S03.E01: Voter ID Laws in the United States

[Athena]

He's baaack!

 

Segments: Death of Justice Antonin Scalia and the Thurmond Rule, food safety issues at Chipotle restaurants, voter ID laws in the United States, Steven Joyce hit in the face with a dildo.

[peeayebee]

WOOO-HOOOOOO!

[Victor the Crab]

Can't wait! :D

[Victor the Crab]

I hope Ollie gives us a "Fuckyoulogy" tonight after the death of Supreme Court justice and giant anal wart Antonin Scalia. >:D

[khyber]

Went out for a walk today wearing my "Bugle" ballcap to celebrate John's return.

[avecsans]

I missed this show so much. I was crying at the New Zealand dildo story. I loved how the politician thought that John would leave him alone if he sent the gif, but John doubled down on him.

This show does such a great job at exposing politicians' hypocrisies. Republicans love to whip up their base with blatant lies about voter fraud. I'm glad he showed the two idiots admitting they only do it to thwart likely Democratic voters. And the cherry on top of the douche sundae was showing many of the same legislators committing their own voter fraud! I love this show.

[Delwyn]

New credits!

[Lantern7]

Indeed. I saw Rachel Dratch and Jeff! the Diseased Lung. Anything else?

 

Here's hoping Obama gets his justice pick in before July 20. Or after that date. Why should he adhere to tradition, especially with people who openly despise him? It's like Larry Wilmore keeps saying . . . Obama doesn't give a fuck.

[Julia]

Yeah, but he greased the skids for Alito when he was on the Judiciary Committee, so his track record for standing up for the integrity of the court is not stellar.

[Delwyn]

I think just about everything in the opening was new. Dog Justice Ginsberg, flying salmon. Rachel Dratch's Latin name is carpe semen. Most of his previous stories.

Ghost voting by a politician who is against voter fraud? The lack of shame is astounding. John's delivery of "Braaaaaaaains!" was one of my favourite moments of the night; it was just the right amount of silly in the midst of infuriating.

I had a little trouble getting on board with the NZ bit at the end because just yesterday I was ringing up my uncle in Christchurch to make sure that earthquake went ok for them, but it won me over in the end. Can't really argue with Peter Jackson approved dildo comedy.

[Wax Lion]

I'm thrilled John Oliver took on voter ID bills and the fake issue of voter fraud. My one nitpick is I wish he mentioned the cases where a voter ID law was enacted and then the GOP-run government shut down DMV offices in Democratic-leaning districts. Maybe now that Oliver has discussed it people will pay attention?

[Julia]

Somewhere, former property-owning white man Antonin Scalia is extremely warm, but proud.

[peeayebee]

Dildo Baggins! Everything John did with that story was fantastic.

 

The voter ID story was great. I didn't know about congresspeople voting for others AND that it was on tape! Outstanding revelation of hypocrisy.

 

I noticed the credits had changed. I need to rewatch and freeze-frame so I can check them all out.

[Danny Franks]

So one episode and already two utterly glaring, barefaced, shameful and hypocritical pieces of lying by Republican politicians. The nonsense the GOP have come out with about delaying a replacement for Scalia is so vile it's unbelievable, but Jon managed to double down on that by showing all their attempts to rig the electoral system for what they are as well. Every single one of those people who casts votes for colleagues should be thrown out of office.

 

I'd be laughing more if it wasn't so frightening and depressing. The same thing is going on in the UK, with the government trying to redraw constituency lines to 'reduce the number of MPs' which also, completely by coincidence I'm sure, ensure that they can never be voted out of power. Meanwhile they're undermining the NHS and trying to drive staff morale into the toilet to justify selling it off to their friends and happily joke about and/or dismiss the plight of the poor, simply because it doesn't affect them. Sometimes I think we're idly sitting by while a new generation of fascists removes our rights, one by one.

[AmandaPanda]

The dancing dildos were everything I never knew I needed in life. I was crying from laughing so hard.

 

I wish John had done a true "fuckyoulogy" on Scalia but I was happy with the segment overall. Though I would like someone to go check on Pickles. 

[NextIteration]

I appreciated how John covered both Scalia and "election season" with voter suppression and the nonsense of "voter fraud".

 

I know that he showed McConnell's hypocrisy, but in all fairness, the Democrats have tried some pretty egregious shenanigans with POTUS court appointees, SCOTUS and otherwise.  The clip of McConnell decrying the Thurmond rule was in response to Schumer bringing it up in 2007.

[Julia]

I know that he showed McConnell's hypocrisy, but in all fairness, the Democrats have tried some pretty egregious shenanigans with POTUS court appointees, SCOTUS and otherwise.  The clip of McConnell decrying the Thurmond rule was in response to Schumer bringing it up in 2007.

 

Pfui. Senators Obama and Biden of the Judiciary Committee put up token resistance against the Alito nomination after the Democratic base responded poorly to Obama's appearance on Press the Meat where he said he wouldn't try to stall the vote because

 

"[T]here is an over-reliance on the part of Democrats for procedural maneuvers and mechanisms to block the president [on judicial nominees] instead of proactively going out to the American people and talking about the values that we care about. And, you know, there's one way to guarantee that the judges who are appointed to the Supreme Court are judges that reflect our values and that's to win elections"

 

There has rarely been an american political movement as little activist and as disinterested in their party's base as the blue dogs, and both the men in the White House have always been the bluest of dogs.

Edited February 15, 2016 by Julia

[NextIteration]

I'm sticking with there is hypocrisy on both sides.  I do agree with the you about the "progressiveness" or lack thereof of Obama and Biden, and certainly appreaciate "Press the Meat", lol.

[ganesh]

I can never really tell if the 'voter fraud' group is ignorant of the fact that there's a lot of people who just don't have IDs. But if you're telling me that *half a million* Texas voters can't actually vote, it has to be deliberate.

 

Then you have the guy on tv saying the same thing in PA?!

 

That's astounding, and I'm amazed it isn't covered more.

[Lion]

I'm sticking with there is hypocrisy on both sides.  I do agree with the you about the "progressiveness" or lack thereof of Obama and Biden, and certainly appreaciate "Press the Meat", lol.

I'm not going to deny that there is hypocrisy on both sides, but these two stories aren't comparable.  Schumer wasn't the Senate Majority Leader, while McConnell definitely is the Senate Majority Leader.  Furthermore, Schumer was speaking about a something that hadn't happened.  There wasn't a current vacancy in the Supreme Court and there wasn't expected to be another vacancy before Bush's term ended.  He was basically just blowing a bunch of hot air over nothing and using only his voice to do it.  In this instance, there actually is a vacancy and the Senate Republican Leader has explicitly stated that he will direct his entire party not even consider a nominee because he thinks the public should 'have a voice' despite the fact that the public has used their voice to twice vote Obama into office.  

 

Basically, one is hot air over a hypothetical that never came to pass and one is the leader who is actually faced with this and is saying he will encourage his party to not do their jobs.  

[NextIteration]

I can never really tell if the 'voter fraud' group is ignorant of the fact that there's a lot of people who just don't have IDs. But if you're telling me that *half a million* Texas voters can't actually vote, it has to be deliberate.

 

Then you have the guy on tv saying the same thing in PA?!

 

That's astounding, and I'm amazed it isn't covered more.

 

It's covered all the time if you watch MSNBC, and it's not about preventing voter fraud, it's all about suppressing the vote of the elderly, the young, the Black and the Latinos.

 

Basically, one is hot air over a hypothetical that never came to pass and one is the leader who is actually faced with this and is saying he will encourage his party to not do their jobs.  

 

I agree, but, Schumer didn't necessarily know it was a hypothetical, the death of Scalia shows us that.

[Lion]

 

I agree, but, Schumer didn't necessarily know it was a hypothetical, the death of Scalia shows us that.

There might be a chance that Schumer didn't know, but I think it's most likely that he definitely knew that when he was talking, there wasn't a vacancy on the Supreme Court making his speeches about something hypothetical.  It would be like if two weeks ago McConnell talked about not confirming any of Obama's justices.  That would be hypothetical because two weeks ago, there was no vacancy nor was there reason to believe that a vacancy would come available within the year.  Sure, anything can happen, but hypotheticals still exist even though anything can happen.

 

McConnell now is speaking about reality.  It's a definite truth that there is a vacancy on the court and that he's advocating for his party to not fill that vacancy no matter what nomine Obama sends their way.  

 

That said, I definitely do agree that there is hypocrisy on both sides of the aisle and I'd still find the joke funny if the Senate Majority Leader were Harry Reid making these same arguments.

Edited February 15, 2016 by Lion

[Danny Franks]

That said, I definitely do agree that there is hypocrisy on both sides of the aisle and I'd still find the joke funny if the Senate Majority Leader were Harry Reid making these same arguments.

 

I agree. The overriding point is that, regardless of who is making the argument, it's a hypocritical one if you've made the counter argument in the past. Of course, in this case it's even more hypocritical of the Republicans to mourn Scalia while simultaneously attempting to circumvent the Constitution, as John points out. Especially when the same Republicans are so willing to laud Scalia's refusal to deviate from the letter of the Constitution on issues that suited them.

 

As I understand it, the likelihood is that Obama will nominate a moderate judge who has already had overwhelming approval for a lower office, and the Republicans will still be outraged because they'll only be happy with an abortion hating, 2nd Amendment worshipping, immigrant fearing good ole' boy. It'd serve them right if they managed to stall the appointment, lost the election and control of the Senate, and had to watch Sanders or Clinton force through their own, significantly more left wing appointment. Then watch as two or three more Justices retired in the next four years, to be replaced by more of those loathed liberals.

[ganesh]

McConnell made a tactical mistake imo and handed Obama the high ground. I also think he's a terrible person and will gladly watch this blow up in his face. Immediately going on record and saying they'll block *anybody* and then saying what they think the president should do just isn't smart. It should have been more like, "the president can nominate someone, but we're not going to rush this just because he wants someone appointed before he leaves office."

 

Now Obama just has to say, "I'm doing my job, they aren't. They're obstructing the government and have shirked their constitutional duties." I think they'll eventually have to approve someone. There are some senators up for reelection, so that's got to be a factor. 

There's a couple justices who have been unanimously approved before. So if it's one of them, they're really backed into a corner. 

 

It's not like the election is a shoo-in, so it's a huge risk to take imo. Why not use your current advantage to have some influence over the court appointment rather than risking losing it totally?

[NextIteration]

as John points out. Especially when the same Republicans are so willing to laud Scalia's refusal to deviate from the letter of the Constitution on issues that suited them.

 

That was definitely the most humorous part, one has to wonder what Scalia thinks of all this if there is life in the hereafter.  But then again, he forgot all about his originalism that one time in 2000 when they overthrew an election.

[tenativelyyours]

I was actually rather hoping as the Scalia segment started and the comment was made about his adherence to the Constitution, John was going to show the various rulings and dissents that showed how self-serving Scalia was in his Constitutional purity.  But what followed was just as good it turned out.

 

I had heard of the ghost voting before.  I think on Rachel Maddow.  But I hadn't connected the dots as the show did in terms of how rabid it is not just in States with fierce "voter protection" laws but caught on film and catching some of the most outspoken proponents of said overly restrictive laws.

 

The show really came back with a vengeance.  Watching this and Samantha Bee and I think whoever lambasted Comedy Central a few years back about not doing a weekly round up show on Sunday nights was a huge ratings mistake on their part had something.

[ottoDbusdriver]

The dancing dildos were everything I never knew I needed in life. I was crying from laughing so hard.

 

I wish John had done a true "fuckyoulogy" on Scalia but I was happy with the segment overall. Though I would like someone to go check on Pickles. 

 

I liked at the end of the Steven Joyce segment -- when Ollie dropped the dildo (a la dropping the mic), and left.

Edited February 16, 2016 by ottoDbusdriver

[Victor the Crab]

LWT returns with a bang and a boom. I'm glad they got rid of that douchebag Zuckerberg in the opening credits. I just wish they could have found a way to include Janice from Accounting under the title Fuckis Nongivus.

 

The hypocrisy shown by these Republican advocates of voter ID laws is stunning. You think they would show remorse for what they've done and pay a price for it. But nope, it just business as usual for these asshats while regular people suffer from their gross crassness.

 

A few weeks ago watching TLSwSC, Stephen showed a photoshopped image of a knife wielding crab in his Friday Night Fights segment. Who knew a video of an actual knife wielding crab really did exist?

 

The best part of that New Zealand dildo segment was that they freeze framed it to show the guy looking as if he was enjoying him some manmeat. Careful what you wish for indeed.

[Wax Lion]

It's covered all the time if you watch MSNBC, and it's not about preventing voter fraud, it's all about suppressing the vote of the elderly, the young, the Black and the Latinos.

 

Also the young, best exemplified by how the ID requirements in Texas' law excludes student IDs but makes a gun permit a valid ID for voting.

[tenativelyyours]

^

And I want to say that John did a piece on The Daily Show about the gun permit versus Student ID issue because a woman who was unable to drive due to physical limitations had to spend hours on several buses to get to her nearest center to obtain a state ID and was refused because her second form of id along with her birth certificate was her student ID.  For some reason I remember him ranting to Jon about on The Daily Show in terms of his Green Card status somehow.  Something about how there was a loophole that made it easier for him to get a gun permit and hen use to illegally vote whereas the Universities and Colleges had a more stringent method of determining one's legal status and somehow student IDs reflected that?  I'm not sure.  I just remember his wonderful ranting style of ever increasing outrage as he delivered ever more ridiculous facts.  

 

I tried to find it even as video clip and couldn't.  Too many clips of him to figure out which was which.  I will say watching clips of him from when he filled in for Jon Stewart right after seeing the new season starter and I'm so happy.  At his improvement but even more at how magnificently this last show highlights how much he has fulfilled the potential so many of saw and yearned for more almost three years ago.

[walnutqueen]

I'm singing the giant dildo song all week long.

[ganesh]

I remember the student ID case too. 

[OneWhoLurks]

John Oliver has 'outdone himself' with coverage of dildo saga - Steven Joyce: https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/john-oliver-has-outdone-himself-with-coverage-of-dildo-saga-steven-joyce.html

 

ETA:

 

One of the talk show’s biggest targets of voter fraud was State Rep. Reynolds (R-Tomball). The native Houstonian has pushed hard for strict voter ID laws, saying “the very freedom of our nation is based on the integrity of our ballot box.” But Riddle has been captured on tape ghost voting for her missing colleagues.

 

[...]

 

Since assuming office in 2003, Riddle’s name has been tied to several controversies. After her first legislative session, the Texas Monthly named her the states’ worst legislator after referring to “free education, free medical care” as concepts that come straight “from the pits of Hell” in Moscow, Russia.

 

She has alleged that foreign women come to the U.S. to give birth to “terror babies” who gain automatic U.S. citizenship. Riddle upset women by calling breast-feeding in public not “modest.” She recently has perpetuated the myth of encroaching Sharia law in Texas.

 

 

http://www.chron.com/news/politics/article/Last-Week-Tonight-points-out-hypocrisy-in-6831726.php

Edited February 16, 2016 by OneWhoLurks

[Danny Franks]

That woman sounds a lot like she comes from the pits of hell herself. That people like her can get elected to any public office makes me sad for the human race.

[ZoqFotPik]

One thing that I thought wasn't entirely clear about the Ghost Voting issue is did the legislators have permission from the absent people to vote for them or not? I get the comparison to voter ID laws, but if the state legislature allows voting by proxy and they have permission from the absent legislator, then that is a nonissue as far as I am concerned.

[Lion]

A general google search reveals that most state legislatures require a person grant permission for someone to ghost vote on their behalf.  There are cases where the ghost votes happen without permission and the person who did the voting is unknown for whatever reason.  But even if there are ghost votes done without permission, it seems rare enough that it's a non issue.  Which is why it worked so well with this piece, because voter fraud - at least the sort that physically happens at the polls - is so rare as to be a nonissue and yet the idea of voter fraud is used to restrict the constitutional rights of voters.  I don't think the show intended to make ghost voting to be seen as a legitimate issue that needs to be corrected.  

[fastiller]

One thing that I thought wasn't entirely clear about the Ghost Voting issue is did the legislators have permission from the absent people to vote for them or not? I get the comparison to voter ID laws, but if the state legislature allows voting by proxy and they have permission from the absent legislator, then that is a nonissue as far as I am concerned.

Which is all well and good, but then the legislators who want to have it both ways (be able to cast a vote, but not show up to do so) should have to vote via absentee ballot the same way we lesser & mere mortals have to do when we know we won't be around on election day.

[Julia]

One thing that I thought wasn't entirely clear about the Ghost Voting issue is did the legislators have permission from the absent people to vote for them or not? I get the comparison to voter ID laws, but if the state legislature allows voting by proxy and they have permission from the absent legislator, then that is a nonissue as far as I am concerned.

Which is all well and good, but then the legislators who want to have it both ways (be able to cast a vote, but not show up to do so) should have to vote via absentee ballot the same way we lesser & mere mortals have to do when we know we won't be around on election day.

Or (just throwing this out there, since they are public servants and all) they can show up for work.

Edited February 16, 2016 by Julia

[peeayebee]

Seems we regularly hear during election cycles about politicians who rarely voted or were absent a lot. I wonder why some (apparently) ask their colleagues to vote for them and some don't. Is there a record of legislators who are absent but have votes cast in their names?

[OneWhoLurks]

One thing that I thought wasn't entirely clear about the Ghost Voting issue is did the legislators have permission from the absent people to vote for them or not? I get the comparison to voter ID laws, but if the state legislature allows voting by proxy and they have permission from the absent legislator, then that is a nonissue as far as I am concerned.

 

No idea how reliable he/she is, but commenter Flynn09 over at the Cap Times website posted this in reference to the Wisconsin legislature, where "business casual Kevin Smith" serves:

 

The rules of the assembly and senate DO NOT allow one to vote for another. They must be present to vote. All those bills passed may have been passed fraudulently.

 

 

Also this about the office that's only open the fifth Wednesday of every month:

 

It should also be noted regarding Sauk City that one of those months was November making one of the 4 days open for the year AFTER the election.

 

 

http://host.madison.com/ct/news/local/govt-and-politics/hbo-s-john-oliver-dings-gop-rep-joel-kleefisch-over/article_45c21515-27f4-594d-85b6-67fe367e2a01.html

[ganesh]

One thing that I thought wasn't entirely clear about the Ghost Voting issue is did the legislators have permission from the absent people to vote for them or not? I get the comparison to voter ID laws, but if the state legislature allows voting by proxy and they have permission from the absent legislator, then that is a nonissue as far as I am concerned.

 

That wasn't what I saw on the video. Multiple legislators were just hitting the empty seats/voting randomly. It didn't look like X is voting in Y's absence. It looked like the people next to the empties were just voting randomly. 

[tenativelyyours]

I fell down the rabbit hole of ghost voting videos today but I'm pretty sure I saw one of the same that where aired on the show and it had a Legislator standing up out of his seat talking to someone else and the vote was called and without even hesitating the member in the seat besides his reaches over and the two men's hands collide and it seems the ghost voter was surprised that the other guy who sat right beside him and you could see had his stuff spread out to show his desk was occupied was even there.

 

Also I'm pretty sure there are measures that have to get amended with approvals etc that require a certain quorum and ghost voting accomplishes that.  Which to me is huge fraud since it means legislation is amended and passed without having been done so within the law.

[fastiller]

Or (just throwing this out there, since they are public servants and all) they can show up for work.

Bite your tongue!!!

[KerleyQ]

One thing that I thought wasn't entirely clear about the Ghost Voting issue is did the legislators have permission from the absent people to vote for them or not? I get the comparison to voter ID laws, but if the state legislature allows voting by proxy and they have permission from the absent legislator, then that is a nonissue as far as I am concerned.

 

I seem to recall there was at least one instance in the clips John showed where more than one person was trying to vote at the same desk.  So, in that case, it didn't seem like it was a situation where one person had asked a colleague to cast a vote for them, but more of them taking advantage of an unmanned desk to cast another vote for "their side."  

[liqidclark]

But, you guys, they can get so much more work done by not organizing breaks and instead just coming and going and voting however and whenever they want. So much more questionable, possibly fraudulent work gets done that way. So it's totally worth it.

 

It's like how I don't wash any dishes with soap throughout the day at my restaurant. I just quickly spit-shine 'em with a rag between uses, if anything, and I have time to serve so many more customers. I know this is a great way to do my job because I make more money with less effort.

Edited February 17, 2016 by Liqidclark

[dcalley]

From 2007:

[fastiller]

From 2007

Now that's just pathetic.  Thanks for sharing it dcalley.

[Julia]

Bite your tongue!!!

 

Hey, no. It looks as if they couldn't do any more damage, and it would spoil their day.

[Lion]

I thought this might be relevant as it's a funny reminder to read it all instead of just the headline.  Turns out what the media has reported about Schumer isn't actually what he said at all.  The context matters. 

 

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/lol-has-anyone-looked-at-what-schumer-actually-said

 

 

"We cannot afford to see Justice Stevens replaced by another Roberts of Justice Ginsburg replaced by another Alito. Given the track of this President and the experience of obfuscation at hearings, with respect to the Supreme Court at least, I will recommend to my colleagues that we should not confirm any Bush nominee to the Supreme Court except in extraordinary circumstances. They must prove by actions not words that they are in the mainstream rather than we have to prove that they are not."

So it wasn't a call to refuse any SCOTUS nominees, but to be more diligent about vetting so that they aren't loading the court with even more far right conservatives.  

[Julia]

Yeah, those Senators on the Judiciary Committee who didn't put up any meaningful resistance to Roberts and Alito should be ashamed of themselves. Oh wait...

 

That's the infuriating thing. They're demonizing Obama, Biden and Schumer, the axis of rubber stamps with safe seats.

Edited February 17, 2016 by Julia