# I Pit the ID-demanding GOP vote-suppressors (Part 1) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 12, 2012, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943 "2012-06-12T19:15:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 395
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2014, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/7881 "2014-11-26T15:48:19Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Pro tip: sure it does. The “discussion” here concerns the legitimacy of Voter ID laws. The fact that those laws were correctly passed and upheld is a clear indication of their legitimacy. No, it isn’t. You dearly wish it were, and bend every effort to pretend that it is. Every time it is pointed out to you, you blink, wait a moment, and start right in with how popular voter id is, how it was legitimately and legally enacted. But it isn’t. If it were, there would be no argument at all. The problem is not voter id, the problem is using the legitimacy of voter id as a lever to twist the electoral system to the advantage of a particular political party. This is something like the one hundred and fifty third time you’ve been told this, and it bounces off you like a Nerf ball off a rhinoceros. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2014, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/7882 "2014-11-26T15:50:35Z")
For what it’s worth, I’m not inclined to call Clothahump horrible, etc. but certainly foolish and short-sighted for assuming that since it was easy for him, it must be easy for everybody. It’s a child’s view of the world. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2014, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/7883 "2014-11-26T15:59:23Z")
Aw, c;mon, throw the guy a bone, here, tell him what a monster he is. Poor thing, he needs it so _badly!_ ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2014, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/7884 "2014-11-26T15:59:54Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > Sorry to bust your bubble, but no vitriol or idiocy spewed on my part. I do tend to annoy the living hell out of the lefties by pointing out massive fuck-ups on their collective parts, which of course makes me The Big Bad. As a result, I receive a metric shit-ton of vitriol and idiocy from them. > > As just one example: I have pointed out repeatedly that I show a picture ID every single time I vote. It hasn’t caused me any difficulty in the voting process, and the people running the polls have a reasonable assurance that I am the same guy whose name is on their list of registered voters. I personally see nothing wrong in the slightest with requiring a valid photo ID to vote. But because of this, I’ve been reamed for being a nasty, horrible, ebbul ol’ ID-demanding GOP vote suppressor, when I am nothing of the sort. Etc., etc., ad infinitum, ad nauseam. “Every time I vote I just pay the poll tax…” “Every time I vote the nice old white man gives me the literacy test and I do my best and he always says I pass…” ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2014, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/7885 "2014-11-26T16:33:36Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > But because of this, I’ve been reamed for being a nasty, horrible, ebbul ol’ ID-demanding GOP vote suppressor, when I am nothing of the sort. Etc., etc., ad infinitum, ad nauseam. Don’t flatter yourself. You are not smart enough to be evil. We’re just pointing and laughing at the useful idiot who does what Hannity tells him. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2014, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/7886 "2014-11-26T16:39:23Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > No, it isn’t. You dearly wish it were, and bend every effort to pretend that it is. Every time it is pointed out to you, you blink, wait a moment, and start right in with how popular voter id is, how it was legitimately and legally enacted. > > But it isn’t. If it were, there would be no argument at all. The problem is not voter id, the problem is using the legitimacy of voter id as a lever to twist the electoral system to the advantage of a particular political party. > > This is something like the one hundred and fifty third time you’ve been told this, and it bounces off you like a Nerf ball off a rhinoceros. That’s not the issue. I know, because [Democrats would NEVER](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/politics/gerrymandering/) twist the electoral system to their advantage. So it can’t possibly be about that complaint. That would be ludicrous. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2014, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/7887 "2014-11-26T16:41:30Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > That’s not the issue. I know, because [Democrats would NEVER](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/politics/gerrymandering/) twist the electoral system to their advantage. So it can’t possibly be about that complaint. That would be ludicrous. Are you seriously offering the “they did it so we can do it” argument? Or is this more whining about how liberals criticize conservatives but not liberals, as if this somehow deligitimizes any criticism of conservatives? ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2014, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/7888 "2014-11-26T16:42:53Z")
> [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](#): > > See **Parthol**? The above from Bricker is perfectly profanity- and insult-free. Yet it does nothing to advance the discussion. In fact, it is aimed at quashing or diverting the discussion because Bricker knows that all the rules may be followed, yet injustices may still result. And who gets to define “injustice?” Let me guess: Mother Jones and the New York Times. > [@](#): > > He is arguing from a pure authoritarian position. Those in authority said so; the discussion is over. Given this position, two possibilities exist. Either 1) this is an honest expression of his beliefs, which makes him both pathologically authoritarian and stupid enough to not see how the discussion here STARTS at the point of the passage of these laws or issuance of these decisions; or 2) he is knowingly and disingenuously engaging in a tactic to subvert an internet discussion about some behavior by people on his “side” that is morally questionable. The discussion starts at the passage of the laws, continues merrily through the fact that the laws are objectively reasonable, pauses briefly to admire the roses planted at the perimeter of the Definitions of Democracy Monument, and then kicks over the sand castles built on Silly Liberal Definitions beachfront. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2014, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/7889 "2014-11-26T16:45:21Z")
Nor is it about liberal hypocrisy. Now, if this were the **Bricker** Board, it could be! Any time you don’t like the way the argument is going, you could just say “liberal hypocrisy” and you would win! Seriously, you should give it some thought! ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2014, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/7890 "2014-11-26T16:47:27Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > That’s not the issue. I know, because [Democrats would NEVER](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/politics/gerrymandering/) twist the electoral system to their advantage. So it can’t possibly be about that complaint. That would be ludicrous. Of _course_ Democrats are complicit in cheating. Does that make cheating okay? ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2014, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/7891 "2014-11-26T16:51:21Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > As just one example: I have pointed out repeatedly that I show a picture ID every single time I vote. It hasn’t caused me any difficulty in the voting process, and the people running the polls have a reasonable assurance that I am the same guy whose name is on their list of registered voters. I personally see nothing wrong in the slightest with requiring a valid photo ID to vote. But because of this, I’ve been reamed for being a nasty, horrible, ebbul ol’ ID-demanding GOP vote suppressor, when I am nothing of the sort. Etc., etc., ad infinitum, ad nauseam. Maybe it hasn’t caused you any difficulty because you never had to decide which bill you’re not going to pay in order to take a day off to wrestle with the bureaucracy to get the ID in the first place. How fucking stupid do you have to be to realize that the mere act of getting an ID is a hardship for some people? ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2014, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/7892 "2014-11-26T16:52:25Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Of _course_ Democrats are complicit in cheating. Does that make cheating okay? Yes, it seems that it does. If the Redskins play the Cowboys, and the refs vigorously call infractions against Washington, and fail to call infractions against Dallas, then what would be the reaction to that response? JAY GRUDEN: What the hell, ref? REFEREE BRYAN EKERS: Your guy was holding. GRUDEN: But so has Dallas all afternoon, and you don’t throw the flag for theirs. REF EKERS: Does that make your holding OK? No, it doesn’t. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2014, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/7893 "2014-11-26T17:03:09Z")
Your friends here on the Board are concerned, they both wonder if you’re getting enough fiber. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2014, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/7894 "2014-11-26T17:11:22Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Yes, it seems that it does. > > If the Redskins play the Cowboys, and the refs vigorously call infractions against Washington, and fail to call infractions against Dallas, then what would be the reaction to that response? > > JAY GRUDEN: What the hell, ref? > > REFEREE BRYAN EKERS: Your guy was holding. > > GRUDEN: But so has Dallas all afternoon, and you don’t throw the flag for theirs. > > REF EKERS: Does that make your holding OK? No, it doesn’t. Got any examples of “holding violations” known to have been ignored? Feel free to present some if you think you can tolerate the judgements of the “referee”. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2014, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/7895 "2014-11-26T18:21:27Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Got any examples of “holding violations” known to have been ignored? Feel free to present some if you think you can tolerate the judgements of the “referee”. Democratic gerrymandering. Massachusetts switcheroo on governor’s appointment powers. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2014, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/7896 "2014-11-26T19:03:40Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Democratic gerrymandering. I’m on record suggesting the Americans create a nonpartisan government agency to draw election boundaries (as well as maintain voter rolls and set ID standards), as is done in Canada. > [@](#): > > Massachusetts switcheroo on governor’s appointment powers. I’m on record as saying they shouldn’t have done that, simultaneous with expressing my mild surprise that a state legislature COULD do that, since I’d assumed Senate vacancy appointments were routinely in the purview of the various governors. You’re 0 for 2. I won’t think less of you for giving up. ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2014, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/7897 "2014-11-26T19:20:31Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Pro tip: sure it does. The “discussion” here concerns the legitimacy of Voter ID laws. The fact that those laws were correctly passed and upheld is a clear indication of their legitimacy. No, it’s not. I, and most here, are saying that the laws are bad policy, a transparent power grab, and morally reprehensible. If they passed a perfectly legitimate law that it was okay to enslave people, I’d be against that on similar grounds. For all your wretched whining about not being understood, you sure do pretend disingenuous stupidity when it suits you. ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2014, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/7898 "2014-11-26T19:26:05Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > Sorry to bust your bubble, but no vitriol or idiocy spewed on my part. I do tend to annoy the living hell out of the lefties by pointing out massive fuck-ups on their collective parts, which of course makes me The Big Bad. As a result, I receive a metric shit-ton of vitriol and idiocy from them. > > As just one example: I have pointed out repeatedly that I show a picture ID every single time I vote. It hasn’t caused me any difficulty in the voting process, and the people running the polls have a reasonable assurance that I am the same guy whose name is on their list of registered voters. I personally see nothing wrong in the slightest with requiring a valid photo ID to vote. But because of this, I’ve been reamed for being a nasty, horrible, ebbul ol’ ID-demanding GOP vote suppressor, when I am nothing of the sort. Etc., etc., ad infinitum, ad nauseam. The reason people mock you is that you have a delusional world view that has driven you into an inchoate rage over the imagined wrongs you hear about on the Tee Vee. You’re a dupe. Probably not a bad person, but a shitty fucking American because you provide misinformed votes that drive policy that hurts real human beings. Bricker, now he’s actually a bad person. He knows better. You, you’re just a nice guy with a social disease. Also, the problem isn’t taking the ID out of your wallet, you vapid twat, it’s getting an ID when you have lived perfectly fine without one. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2014, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/7899 "2014-11-26T19:50:35Z")
> [@Lobohan](#): > > No, it’s not. I, and most here, are saying that the laws are bad policy, a transparent power grab, and morally reprehensible. Trying to legislate your morality on the rest of us? Keep your laws off my body’s photo ID. ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2014, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943/7900 "2014-11-26T20:02:27Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Trying to legislate your morality on the rest of us? No, I’m trying to advocate that bad policy not be enacted. Since it does more harm than it cures. > [@](#): > > Keep your laws off my body’s photo ID. I get that you have no ability to advocate your position based on intelligence and reason. But I don’t think humor is your strong suit. Mr. Thesaurus club, herp derp! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943.md?page=394) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-the-id-demanding-gop-vote-suppressors-part-1/624943.md?page=396)