So here’s what happens when Republicans start turning voter suppression into a competition: In Ohio, it’s gotten so bad that a state representative is leading an effort to add a Voter Bill of Rights to the state Constitution to prevent any more efforts to muck around with the ability to vote. Ohio state Rep. Alicia Reece had been told by several of her older family members that there was no way the Supreme Court would ever rescind the federal Voting Rights Act — and then last year, the bastards went and did it, because of how there’s no more discrimination anymore. Just efforts to restrict ways of voting that a lot of minorities use to vote, like early voting, weekend voting, and same-day registration. And hey, if those changes happen to impact Democrats than Republicans, that’s just too bad, as long as no one’s foolish enough to come right out and announce that’s the laws’ intent.
Somewhere along the way, it appears Republicans realized something that didn’t bode well for their future prospects: they have nothing of value to offer. They woke up and saw that, given their anti-everything and everyone (except the 1%) policies, there was little reason to believe they could win elections. Rather than figure out how to appeal to more voters (which would have been WAY too much work), Republicans came up with a brilliant (at least to their way of thinking) idea: Why not make it harder for minorities and the poor to vote? They don’t vote the “right” way (i.e.- Republican) anyway, so why should their votes count?
By camouflaging their efforts as “preventing voter fraud,” they’ve passed laws in red states they’ve present as “protecting the integrity of the electoral process.” By preventing minorities, the poor, the elderly, and other groups who tend not to vote reliably Republican from voting, the GOP is tilting the table in their direction. When you can keep those who won’t vote for you from the casting a ballot, your chances of victory increase exponentially. Whether it’s Texas or Wisconsin, whose Voter ID laws were just struck down, or Ohio, where Republicans have worked overtime making it more difficult to vote, or in numerous other states, our “one person, one vote” system has seldom been more threatened.
Most states allow for early voting, the idea being to create as many opportunities as possible for voters to cast their ballots. It stands to reason that, in a country where a 60% turnout in a Presidential election is considered good, making the process as easy as possible only supports democracy. Except that Republicans aren’t interested in promoting democracy; they’re interested in political power. If the only way they can achieve power is by cheating and disenfranchising those who can’t be trusted to vote the “right” way, then that’s what they’ll do.
If you can’t beat ‘em, cheat ‘em.
[dih-mok-ruh-see]
government by the people; a form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them or by their elected agents under a free electoral system.
a state having such a form of government: The United States and Canada are democracies.
a state of society characterized by formal equality of rights and privileges.
Any reasonably aware person looking at that definition would most likely come away with the belief that America is no longer a true democracy. “One person, one vote” may at one time have been the bedrock of the American experiment, but when one party works overtime to pass laws designed to keep certain classes of people from exercising their franchise, what we have is no longer democracy. It’s an oligarchy/plutocracy. When corporations are considered people and money is equated with free speech, one can no longer argue that the voice of the people is heard via the ballot box.
It’s our own damned fault, of course. If the American Sheeple we’re so damned stupid, inattentive, and malleable, this country might stand a chance of realizing its potential. As things currently stand, America is no longer a democracy. It’s become an idiocracy/theocracy sustained by a drumbeat of propaganda, fear-mongering, and Conservative free speech money. The “good” news is that it’s the best government money can buy. When the cable news channel with the biggest audience (Fox News Channel) is the de facto propaganda arm of the GOP…well, is it any wonder why I fear for our future?
