Sununu Fils on Voter ID - in the Globe

See, it's all about "status" with conservatives. Status is a position which (4.00 / 1)

is socially assigned -- i.e. provides an opportunity for people to decide another's worth. It is segregation by another name, an effort to designate some people more important than others, on the basis of not what they do, but who they are.
Universal suffrage is obnoxious to the status-seekers because it is universal. Age restrictions and residency requirements do not placate because they don't provide an opportunity to discriminate.

I think the reason the issue isn't framed this way is because the victims of the segregationist impulse somewhat perversely also prefer to see the flaw in themselves, rather than define the behavior as the unwarranted aggression it is. People prefer to have a reason for being attacked, rather than accept that some humans simply don't like other humans unless they can put them down. We know that segregationists are acting out of a sense of insecurity but are at a loss how to "cure" it.  So, we decide we've done something to piss them off and hope they'll be satisfied.  But, of course, they never are.  Because a subservient population can't be relied on to stay that way. The call of liberty is too strong. Which is why restrictions eventually go too far and insurrection eventually results, validating, ironically, that the insecure were right to be insecure all along.

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by: hannah @ Wed Aug 10, 2011 at 10:35:11 AM UTC

Enough with the ridiculous false equivalencies. (4.00 / 5)

Boarding a plane is not a Constitutionally-guaranteed right.  Neither is opening a checking account (which is another example they frequently use).

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by: unhhockey @ Wed Aug 10, 2011 at 12:25:35 PM UTC

He Does Say (0.00 / 0)

Gov Lynch vetoes the bill but doesn't say why the Governor did so.

I would be ok with requiring ID but the state would have to offer non-driver ID's to every voter at the states cost, and not require the voters go to the DMV or other state office to get one, they would have to offer them at Town Hall on Election Day.  And with the DOT planning to cut their snow plowing this winter the State doesn't have the millions of dollars this would require right now.  Should be a total non-issue.

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by: ecorbett78 @ Wed Aug 10, 2011 at 12:51:08 PM UTC

His path may be the most direct but ultimately he gets to the right end point. (4.00 / 2)

Ultimately this is an op-ed against the voter id bill that the Governor vetoed and it should be very helpful in convincing the GOP Senators who are currently wavering to uphold the veto. I intend to send a copy of this to Jack Barnes (my Senator) and would encourage everyone who lives in a district with a GOP Senator to do the same.

We can defeat the extremist anti-voter ID bill, but we need to act now and we need some GOP help in doing so, so I have to welcome this op-ed and thank Mr. Sununu for writing it.

"But, in the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope." Si se puede. Yes we can.  

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by: Paul Twomey @ Wed Aug 10, 2011 at 13:18:34 PM UTC

oops -- should be "his path may NOT be the most direct" (0.00 / 0)

"But, in the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope." Si se puede. Yes we can.  

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by: Paul Twomey @ Wed Aug 10, 2011 at 13:36:45 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

you need some rest and relaxation Paul n/t (0.00 / 0)

note to close readers: this might be sarcastic so think twice before reading to candidates for use in their attacks on each other

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by: JonnyBBad @ Wed Aug 10, 2011 at 14:56:57 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

If you can find the votes to sustain the veto without GOP senators, you will win the Nobel Prize for Mathematics. (4.00 / 2)

Until that happens, it is a very good thing that the Sununus are giving cover to those Senators who might go against the O'Brien extremists.

I dont quite grasp the utility of attacking someone for agreeing with us on a criti9cal issue of fair elections.

"But, in the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope." Si se puede. Yes we can.  

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by: Paul Twomey @ Wed Aug 10, 2011 at 21:07:26 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

talking about your oops...not critisizning anything else n/t (0.00 / 0)

note to close readers: this might be sarcastic so think twice before reading to candidates for use in their attacks on each other

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by: JonnyBBad @ Wed Aug 10, 2011 at 22:25:55 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

double oops! (3.00 / 1)

"But, in the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope." Si se puede. Yes we can.  

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by: Paul Twomey @ Wed Aug 10, 2011 at 23:03:34 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

that's a creative interpretation (0.00 / 0)

at best.

Bottom line - he's advocating for Voter ID.  

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by: susanthe @ Wed Aug 10, 2011 at 22:46:49 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

He's advocating sustaining the veto and in the future working for a different solutionl (3.50 / 2)

Without getting too much in the weeds,the house and the senate election law committees were moving toward a  compromise which would have seen and id requirement, but be set up in such a manner that no one would be turned away from the polls for lack of an id. (people without id's would be photographed for purposes of an election data base for reference in future elections).

While one might not see the need for any ID, this seemed to be something that the GOP majority could accept for enforcement purposes and the Democrats and progressive groups working on it could accept because no one would be denied the right to vote and there would be no provisional ballots (most of which are never counted). The photo database would have likely driven some libertarians crazy, but that's a small price to pay for keeping the right to vote for all :}.

At the last minute , in the conference committee stage, O'Brien came in and literally forced the house members to scuttle the compromise and vote for what is easily the worst voter ID bill in the country.

So Sununu in the first instance is saying that the veto should be upheld. This is the only vote scheduled. If the veto is upheld, then presumably someone will re-introduce the compromise bill in the next session and we can discuss its merits then. I for one will most likely join him in supporting the compromise,but for now, we should all welcome his support in the override.

"But, in the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope." Si se puede. Yes we can.  

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by: Paul Twomey @ Wed Aug 10, 2011 at 23:17:14 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Astute commentary (4.00 / 2)

Susan - I think you're right on the money with your analysis of the subtext here and while Bill Gardner does support photo ID, his support is ridden with so many caveats that I'm not sure how any one can point to it as an example of support for the bill.

As a progressive community we need to come up with a better way to cut through the spin that "You need ID to buy booze, so you should to vote too." Pointing out that boarding a plane and buying age-restricted items are privileges while voting is a constitutional right somehow isn't getting through...

Political Campaign Manager at Democracy for America

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by: Kaili Lambe @ Wed Aug 10, 2011 at 17:34:40 PM UTC

Sununu's position (4.00 / 3)

I hope people will read the whole op-ed. Sununu is supporting the Governor's veto of SB129.  

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by: calvin @ Wed Aug 10, 2011 at 18:27:59 PM UTC