Peach State Pits GOP Against the Revolution
What happens in Georgia will determine whether we have gun rights, free speech, an open border, and an avalanche of radical policies.
If there’s a resolution to the presidential race by January, don’t expect the country’s anxiety level to drop. Two of the most important races in Senate history could be teed up for a runoff five days after New Year’s. What’s on the ballot in Georgia? Only the future of the Supreme Court, the Electoral College, and the sanctity of the U.S. Constitution. As far as Democrats like Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) are concerned, “[First] we take Georgia, then we change the world.”
It was a dramatic statement, but a true one if it comes to pass. “If Democrats pick up both [Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue’s] seats,” National Review’s Victor Davis Hanson warns, “first anticipate the end of the Senate filibuster. With its disappearance after 180 years will go the last check on hard-Left power. Then expect a 15-person Supreme Court. With the end of that 151-year tradition will come the birth of a new ‘living’ and fluid Constitution.” There will undoubtedly be two more states — with four more Democratic senators.
And that’s just the beginning. What happens in Georgia, he predicts, will determine whether we have gun rights, free speech, an open border, and an avalanche of radical policies. It’s no wonder that Peach State officials are being hypervigilant about any schemes the Left may have planned. New York Times columnist Tom Friedman started a firestorm in conservative circles when he told CNN anchor Chris Cuomo that he hoped “everybody moves to Georgia in the next month or two and registers to vote and votes for these two Democratic senators.”
Suddenly, members of the party faithful were calling the moving vans on Twitter. “Great news,” Andrew Yang posted. “Evelyn and I are moving to Georgia to help [the Democrats] win! This is our only chance to clear Mitch out of the way and help Joe and Kamala get things done in the next four years. More details to come but let’s go!” Gabriel Sterling, the state’s voting system manager was not amused. That’s illegal, he insisted. “In order to be able to register to vote in Georgia, you have to be a Georgia resident. That means you have to believe you are staying in Georgia.”
“Let me be clear about this: If you want to move to Georgia and be a part of the number one state in America to do business, we are happy to have you. It’s great to have you come in,” Sterling said. “But if you are here for the sole sake of politics, if you voted for Senate in one state and moved here to another state… don’t game our system.”
If you do, the state’s attorney general’s office cautions, expect to pay a steep price: 10 years in prison and a $100,000 fine. Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger was just as adamant. “Let me be clear. Those who come to Georgia with the intention of voter fraud will be prosecuted… If you illegally participate in our elections, you might be spending a lot more time in Georgia than you planned.” In other words: expect the Board of Registrations to be especially careful when they pour over new applications ahead of the December 5th deadline.
Still, the dark money will flood in, along with celebrity appearances and discredited pollsters, who will think — wrongly — that enough time has passed for the country to take them seriously again. The Left will have the media on its side, and Antifa in the streets. But if the presidential election manages to clear away some of these corrupt cobwebs, and let the people vote, one thing they may not have, Victor warns, is the people.
Originally published here.
Trump Team: Don’t Recount us out
In the only other contested election Americans have to compare this to, George W. Bush won the presidency by 537 Florida votes. So imagine everyone’s surprise when Georgia officials stumbled on five times that number of ballots in Floyd County. “The reason you do an audit is to find this kind of thing,” Gabriel Sterling told reporters after the 2,600 uncounted votes turned up. But just how many of “these kinds of things” are happening in states that we don’t know about? That’s the question Americans deserve an answer to.
Sterling, who’s part of the secretary of state’s team involved in Georgia’s recount, rushed to reassure everyone that this wasn’t an “equipment issue,” it was a “person not executing their job properly” issue. But still, local Republicans argue, the omission was “very concerning.” In an election that could come down to less than 70,000 votes across a handful of states, problems like this one are exactly what the Trump team is trying to expose and rectify.
Of course, as FRC’s Ken Blackwell — a former secretary of state himself in Ohio — pointed out, the media wants nothing more than for everyone to rush to the conclusion that Joe Biden won. They don’t want to dig deeper into the irregularities. Because even if they don’t make a difference in this outcome, they will make a difference for future elections. Look at the number of states (28) using machines and software that might be tainted. If nothing else, it’s time for state leaders to reevaluate those decisions and make changes before 2022. Locally, in certain urban areas, there’s been widespread fraud for years, and many people have just come to accept it as an unfortunate reality of Democratic cities. Republicans, including Donald Trump disagree. Now is the time to flush out this dishonesty and corruption and safeguard our future elections.
In places like Michigan, where the courts are standing in the way of audits like Georgia’s, Ken believes this is a serious enough situation for Republicans to call for special hearings. “They should convene and look at the facts. In Wayne County and Detroit, [there were] very strange activities. Transparency was nonexistent. The vote count stopped. And then you didn’t have bipartisan sets of eyes on the process. And miraculously, a substantial lead that Trump had going into the wee hours of the morning was radically reversed. If there’s substantial evidence that there was wrongdoing… [it’s time to bring it to light].” Look, Ken went on, “it does us no good to elect Republicans in state legislatures if they’re going to cower. [This is] the most consequential election in our 244-year history. Two hundred forty-four years of constitutional governance is on the line right now.” If Joe Biden has to wait for his victory lap, so be it. Our system will be better for it.
“I think it’s important [for everyone to] understand that we shouldn’t rush to this. We have over 25 days to sort this out. Not one state has certified the election yet.” All of this, Blackwell and others believe, is underscored by this very bizarre reality — which is that Republicans won more chambers of state legislatures, governorships, House seats, and possibly Senate seats, because of Donald Trump’s coattails. So how is it that Donald Trump has no coat? “It’s curiouser and curiouser,” he said.
As for Pennsylvania, where the governor and his political operatives clearly violated the Constitution to change the election law, Ken — like others — thinks the president has a case. If the justices agree with him, then what? Well, the power would shift back to the state legislature. It would be up to those representatives to choose electors who are a more accurate reflection of the vote count. If they think the governor abused his office and counted 700,000 ballots illegally, then they can send men and women to the Electoral College on December 14 who will cast Pennsylvania’s 20 votes for Donald Trump.
Remember, the whole point of having a judicial system is so that people and processes can’t be defeated by institutions like the liberal media. They should only be defeated or vindicated on the facts. The reality is, America has a month-long runway to determine whether everything is as above board as the Left keeps insisting it is. “There’s no reason to try to force this president to throw in the towel,” Ken says. Especially not when there are tens of millions of voters who are suspicious of the outcome. There’s that old saying “trust but verify.” Well, it’s time to change that to “verify, and then you can trust.” That’s the only way Joe Biden or Donald Trump will have any chance of moving the country forward.
Click here to listen to the full broadcast of Monday’s Washington Watch.
Originally published here.
2020 Thanksgiving: Stuffed Full of Lockdowns
Joe Biden hasn’t officially won the election, but his long “dark winter” may already be here. With the new spike in coronavirus cases hitting certain areas of the country, governors and state officials have rushed to force Americans back inside for the foreseeable future. A wave of new restrictions is coming down hard in places like Chicago, New York, New Jersey, and California — affecting, not just normal activities, but the holidays too.
“With the vacuum of leadership in Washington, D.C., it’s on the states’ governors to do what we can to save lives,” radical Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer (D) told MSNBC. Even Joe Biden is getting on the lockdown bandwagon (which is probably limited to five people), insisting that Americans forgo their Thanksgiving traditions and cap the feast at 10 eaters — all wearing masks.
“There should be no group more than ten people in one room at one time. I mean, inside the home,” he said. “That’s what they’re telling me. They’re telling me, making sure that that’s the case.” No word on whether “they” also told Biden who to kick to the curb if your family is larger than 10.
In Chicago, a severe new policy took effect on Monday, ordering non-essential businesses to close and others to stay home. “You must cancel the normal Thanksgiving plans,” Mayor Lori Lightfoot (D) demanded, “particularly if they include guests that do not live in your immediate household.” What about the immediate family? No turkey for you either, it sounds like!
Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito had plenty to say about these dictatorial policies last week. “We have never before seen restrictions as severe, extensive, and prolonged as those experienced for most of 2020. Think of all the live events that would otherwise be protected by the right to freedom of speech. The current crisis has served as a sort of constitutional stress test, and in doing so, it has highlighted disturbing trends that were already present before the virus struck.”
With so much at stake, including our fundamental freedoms, how should Christians respond? When Romans 13 tells believers that they’re to be subject to the governing authorities, does that mean that when states say you can’t go to church, you can’t have Thanksgiving, you can’t celebrate Christmas, that we’re obligated to abide by those restrictions? FRC’s David Closson and Joseph Backholm talked about this on Monday’s “Washington Watch.” Safety is obviously a priority, David agreed, especially when it comes to protecting the health of worshippers. But ultimately, he said, we need to remember that “Jesus is Lord of the church. We must obey God rather than man ultimately.”
The coronavirus pandemic has been used as a cover for government power grabs, which are made all the more offensive by their inequitably application as David explained. “I don’t think there’s a one-size-fits-all policy that we can apply. Each congregation, each pastor has to decide about what’s in the best interest of their church based on what’s happening in their local communities… And when these restrictions are not being applied fairly across the board, I think we have a major issue constitutionally, but even theologically as Christians.”
He pointed to some of the new orders that came out this week in New York, specifically, where worship was limited to 10 people but pet stores, hardware stores, and other businesses are allowed a lot more latitude. “And of course, I’m not upset that hardware stores are allowed to be open. I think businesses should be allowed to make their own decisions. But again, [it’s the] unfair treatment that’s concerning.” When push comes to shove, he insisted, “Christians don’t take their marching orders even from the Constitution. We take it from God’s word, where we are commanded to meet together. And I think that’s what we need to remember.”
As for me and my house, we will have Thanksgiving dinner — together — in the same house — around the same table — without a mask in sight!
Originally published here.
This is a publication of the Family Research Council. Mr. Perkins is president of FRC.
