The Republicans like to chirp about "voter fraud". What's their stance on "candidate fraud"?

Republicans all over the country have been crying wolf voter fraud to rationalize their efforts to suppress the voting rights of minorities.  The fact that the number of cases is actually miniscule is irrelevent.  They aren't trying to address the alleged problem that they are citing.

They're trying to make voting more difficult for eligible voters from groups that tend to support Democratic candidates, namely the poor and minorities.

One thing that they haven't been crying about is candidate fraud.

To whit, from the Arizona Capitol Times, written by Hank Stephenson -

Political newcomer Darin Mitchell defeated an incumbent legislator in the Aug. 28 primary election, but it appears he never should have been on the ballot because he lives in a home outside Legislative District 13.

 

Mitchell claimed in a sworn affidavit that he lives in a 3,600-square-foot home on a golf course in Litchfield Park. In reality, the home is vacant, with mattresses covering the front windows, a construction dumpster in the driveway and construction permits taped to the window. Neighbors say the house has been empty for at least a year, and a contractor working on the home confirmed nobody lives there.

Oopsie.

In 2010, a Republican attempted a similar stunt, trying to run for a legislative seat in District 17 (central and north Tempe and south Scottsdale) while living in District 20 (south Tempe, Ahwatukee, and a bit of Chandler).  One of the then-vice chairs of the AZGOP, Augustus Shaw, lived in south Tempe with his wife and family, but claimed that he actually resided in the home of his in-laws in central Tempe.

When called on it, he claimed that he did it for his autistic son.

Yeah, I know what you are thinking, and the judge didn't buy it either.  Shaw was thrown off of the ballot.

On the bright side, however, at least Shaw actually picked an address where people lived; apparently, Darin Mitchell has couldn't be bothered to put in that much research time, and picked a nearly uninhabitable structure for his address.

One would think that they would have learned the lesson from 2010, but apparently, one would think wrong.

It remains to be seen how this will play out, but whatever else happens, don't expect Mitchell to face criminal charges - the Arizona Attorney General and Arizona Secretary of State, people who might be expected to weigh on criminal proceedings in matters like this, are Republicans who are known for placing a higher value on partisan affiliation than on the law.

The not-so-fine line between "dumb" and "dumbass"

I was going to title this post "Well, didn't see that one coming" but we all saw "it", and that was the problem.

Today, Congressman Anthony Weiner (D-NY) admitted that yes, he was responsible for the lewd pictures sent via his Twitter fieed to a college student in Seattle.  His original story that his Twitter account was hacked, well, that story was a lie.

He also admitted that he had a number of online "relationships" with women who he has never met.

That makes him dumb.  He's not the first guy to do something like that, nor is he the first to initially deny everything when caught.

However, when a high-profile public figure such as a member of Congress not only does that, but does it under his own name and with pictures and is expects to keep it a secret, that's the very definition of "dumbass".

Congressman Anthony Weiner is a dumbass.

I like him politically, and as DC scandals goes, this is pretty minor league.  I hope it doesn't lead to the end of his political career. 

I'm still happy that he isn't married to one of my sisters, however.


My advice to Congressman Weiner and all Democratic officeholders -

1.  Nothing, not phone calls, text messages, emails, Tweets, Facebook updates or whatever, is secret.  If it's embarrassing or can be spun in an embarrassing way, it *will* come out.

I'm not saying that you shouldn't use those forms of communication, but don't say, write, or send something that you wouldn't want on display in open church in front of your grandparents and fiercest rival.

2.  Don't try to tell jokes.  You can't do it right.  Ask John Kerry.  Or Barack Obama

Leave the jokes to the jokers.


My advice to Republican office-holders -

1.  Say what you want; do what you want.  For example (hypotheticall speaking, of course) -

- Like to hang out in airport restrooms?  Go for it.

- Have a habit of sending creepy emails to underage pages?  No one will care.  Trust me.

- Want to abandon your official duties in favor of a booty call in Argentina?  Your constituents will be cool with that.

- Want to boink the wife of a family friend, and use you parents to funnel hush money your girlfriend and her husband?  Sounds brilliant.

- Sending semi-nude pictures of yourself?  Not a problem.

2.  Tell all the jokes that you want.  The more off-color and bigoted, the better.  People will appreciate it, especially if they are the target of your joke.  You'll seem like "just folks."

Later...