35 "For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’"
(Matthew 25:35-40)
Today, Republicans in the state of Georgia made it ILLEGAL to give someone water.
I'll wait while you let that sink in...............
A bill, passed by the Republican-controlled Georgia legislature and signed by Republican Governor Brian Kemp, will enact sweeping changes to the way elections are conducted in the state. There is no way to look at these changes without concluding they are attempts at voter suppression.
One provision of the bill would make it a crime for someone who is not an election worker to give food or beverage to any voter waiting in line to vote. In the June 2020 primary, voters in Georgia's largest metro counties, Democratic strongholds with large minority populations, waited in line for up to eight hours. Going forward, you could be arrested for giving an elderly person waiting in line during a hot and humid Georgia afternoon a cup of water.
Could any decent human being deny water to a thirsty woman or man? Could you? How could something like this even be included in a piece of legislation in the United States in the year 2021?
The bill also enacts ID requirements, reduces the number of and limits access to ballot drop boxes and allows the state legislature to take over county election boards. After recounts and intense scrutiny of the 2020 vote in Georgia, no evidence of fraud or tampering was found anywhere in the state. And yet, Republicans continue to cling tight to the Trumpist tale that the election was "stolen" by Democrats. And so today's Act of Suppression was necessary to the deluded GQP.
Nearly 60 years ago, federal Voting Rights and Civil Rights legislation virtually ended Jim Crow oppression across the American South. Sadly, it couldn't end individual and systemic racism in our society throughout the entire country. Four years ago, Donald Trump gave racists permission to come out of hiding and they have been very busy ever since. More than 200 voting "reform" bills are now awaiting action in 43 different states. East to West, North to South, Republicans are engaged in a coordinated, and well funded, campaign to suppress the number of voters who traditionally support Democratic candidates. They know that if voting by mail, expanded voting hours and days, increased polling locations and allowing voter assistance (even if it's just passing out water on a hot day) is allowed to continue the future of their party looks dim.
The Constitution of the United States has been amended 27 times since 1791. 5 of those amendments, (15th, 19th, 23rd, 24th & 26th) have directly addressed the Right to Vote. Race, sex, and poll taxes were removed as barriers to voting, DC citizens were given the vote in presidential elections and the voting age was reduced. Additionally, Section 2 of the 14th Amendment includes, "when the right to vote at any election for the choice of electors for President and Vice-President of the United States, Representatives in Congress, the Executive and Judicial officers of a State, or the members of the Legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such State, being twenty-one years of age,* and citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion, or other crime, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such State." (Future amendments removed the word "male" and changed the age from 21 to 18) So, denying or curtailing the vote will allow for the size of a state's Congressional delegation to be reduced. The Constitution thinks voting is a pretty big deal.
Voting is perhaps the most precious right any citizen possesses in a free society. Any attempt to suppress, restrict, infringe or abridge that right for one affects us all. Don't stand by, don't refuse get involved, don't "do nothing". Find out what's happening in your state. Find out where your representatives stand on this issue. Help keep the Right to Vote an absolute right. And never be afraid to give a thirsty person a cup of water.