On The Voter Suppression Commission

Unfit sociopath Donald "Rump" Trump's Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity Voter Suppression Commission had its first meeting on July 19, and the evil intent was apparent right from the get- go.  

E.J. Dionne, Jr., writes about the transparent nonsense at the heart of this sham effort:

Lest anyone believe Vice President Pence’s claim that “this commission has no preconceived notions or preordained results,” Trump was on hand last week to state clearly what its agenda is. [snip] 

Trump would not let the commissioners forget their reason for being there, his belief that those phantom votes really exist, although he put his own words into the mouths of unnamed “people,” who — surprise! — came to the same conclusions he did. 

“Throughout the campaign and even after it,” Trump said, “people would come up to me and express their concerns about voter inconsistencies and irregularities, which they saw. In some cases, having to do with very large numbers of people in certain states.” (our emphasis)

The Washington Post editorial board noted that the Commission's vice chair, vote suppressor par excellence Kris "KKK" Kobach, was echoing Rump's unhinged tune to justify the Commission's efforts to disenfranchise Democratic voters nationwide:

In an appearance on MSNBC, Mr. Kobach, a Republican titan of voter suppression who has been repeatedly sued for his relentless efforts to cull voters from the rolls of his home state, was asked if he believed that Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by nearly 3 million votes, as the official tally indicates. “You know,” said Mr. Kobach, “we may never know the answer to that question.” 

In fact, not a speck of evidence exists to cast doubt on the official tally of the popular vote, nor, for that matter, on the electoral vote. Still, the offhand remark was in keeping with Mr. Kobach’s years-long effort, along with that of other Republicans, to erode public confidence in American elections to provide a pretext for tough state laws whose real goal is to obstruct voting by minorities and young people, who tend to support Democrats.

Formed by Mr. Trump after he falsely asserted that 3 to 5 million votes were cast illegally in the 2016 election, the commission includes members, in addition to Mr. Kobach, known for their histories of voter obstruction. One, former Ohio secretary of state J. Kenneth Blackwell, a Republican, is notorious for trying to reject registration forms submitted on paper that was too thin, and for trying to impede voter registration drives. Another, Hans Von Spakovsky, a former Justice Department official, led a failed attempt to purge voter rolls in Missouri. (our emphasis)

The New York Times editorial board also weighs in on the crackpots, kooks and party- before- country Republicans manning the Commission:

The truth can’t be repeated often enough: The Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity, which held its first meeting last week, is a sham and a scam. 

It was born out of a marriage of convenience between conservative anti-voter-fraud crusaders, who refuse to accept actual data, and a president who refuses to accept that he lost the popular vote fair and square. 

It is run by some of the nation’s most determined vote suppressors, the kind who try to throw out voter registrations for being printed on insufficiently thick paper or who release reports on noncitizen voting that are titled “Alien Invasion” and illustrated with images of U.F.O.s. 

Its purpose is not to restore integrity to elections but to undermine the public’s confidence enough to push through policies and practices that make registration and voting harder, if not impossible, for certain groups of people who tend to vote Democratic. (our emphasis)

The "marriage of convenience" is more precisely between a deranged, narcissistic dolt and ultra right- wing activists who know perfectly well what the "facts" and "data" are; that's why they're doing what they're doing!  Simply put, they're engaging in a systemic effort to achieve a permanent Republican oligarchy regardless of demographic changes that would otherwise threaten their vision of an ultra- right white people's republic.

Seven lawsuits have already been filed in Federal courts (and more in State courts) against this anti- American Commission. That's our first line of defense for now, but any success the vote suppressors have in limiting the franchise will only lead to more suppression. Getting these dangerous cranks out of office before they can permanently change our country is the only true defense we have against this relentless cancer.

(Photo: Kobach, Trump, Pence at their Voter Suppression Commission meeting)