All the news, views, and filtered excellence fit to consume during your morning grumpy.
1. The bottom 50% of American households hold just 1.1 percent of the nation’s wealth. The richest 1%, meanwhile, hold 34.5 percent of the wealth. The top 10 % share of wealth has risen over the last two decades, the report found, but it has fallen for households in every group below that.
2. Following up on the fine work done by the fine people at Mother Jones, The Daily Beast investigates the size and scope of voter fraud in federal elections.
Voter fraud—the foundational premise for controversial new voter-ID laws—is far more rare in the U.S. than ID proponents would have us believe.
A New York Times investigation found that between 2002 and 2005 only 96 people were indicted for federal election-related crimes, and 70 of them were convicted. Of those, 41 were campaign employees and government officials, and just five were voters who cast multiple ballots. Yet impersonation is the only type of election crime that strict new voter-identification laws can actually prevent.
Of course, it’s not about preventing fraud, it’s about keeping Democratic Party constituencies away from the ballot box. Isn’t it interesting that most Republicans fight tooth and nail to maintain anonymity for the billionaires who will spend millions of dollars to influence elections, but want to institute modern day poll taxes and identification requirements for you to vote once? A thinking man might conclude this is no coincidence. GOP 2012!
3. Bill Moyers gives our politicians the stern talking-to that they so desperately need. Share this. Everywhere.
4. Charlie Brooker of BBC Four’s Newswipe details how editing defines reality on “reality” television…emotionally manipulative, uncivilized bullshit that it is.
Fact Of The Day: When Thomas Jefferson dubbed the term ‘separation of church and state’ he was echoing the founder of the American Baptist Church, Roger Williams, who also supported it.
Quote Of The Day: “If you saw two guys named Hambone and Flippy, which one would you think liked dolphins most? I’d say Flippy, wouldn’t you? You’d be wrong though. It’s Hambone.” Jack Handy
Video Of The Day: Stop Motion Lego version of “The Wire”
Song Of The Day: “Everybody Needs Somebody To Love” – Solomon Burke
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