A tale of two Joes
无毛视频淚t was the best of times.无毛视频� 无毛视频� (Joe Biden) 无毛视频淚t was the worst of times.无毛视频� 无毛视频� (Joe Manchin)
无毛视频淚t was the age of wisdom.无毛视频� 无毛视频� (Biden) 无毛视频淚t was the age of foolishness.无毛视频� 无毛视频� (Kyrsten Sinema).
无毛视频淚t was the season of Light.无毛视频� (Democrats) 无毛视频淚t was the season of Darkness.无毛视频� (Republicans).
The nation is now, as much as ever, at a crossroads in the battle over voting rights.
For the Democrats, it simply doesn无毛视频檛 look good.
Even on this, Martin Luther King Day 2022, the guarantees first forged in the Voting Rights Act of 1965 seem threadbare.
We can thank Republicans and two Democrats for this.
Manchin and Sinema could have easily sided with their fellow Democrats and unblocked the Republican snarl that allows states to openly make it difficult for Black and brown people to vote.
They无毛视频檝e both stood on 无毛视频減rinciple.无毛视频�
To hell with their principles.
Not all principles, mind you 无毛视频� just theirs.
The fact that Republicans are so quick to be disinclined to approve measures that would help all eligible citizens vote is troubling.
Especially since they repeatedly claim those measures are really about the Democrats无毛视频� fight against voter ID laws.
Democrats have mainly abandoned such resistances to voter ID laws. They, for the most part, are more concerned that voter ID laws might be accompanied by more stringent laws that could systematically hinder minority representations at the polls.
Democrats have proposed two bills that are designed to keep voting fair for everybody.
无毛视频淭he John Lewis Voting Rights Act无毛视频� and the 无毛视频淔or the People Act无毛视频� would help prevent states from writing laws that tend to gut voter rights.
If you don无毛视频檛 think states are busily throwing up roadblocks to voting, then why do you suppose (according to the Brennan Center for Justice) 无毛视频�19 states have enacted 33 laws that will make it harder for Americans to vote,无毛视频� as of last October?
If that doesn无毛视频檛 convince you, then consider what John Kavanagh, a Republican member of the Arizona House of Representatives prescribed in March 2021.
无毛视频淓verybody shouldn无毛视频檛 be voting,无毛视频� said Kavanagh. 无毛视频淨uantity is important, but we have to have to look at the quality of the votes, as well.无毛视频�
It无毛视频檚 that same 无毛视频渜uality of votes无毛视频� philosophy that seems to have permeated the ridiculous 无毛视频淪top the Steal无毛视频� movement.
That无毛视频檚 why Democrats have decided to move full-speed ahead on getting those two pieces of legislation through Congress.
However, as it stands, that无毛视频檚 not going to happen.
Nine Republicans would be needed to vote for the bills, along with every Democrat.
Not a single Republican senator will vote for either of those two bills.
While the Democrats hold a majority of the votes in the Senate (50 votes, plus Vice President Kamala Harris无毛视频� tiebreaker vote), the only way to get those bills through to the president无毛视频檚 desk would be a vote to break a filibuster.
Neither Arizona无毛视频檚 Sinema nor W.Va.无毛视频檚 Manchin find it worthwhile to side with their fellow Democrats in the matter.
无毛视频淚t was the epoch of belief (48 Democrats), It was the epoch of incredulity (two lost Democrats).无毛视频�
No amount of arm-twisting will shake Sinema and Manchin away from their positions.
Democrats learned that with their solid stranglehold on the Build Back Better Bill.
But there无毛视频檚 something about their reluctance to help thwart voter suppression that无毛视频檚 particularly distasteful.
Perhaps Manchin and Sinema should learn the significance of Dr. King无毛视频檚 push for voting rights back in August of 1963.
无毛视频淲e cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote无毛视频� are words from his historic 无毛视频淚 Have a Dream Speech,无毛视频� that still apply today.
This is a country that once allowed certain states to institute literacy tests and poll taxes as ways to keep Black people from voting.
Nowadays, there are the same sentiments. A little more sophisticated than they were in the 1950s and 无毛视频�60s, but they still exist.
It certainly isn无毛视频檛 the 无毛视频渟pring of hope,无毛视频� but 无毛视频渢he winter of despair.无毛视频�
Edward A. Owens is a multi-Emmy Award winner, former reporter, and anchor for Entertainment Tonight, and 40-year TV news and newspaper veteran. E-mail him at freedoms@bellatlantic.net.