So war and racism are preferable to pasteurized milk? Even when you don't have to drink milk at all if you don't want to? Nice one.
And there are many, many more people of every description in the U.S. today than there were before Lincoln, so of course there are more blacks, and many are on the receiving end of racism, but none are slaves.
The freedom riders may not be risking as much as the original freedom riders. But pasteurised milk causes more death and suffering than war or racism. And there are more blacks suffering the pains of racism today than there were before Lincoln.
Maybe you ought to see the big picture. The Koch-sucker you are so enamored with cares nothing for the middle class in Wisconsin. How many articles have to be written like this to show Walker's plan is no better than an illusion that people like you want to buy into.
Your suggestion has merit. However, the reality is for some, getting a State Issued Id is not as easy as it would appear. Some of the obstacles are: transportation costs to get to the DMV can be hard on a poor person's budget, handicapped people have difficulty arranging a ride, there is a cost to get a copy of your birth certificate from the county clerk (required to get a State issued card), according to Rachel Maddow, there are 48,000 people in Wisconsin alone who have no birth certificate on record because they were born at home before getting a birth certificate was required. Court costs to obtain a birth certificate are generally around $200.
This has been further complicated by the closing of numerous DMV branches and reducing the hours of others, making for longer lines. There are other issues, surrounding what constitutes a qualifying Id, for instance student ids, even from a State school don't qualify. Additionally in most cases, these laws make it nearly impossible for a "Get Out The Vote" campaigns. Some States have enacted very strict filing requirements and serious penalties for errors on the part of registerers. As a result, groups that have traditionally set up outside grocery stores and post offices have opted out.
In major metropolitan areas, for the poor and working poor using public transportation is the norm. Hence, it is very common to not have a car and no need for a driver's license and a State issued picture Id has never been something that most people felt a need to have. This is clearly a well thought out strategy to disenfranchise likely Democratic voters. It is reprehensible that any party who doesn't feel like they can win on the issues, to take this sort of action. It is downright unAmerican and anti-democracy.
Thank you for this critique. I definitely respect and appreciate that you took the time to make this very valid criticism. I think the self-named group likely considers it an homage to the courageous men and women who risked their lives and who perished fighting for the promises of the Fourteenth Amendment to be made real in the face of violent and systemic racism in the South. It is certainly true that the current challenges facing those seeking to preserve a way of life on small dairy farms and those seeking access to raw milk are not equivalent to the original Freedom Riders. Thank you for pointing out the limits of the comparison. The farmers are facing significant risks and retribution for providing milk the way people have drunk or eaten it for thousands of years, but you are right to point out that the situations are not the same, which PRWatch should have done in repeating the moniker in order to give full context to the term and due credit to its blood-stained history. The reference was not intended to give offense but I believe as part of tribute to that greatly risky and valiant struggle. The farmers are risking the loss of their freedom and their livelihood for their principles and I believe that is deeply honorable. Lisa Graves
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