Republicans from Trump to Schmitt Attack Democracy
For years, the GOP has been playing the same old con game with the American people. In 2017 their discredited “trickle-down” tax cut just got rich people richer while it blew up the deficit. They tout “family values” to deny freedom to Americans based on gender, race, sexual preference or identity, yet too often are caught violating their own rules. The same people that advocate for gun ownership to protect against government tyranny defend shooting Jacob Blake in the back because he “might” have had a knife. Led by Donald Trump, they say that armed anti-lockdown protestors are just exercising freedom of speech but Black Lives Matters protestors are lawbreakers. They say they’re pro-life, but the mother they forced to give birth cannot afford healthcare for herself or her newborn or is not able to get contraceptives through her health insurance. To the Republican right, 12-year-old Tamir Rice’s toy gun was a threat to police officers, but Kyle Rittenhouse’s assault rifle got him an attaboy and a water bottle. These dishonest themes, promoted from the top of the GOP’s ticket, are being played out in elections across America.
Those double standards are standard GOP practice right here in Orange County, too. Look at our own Assemblyman, Colin Schmitt, who has taken his cues from Trump since he entered the Assembly. He has voted against every bill that promotes police accountability. The wrongheadedness of those votes was driven home by the death of Daniel Prude, an unarmed black man killed for having a mental health crisis in Rochester.
And while he professes to be a staunch defender of American values, Schmitt stands alone as the leading New York legislator in terms of voter suppression. Schmitt was the only member of the Assembly to vote against a bill (A.10807) which allows voters to apply for an absentee ballot more than a month before election day. Schmitt, a member of the National Guard (as he is quick to point out), even voted against an earlier bill (A.779) that ensures the timely transmission of ballots to military voters stationed overseas. Of course, since Schmitt has never served overseas in uniform, he probably doesn’t recognize how long the mail takes, so he just follows the Trump playbook.
Meanwhile, Schmitt’s leader continues to show Republican hypocrisy on a scale that would make Richard Nixon blush. Trump claims to be the “law and order” candidate while he pardons and commutes the sentences of his convicted political allies, like Roger Stone. He has even gotten the Justice Department to act as his personal attorney in a rape-related civil suit – at taxpayer expense!
And Schmitt’s not alone, even in Orange County, where 30-year Republican politician, Chair of the Orange County Legislature and State Senate candidate, Steven Brescia, was caught accepting illegal campaign contributions from a local business. While Brescia claimed accepting a donation 50% too large was an oversight, it strains credibility for a veteran politician not to know what the corporate contribution limit is.
So, if a Democrat is suspected of any wrongdoing we hear, “Lock her up!” When a Republican violates the law they say it is “just a mistake.”
This year, we Democrats say, “Vote them Out!”