The GOP Is Looking More And More Like An Anti-Democracy Party-- Conservatives, Though Have Always Opposed Voting

McConnell may look like a turtle but he's a lot smarter than one-- albeit, smart in the service of Evil. He realizes that reform is his-- and his party's-- implacable enemy. He is very aware, painfully so, that when more people vote, more Republicans lose. H.R. 1, the For the People Act, is the pro-democracy legislation currently being debated in the House Judiciary Committee. Many Republicans are panic-stricken over it. The very first sentence, introducing the proposed package of laws, strikes fear into their... hearts: "A bill to expand Americans’ access to the ballot box, reduce the influence of big money in politics, and strengthen ethics rules for public servants." Expanding access to the ballot box is the polar opposite of GOP policy for the last half century. Voting rights expert Ari Berman was on the case for Mother Jones Tuesday and again on Wednesday.

Tuesday, Berman wrote that "while voting rights lawyers are testifying in favor of the bill, Republicans on the Judiciary Committee who oppose the legislation have recruited two of the biggest vote suppressors in their party to testify against it: Hans von Spakovsky of the Heritage Foundation and J. Christian Adams of the Public Interest Legal Foundation." Both were members of Trump's discredited and now-abandoned election integrity commission, and both have been part of the GOP voter suppression movement for over a decade.

Yesterday, McConnell was on the House floor trying to discredit the bill, particularly the part that would make Election Day a national holiday the way it is in democracies that want to encourage voting, calling it a Democratic Party "power grab." This is turtle-talk: "Just what America needs, another paid holiday and a bunch of government workers being paid to go out and work for I assume our folks-- our colleagues on the other side, on their campaigns. This is the Democrat plan to restore democracy? A brand-new week of paid vacation for every federal employee who would like to hover around while you cast your ballot?" What a clown-- an evil clown.

Ted Lieu is a very active member on the Judiciary Committee-- and extremely serious about protecting the right to vote. "The statement by Sen McConnell," he told us today, "is a surprisingly frank admission that the overwhelming majority of the American people support Democrats. In a democracy, any party that fears democracy will eventually shrink so much that it will drown in a bathtub. The right to vote is a constitutional right. The Republicans can't stop it, and are doomed as a party unless they expand their narrow base."

One of the most extreme right members of the House GOP, Jim Jordan (OH), serves on the House Judiciary Committee, along with other anti-democracy fanatics like Louie Gohmert (R-TX), Debbie Lesko (R-AZ), Ken Buck (R-CO), John Ratcliffe (R-TX). Matt Gaetz (R-FL), Mike Johnson (R-LA), Andy Biggs (R-AZ) and 4 crazy new members: Guy Reschenthaler (R-PA), Ben Cline (R-VA), Kelly Armstrong (R-ND) and Greg Steube (R-FL). Jordan had a meltdown on the House floor, outraged that Democrats want to make Election Day a federal holiday-- something 65% of Americans support.

In your face, McConnell