clear and irrefutable evidence of voter fraud, it’s worthwhile to consider how voter registration works.

Each state maintains its own roll rather than a nationwide system.

When Joe America, who had been registered in Richmond, moves to Philadelphia and registers there, he’s not required to cancel his Virginia registration before enrolling in Pennsylvania.

The process for removing registrations of people who have moved elsewhere varies from state to state, but generally involves periodic comparisons of lists between states to flag and remove people like Joe America who have moved elsewhere.

Clearly, given the decentralized 50-voter-roll system we currently have, there’s a need for the lists to be periodically “cleaned up.”

 But there are a number of issues that make Virginia’s current purge of up to 57,000 voters problematic.

First and foremost, as multiple county registrars explained to ThinkProgress, voters whose registrations are being cancelled aren’t being given any advance notice.

Rather than being mailed a warning letter asking if they still live in Virginia, they are being sent notices that their registration has been cancelled effective immediately.

If the cancellation is in error, the letter says to contact the registrar and get it worked out.

It is not measure twice, cut once. It is cut first and be ready with tape for the mistakes!

Second, according to at least one voter’s experience, the list contains some serious errors.

One Accomack County voter, writing on the blog Blue Virginia under the pseudonym rodentrancher, detailed her experience having her registration wrongly cancelled.

Though she’d lived and registered in South Carolina in 2009, she had moved to Virginia last year and re-registered there.

Even so, her file was flagged as a duplicate and she received a letter last week informing her that her registration was cancelled.

If she hadn’t seen the letter, or had the foresight to call the county registrar who sent her a new registration form, she would have been effectively disenfranchised from the November election.

The list of 57,000 duplicate registrations was given by the state Board of Elections to county registrars in August.

“We were told by the state board that this is a legitimate list and we should process them accordingly,” Patricia White, General Registrar of Accomack County, told ThinkProgress.

Still, as Don Palmer, Secretary of the Virginia Board of Elections, emailed, “the final decision is up to each of the 133 local registrars based on voter history and activity.”

Palmer was appointed by Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) in 2011.

Some county registrars are going over the list with a fine-tooth comb in an effort to prevent errors.

“We’re not taking the list at face value,” Gary Scott, Deputy Registrar of Fairfax County, told ThinkProgress.

Finally, the current purge is being conducted exceedingly close to the upcoming election.

The deadline to register in Virginia is October 14, less than six weeks away.

That leaves little room for error.

A purge in March gives voters, campaigns, and the state eight months to ensure that people who were improperly unregistered are given their Virginia voting rights back.

When asked why the Board of Elections didn’t conduct this purge at an earlier time, Palmer wrote that August “was the first opportunity” they had after reviewing “data from other states and insertion of primary election voter history.”

In the 2009 election, approximately two million Virginians cast a ballot.

If all 57,000 registrations that were flagged are ultimately cancelled, that would represent approximately three percent of all votes, a potentially decisive factor in a close election.

*******************************************