While some courageous men and women in the Republican Party are standing against it, trying to uphold the principle of that party, too many others are transforming that party into something else. They seem no longer to want to be the party of Lincoln, Eisenhower, Reagan, the Bushes.
Well, whatever my other disagreements are with Republicans who support the rule of law, and not the rule of a single man, I will always seek to work together with them to find shared solutions where possible. Because when we have a shared belief in democracy, then anything is possible – anything.
They no longer want to be the party of Lincoln, Eisenhower, Reagan, the Bushes represents extreme generosity toward the party of Matt Gaetz, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert, and Steve Bannon. A few days later, emphasizing the right to vote currently anathema to the Republican Party, Biden applauded "the courageous officials — Democrats, Republicans — who did their duty and upheld the law by certifying the results of the 2020 presidential election." This was the response of former U.S. Representative Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii:
Hillary’s calling tens of millions of Americans deplorables was divisive & disgusting. But Biden has gone further, calling those who disagree with his actions & policies domestic enemies, traitors, and racists. Biden promised to unite us, but he is doing all he can do divide us. pic.twitter.com/1XKS9rfZQT
— Tulsi Gabbard 🌺 (@TulsiGabbard) January 13, 2022
In Gabbard's defense, the President did note "last year alone, 19 states not proposed but enacted 34 laws attacking voting rights. There were nearly 400 additional bills Republican members of state legislatures tried to pass" He did point out out "the Vice President and I have supported voting rights bills since day one of this administration. But each and every time, Senate Republicans have blocked the way. Republicans oppose even debating the issue." And he did recall "what the defeated former president said to the highest-ranking election official — a Republican — in this state? He said, quote, “I just want to find 11,780 votes.”
In 2006, the Voting Rights Act passed 390 to 33 in the House of Representatives and 98 to 0 in the Senate with votes from 16 current sitting Republicans in this United States Senate. Sixteen of them voted to extend it....
And I make it with an appeal to my Republican colleagues, to those Republicans who believe in the rule of law: Restore the bipartisan tradition of voting rights.
The people who restored it, who abided by it in the past were Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush. They all supported the Voting Rights Act.
Don’t let the Republican Party morph into something else. Restore the institution of the Senate the way it was designed to be.
The people who restored it, who abided by it in the past were Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush. They all supported the Voting Rights Act. That's hardly the stuff of hyper-partisanship, and Joe Biden didn't call these- or any Republicans- "traitors" or "racists." He did call them enemies of democracy, but only because they are.
If there is anything the President said which was inaccurate, Tulsi Gabbard should inform us. She won't, because she can't.
No comments:
Post a Comment