# I oppose continued GOP efforts to subvert American elections **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [July 27, 2018, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-oppose-continued-gop-efforts-to-subvert-american-elections/818668 "2018-07-27T12:10:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2018, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-oppose-continued-gop-efforts-to-subvert-american-elections/818668/1 "2018-07-27T12:10:12Z")
Election meddling by the Russians is a problem. Voter intimidation is a problem. Hacking of electronic voting machines is the “elephant in the room,” and has probably already swung some U.S. elections [Last week the House of Reps voted on party lines to cease providing states with funds for election security.](https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/house-gop-refuses-to-renew-election-security-funding-as-democrats-fume-over-russian-meddling/2018/07/18/20761f88-8abb-11e8-8aea-86e88ae760d8_story.html?utm_term=.b584fabe2eb1) The National Security Council considers election security important enough to hold a special meeting on the topic. Guess who will come out of his stupor to chair that meeting? Fuckface von Clownstick himself, the man who has asserted that the Russians helped Hillary, if anyone, in 2016. Fuckface and his team are already planning to subvert the 2020 census, intimidating Hispanics in California (though not Texas!) and hoping they hide from the count. This will impact not only appropriations but voting power in the House of Reps and electoral college for the next decade. California currently has 17 more electoral votes than Texas. I’ll bet a bottle of _Vieux Pontarlier_ absinthe that after the rigged 2020 census this advantage drops to 13 electoral votes or less. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2018, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-oppose-continued-gop-efforts-to-subvert-american-elections/818668/2 "2018-07-27T12:24:02Z")
The Republican party wants Russia to interfere; it’s how they can legitimize their unpopular policies that benefit the oligarchs and virtually nobody else. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2018, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-oppose-continued-gop-efforts-to-subvert-american-elections/818668/3 "2018-07-27T12:30:31Z")
Democracy is America is being reduced to a bidding war between the Koch Brothers and Vladimir Putin. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2018, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-oppose-continued-gop-efforts-to-subvert-american-elections/818668/4 "2018-07-27T14:09:52Z")
[Rachel Maddow reports that](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Glb7qi14sqY) Microsoft has already detected efforts by Russia to attack at least three 2018 Congressional candidates. One of these, Claire McCaskill, is the very same incumbent Senator the GOP is striving hardest to defeat. [From NPR](https://www.npr.org/2018/07/18/630164914/transcript-dan-coats-warns-of-continuing-russian-cyberattacks): > [@Dan Coats](#): > > I’m here to say the warning lights are blinking red again. Today, the digital infrastructure that serves this country is literally under attack. > … we are seeing aggressive attempts to manipulate social media and to spread propaganda focused on hot-button issues that are intended to exacerbate socio-political divisions. Despite public statements by the Kremlin to the contrary, we continue to see individuals affiliated with the St. Petersburg-based Internet Research Agency creating new social media accounts, masquerading as Americans, and then using these accounts to draw attention to divisive issues. In response the GOP has … cut funding for election security to zero. We should be grateful they’ve not allocated funds to Putin to help Russia finance their on-going pro-GOP meddling. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2018, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-oppose-continued-gop-efforts-to-subvert-american-elections/818668/5 "2018-07-27T15:22:58Z")
It’s the only way to counter the millions of Democratic voters engaged in fraud. No Democrat has ever won a fair election because God is a Republican. Unfortunately I’ll have to travel by bus to vote illegally in twice as many states to help steal elections now. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2018, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-oppose-continued-gop-efforts-to-subvert-american-elections/818668/6 "2018-07-27T16:12:59Z")
Moved to Elections. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2018, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-oppose-continued-gop-efforts-to-subvert-american-elections/818668/7 "2018-07-27T16:34:29Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Democracy is America is being reduced to a bidding war between the Koch Brothers and Vladimir Putin. I am not trying to be difficult but they are on the same side. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2018, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-oppose-continued-gop-efforts-to-subvert-american-elections/818668/8 "2018-07-27T16:46:14Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > Voter intimidation is a problem. In your view, was the voter intimidation by the New Black Panther Party in Philadelphia (including para-military uniforms, a billy club, and racial slurs) a problem? ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2018, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-oppose-continued-gop-efforts-to-subvert-american-elections/818668/9 "2018-07-27T17:18:45Z")
Modern American “dialogue”: If I find fault with the President of the United States, or the leaders of the Republican Party; and a Trump supporter identifies the same fault in a back-alley flim-flam artist or a demented old man in a drunk tank somewhere … then it’s a wash. The two wrongs cancel and the slate is clear. Got it. > [@D\_Anconia](#): > > In your view, was the voter intimidation by the New Black Panther Party in Philadelphia (including para-military uniforms, a billy club, and racial slurs) a problem? Oh my. Just to lay a little perspective: **“The Anti-Defamation League, the Southern Poverty Law Center, and the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights consider the New Black Panthers to be a hate group.”** (Are SPLC etc. right-wing apologists?) AFAIK, the Republican Party hasn’t been similarly labeled a hate group, yet DJT himself has called for voter intimidation. But I should have known it wouldn’t take long for a “What about … ?” 🙂 What about you, **D’Anconia** , research which “side” has suppressed more votes? What about you do some research and tell us which side benefited from Russian meddling in 2016? My OP left one matter ambiguous: “Last week the House of Reps voted on party lines to cease providing states with funds for election security.” What about you, **D’Anconia** , research which “side” voted against election security? ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2018, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-oppose-continued-gop-efforts-to-subvert-american-elections/818668/10 "2018-07-27T17:20:22Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > In your view, was the voter intimidation by the New Black Panther Party in Philadelphia (including para-military uniforms, a billy club, and racial slurs) a problem? Speck in his eye, plank in your own, or something like that. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2018, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-oppose-continued-gop-efforts-to-subvert-american-elections/818668/11 "2018-07-27T17:36:51Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > In your view, was the voter intimidation by the New Black Panther Party in Philadelphia (including para-military uniforms, a billy club, and racial slurs) a problem? Yes. An incredibly small problem, but a problem. Every incident of voter intimidation is a problem–and the larger the effort is, the worse it is. Now that I’ve repudiated the New Black Panther Party, I expect you will, out of a sense of fairness and integrity, repudiate the Republican Party. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2018, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-oppose-continued-gop-efforts-to-subvert-american-elections/818668/12 "2018-07-27T18:24:10Z")
Remind us again, what the Justice Department under President Obama did with the case? ---
**Author:** ![Kron](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kron/32/12444_2.png) [@Kron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kron)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2018, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-oppose-continued-gop-efforts-to-subvert-american-elections/818668/13 "2018-07-27T18:28:07Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Now that I’ve repudiated the New Black Panther Party, I expect you will, out of a sense of fairness and integrity, repudiate the Republican Party. > [@D\_Anconia](#): > > Remind us again, what the Justice Department under President Obama did with the case? In other words… no. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2018, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-oppose-continued-gop-efforts-to-subvert-american-elections/818668/14 "2018-07-27T19:20:41Z")
Just a small hijack, but the note about voter intimidation in Philly reminds me that the Republicans have been intimidating voters for at least 90 years. My grandfather living in south Philly in the 1920s once dared vote Democrat. For the next month, his garbage wasn’t picked up, other garbage was dumped on his lawn. He had to apologize the local Republican committeeman and promise never to do it again. Incidentally, unlike most big cities the Republicans controlled the city government for something like 67 years, ending in 1949. They didn’t mind when my grandfather voted for Roosevelt only that he vote right in local elections. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2018, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-oppose-continued-gop-efforts-to-subvert-american-elections/818668/15 "2018-07-27T19:24:37Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > Remind us again, what the Justice Department under President Obama did with the case? I’m not going to waste a search, but if it’s important to you, feel free to provide a reputable cite and an excerpt to substantiate your implied claim. But even supposing your ‘Gotcha’ to be based on fact, _ **I still wonder what your point is.** _ A Democrat stole an election once, so Republicans deserve a free pass for the foreseeable future? Electoral fraud is as American as apple pie; to argue against it is un-American? I don’t want to put words in your mouth — **why don’t _you_ tell _us_ what your point is in relation to upcoming election fraud by Russia and the GOP?** Something a little more coherent and mature than “Whine whine whinge … What about … what about?” please. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2018, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-oppose-continued-gop-efforts-to-subvert-american-elections/818668/16 "2018-07-27T21:27:46Z")
Refresh my memory. (Seriously. I don’t know much about the incident.) The Black Panther thing was a couple of guys at one polling place, right? And it was in Philly which was going to vote for Democrats anyway, right? Did they do anything other than standing there looking scary? What was their intent? Were they trying to intimidate Republicans, or prevent intimidation of blacks? Note that I am NOT defending intimidation, even on a small scale. Voter intimidation is wrong, full stop. But we need to keep some perspective here. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2018, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-oppose-continued-gop-efforts-to-subvert-american-elections/818668/17 "2018-07-27T22:29:15Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > The Republican party **wants Russia to interfere** ; it’s how they can legitimize their unpopular policies that benefit the oligarchs and virtually nobody else. and JUST IN CASE … President DumpsterFire is already saying the Russians are going to make the Dems win in November. Poisoning it already, JUST IN CASE. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2018, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-oppose-continued-gop-efforts-to-subvert-american-elections/818668/18 "2018-07-27T22:36:03Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > Remind us again, what the Justice Department under President Obama did with the case? Let me guess: they naturalized the Kenyan born Black Muslim terrorists and gave them jobs at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave? Am I close to your version of events? ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2018, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-oppose-continued-gop-efforts-to-subvert-american-elections/818668/19 "2018-07-28T00:36:47Z")
> [@SteveG1](#): > > and JUST IN CASE … President DumpsterFire is already saying the Russians are going to make the Dems win in November. Poisoning it already, JUST IN CASE. Sure. All they have to do is make a few districts or states end up with some ridiculous vote tally - and then Trump can declare the election invalid (with the help of Republicans). Imagine the chaos and division in the US. ---
**Author:** ![Mangosteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Mangosteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangosteen)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2018, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-oppose-continued-gop-efforts-to-subvert-american-elections/818668/20 "2018-07-28T00:55:35Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > Just a small hijack, but the note about voter intimidation in Philly reminds me that the Republicans have been intimidating voters for at least 90 years. My grandfather living in south Philly in the 1920s once dared vote Democrat. For the next month, his garbage wasn’t picked up, other garbage was dumped on his lawn. He had to apologize the local Republican committeeman and promise never to do it again. > > Incidentally, unlike most big cities the Republicans controlled the city government for something like 67 years, ending in 1949. They didn’t mind when my grandfather voted for Roosevelt only that he vote right in local elections. How did they find out he voted Democrat? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-oppose-continued-gop-efforts-to-subvert-american-elections/818668.md?page=2)