The fight for real Voting Rights Reform
The Tuesday Talking Points!
Voting Rights on Deck
During President Joe Biden's first year in office, there was much talk—but little action—about passing voting rights legislation that would protect Black and minority voters from Republican state level efforts to restrict early voting (while making the process more onerous in myriad ways). No such legislation was passed because, unless and until procedural impediments like the filibuster/super majority are eliminated, there simply are not enough votes to make such a reality.
Such has not stopped civil rights groups from demanding more action from the president; today, Mr. Biden will deliver a speech in Atlanta calling upon Congress to send him legislation that he can sign to address his campaign promise. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said yesterday that the president,"will describe this as one of the rare moments in a country’s history where time stops and the essential is immediately ripped away from the trivial."
Lofty language, indeed, but the very fact that major civil rights leaders in Georgia, including Gubernatorial Candidate Stacy Abrams, will be skipping Biden's speech in Atlanta today is further proof that the base is sick and tired of talk and platitudes. Which reminds me, yet again, that Black voters and other key Democratic constituencies had better prepare to deal with all of the strictures that state level Republican legislatures passed last spring to appease former President Donald Trump and his false claims that the the election was stolen by Democrats who allowed dead people to vote once, and living people to vote twice or more, in red states that he lost (like Georgia).
Stay tuned...
Covid Conundrum
To go to school amid Covid, or not go to school amid Covid, that is the question? With a nod to the bard from Stratford, Sir William Shakespeare, school boards across the country are grappling with the wildly contagious Omicron version of the Covid-19, one that has milder symptoms but is easily transferable according to medical experts.
With the World Health Organization issuing a statement yesterday that "more than half of the people in Europe could be infected with the coronavirus in the next six to eight weeks," common sense would suggest that here in the United States, that quarantining for six to eight weeks, including home schooling, would make logical sense?
The problem is that from the beginning, common sense hasn't been all that common, with last night's College Football National Championship game (see below) between Alabama and Georgia being the latest super-spreader example where over a hundred thousand screaming fans stood in close proximity with not nann mask in sight!
Despite common sense suggesting that quarantine measures return, as I often say, the business of America is business and, accordingly, the corporate and poltical powers that be wants folks to go to work—not staying at home watching over their kids who are attending virtual classes.
Yes, I know that Biden Press Secretary Jen Psaki also said yesterday that the president is concerned about the mental health of kids who have to stay home, but let's be real, what will the mental health of these same kids be like if they wind up in ICU for a week? Or, if their parents contract the disease and die?
Yes, there are risks involved no matter how we look at it, but I continue to be flummoxed by the lack of discipline in so many of my fellow Americans who refuse to take all precautions to help flatten the Coronavirus curve once and for all...
Corona Cavalier Congressman
I can only shake my head at the news that U.S. Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.) has been fined $58,000 for refusing to wear masks on the House floor during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Clyde reminds me of the stubborn asses that I see from time to time staring at me as I grab items from CVS or a restaurant fully masked, like I'm the idiot for wearing protection. The men seem to know better than to say something to me, but one ignorant unmasked older woman, let's just call her MAGA Missy, made the mistake of asking my mother in Publix last summer why she was wearing a black KN95 mask? Momma's extremely dismissive reply, "because I'm Black," stopped MAGA Missy in her tracks as I, the bodyguard, had a huge grin concealed beneath my own black KN95 mask.
Still, it's a shame that "leaders" like Rep. Clyde are not setting a better example for their constituents; if he is gonna keep playing the fool, I hope that his pockets keep getting picked by fines!
George Will got “a Brand New Bag”
When I was growing up as an avid news reader, conservative political commentator George Will quickly became one of my favorite writers. Now, I have not always agreed with his political conclusions, but I've always enjoyed his skills with the plume and his deliberative speaking style!
Well, Mr. Will will soon become a senior contributor to cable outlet NewsNation's nightly news program and in his press statement, the former Fox News contributor and award winning journalist noted that "NewsNation meets a national need for news delivered without political agendas, clenched fists, and raised voices."
Indeed! I look forward to listening to, reading, and oft disagreeing with Mr. Will even more in the years ahead!
Georgia on my Mind
Congratulations to the University of Georgia Bulldogs on winning the 2022 National Championship with a decisive 33-18 victory over the University of Alabama Crimson Tide. I fell into a deep coma like sleep around the middle of the second quarter, only to awake and see that Georgia had earned its first championship since 1981.
Kudos to my little cousin Stephon Parker, a Florida A&M University graduate who is an assistant football coach for the Bulldogs (shown above with cigar and trophy), on this noteworthy achievement!
In a "League of her Own"
Kudos, too, to Rachel Balkovec (below), the NY Yankees hitting coach who was tapped yesterday to manage a minor league team in the Yankees system.
I can only imagine the Hell that Coach Balkovec endured to rise up the ranks in professional baseball, thus, my choosing to note her achievement in becoming the first woman in Major League Baseball history to lead a farm team!
Thank you for subscribing to the Hobbservation Point—have a wonderful Tuesday
The Dems need to get on that pony and ride with a whip like their lives depend on it, cuz they will get trampled if they don't!
Great thoughts.