The GOP loves to champion President Abraham Lincoln as the father of the Republican Party. But if Republicans insist on referencing our 16th president, they would probably benefit from a history lesson or two.
Lincoln famously said, “The ballot is stronger than the bullet.” It was a common theme that he emphasized throughout his presidency. As bullets were fired throughout the country, it was ultimately ballots that would bring the nation a lasting peace.
Now, 165 years later, Lincoln’s Grand Old Party finds itself holding hearings that lay the groundwork to suppress the very votes he fought a war for.
Last Tuesday, House Republicans handed the mic to two top anti-voting legal and advocacy groups to spread misinformation and conspiracy theories. Among the ideas discussed? Weakening federal voting law to make it easier for election officials to purge the rolls.
That idea was also pushed this week by Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, who wrote a letter urging Republicans in Congress to remove the “federal barrier” of the National Voter Registration Act so that election officials face fewer obstacles to canceling voter registrations.
Yes, this is the same Brad Raffensperger who many in the legacy media were eager to call a hero for refusing to commit crimes for Donald Trump in the aftermath of the 2020 election. While I pointed out that he was just another Republican vote suppressor, legacy outlets insisted he was different from the anti-voting MAGA extremists.
And this isn’t just talk...