CommentsBELL VIEW-When it comes to elections, I obsess over one number: turnout. We have been told, for example, that turnout was through-the-roof for the special election in Georgia’s Sixth Congressional District, where Democrat Jon Ossoff narrowly lost to Republican Karen Handel. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution gushed: “In a district with about 526,000 registered voters in all, nearly half of them came out: unofficial turnout stood at about 49 percent in the race.”
Nearly half! Wow! You might almost think something important was happening in this country.
We know what the people who voted for Karen Handel believe. We know what they support. They got up off their couches and voted their beliefs. They believe climate change is no big deal, that it’s a scam concocted by Al Gore and George Soros to line their pockets and destroy America. They believe the Sandy Hook massacre of kindergarteners was a hoax devised by Obama to gin up support for a gun grab. They believe all Muslims want to kill you; that Obama wants to impose sharia law on America; that Black Lives Matter is “the Klan with a tan.” They believe Michelle Obama is a man. They believe Hillary Clinton murdered the U.S. ambassador in Benghazi.
This is what Karen Handel represents when she thanks Trump for her victory. This is what Republicans in Georgia’s Sixth District voted for:
They voted to cut Medicare to pay for a tax cut for the super-rich. They voted to deny poor kids food stamps if their parents are on drugs. They voted to “bomb the sh*t out of” the Middle East as we turn away the refugees we create. They voted to deport our friends and neighbors. They voted for the Coal, Oil, Pharmaceutical, and Prison Industries. They voted for white supremacy and voter suppression.
And they won. Again.
If only 5% of the nearly 290,000 registered voters who sat out the special election yesterday were normal, decent, sane people – Jon Ossoff would be heading to Congress. Instead, we have Karen Handel, who, as Georgia’s secretary of state, worked to suppress minority votes. Karen Handel, who, as an officer of a national breast cancer prevention organization, used her position to deny poor women cancer screenings. She will now take her place as part of the wall being built around America by the worst people in the world.
Which brings me to Randy Brice, who recently announced his intention to run against Paul Ryan in 2018. If you haven’t seen his campaign video – do it now. If you possess even a mild degree of sanity, it’ll give you a lift. It grabbed me by the merit badges and made me want to punch a Nazi.
It’s like Mr. Smith going to Washington with the Grateful Dead’s wall of sound; like apple pie and peach cobbler and bacon with a side of fries and a lobster roll; like the White Sox beating the Cubs in the World Series; like Christmas, Ramadan, and the 4th of July all rolled up into one four-day weekend.
Honestly, if this guy – this steel worker – can’t beat the biggest phony in America, then we really ought to hang it up for good.
(David Bell is a writer, attorney, former president of the East Hollywood Neighborhood Council and writes for CityWatch.) Prepped for CityWatch by Linda Abrams.
-cw
