When Barack Obama won the White House in 2008 and Democrats took control of both houses of Congress, I figured Republicans would be humbled and accept the will of the people.
Boy was I wrong. Republicans became energized. They weren’t the slightest bit interested in the will of the people — all they cared about was making Obama a one-term president and taking back Congress, by hook or by crook. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) even declared the GOP’s official mission to be limiting Obama to one term. As far as he was concerned, that was his first order of business. How’s that for governing?
But what Republicans realize is that running on a do-nothing platform might not win them enough votes in 2012 — at least not if every eligible voter gets to vote. Remember — Barack Obama won by a healthy margin in 2008, and if all those people (and then some) show up to vote again in 2012, he’ll probably get reelected. So what Republicans also realize is that because they probably won’t win a fair election, they’ll have to cheat.
And the cheating has already begun. Already in many Republican-controlled states, legislatures are passing draconian voter ID laws that will make it difficult to vote for minorities, students, and the elderly. Seniors without picture IDs who’ve voted all their lives might be disenfranchised because they no longer have drivers licenses. Republicans claim this layer of security is designed to prevent voter fraud, but there’s never been voter fraud on a level to justify such measures. What we’re seeing are the modern-day version of Jim Crow laws.
The tea party Republicans may or may not realize that this is what the real tea party was all about — taxation without representation — although if they do, they probably don’t care. After all, someone who is denied their legitimate right to vote is still required to pay taxes, and by being disenfranchised, they will be taxed while denied a voice in their representation.
Voting is a sacred right. That Republicans would deny the right to honest Americans is a travesty of the first order — about as un-American as it gets.
Liberal Buzz 