11 White Guys

In 1991, during the administration of George H. W. Bush, the Senate Committee on the Judiciary was, as it is today, engaged in confirmation hearings for a nominee to our Supreme Court.  That nominee, Clarence Thomas, had been, like the current candidate Brett Kavanaugh, accused of sexual harassment and assault.  As unnerving, members of the 1991 Committee remain members of today's.

In 1991, all  members were white males; today's Committee is more varied.  Its 21 members include people of color (Corey Booker, D-NJ, Maizie Hirono, D-HA, and Kamala Harris, D-CA) and women (the aforementioned Hirono and Harris, as well as Diane Feinstein, D-CA and Amy Klobuchar, D MI).  Note too that the Committee's Republican, controlling, majority includes two members of the 1991 group - Orrin Hatch of Utah and Chuck Grassley of Iowa.

During the 1991 hearings, Hatch suggested that Anita Hill, who accused nominee Thomas of sexually abusive behavior, drew her charges from the book The Exorcist.  On Tuesday, Sept. 18th, 2018, Senator Hatch implied that Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, the accuser of Brett Kavanaugh, was mentally or emotionally disturbed; Hatch said "She's confused."  Senator Grassley has, on several occasions in the past few days  accused Dr. Ford of delaying tactics, and has used language a schoolyard bully might be comfortable with.

Hatch and Grassley are avatars of misogynistic politics, but their party's leader outdoes them.  Donald Trump asked why Christine Blasey, at the age of 15, hadn't reported the attack on her when it happened "if it was as bad as she said".

Grassley, Hatch, and Trump might want to check this.

The Most Powerful Tool

Rep. John Lewis (D - GA) observed that the vote is the single most powerful tool we have for non-violent social change.  Quite a few states have attempted, to one degree or another, to limit the use of that tool.  For instance, since 2011, dozens of states have established, or added to, the types of IDs that authorize one's ability to vote.

Pennsylvania's voter ID law, established in 2011, allowed various forms of photo identification cards, including those held by drivers, government employees, in-state college students, and residents of elder-care facilities. Voters who did not possess those forms of identification could obtain voting-only photo IDs issued by the Pennsylvania Department of State through the PA Dept. of Transportation, AKA PennDOT.  Assuming, of course, one was able to get to a PennDOT Drivers' License exam center in order to obtain a voting-only photo ID.

A judicial order on October 2, 2012 blocked enforcement of this Pennsylvania law.  After both a trial in 2013 and a further delay of six months, Judge Bernard L. McGinley struck down Pennsylvania's voter ID law on January 17, 2014.  Judge McGiunley ruled that the law violated the constitutional rights of voters.

He noted that required alternative voter IDs were:

• available only through 71 PennDOT Drivers Licensing Centers across the state
• that five of the 71 DLCs are located in Philadelphia
• that nine counties have no DLCs at all
• that DLCs have limited hours: in nine counties (open only one day per week)
• that in 13 counties they are open only two days per week.

Judge McGinley found that, since almost  half of Pennsylvania is without a  DLC for five days a week, a significant barrier to obtaining Pennsylvania's so-called free ID existed.  McGinley's ruling, ensured that photo IDs are not required to vote in PA.

But we're not out of the woods yet, at least not as far as Delaware County and absentee ballots are concerned.

I've not been to a physician in years.  But, because of having been badly overweight and at the same time on my feet in a classroom for decades, my feet are flatter than the proverbial pancake.  I occasionally use a walker to get around.  I thought those facts would be enough to allow me to vote by absentee ballot.  Mais non, mon petit lecteur.  After hours on the phone with both the Delaware County Bureau of Elections and the Bureau of Elections of the Department of State of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,  I was left with the possibility of being denied an absentee ballot, because the application for such a ballot requires one either:

1. to be "out of town" (literally, away from one's usual surroundings, for reasons as simple as going to work) , or
2. under the care, on an ongoing basis, of a physician.

 I'm neither.

My discussions with the Commonwealth's Election Director, who was very patient and helpful,  elicited the fact that only two reasons qualify one for an absentee ballot, and that this fact in turn is chiseled in stone.  If I were willing to lie, I could fill out the application for an absentee ballot incorrectly, simply by checking the box that pertains to Reason #1 above.  But I don't want to do that.

Turns out that the restrictions, however well-meaning, on obtaining an absentee ballot in PA, date from - wait for it! - 2011.  Yet another effort to limit voting, at least for some?  Maybe we should ask Mike Turzai ...