If you have any doubt that our democracy is on its deathbed, then you need to read the editorial in the January 14, 2021 Los Angeles Times. Here is the first sentence: "It's coming down to the wire for democracy in the United States." I have to ask - is the left actually frightened by all their gloom and doom prophecies? Or is that simply their grandiloquent manner of persuasion? As I recall, the Earth will be ending in 12 (now 9 or 10) years. We are all going to die of AIDS. If we survive that, we are going to die from second-hand smoke. I cannot recall all the other horrors that await us, if we fail to adhere to leftist ideology.
The point, of course, is that January 6 proved the need for a national take-over of elections; and without that, our democracy is doomed. President Biden is urging passage of the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. These laws are reformulations of H.R.1, Biden's original plan to have the federal government take over elections nationwide. But that failed, so this is now the end of democracy 2.0.
The other point is that the Democrats must be able to maintain control not only over all elections, but also control over government. Permanently. Because the Republicans cannot be trusted with our democracy. If I recall, however, then Vice President Pence, a Republican, ignored - rightfully - the entreaties of Trump to overturn the vote of the Electoral College. As I recall, Republican governors consistently disputed Trump's allegations of voter fraud. And, if I recall, quite a few Republican judges denied the legal claims brought by the Trump team. But those Republicans just cannot be trusted.
So, the devil, I mean the President, went down to Georgia to give a speech, telling us just how dire the situation is. If the Republicans do not pass the President's elections legislation, then they not only oppose democracy, they are downright un-American. As Biden told the Republicans in Congress: "Do you want to be on the side of Dr. King or George Wallace? Do you want to be on the side of John Lewis or Bull Connor? Do you want to be on the side of Abraham Lincoln or Jefferson Davis?" Jefferson Davis? Oh my. If Republicans disagree with Biden that means they seek a return to the Confederacy? To slavery? No wonder why Hillary called us a bunch of "deplorables."
That was not all that Biden threw at us. He continued to lie about the "restrictive" new voting laws in Georgia and other states. It does not matter how often fact-checkers (including the Washington Post's well respected fact-checker) tell him he is wrong. As Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said in rebuttal, Biden's speech was "All to demagogue voting laws that are more expansive than what Democrats have in his own home state (of Delaware)."
And just imagine, those Republicans don't even want voters standing in line waiting to vote to have a bottle of water. Does anybody buy that nonsense. Bring as many water bottles for yourself as you like. If necessary, ask poll workers for some water. But the dispensing of water by third parties might very well constitute electioneering, which likely all states prohibit.
Actually, we Republicans should be thrilled with Biden's speech. It was so antagonistic, so divisive, that even Biden's supporters are complaining. His speech has undoubtedly done more to assist with a Republican takeover in the House and Senate come November than anything any Republican might say.
Allow me to end with a few lines at the end of the Los Angeles Times editorial, mentioned at the beginning of this post. The editorial quotes a Wendy Weiser of the Brennan Center for Justice: "This is one of those moments that will be remembered in history books. Did we save democracy or let it go down the tubes?" And the paper's editorial finishes with this: "Biden and Schumer have vowed to keep fighting to protect voting rights. They must do so as long as there's a chance to save our democracy." How could I not agree? Their hyperbole, hypocrisy and outright lies will, in fact, help save our democracy - by helping to insure a Republican victory in November.
