It's time to use the power of the organic WAN that is the Daily Kos, to personally take up the fight against illegal voter intimidation and suppression.
The stories are flying by, as always, at a rapid clip. Let's collect the relevant information and make it the starting point for one more blog-based push for truth, justice, and the American way.
Here's your chance to pitch in and personally nail a GOP dirty trickster.
The folks at the
Ohio Voter Suppression News have been good enough to get us started and give us a base of operations. I'd like to see us build on that base by culling and reposting any information we find that's directly relevant to actually tracking down and nailing individual GOP operatives who are behind illegal voter suppression efforts.
We can start with Ohio, but of course there's much more going on across the country.
For my part, I've already made some progress in tracking down and acting on information about Jim Simon, the attorney named in the Summit County elections board hearings as the individual who provided the list of names to be challenged.
I know I've seen diaries and stories fly by today that purported to name even more names, identifying individuals involved in vote suppression in Ohio. I can recall off the top of my head that in Toledo, efforts appear to have been headed up by one Megan Harrington, a local college sophomore. But I'm sure there were more names brought out today.
Who are they? Let's get those names and start Googling.
Bring them to the Ohio Voter Suppression News, or post them here.
We've all learned our lessons here together during this past election. We no longer wait around for the media to get the key stories and cover them right -- we push them to it or cover them ourselves. We no longer wait around for our elected officials to grow a spine, we inject one into them. What makes you think this problem will just take care of itself?
One other note: I am not advocating, do not advocate, will not advocate, can not advocate violence here. These voter suppression tactics work best under cover of darkness. I advocate only shining a light on it. Each of these people has a real life -- one which would likely be much more difficult to conduct normally if everyone around them knew what they'd been up to when they thought no one was looking.
We need to isolate these people, and make it impossible for them to melt back into the crowd, so that when and if the proper authorities do take up an investigation, they know where to find the perpetrators.
Find these people. Find their pressure points. Let their friends, neighbors, local papers, professional associations, etc. know what they've been doing. You know what they say: if not you, then who?
This is easy. Do what you can. Find one name. Ask your Aunt Harriet if she's still in the Cuyahoga County Master Gardeners with so-and-so. Whatever. With resources like we have, we're gonna get some results.