Sometimes, the knowledge picked up in one field of study can be very effectively applied to another. Some of the things I’ve learned from simple housewifery carry nicely into political analysis.
If you saw the graphic “Scam Likely” and the article about Fix California, it’s a drop in the ocean. If you saw the Letter to the Editor that we received in response, you might want to pause for a moment,
When a member of my family got a text notification saying that there was an issue with their voter registration – just three days after receiving a mailer from the state, confirming their voter registration and reminding them that voting by mail was available to them – they knew right away it was nonsense. But I asked for some details before they deleted it, and it didn’t just smell bad – it truly stank.
This is also a member of my family who has only voted in a few previous elections.
So when I looked up the organization that sent that text – ‘Fix California’ what I saw was a Republican funded PAC, proud to have the name of Trump on their website. Their text campaign seemed to me to be targeting a young voter into thinking maybe they had done something wrong.
Now, let’s say this happened to a young adult that you know doesn’t have a politically conscious, family member to turn to. They’d just respond to the text and think nothing of it.
Focusing in on my long time and scientifically proven idea that sunlight is the best disinfectant, I felt the need to open the window and clean this up.
When we received correspondence from ‘Fix California’ we published that. Our belief that everyone’s voice should be heard, well, everyone means everyone.
In his retort, Nick Meade, Executive Director for Fix California, stated that “Fix California does not target currently registered voters.” Since the person who received the text is, in fact, a currently registered voter, that’s not true.
When your initial statement is easily proven to be false, that doesn’t give the rest of the information a lot of credibility.
He offered that “Los Angeles County, where Culver City resides, lost a historic lawsuit against Judicial Watch.” Judicial Watch is yet ANOTHER right wing organization dedicated to shaking belief in elections. Their lead post on their site today (August 9, 2024) has to do with a wrongful death lawsuit in regard to Ashli Babbitt, and another focuses on suing Anthony Fauci. You get the flavor. (I could toss in the “no one died on January 6” quote from yesterday, but why swat a fly with a hammer?)
Los Angeles County is the largest county in the United States, with over 10.4 million residents. It’s made up of 88 cities and unincorporated areas, and is home to more than 140 cultures and 224 languages. That voter registration should be held to a high standard goes without saying. That is will be less than perfect also a given.
I’ll stand on my facts; targeting voters between the ages of 18 and 25 to make them think there’s a problem is about trying to keep those voters away from the polls.
Since the current Republican strategy is to sow disinformation and try and get people to doubt that our elections are fair, safe and legitimate, ‘Fix California’ might be playing with a pun. Getting the fix in to push doubt requires that they get people to believe them.
Sunlight is also proven to be one of the best ways to remove stains. Maybe you’d want to experiment with that yourself.
Judith Martin-Straw
Photo credit – League of Women Voters
