Ocassional Thoughts of an Independent Progressive Atheistic Humanist
A few state legislatures, dominated by Republicans, have not only attacked women with draconian anti-abortion laws but have also attacked poor people by trying to micro manage how they spend public assistance. The GOP has the idea that poor people are spending money on steak and lobster and other luxuries. One survey shows they are still wrong.
I didn’t know who Aaron Swartz was before hearing about his death this weekend. I realized I had heard of him once his biography was reported when the story of his death spread across the Internet. It seems Swartz committed suicide and that action might have been the result of stress due to his upcoming trial for computer fraud and abuse. If convicted he was looking at least 35 to 50 years in federal prison. What crime did he commit with his computer? He “stole” information from behind a paywall that he believed should be free to the public since we paid for the creation of the information. While his death is tragic for his friends and family, his case shows how unbalanced our justice system can be.
One of the narratives of the GOP and right-wing this election season is that our country is being threatened by rampant voting fraud. Their need to “protect our country” and suppress votes for Democrats has led several states run by Republicans to restrict early voting, pass strict ID laws, and to purge voting rolls. It’s ironic then that a right-wing conservative front group would actually give instructions on how to commit voting fraud. They want people to commit a federal crime in order to make a point.
On Friday a tweet showed up in my twitter feed about a post on the Ohio Watchdog website: