Isn't this sweet?

In this country, where it used to be that everyone encouraged you to get out and use your rights as a citizen and vote, there's actually a group out there trying to get you to stay home.

Luckily, in Ohio, a judge has ruled against the G.O.P. and disallowed additional voting "challengers" to be present at polling places to ensure the rights of those who show up to vote.

And who would these "challengers," be? Why,they'd be attorneys. Republican attorneys.

And who are they there to challenge? Why, the GOP says that it wants to challenge the validity of over 35,000 new voter registrations at address from where mail has been returned as undeliverable.

In other words, it wants to challenge the registrations of people who move frequently. Namely, lower income families.

Namely, minority families.

Namely, primarily democratic families.

They want to send 1100 lawyers, unfamiliar with voting place practices, out to the voting locations to bully minority voters into leaving before they vote.

So, if you live in Ohio and fall into this category, know this: the republicans are hiring lawyers to intimidate you into not voting. They are hiring legal thugs to stand between you and the polling place and wave the axe-handle of jurisprudence in your face.

The republican party is promising to appeal the judges decision, using that old republican black-magick mantra, "Once again, a judge is putting their own personal opinion ahead of state law . . ."

Give me a fuckin' break. This is about intimidating minority voters into not voting. This is about realizing that the message is out: the G.O.P. doesn't represent these people, nor does it even pretend to. If they can't win the vote, they'll suppress it.

I wish I lived in Ohio, that's all I have to say. Because if this ruling is overturned, if the republican party puts lawyers on the front line to intimidate Black and Hispanic and other minority voters, I'd be there to, and I'd be in their face.

I'd take me and a hundred of my closest friends and make sure we tied the lawyers up by surrounding them and asking stupid questions over and over and over so they wouldn't have time to get to the voters they were trying to intimidate.

Cuz' lets face it. There should be no reason you're afraid to go to your polling place and vote. The repulicans want to bring in their "thugs?"

I'd show'em what intimidation really meant.

Joseph Haines, signing off from The Edge of the Abyss.