We're allowed our own opinions in this country, right? Not according to the jackass who harassed this voter:
A California voter has told RAW STORY that she was verbally intimidated and physically assaulted by a poll inspector after asking that pro-life/anti-abortion stickers outside a polling place be removed or covered.
"There were two cars parked in the driveway adjacent to the poll entrance which had anti-choice bumper stickers on the back windshield. When they opened the poll door, I told them that it was a violation of Election Laws to have electioneering literature within 100 feet of the polling place," said Josan Feathers, a civil engineer and elected member of the San Diego County Democratic Central Committee. The polling place, which has a La Mesa mailing address, is located in the unincorporated area of San Diego's East County, a region dominated by conservative Christians.
Photos indicate the presence of stickers reading "Pro choice, that's a lie, babies don't choose to die" and "Every 4th baby dies from choice" on a vehicle clearly parked beside the poll entrance. The California ballot included an initiative that would have required parental consent for minors to obtain an abortion.
Andrew L. Krotoski, D.D.S., owner of the property and a poll inspector for the County of San Diego, moved one vehicle but declined to move the other, which had a flat tire. After Feathers suggested that he cover the controversial stickers, she recalled, "He went ballistic. He got in my face and started calling me a baby killer and said if I wanted the bumper stickers covered to cover them myself."
Asked whether he called Feathers a baby killer, Krotoski replied, "Of course. She is a baby killer. That's my first amendment right." He maintained that Feathers should not have asked him to move his car, adding that when he refused to cover the stickers on the car with the flat tire, "She just started screaming."
According to Feathers, Krotoski asked for her name and occupation, then called her stupid. "I never screamed. I then told him this was an inappropriate conversation to have at the polling place. He told me to go to hell," she told RAW STORY. "I replied that he was obviously not a religious man, since he told me to go to hell. He retorted that I should burn in hell and to get off his property immediately. He said I was trespassing. At that point he shoved me, pushing me backwards." After she insisted that she had a right to vote in the polling place, Krotoski told her she could not enter his home and that "he would let me vote outside," she added.
Krotoski denies pushing or touching Feathers. He also denies that he tried to prevent her from entering the polling place. "I did not spend eight years at the University of California in the medical/dental/biological field to be an idiot at age 74," said Krotoski, a retired dentist.
But Robert Ito, a voter who witnessed the "loud verbal exchange," confirmed that Krotoski initially refused to allow Feathers to vote. "He told her to leave. That's what I felt was appalling. In fact, he pointed at her and said 'You can't come into my house.' Then he pointed to people behind her and said 'You people can come in -- and she can't.'" Krotoski "got in her face" and told Feathers "you can go to hell," recalled Ito, a Republican who owns a real estate development company.
Well, Mr. Krotoski, it appears that a college degree does not equal "smart," after all. You are obviously an idiot and a liar. A pathetic liar, at that. It also doesn't help that you were outed by a fellow Republican who also found you appalling.
It's times like this that I wonder if we all aren't better off by splitting this country in half, leaving behind 25 liberal states and 25 conservative states. They'd all still have to answer to a central government, but at the very least, people would be able to live with others sharing the same views. We wouldn't be at each others' throats constantly.
It's also times like this that I'm a glad that I choose my battles wisely. Our polling place was in the small office of a trailer park, and the place was surrounded with Republican candidates and literature. All illegal, yes, but as Bill Maher pointed out last night, Indiana is a, heh, very conservative Republican state. It was bad enough that I had to deal with an idiot who kept confusing me with my mother-in-law, even though my name was written underneath my mother-in-law's name. I had to actually point it out to this woman, who still managed to ignore me or forget, as she asked me my name again while I was voting. If that had been my first voting experience, duty or not, I doubt I would have made any return visits in years to come. Not in this state.
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