ClearChannel (subsidiary of BAIN) has put up billboards in Wisc & Ohio

[ProfessionalLeftist]

African American and Latino communities. The billboards are intended to intimidate these minority voters and discourage them from voting. From "Color of Change" email today:

It’s one of the nastiest voter suppression schemes we’ve seen: this week, in Black and Latino neighborhoods in Ohio and Wisconsin, an anonymous group started running outrageous billboards which try to scare people away from voting.

Allowing an anonymous advertiser to create an atmosphere of fear around voting just as the early voting period begins is unacceptable. Clear Channel has rejected billboard ads many times in the past. Please join us in demanding that Clear Channel immediately take down these offensive and dangerous billboards.

See the alert and take action HERE:

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

[raging moderate]

1. Could we maybe turn the tables on these jokers?

The word "yankee" was originally a term of derision by the British colonial government against the largely unscissored American colonists. They were trying to demoralize the colonial rebels, but instead the term became a rallying cry and a source of pride.

I have just had a thought. Is there a way to turn this little scheme on its ear? These guys are trying to demoralize the largely Democratic voters in these districts with veiled threats of police action on the slightest excuse. Well, is there something the targets of this loathsome scheme could do, especially if they had a little help from their friends?

So far, republicons seem to be committing a lot more election fraud than Democrats. Could we duplicate these signs, with blurry faces of Republicons looking suspiciously like mug shots? And the words OBAMA/BIDEN underneath? Could we deputize a lot of these targetted voters as poll watchers? Maybe give them buttons to wear, with replicas of this sign? Maybe have them accompanied by people from other districts who will stick to them loyally? There is a rumor that the Republicons are preparing to unleash little bands of true believers. Well, two sides can play at that game, right?

When my little boy, years ago, was on a little league baseball team, one rotten parent on the other side viciously timed a loud whistle for the exact moment when members of my son's team were about to swing the bat. The first few times, our little batters involuntarily twitched and missed the ball. Then some of us parents helped them to laugh at the creep on the other side, yelling, as the kid walked up to the plate, "Oh, now you will hear that loud whistle of praise, from that secret admirer on the other side! etc." Soon the little boys were ignoring him, and he finally gave it up.


I bet other people could come up with even better ideas. I only offer these thoughts in hopes that they will stimulate thoughts in more agile minds.

[ProfessionalLeftist]

2. Shameless kick

Please spread this and sign the petition. This is blatant voter suppression.

[SickOfTheOnePct]

3. Clear Channel didn't put up the ads

An anonymous group did.

And I guess I'm missing something, as I don't see how the billboards are suppressive. Unless someone is planning to fraudulently vote, why would they be affected one way or the other?

[ProfessionalLeftist]

4. Please note: They are put up only in minority communities

Clearly, they are thus intended to intimidate these particular voters. If they were placed all around both states, in all communities, that would be different. But they were not. They were only placed in Latino and AA communities.

HERE is the letter Color of Change intends to send to Clear Channel, in which they acknowledge that CC didn't buy the messages on the boards, but that since they own the boards, they are thus the messenger, nonetheless and can and should take the messages down:

Dear Clear Channel CEOs Bob Pittman and William Eccleshare,

I am writing to demand that you take down the billboards that have cropped up in Black and Latino neighborhoods in recent weeks and that employ tactics meant to scare people away from voting. While you may not have crafted the message, your company is in fact the messenger.

These billboards, which read "Voter Fraud is a Felony," are clearly designed to intimidate voters of color and keep those communities away from the polls. That these billboards did not appear in white or suburban neighborhoods is proof of their discriminatory nature.

Allowing an anonymous advertiser to create an atmosphere of fear around voting just as the early voting period begins is unacceptable. I ask that you remove these billboards at once. I know that in the past, you have rejected billboard ads when leadership in your company deemed the content to be politically charged. This campaign of misinformation fits that criteria and is a dangerous disservice to the Black and Latino communities in which they are placed.