Two days ago, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) sent out a tweet that quoted from an article in The American Conservative magazine, adding his own five-word introduction.
Blood-curdling as Paul’s comment was (I was going to say “thought,” but I don’t think much of that went into his tweet was), in some ways he deserves a big “thank you” for saying out loud and in clear language what has been obvious to many for a long time about Republicans -- they don't want people to vote who are “legally” (his own choice of word) eligible to do so. To today’s Republican Party, voting legally is "stealing an election." How very fascist of him. And that can’t be said enough. And to be clear: to anyone who thinks that saying “To today’s Republican Party, voting legally is ‘stealing an election’ is hyperbolic, consider that well-over half of Republicans say that they believe Joe Biden is only president because, despite winning a 100% legitimate election with zero admissible evidence to the contrary, they insist the election was “stolen.” So, there is Rand Paul saying it in his outdoor voice. How very fascist of him. And that can’t be said enough. Further, notice on the tweet above that as of two days ago, it had over 23,000 "Likes." And yes, in case you were a bit confused and wondering, the United States is still currently a democracy. By the way, in case the name is familiar, yes, this is the same Rand Paul who has voted against giving federal aid to victims of Hurricane Sandy, Maria and Harvey, but asked for federal aid when tornadoes recently devastated parts of his own state of Kentucky. As you might imagine, the public reaction to Paul’s fascist statement against "legally valid" voting got a great deal of reaction. Three of the more notable were. "Convincing potential voters to cast legal ballots is the how you win elections in a democracy." -- CNN reporter John Harwood "They really believe it's a scandal to help legal voters who might oppose them to participate in democracy," -- Georgetown University political scientist Donald Moynihan. "This is what we call— wait for it— voting," -- Georgia State Law professor Anthony Michael Kreis What’s so bizarre in what Rand Paul wrote (among many things) is that the quote he used made note that said “in a legally valid way.” And yet still said it was supposedly about “stealing” an election. Indeed, not just Rand Paul, but that’s what the author of the piece in American Conservative said – that this conservative GOP outrage (!) was over something that was “legally valid.” Wait, that’s not even phrased strongly, pointedly enough. It wasn’t about “something” – it was conservative GOP outrage over “legally valid” voting!! How oh-so un-Democratic of him. Of them. How very fascist of him. Of them. And that can’t be said enough. No perspective is needed to understand Republican efforts in Red states around the country to pass voter suppression laws. To throw out bipartisan election boards and replace them with Republicans. To refuse to have even one Republican in the United States Senate and House of Representatives support Voting Rights laws. But having Rand Paul say out loud, quoting American Conservative, that voting in a legally valid way was an effort “to steal an election” happily puts that on record the next time a fascist Republican tries to say, “Oh, my heavens, no, we’re not suppressing the vote, we’re just trying to make sure all people who vote do so legally.” No. As Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) and American Conservative make clear – to them, the voice of American conservatives, voting in a legally valid way is trying to steal an election. How very fascist of them all. And that can’t be said enough.
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AuthorRobert J. Elisberg is a political commentator, screenwriter, novelist, tech writer and also some other things that I just tend to keep forgetting. Feedspot Badge of Honor
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