Pennsylvania GOP's Plan to Shut Out Obama in 2012

Image from Mother Jones

Here's an ethical question for you. Suppose you're running for office (of anything, really, student council, HOA president, whatever). And suppose that before you even run, you find a sneaky way to assure your win--or at least weight it heavily to your side--no matter how the people vote. It's perfectly legal, but would put a win in your column by thwarting the will of the voters. How would that sit with you?

Well, that is what the Pennsylvania GOP seems to be doing. By changing the rules of how their electoral votes are apportioned (after having gerrymandered new districts), they could effect the way the vote goes down, regardless of the actual voting totals for the state. As Rachel Maddow said in Wednesday's episode of her show, the GOP is putting their thumb on the scale.
[Excerpt]

The GOP's Genius Plan to Beat Obama in 2012

Republican state legislators in Pennsylvania are pushing a scheme that, if GOPers in other states follow their lead, could cause President Barack Obama to lose the 2012 election—not because of the vote count, but because of new rules. That's not all: There's no legal way for Democrats to stop them. . .

Read more at: Mother Jones

Thanks to Phyllis for the link.

Comcast Plays Dirty at Net Neutrality Hearing

Photo from source, Boston Daily Blog

Net neutrality as an issue, if you're not aware, is an effort to prevent big telecom companies from dividing the internet into tiers. What would a tiered internet mean? It means that if you pay more, you get priority "first class" internet, and if you don't, you fly coach. Or something. Anyway, I'm pretty sure that whatever these companies do, it's probably not in the interest of the little guy. I'd say that's a pretty safe bet.

So is it really surprising that Comcast--one of the biggest of the big--stuffed a Congressional hearing on the matter with paid seat fillers, in order to prevent interested parties from getting a seat?

[Excerpt]

Reason 6,571 Why We Dislike Comcast

. . .Comcast spokeswoman Jennifer Khoury said that the company paid some people to arrive early and hold places in the queue for local Comcast employees who wanted to attend the hearing.

Some of those placeholders, however, did more than wait in line: They filled many of the seats at the meeting, according to eyewitnesses. As a result, scores of Comcast critics and other members of the public were denied entry because the room filled up well before the beginning of the hearing. . .

Read more at: Boston Daily Blog

And another take here: Beta News