The following is an excerpt from OpinionJournal.com’s “Best of the Web” written by the editor, James Taranto.
News of the Oxymoronic
“Coast Guard Announces Unannounced Inspections of Cruise Ships”–headline, Associated Press, March 25
Breaking News From 1947
“Arab League Rejects Israel as Jewish Homeland”–headline, Associated Press, March 26
How Reassuring
“What Worries Obama: President Admits He Is More Scared of a Rogue Nuke Going Off in Manhattan Than Russian Attack”–headline, Daily Mail (London), March 26
Burnam Down
“State Rep. Lon Burnam filed a lawsuit Monday challenging his 111-vote primary election loss earlier this month,” reports the Fort Worth Star-Telegram:
Burnam, D-Fort Worth, said the goal of the lawsuit is to review data from the Texas House District 90 election “to determine if there were hundreds of illegally cast ballots.”
“I believe I have no choice after receiving multiple reports of an illegal computerized-signature vote-by-mail operation run to benefit my opponent,” Burnam said in a statement. “This operation appears to have clearly violated state law.”
Local businessman Ramon Romero Jr. won the race for the House seat, besting Burnam–dean of the Tarrant County delegation–earlier this month, local election records show.
Which reminded us of this August 2012 story, also from the Star-Telegram:
Here’s a statement by state Rep. Lon Burnam, D-Fort Worth, on Thursday’s Voter ID ruling.
“The court has recognized the Voter ID bill for what it was: a disgraceful attempt by Republicans in the Texas Legislature to hold onto power by suppressing minority voters. Our history of discrimination at the polls in Texas is the great shame of our state, and any politician seeking to revive it should resign his office in dishonor. If we as legislators are not here to protect the fundamental rights of our constituents, what the heck are we there for?
“This decision follows Tuesday’s court ruling that Texas’ redistricting map was purposefully discriminatory and Wednesday’s exposure of Colorado’s purge of ‘non-citizen voters’ as not yet identifying one single non-citizen. Now even the Texas delegates to the Republican National Convention are complaining that the elites of their party are retroactively changing the rules to keep any challenger to their nominee from even speaking. I call on them to join the rest of us who recognize that the heart of democracy is to convince citizens through your arguments, not by denying those who disagree with you the right to vote. “
Burnam may be a victim not just of voter fraud but of identity theft.
For more “Best of the Web” click here and look for the “Best of the Web Today” link in the middle column below “Today’s Columnists.”
