I continue to be outraged at the ways Republicans try to prevent Democrats from voting. It’s called voter suppression, and it’s normally aimed at poor people and ethnic minorities. I find it totally shameful. And un-American. I cannot possibly champion democracy while also trying to prevent people from voting. The two don’t go together.

Now, I don’t have a problem with voter IDs. Though instances of voter fraud are extremely rare, the idea is valid. But Republicans have taken voter suppression way beyond that. A wide range of tactics are being used in local and state elections to make it more difficult for poor people and minorities to vote.

Here are some of the tactics being used.

• Eliminate early voting days. Minorities use early voting far more extensively than other people.
• Reduce the number of polling places in areas with large minority communities. One Florida county, heavy with minorities, eliminated half of the poliing places.
• Redistrict to push all of a community’s minorities into a small number of districts to dilute their voting power.
• Divide minority districts so that minorities now find themselves grouped into districts where their votes will be outnumbered by the majority population.
• Limit the number of places and hours where you can get a voter ID.
• Move polling places for urban districts to suburban locations.
• Eliminate Sunday voting (a day when African Americans vote heavily).
• Eliminate weekend early voting altogether (days when working class people are more likely to be off work).
• Cut back on early morning and evening voting hours (to favor professional workers over working class workers).
• Eliminate same-day registration.
• Eliminate absentee voting.
• In Dade County, Florida, where voting lines in minority districts were extremely long, voters weren’t allowed to use restrooms.
• Purge suspected felons from voting rolls. They then show up to vote, and are told them aren’t registered. In Florida, this has happened to thousands of voters. In 2000, about 50,000 persons were told they would be dropped from the rolls unless they proved their innocence. Florida has also wrongfully purged persons for being non-citizens (including a World War 2 vet).
• The Republican legislature in Wisconsin eliminated early voting on nights and weekends.
• In some states, in order to get a voter ID, people must provide a residential address.
• In Republican dominated Arizona, voter registration cards and other materials were distributed with the correct date on the English language version, and a date two days later (after the election) on the Spanish language version.
• Place unreasonable requirements on nonprofit organizations that conduct voter registration drives. (Like the League of Women Voters.)
• Until 2008, over half of Floridians used early voting, a disproportionate number being minorities. Florida reduced early voting from 14 days to 8 days. Ohio went further, reducing early voting from 35 days to 11 days. Both states eliminated voting on the Sunday before the election; black churches have historically mobilized members to vote on that day.
• Georgia reduced early voting from 45 to 21 days. Wisconsin cut out 16 days, West Virginia 5 days.
• Require a photo ID, and that it be gotten from the DMV…and then reduce DMV hours leading up to the election.
• Put voting locations for poor people in areas where they must pay for parking.
• To cut down on young voters, who tend to vote Democratic, several states no longer allow student IDs from state universities to be used as voter ID.
• An estimated 25% of African American’s don’t have a current government-issued photo ID.
• Deny voting rights to ex-felons who complete their sentences. There are 5.3 million Americans, disproportionately minorities, who are former felons.
• Require a birth certificate as proof of citizenship, and then make it difficult to get a birth certificate. Cut the hours of agencies that give out birth certificates, and also require a fee to obtain a copy of your birth certificate.
• Disallow a birth certificate if the person spells their name differently than on the birth certificate.
• Require a photo ID to get a birth certificate…and require a birth certificate to get a photo ID.
• Wisconsin, Tennessee, and Texas closed DMV branch offices.
• In the weeks leading up to an election, cut the hours of agencies that issue photo IDs.
• Eliminating early voting increases the size of lines on election day, which makes it more difficult for working class people to take the time needed to vote.

Those are just some of the tactics Republicans are using. They DO NOT want certain people to vote. Like I said–totally shameless, and un-American.

A number of persons serving in the military wrote an open letter to FoxNews, addressed specifically to Eric Bolling and Greg Gutfield. Last week, the two pundits on “The Five” made sexist comments about Mariam Al Mansouri, a female major in the United Arab Emirates Air Force who led an attack on ISIS. Here is that letter. I highlighted a couple sections.

Dear Mr. Bolling and Mr. Gutfeld,

We are veterans of the United States armed forces, and we are writing to inform you that your remarks about United Arab Emirates Air Force Major Mariam Al Mansouri were unwarranted, offensive, and fundamentally opposed to what the military taught us to stand for.

First, foremost, and most obvious to everyone other than yourselves, your remarks were immensely inappropriate. Your co-host Kimberly Guilfoyle was so right to call attention to an inspiring story of a woman shattering glass ceilings in a society where doing so is immeasurably difficult. We never heard an answer to her question: why did you feel so compelled to “ruin her thing?”

As it turns out, women have been flying combat aircraft since before either of you were born. Over 1,000 Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs) flew during World War II. Seeing as U.S. Army Air Forces Commander “Hap” Arnold said “Now in 1944, it is on the record that women can fly as well as men,” we can probably guess he thought their parking was adequate. The WASP legacy reaches into the present day; on 9/11, then Lt. Heather “Lucky” Penney scrambled her F-16. Completely unarmed, she was ready to lay down her own life to prevent further devastating attacks on American soil.

Thus the skill of women as fighter pilots is well established. And before you jump to the standby excuse that you were “just making a joke” or “having a laugh,” let the men amongst our number preemptively respond: You are not funny. You are not clever. And you are not excused. Perhaps the phrase “boys will be boys”—inevitably uttered wherever misogyny is present—is relevant. Men would never insult and demean a fellow servicemember; boys think saying the word ‘boobs’ is funny.

The less obvious implication of your remarks, however, is that by offending an ally and cheapening her contribution, you are actively hurting the mission. We need to send a clear message that anyone, male or female, who will stand up to ISIS and get the job done is worthy of our respect and gratitude.

We issue an apology on your behalf to Major Al Mansouri knowing that anything your producers force you to say will be contrived and insincere. Major, we’re sincerely sorry for the rudeness; clearly, these boys don’t take your service seriously, but we and the rest of the American public do.

Very Respectfully,

Michael Breen, U.S. Army
Shawn VanDiver, U.S. Navy
Kristen Rouse, U.S. National Guard
Andrea Marr, U.S. Navy
Kristen Kavanaugh, U.S. Navy
Richard Wheeler, U.S. Army
Leo Cruz, U.S. Navy
Aryanna Hunter, U.S. Army
Geoff Orazem U.S. Marine Corps
Scott Cheney-Peters, U.S. Navy
Jonathan Murray, U.S. Marine Corps
Timothy Kudo, U.S. Marine Corps
Welton Chang, U.S. Army
Michael Smith, U.S. Army
Gordon Griffin, U.S. Marine Corps
Kelsey Campbell, U.S. Air Force
Matt Runyon, U.S. Army
Richard Weir, U.S. Marine Corps
Scott Holcomb, U.S. Army
Jon Gensler, U.S. Army
Erik Brine, U.S. Air Froce
Rob Miller, U.S. Marine Corps
Josh Weinberg, U.S. Army
John Wagner, U.S. Air Force
Terron Sims II, U.S. Army
Sonia Fernandez, U.S. Marine Corps
Dan Hartnett, U.S. Army
Dan Futrell, U.S. Army
John Margolick, U.S. Marine Corps
Daniel Savage, U.S. Army
Matt Pelak, U.S. Army,
LaRue Robinson, U.S. Army
Anthony Woods, U.S Army
Margot Beausey, U.S. Navy
Dustin Cathcart, U.S. Army
Kayla Williams, U.S. Army
Dan Espinal, U.S. Army
Jonathan Hopkins, U.S. Army
Tony Johnson, U.S. Navy
Andy Moore, U.S. Army
Kevin Johnson, U.S. Army
Brett Hunt, U.S. Army
Russell Galeti, U.S. Army
Gail Harris, U.S. Navy
Katelyn Geary van Dam, U.S. Marine Corps
Mick Crnkovich, U.S. Army
Jonathan Freeman, U.S. Army
Chris Finan, U.S. Air Force
Robert Mishev, U.S. Air Force
Matt Zeller, U.S. Army
William Allen, U.S. Marine Corps
Sharmistha Mohpatra, U.S. Army
Adam Tiffen, U.S. Army
Alex Cornell du Houx, U.S. Navy
Jason Cain, U.S. Army
Rob Bracknell, U.S. Marine Corps
Karen Courington, U.S. Air Force
Justin Graf, U.S. Army
Lach Litwer, U.S. Army
Andrew Borene, U.S. Marine Corps

Getting better. At 100 yards, put 30 of 30 in a six-inch circle, with my .223. Now, if I can just squeeze everything within the 4-inch circle.

Very frequently when I go to a gun range, I meet people my age who, like me, are new to shooting within the last few years. Maybe (like me) they shot guns when they were younger, but got away from it. Maybe (like me) they finally have the discretionary income to pursue this hobby.

Anyway, I enjoy getting acquainted. A lot of good people. A few worrisome types now and then, but not the rule.

I would love to see a national gun organization that focuses on gun training, safety, shooting, and general responsibility. The NRA does some good things, but I refuse to join as long as Wayne LaPierre and other extremists are in charge. Their agenda isn’t gun responsibility, but gun proliferation. They oppose every common sense idea regarding gun safety, they sow paranoia and fear, and they scare people about the government swooping in to take away their guns, even as gun laws are increasingly relaxed in state after state. And they use dues to buy off scores of Congressmen. I simply won’t support that.

I’ve taken excellent gun safety classes from NRA instructors. But I won’t join. Not with the crazies in charge.