Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2020/08/23/trump-wants-armed-federal-agen.html
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well jeez.i find myself happily surprised that the government is working at least in this respect.
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You mean the illegally-appointed and not qualified Homeland Security Chief got one right?
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I’m sure Il Douche laments his lackey’s unwillingness to help him intimidate voters as much as he does his inability to have his political opponents poisoned.
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Come Friday he’ll be out and replaced by someone who will send the agents.
God the US has gone to hell.
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Srsly, if it’s.a step too far for this guy, the Don has a challenge.
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Hm, surely that wasn’t his intention, and I’d not send federal agents, but having someone trustworthy guarding against MAGA cult adepts trying to do nasty things to discourage people going there would probably make sense.
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While I absolutely agree with you, standoffs and confrontations at polling places would only play into his hands. So, what’s the out? How do you ensure safe and accessible voting when the folks whose job that is are out to sabotage the vote? I’m serious, because I don’t know what the answer is, but we need to figure one out PDQ.
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Voter intimidation is a crime. Unfortunately, on the day, a person has to rely on local authorities. Part of why I plan on voting early and am encouraging everyone I know to do the same. Many states, including mine, have expanded the time frame for early voting. Someone who experiences intimidation, even by local officials, can call the Election Protection Hotline at 1-866-OUR-VOTE or 1-888-VE-Y-VOTA (en Español).
And document. Seriously have your phone charged and ready to record.
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I think UN observers might be required.
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We could just have the Carter Center do it…
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I also don’t know, although I’m sure some of them will likely attempt to provoke reactions so that the police would get what they need to either close the polls in that area or arrest people for misconduct before they can vote. Not sure if that would be possible, however better be prepared for the worse.
As with protests, I would attempt to document anything. Grab your phones and shoot videos and photos at maximum possible resolution and framerate of everything happening in the area (license plates and drivers in suspicious approaching vehicles!); keep the phone charged, shoot long and detailed horizontal videos to capture as much context as possible (disable self rotation or some phones will attempt to shoot a damn vertical video anyway).
I don’t know if those fascists have something in mind as a whole, but I would try to be prepared for mad dogs here and there as well, which could be the most likely scenario since it would give their base some deniability.
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Send in those armed USPS officers in armor and shorts.
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Practice that, especially where you save it somewhere else. You don’t want to be trying to figure it out in a high-stress situation.
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Yeah, good thing the US never had Congressional authority to wage war in Vietnam, otherwise we would’ve ended up in a disastrous protracted war in Asia. It’s also good we never found WMD in Iraq, otherwise we might’ve invaded them, destabilized the region, and ended up in another bloody, costly war.
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Wouldn’t that be “postal inspectors”?
Let’s not forget that Wilford Brimley played the Postmaster General on Seinfeld.
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You wouldn’t want to do that! Former Baathist Party military members would probably move into the power vacuum, behind some Islamic front cult, to seize oil resources.
But that’s crazy talk!
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And we’ve pretty much established nationally that nothing an Police Officer does on duty is ever a crime.
Even Russia doesn’t usually kill people for voting wrong. We won’t be able to say that about the US in a few months.
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Yup, there’s a reason he’s still “acting” just like damn near everybody in his cabinet these days.
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Smithhsonian Magazine has an article up now abiut Fannie Lou Hamer.
It mentions police at the polling station when she voted, in the sixties. They weren’t there to prevent voter fraud, they were there to intimidate people so they’d not vote.
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