BY DISENFRANCHISING BLACK VOTERS: WHAT SHOULD BE DONE TO THEM?

by C.C. Campbell-Rock

In his final House floor speech before joining President-Elect Joe Biden’s administration as Senior Advisor, New Orleans native Rep. Cedric Richmond, the lone democrat in the Louisiana Congressional Delegation, said “We told you so” about Trump’s behavior which led to his upcoming impeachment. Trump owns the historic distinction of having more impeachments than any other U.S. President.

“Some of my colleagues, some of which may be co-conspirators, let me suggest to them; stand up. Man up. Woman up. And defend this constitution against all enemies both foreign and domestic including Donald J. Trump.”

“In the first impeachment, Republicans said we didn’t need to impeach him because he learned his lesson,” he continued. “Well, we said if we didn’t remove him, he’d do it again. Simply put – we told you so. “Richmond out,” the congressman concluded.

LA CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION JOIN TRUMP TRYING TO OVERTURN ELECTION RESULTS

Louisiana’s House Republicans totally ignored Richmond’s sage advice. All four of Louisiana’s Republican House members voted against impeaching GOP President Donald Trump a second time.  Richmond voted to impose Congress’ greatest penalty on a president.

Moreover, Rep. Clay Higgins (LA-03), Rep. Mike Johnson (LA-04) and Rep. Steve Scalise (LA-01) objected to Arizona’s electoral college votes. Richmond and Rep. Garret Graves (LA-06) voted against the objection. Sen. Bill Cassidy voted against the objection to Arizona’s Electoral College votes while Sen. John Kennedy voted for the objection.

During the U.S. House vote on the objection of votes for Pennsylvania, which has a large black urban population, four congressmen voted in favor of objecting: Rep. Graves, Rep. Higgins, Rep. Johnson, and Rep. Scalise. Richmond voted against the objection to the Electoral College votes from Pennsylvania. In the U.S. Senate, both Cassidy and Kennedy voted against the objection to Pennsylvania’s Electoral College votes.

Higgins and Scalise Announcing They Would Vote Against Impeachment of Donald Trump, Sr. by KLFY Staff

Jim Crow Caucus

In voting against the Electoral College votes in Arizona and Pennsylvania, Louisiana lawmakers were in on the scheme to disfranchise black voters. These legislators are part of what some are calling the Jim Crow Caucus.

There is a mountain of evidence against Trump.  It will be presented at the second impeachment trial. Given his track record, it’s not a stretch to assume that Kennedy will vote against convicting Trump.

The Mississippi born Kennedy has backed up Trump’s lies and misdeeds throughout the  Trump Administration. During the Arizona debate, Kennedy spit out the same talking points as Ted Cruz. Cruz led the opposition and demanded a 10-day audit of the election results by a newly appointed commission to ensure “election integrity.”  They did so despite the fact that Trump’s own Department of Homeland Security called the election the most secure in history.

The demand was only a delay tactic because Vice-President Mike Pence had to ratify the Electoral College votes. And Pence announced Joe Biden as the 46th President of the United States.

“In the nine weeks since the November election, President Trump and his associates have embarked on a multi-pronged campaign attempting to overturn the clear results, including: pressuring and threatening state and local officials to reverse election results in his favor, making knowingly false statements in an attempt to undermine the integrity and legitimacy of the 2020 election and to impugn the votes of Americans in racial minority groups, and leading his supporters in a rally on the National Mall at the very moment Congress was meeting to certify the election,” the ACLU reported.

Trump did try every trick in the book to overturn election results. He told Georgia’s election officials to find 11,780 votes for him. Sen. Lindsey Graham in on the pressure campaign, called election officials in Georgia, Nevada and Arizona and asked them about ballot signatures. Georgia’s Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said it appeared that Graham was suggesting he find a method to throw out ballots that had been lawfully cast.

Cassidy has not said whether he would vote to convict Trump or not. Judging from his past conduct and alliance with Trump, Kennedy will most assuredly vote against convicting Trump.

Scalise not only voted against impeaching Trump but he is a part of the Republican conspiracy to overturn the election.

 “House Minority Leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy and Republican Whip Rep. Steve Scalise have formally pledged their support for a lawsuit seeking to have the results of the presidential elections in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan and Wisconsin declared unconstitutional and therefore effectively hand President Donald Trump a second term,” MarketWatch reported on December 11, 2020.

Scalise’s rationalization that he voted against a ‘rushed, impractical impeachment;” is part and parcel of his and fellow GOP officials efforts to let Trump walk away scot-free.  

After the storming of the Capitol by Trump supporters at Trump’s urging, National Urban League President and CEO Marc H. Morial, a former New Orleans mayor, and National Action Network President Rev. Al Sharpton called upon Pence and Cabinet officers to invoke the 25th Amendment and remove the President from office immediately.

“For the first time in U.S. history, a violent mob is attempting to overthrow the democratically elected federal government, with the encouragement of the man who lost the election,” Morial said. “The nation cannot endure another two weeks of his illegal and unhinged efforts to maintain power.”

Sharpton added, “There could be no greater proof than the horrifying chaos we are witnessing that President Trump is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office.  He has constructed an alternate reality of conspiracy theories and wishful thinking and deployed a lawless mob to enforce it for him,” Insight News reported.

WHAT SHOULD BE DONE ABOUT LOUISIANA LAWMAKERS WHO SUPPORTED TRUMP?

According to reports, Trump won Louisiana with 58% of the vote statewide, which might explain why the majority in the Louisiana Delegation have kowtowed to him. However, the gerrymandered districts drawn in Louisiana by Republican state legislators provide an unfair advantage.

 Also, many legislators are afraid to cross Trump. Recent reports are that they are afraid of Trump’s base, which is their base, too. They  are afraid of the death threats that will come if they don’t do Trump’s bidding. Others fear losing their seats to an opponent backed by Trump’s newly created PAC.

However, their job is to uphold the Constitution and protect Americans and their rights. If they are that afraid, they should resign.

What the Louisiana lawmakers on Capitol Hill should fear is the reckoning that is in store for them. Many major corporations have vowed not to donate to elected officials who voted against the Electoral College votes.

Army Lt. Gen. Russel Honoré looks over the extensive flood damage by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in the town of Empire in Plaquemines Parish, La., as he tours the area on Oct. 1, 2005. Kevork Djansezian / AP file

General Honoré To Lead Investigation

It’s doubtful that two-thirds of their respective bodies will impeach and expel them from office. But Louisiana lawmakers should be worried. Retired Lt. Gen. Russel Honoré might find in his review of Capitol Security and what Biden’s FBI might discover in terms of complicity with those who committed insurrection.

In choosing Honoré, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said, “We must subject this whole complex to scrutiny in light of what happened and the fact that the inauguration is coming. To that end, I have asked Retired Lt. Gen. Russell Honoré to lead an immediate review of security infrastructure, interagency processes and command and control,” Pelosi told reporters.

When interviewed earlier last week, before being tapped by Pelosi, Honoré said, “There was complicity,” when asked what he thought of the Insurrection.

Both Morial and Sharpton want to censure any member of Congress who has promoted fictitious narratives and baseless conspiracy theories about the election.

“Their reckless and craven exploitation of the faith and credulity of Trump’s supporters has led our nation to the brink of collapse,” Morial said. “Patriotism requires that they reverse course, apologize, and begin to make amends to the nation they have victimized.

Additionally, the Department of Justice will investigate legislators. The Justice Department has an obligation to investigate whether any of the actions taken to overthrow the election constitute criminal violations of federal civil rights laws. It is unlawful for two or more persons to conspire to injure, oppress, threaten, or intimidate any person of any state, territory or district in the free exercise or enjoyment of any right or privilege secured to him/her by the Constitution or the laws of the United States.

Such an investigation requires a special counsel to avoid conflicts of interest.

“There is little doubt that an investigation is warranted in this matter,” said Ronald Newman, national political director of the ACLU. “The right to vote is at the very core of our democracy, and it is a crime to intentionally interfere with its exercise, including the counting of votes, and President Trump took every opportunity to attack the vote. The president and his enablers must be held accountable for their efforts to subvert the November 2020 election, including for any federal crimes they may have committed.”

The American Civil Liberties Union called on acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen today to appoint a special counsel to investigate, and if warranted, prosecute President Donald Trump, his associates, and any other federal official who may have been involved in attempts to subvert the outcome of the 2020 presidential election. The ACLU is making this call in the wake of violence at the U.S. Capitol last week.

The Louisiana delegation members need not think they will not be held accountable. While they are shielding Trump, they need to be worried about their own fates.

If all else fails, Louisiana voters who don’t appreciate the fact that their representatives got in bed with a racist, misogynist, white supremacist, should vote these Trump sycophants out of office in 2022.

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