The word we are going to hear most frequently in the news and social media until November 8, 2022 is Midterms. In actuality 2022 is the make-break point for whether this country continues as a democracy or continues to slide into an authoritarian regime. And the Trumpublican Party has been laying the ground work for this steadily since the failed coup attempt of Jan 6, 2021.
Nineteen states with Republican majority legislatures have passed laws that restrict access to voting, reduce hours and polling places and enact discriminatory voter ID laws. And to top these off they have also turned control of elections over to partisan officials to change voting outcomes they don’t like. And the outcomes they won’t like are any that vote in candidates or laws opposed to the former guy.
In short, these legislatures have been trying to turn the clock back to the days of Jim Crow and set the stage for a one-party dictatorship.
This has all been rehashed many times in the past months. But it cannot be overstated because the problem is not just a Trumpublican one. The real roadblock to sweeping out these repressive laws and their attendant corruption is actually a couple of corrupt Democratic senators: Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema.
These two senators wear a Democrat label but act in Republican interests. Together they torpedoed the Build Back Better initiative last year with Manchin putting the final nail in the coffin.
The real mission for Chuck Schumer and the Biden Administration out the gate this year is to carve a hole in the filibuster to make way for the voting rights bill to be passed through the Senate. The Trumpublicans in the Senate will of course use the filibuster to stop this bill. It is in their interest to do so, no matter that doing so actually violates their Oaths of Office.
It would be in the national interest long term to completely dispose of the filibuster since it is a relic of a racist past. But its use by current members of the Senate signals an attempt to resurrect that racism on a national scale.
The former guy complained that expanding voting rights would set a stage where ‘Republicans could never get elected again.” Frankly, since the Republican Party has been destroyed by his influence and corruption, that would be fine. Personally, I am the farthest thing possible from being a fan of Liz Cheney. But she is the rarity of a Republican that will now go to bat for the Constitution and comply with her Oath of Office. Aside from Liz and Adam Kinzinger, the rest of the party has descended to the depths of its basest members, Lauren Boebert, Majorie Talor Greene, Louis Gohmert and other yokels who call themselves human.
Like all criminals who have a habit of accusing others of their own crimes, Trumpublicans are still screaming about a stolen election. And they are using this lie to set the stage to steal the next one for themselves.
It is our highest national priority to prevent this from happening by ensuring voting rights and encouraging everyone to use their franchise this November 8th. And the first key to seeing this through is the passage of the Freedom to Vote Act which will wipe out the state-by-state attempts to restrict voting as just one of its features.
Call your Senators. Call the White House. The pressure must be massive, consistent and relentless.
This is for all the marbles.
