Reverend Keith Ratliff:

Ratliff is the president of the Iowa-Nebraska NAACP.  He was also an early supporter of Bob Vander Plaats’ 2010 campaign for governor.  Ratliff basically disappeared from the campaign trail after he gave Vander Plaats his endorsement.

Anyway, Ratliff has been in the news lately.  This time he is upset with Governor Terry Branstad for rescinding a Vilsack executive order that restored voting rights for felons.  Now voting rights will only be restored if the felon serves their time and pays their fines, court costs and restitution.

Ratliff told the Des Moines Register, “Making voting contingent on such payments essentially creates a modern-day poll tax.”

No Reverend Ratliff, voting is contingent on being a citizen in good standing.  If your not some sort of hoodlum you have nothing to worry about.

Ratliff is an idiot.

Judge Ronald Longstaff:

I know a lot of you have been waiting on me to chime in on the Phyllis and Marla Stevens sentencing.  I have to admit, I got a laugh out of the defense that their lawyers used.  Next time someone doesn’t like something that I write, I’m going to blame my alter ego.

Anyway, I also got a kick out of this statement.

“Phyllis has no criminal history and, interestingly enough, her first 30 years as an employee for Aviva were unblemished,” William Kutmus, Phyllis’ lawyer, wrote in asking for leniency. “Clearly, Phyllis poses no threat to re-offending.”

SHE STOLE $6 MILLION DOLLARS

SHE AND HER PARTNER TRIED TO FLEE

Jared Loughner was crazy, but he didn’t break any laws before he went on a shooting rampage.  Should he get leniency since, interestingly enough, he hadn’t killed anyone for the first 22 years of his life?   He just worshiped a skull surrounded by dead oranges…

Judge Longstaff is an idiot because these two gay activists got a slap on the wrist (6 years in prison) for stealing $6 MILLION DOLLARS from her employer. She had been facing a maximum prison term of 48 years and fines totaling $1.75 million after pleading guilty to six counts of wire fraud, computer fraud, aggravated identity theft, conspiracy to commit money laundering, money laundering concealment and filing false tax returns.

Maybe I’m the idiot for not stealing from my employer if that’s all it’s going to cost me.  Heck, she’s going to be out in time to work on Ed Fallon’s next campaign.