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It
is now clear; it is no longer hidden. The
Republican Party has announced itself to be the political
party-for-dictatorship.
How
do we know? In 43 states, Republicans in state legislatures are
pushing initiatives in order to make it more
- rather than less - difficult for citizens to vote. Legislation
includes cutting the number of days for early voting; the number of
drop-boxes for voters; and the amazing component of Georgia
legislation makes it illegal for third parties to give food and water
to voters on election lines! Added to this, of course, is a power
grab in many pieces of the legislation to put the decisions about the
validity of the elections into the hands of the legislature, ensuring
that partisan corruption is almost certain to emerge.
What
is this all about? Here is where the ‘comedy’ enters the
picture. The Republicans claim that they are doing this to ensure the
validity of the election process after the alleged problems of the
2020 election. But, wait a minute: there were only problems that were
caused by Trump, et.al., making baseless allegations regarding the
November 2020 election. As you know, court after court dismissed the
frivolous allegations. We now have lawsuits against some of those
Trump allies for defamation because of the extent of their alleged
misrepresentations.
To
put it another way, the Republicans are arguing the following: we
sold the voters a bill of goods about the election allegedly being
stolen; once our base was convinced, they lost faith in the electoral
process; now we must prove to our base that the electoral process is
secure, and we do that by ensuring that Democrats never win another
national (or state) election!
The
Republican Party, in pushing through voter suppression legislation,
is saying to the public that if Republicans do not win, then that
means that an election has been tainted. If Republicans win, then an
election is legitimate. The name for this is “dictatorship”,
and everyone must be clear about this.
The
evolution of the Republican Party from being a hard, right-wing party
to becoming a party-for-dictatorship changes everything. It means
that they need to be electorally crushed in the midterm elections,
given their approach towards elections and democracy. It also must
mean that bipartisanship in Congress and in our state legislatures
must be based upon the expansion of democracy rather than its
contraction.
Trump
opened the floodgates for authoritarianism. And now the toxic waste
is flowing through our states. Only through the organized actions of
those who favor democracy; only through a mass voting rights
movement, can this situation be stopped.
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