Republican Party deceives its base
“The exchange of our sentiments is the principal factor in social intercourse, and truth must be the guiding principle herein. Without truth social intercourse and conversation become valueless. We can only know what a man thinks if he tells us his thoughts, and when he undertakes to express them he must really do so, or else there can be no society of men. Fellowship is only the second condition of society, and a liar destroys fellowship. Lying makes it impossible to derive any benefit from conversation. Liars are, therefore, held in general contempt.”
— Immanuel Kant (1724 —1804) was a German philosopher and a central Enlightenment thinker. He believed reason is the source of morality,
Donald Trump and the Republican Party continue the false tale about the January 6 assault on the Capitol, depicting it as a peaceful event to save the nation from tyranny. In truth White Supremacists and other haters have been identified and many have been indicted for breaking national laws. Several have confessed and have pled deals.
As egregious is the Trumpublican deceptiveness about their positions on voting rights and COVID-19.
In the 1787 Constitutional Convention, some delegates wanted state legislatures to have complete control over the time, places, and manner of federal elections. They worried about centralized power, an overzealous and suffocating federal government. James Madison worried that it was “impossible to foresee all the abuses that might be made of the discretionary power. Whenever the State Legislatures had a favorite measure to carry they would take care so to mould their regulations as to favor the candidates they wished to succeed.” On this Madison was prescient and Congress got the veto power. The Constitution’s Elections Clause declares legislatures would be responsible for running federal elections, but “the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations.”
This power has been used numerous times during Reconstruction and to challenge Jim Crow laws. A top priority of the Biden Administration is voter rights. Currently, the GOP has passed over 250 voter restriction laws in twenty states intended to reduce minority participation. This is not only morally wrong, but it also violates the Constitution. Democrats will use the Election Clause and other remedies to make both the 2022 and 2024 elections fair.
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 expanded the 14th and 15th amendments of the US Constitution by banning racial discrimination in voting practices. President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Act on August 6, 1965. In 2013 the Supreme Court negated a key provision of the statute by a 5-to-4 vote. Nine states were now free to change their election laws without advance federal approval. Other actions have chipped away at voters’ rights. All voters must have the right to determine who will lead their government.
As I write this the latest statistics for COVID-19 in the United States are as follows: New confirmed cases on January 10 were 1,688,808 with a seven-day average of 778,280. This was up from a December 24th daily amount of 123,343 and seven-day average of 253,296. The cumulative cases were over 62 million on January 10 up from 52 million on December 24. (Data from CDC, WHO and ECDC, covid statistics in u.s. as of january 13, 2022 — Bing.)
“According to the Texas Department of State Health Services, data from September indicated that ‘Texans not vaccinated against COVID-19 were about 20 times more likely to suffer a Covid-19-associated death and 13 times more likely to test positive than people who were fully vaccinated.’” This holds true for other reporting states.
That voting and addressing the pandemic should become politically split is an indictment of the Party of Lincoln. We must not endanger our democratic heritage. We can all be better off.