Whose laughing now, Senora Nickless?

The firing of state elections official Melinda Nickless over offensive comments made at a pre-primary seminar was just and is exactly the kind of swift action needed to rattle the cages of complacent, ill-behaving good old boy (and girl) politicians. Nickless was the assistant director of the secretary of state's elections division. After reading the article posted by W. Gardner Selby (read the article here),I began to wonder if someone like Nickless, in such a high profile position that deals with voter registration and training could be so blatantly discriminatory, what deeply rooted racist and discriminatory practices could be found in the voting system of our fair state. I suspect many citizens, myself included, often see the voting system and process in many ways like we view going to see a doctor. We have a very high level of faith, and often, an absence of questioning the diagnosis or practice of our medical professional. Something as small as requesting a second opinion can sometimes cause a shaking in one's boots. Could it be that questioning the status quo and the authority of the establishment might be the very thing that is necessary to improve what is wrong with a forty-five minute delay in getting in for a scheduled appointment. Maybe this questioning could also prompt "elected" or "appointed" officials to fully understand that this state is no longer a community of white, Anglo citizens with visiting brown people to clean their homes, build their fences and take out their trash. Rather the state is a current population that includes millions of Hispanic voters who, when ridiculed and patronized will reflect their influence and power when they enter the voting booths. Voting booths that will be absent of the likes of Melinda Nickless.