A high school civics teacher in the state of Florida is facing serious consequences for, get this, teaching students approaching voting age how to properly register to vote. In an election. In a democracy. Imagine the chaos if she’s not stopped!
The fact that Jill Cicciarelli is subject even theoretically to civil penalties is mind-boggling. What in the name of god do you teach in civics if you don’t teach kids that they have the right to vote and that they ought to exercise it? How else are they going to figure out that their governor is a snakeheaded Medicare scam artist and that their state legislature is an embarrassment to civic life all the way back to Hammurabi?
The fact that Rick Scott — AKA the snakeheaded Medicare scam artist in the article above — is in the Florida governor’s mansion instead of a jail cell, after his company pled guilty to ripping off the government for hundreds of millions of dollars, is proof positive that civics needs all the fucking help it can get. But then again that’s exactly what the Florida law is intended to do: prevent people likely to vote against the Rick Scott’s of the nation from ever casting a ballot.
Just when DID sanity go out of fashion? Surely its time for a retro resurgence
Conservative voter repression is perfectly sane, if the goal is to hamper likely democratic voters. :)
Wow, someone ought to visit my old high school… it was required of us to register to vote in order to pass our American History class.
And this person is just teaching how to register to vote?
… well, shit.
I’m still stunned that more of these voter repression measures aren’t being thrown out by the courts.
Isn’t this the point at which we’re supposed to dig out the pitchforks and torches and start taking the powers that be to task? By dragging them kicking and screaming into the village square and tossing them straight into a roaring bonfire?
That is seriously fucked up.
Actually, go see Rachael Maddow. She had a segment on that, and a letter written to the public by the Registrar who reported the teacher. That Registrar noted that she was appalled by the fact that the law required her to report this individual, and it was the first time she was actually sick to her stomach upon doing it.
Her public letter urged the legislature to make changes to it, noting that the law restricts access to voting and registration to vote and how this is a bad thing.
Maddow linked to this new item:
http://www.news-journalonline.com/news/local/southeast-volusia/2011/10/23/new-florida-election-law-stirs-up-controversy.html
Dang it, that was supposed to be “newS item…” with an “s”. Not a new one.