memo to minorities and the poor -- republicans really aren't your friends

The Republican Congress voted to renew the Voting Rights Act. Hooray. But remember, the TRUE GOP attitude towards minority voters is, the fewer the better.

Remember it was the GOP in Florida that intentionally designed its program to keep (largely black) felons from voting so broadly that it kept people with names SIMILAR to felons from voting too. It was Florida GOP that set up roadblocks to do "drivers license checks" near polling places in mostly black precincts on Election Day 2000. It is the Georgia GOP trying to force voters to buy special election IDs if they don't have drivers licenses, overwhelmingly aimed at poor black voters. It was the Ohio GOP on Election Day 2004 that challenged many thousands of voters, overwhelmingly black citizens.

I could go on, but you get the drift. The GOP really only cares about voting rights for THEIR supporters. It was politically inexpedient to oppose this legislation, so they voted for it while cloaking themselves in the mantle of civil rights heroes. But if they had their way, we'd go back to literacy tests and property qualifications for the right to vote.