Experts in autocracies have pointed out that it is, unfortunately, easy to slip into normalizing the tyrant, hence it is important to hang on to outrage. These incidents which seem to call for the efforts of the Greek Furies (Erinyes) to come and deal with them will, I hope, help with that. As a reminder, though no one really knows how many there were supposed to be, the three names we have are Alecto, Megaera, and Tisiphone. These roughly translate as “unceasing,” “grudging,” and “vengeful destruction.”
As the 2018 election approaches, I find myself getting more and more bipolar (not clinically, just as a figure of speech). Stunning debate results, like those of Stacy Abrams, lift me up, while other headlines, such as the one about the 340,134 voters purged by Brian Kemp, drag me down.
Blessed as I am to live in what the Washington Post calls “the safest place to cast a ballot” (apparently even safer than Oregon), I can hardly comprehend what people who live in other places are going through. With all mail balloting (with paper ballots providing a trail to validate 
the results), I have already voted, and my vote will be counted, and I have that confirmed in writing from the Secretary of State. But not everyone has these luxuries.
Fortunately, there are people who are knowledgeable doing their best to provide resources for voters, and for campaigns and volunteers assisting voters, to maximize the effective turnouut in this election. I say “the effective turnout,” by which I mean that there are, unfortunately, other people trying to minimize the turnout, and especially the Democratic turnout; and they are putting up hurdles to voting which potential voters need to know about in order to be sure their votes are counted.
One of these people is Steven Rosenfeld, a senior writing fellow of the Independent Media Institute. He has written “A Voter’s Guide to the 2018 Election” – not one of those that has analyzed the issues and candidates, but one that is concerned with the mechanics of getting registered, getting a ballot, and getting in counted, and what to do if you run into pushback.
There is way too much good advice to quote in full, and much of it is state specific. AlterNet has excerpted from the full “Voter’s Guide” information on states which require Voter ID, perhaps the right’s favorite method of vote suppression, though it is in competition with purging registrations.
Do you have the voter ID that is required in your state? If you cannot get time off from work to get that ID, or the paperwork costs associated with doing so are prohibitive, there are groups like VoteRiders and SpreadTheVote to help you get it done—or tell you what household bills you can bring to a polling place that will be accepted as ID if you’re a registered voter. In general, stricter voter ID laws affect non-whites much more than whites, and confusion surrounding ID has led people to skip voting. (emphasis mine)
These states in particular have quirks in their laws or in their processes, so it would behoove 
anyone living (or advising voters) in those states to be sure one’s knowledge is up-to date:
Arizona
Georgia
Missouri
Texas
North Dakota
Arkansas
Voters in other states should be paying attention to any litigation their states might be involved with, being mindful that very late-breaking decisions may not be fully communicated or explained to election workers.
In other states, like Kansas, voters in some localities need to be mindful of more deliberate institutional barriers. For example, in Dodge City, where Latinos make up 60 percent of its population of 27,000 residents, the only polling place is a mile outside of the city limits and not near public transportation. In that state, like Georgia, the Republican candidate for governor is the state’s top election official in a very tight race.
Alecto, Megaera, and Tisiphone, I suggest deploying every available harpy to election sites in all states as soon as early voting starts, which in most states that have it, is now (or yesterday).
But, on an unrelated topic, there is one incident this week so egregious is just demands mention, even though you may have already heard of it. (Hat tip to Nameless for this source, the most detailed.)
We often read stories of people who leave animals stranded on a busy highway – or animals who get themselves stranded on a busy highway, for some reason, like the skunk who got his head stuck in a plastic cup, effectively blinding him. But GLUING an animal to a busy highway just takes it to an entirely new level.
“Sticky” (yes, she was saved and adopted and named, thank Ceiling Cat) is between 5 and 8 weeks old, and weighs 1.3 pounds (or did when rescued.) Hero Chuck Hawley, during his morning commute, saw what he thought was just a box in the road, but a trick of the headlights revealed it was a kitten. He immediately stopped to try to rescue her – she didn’t move – he discovered why when he tried to pick her up and realized she was glued to the pavement.
Well, he picked her up, glue and all. It took his efforts and veterinary efforts to get the stuff off (and lots of mineral oil). When it was all off, she was discovered to have three small round puncture wounds on her neck, of (still) unknown origin.
Alecto, Megaera, and Tisiphone, she’s safe and warm now, with human parents, and two human and two dog siblings to love. But I want the criminal found (here’s a petition we can sign to hopefully get you human assistance with that), and I want him or her dealt with in such a way that he or she never hurts anyone else again. How to accomplish that will become clearer when we know who it is, of course.
The Furies and I will be back.
Cross posted to Care2 HERE.
17 Responses to “Everyday Erinyes #141”
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“I want him or her dealt with in such a way that he or she never hurts anyone else again. How to accomplish that will become clearer when we know who it is, of course.”
Well, we could think of something to glue him to.
Like a solitary confinement cell?
How about an archery target, at summer camp?! And, I’m the camp counselor teaching archery!
Infidel753,
You gave me a very good Churchill example of why I should think differently, but I just can’t do it. I can’t knowingly vote for such a crook. It’s one vote in one race, which the Democrat is going to lose anyways. If that one vote gives Trump the edge to be even worse than he is now, then that will happen anyways. Trump must be stopped, but I can’t do that by myself with my one vote.
thirty is a lot, and I have faith that you have done the due diligence on them, but I have to say I don’t think criminal convictions in themselves are necessarily disqualifying, given the – I’ll call it vagaries – of our 58 justice systems.. John Kiriakou, Thomas Drake, and Jeffrey Sterling all have criminal convictions, and Federal ones at that. What they did which cost them that prison time was, IMO, heroic. I would vote for any of them for anything he wanted to run for. And there’s no question they did what they were charged for, but the Innocence Project (and I believe other groups as well) have demonstrated that a lot of people didn’t. The Central Park Five come to mind. As I say, I’m confident that you have reviewed this person’s record as closely as one can without being in law enforcement, and I trust your judgment. But it can be too easy to take the word of “the system” for things.
Voting Democrat party line might be one way to cut into Republican rule, but I have always informed myself on each and every candidate (yes even 3rd and 4th party candidates) running that I have an opportunity to vote for.
In my State (Minnesota) the Democrats have put up a candidate that has 30 criminal convictions on his public record. I see no reason to add another crook to Washington D.C. and it’s an insult to me as a voter for the Democrats to support such a man for elected office. My conscience won’t let me just hold my nose and vote for him because he is a Democrat. I’ll be voting for the Independent Party candidate in that race. Every other vote I can make will be a Democratic vote.
It’s easy to understand why some citizens take an apathetic view given the history of politics in America and the totally unacceptable candidates they have to choose from. Your vote is a reflection of who you are and who you think is best to represent you. That’s the reality of why it’s so depressing that 10’s of millions voted for Trump for president.
Of course, a tsunami (not just a wave) of Americans voting Democratic would put political majority on both the State and federal level back in the hands of Democrats, which would allow Democrats to make new rules and laws to balance the biased voting results without Constitutional amendments.
But then we haven’t changed, or solved our voting corruption, problems, or biases, we have just given political power to a different party. History shows that when Democrats had the majority at both the State and Federal level they also abused their power gaining unfair advantage of gerrymandering rules and other rules the majority has power over.
There are other remedies to check Trump’s power than to vote for a crooked Democrat. If Democrats win the House, that gives them plenty of ammunition, if not, there are ways the minority can check the majority power, which Democrats have not been using.
Our political system needs a major overhaul, but do not hold your breath.
Kemp needs to be imprisoned, period!
I doubt that their supply of harpies is sufficient to police the Republican Reich.
Kudos to Chuck!
Good one, JD!
You’re assuming that the number of harpies is finite. It may be, but I don’t know that.
I agree w/Mitchell, in that,I truly don’t understand how these people can get away with doing this, Kemp should be arrested, and put in jail,for falsifying documents!! I sure would be, if I did something like this!! Used to help at the school I worked at, with the polling area, which I did for several years. I voted early in my little town here in Texas as did hubs with paper ballot, and mailed both in. Done the same day, and then hand delivered to PO. Done & Done.
I read about the wee kitty and what happened to her, and this Good Samaritan stepping up saving her. We need more of them, abusing animals and children is harmful and offensive to me.
Thanks, Joanne, & Furies, I know y’all are very busy these days, keep up the Watch.
The people who voted for trump in 2016 sure did not know what they were getting when they did. sigh… How can they be so dumb in supporting him these days…
A major overhaul of our political system: Can it be done? Nope and yup, don’t hold your breathe. What maybe needed is a law requiring all citizens to vote. The GOP would die if this occurred. The majority favor the Demos over the GOP in USA.
The kitty that was glued to the highway is doing fine. The person responsible for the gluing of the kitty should be caught and glued into a bottomless pit for the rest of his miserable life. I have never heard of such cruelty.
.
Cruelty to ANY sentient creature just makes my blood boil!
Hopefully there will be some justice meted out to the beast that glued the little kitten’s paws to the pavement.
Agree with Mitch, Pat and Jim. We definitely need a overhaul of our political system. Kemp should be arrested. Seems to me that there has to be a much better way for these questionable cities, to get a better handle on their voters documents. Agree with you and Jim that the creep who did the evil act to the kitty, should be found and punished. I pray they find whomever it is.
After reading the first part of your excellent article, Joanne, I can understand why voting is such a chore for some people in some states. And the ugly thing about it is that it is exactly how some other, mostly Republicans,intend it to be. If people need a book to tell them how to avoid/overcome each hurdle put in their way and make sure their vote is counted, preferably correctly, then there is something terribly wrong with your political/voting system.
Even if there are just as many harpies that fit on the head of a pin as do angels, their chore to safeguard each and every American willing to vote from Republican influence eems almost too much for them. This time you might need some mightier gods to step in.
The second part made my blood boil. Only a psychopathic individual, hard on his/her way to become a psychopathic murderer, would glue a kitten to the pavement of a busy highway to get run over. People who do this will become a threat to society or are already that, and must be apprehended shortly. I wish the Furies all the best with finding that person and bringing her/him to justice.
Vote BLUE!!! ?
Petition already signed, 23868 Signatures!
Thank you for the update! I often wonder how many people actually sign the petitions i post. This ine is doing well, and I’m glad to know it!