NOT FORGOTTEN

In the euphoria of having won both houses of Congress back ten days ago, it's entirely possible that some folks might have forgotten all the shenanigans (and dare I say, criminal activity) that went on during the election. Case in point, right wing radio host Laura Ingraham, urging her listeners to jam a voter protection hotline, and in so doing, obstruct efforts to protect the voting rights of Americans. Luckily, there are people in Congress who have not forgotten such things.

Incoming chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee Patrick Leahy (D-VT) asked an official with the Justice Department if Ingraham's offense should be considered a violation and the official appears to agree (Think Progress has the video).

I glad that there are people like Senator Leahy in office who chose not to gloss over such offenses simply because our side was able to overcome the various voter suppression tactics employed by the right. Of course, the question has been asked; I await to see if there is follow through.

Oh, almost forgot to mention, the irritating robocalls that harassed hundreds of thousands of voters may become a thing of the past. In addition to federal legislation being considered in both chambers of Congress, the movement is underway to make it a state offense as well. For those not in the know, a quick refresher - the robocall would start by saying "I have information about (Democratic Candidate X)," then leave a pause, and follow with a hit piece on that Democratic candidate, with the disclaimer about the call being sponsored by the NRCC coming at the very end. If the voter hung up early on the call, it would automatically call back 7 or 8 times until the call ended. If you kept hanging up, you were annoyed with what you think is the campaign for the Democratic candidate. If you listened to the end of the call, you heard a hit piece on that candidate.

There is anecdotal evidence to suggest that the system may have had an effect as some people noted that they would not vote for a Dem candidate because they kept being harassed by them, which of course, they were not. This is simply more evidence that Republicans cannot win on their merits; they must resort to trickery in order to succeed. It speaks volumes abou the current state of the Republican Party.