Georgia abandoning Democracy

To the editor:

I have been an independent voter my entire life, and this is only the second or third letter to my local newspaper’s editor I recall ever writing. However, on this evening of the day (March 25, 2021) on which the Republican-controlled Georgia state legislature and the Republican governor of Georgia conspired to enact radical legislation greatly restricting voting rights and compromising election integrity to favor their party, I feel it imperative to publicly observe how ironic it is that the one U.S. state which bears the same name as a former Soviet state has become the first U.S. state to abandon democracy in favor of Soviet-style oneparty tyranny. “Democracy” is no longer the system of government in Georgia but rather is merely a word by which Georgian Republicans jokingly refer, with a wink, to the tyranny they have installed.

It is at least mildly surprising that, in this

100-page bill written and enacted into law in just this one day, Georgia’s legislators and governor did not also choose to replace “Georgia On My Mind” with the

Soviet or Russian national anthems as the new official state song. Putin (by another name) almost won national re-election here in the United States a few months ago; no doubt he is happy tonight with his consolation prize in, of all places, Georgia.

Georgia’s latest ranking of 34th in the nation in education (Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Jan. 21, 2020) has come home to roost. It has often and rightly been said that “those who forget history are condemned to repeat it,” and given that, effectively immediately, nonRepublicans in Georgia will be taxed without representation, nobody should be surprised if revolution is needed to restore democracy in Georgia, though we all should be hopeful it will take place peacefully. Lawrence B. Afrin

Stamford