Have You Seen These Billboards?

Ordinarily when you turn on the lights the roaches in the room begin to run for the exists. That isn't the case with the folks trying to steal the 2012 presidential election. This week the roaches responsible for an outrageous voter suppression scheme in communities of color in Ohio and Wisconsin. The roaches this time around are trying to say anonymous as they have paid for devious billboards designed to scare Black and Hispanic people away from voting.



Melissa Harris-Perry and Ohio state Senator Nina Turner were on the case about this issue yesterday.

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

With less than a month to go ... an anonymous advertiser tries to create an atmosphere of fear around voting just as the early voting period begins in Ohio and Wisconsin. I encourage all 'villagers' to sign an online petition demanding that demanding that Clear Channel immediately take down these offensive and dangerous billboards:

http://act.colorofchange.org/sign/billboards.

These billboards are clearly designed to intimidate voters, and they're part of a coordinated right-wing attack on the voting rights of people of color. The billboards are hosted by Clear Channel, a media conglomerate owned by Bain Capital — the same company that Mitt Romney co-founded. Clear Channel has tried to avoid any responsibility for the ads, saying that the group who paid for them is responsible for the content. But Clear Channel has rejected billboard ads at least three times in the past.

The myth of widespread "voter fraud" has been used to justify voter suppression efforts again and again. As a result, we've seen new restrictions on voting and voter registration, including discriminatory voter ID laws and voter roll purges. The fact is that voter fraud rarely occurs. In fact, voter fraud happens as infrequently as death by lightning.

Clear Channel syndicates some of our country’s most conservative commentators like Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh, and now it is allowing the myth of voter fraud to intimidate Black and Latino voters. Please join us in demanding that Clear Channel immediately remove the billboards, it only takes a moment.

Black President, Double Standard: Why White Liberals Are Abandoning Obama

by Melissa Harris-Perry (The Nation)

Electoral racism in its most naked, egregious and aggressive form is the unwillingness of white Americans to vote for a Black candidate regardless of the candidate’s qualifications, ideology or party. This form of racism was a standard feature of American politics for much of the twentieth century. So far, Barack Obama has been involved in two elections that suggest that such racism is no longer operative. His re-election bid, however, may indicate that a more insidious form of racism has come to replace it.

Read the full article.

Voter Suppression Strategy by Republican Party in Nebraska and Pennsylvania

Soulclap to Mirror on America for pointing us to this interview with Melissa Harris-Perry, professor of political science at Tulane University. Dr. Harris-Perry talks with Rachel Maddow about a national effort by state Republican leaders to reconfigure voting rules, independent of principle and to bias the electoral system against President Obama's re-election.

There is some detailed information about how these voter suppression efforts are taking place in Nebraska and Pennsylvania.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Are you hearing about voter suppression in your state?