GOP Radicals Growing in Congress: Anti-everything While Blaming Everyone

14 who voted “No” on Juneteenth as a Holiday

For radical policies, guns, and lots of QAnon

(Gaetz, Gohmert, Jordan, Taylor Greene, Bobert)

This “new” GOP is basically owned and operated by Trump calls DEMS every name in the proverbial book including: DEMS want to turn us into a socialist country – they hate America – we hear it daily.

This story from Business Insider talks about what a small band of growing Republicans have done and still do as they seem to want a return to the good old glory days of slavery, the Civil War, and all that wrought until the ugly 1960’s. Now here we are again with their blatant and open and radical and yes, racist views and from the Halls of Congress no less (formatted to fit the blog):

“14 House GOP members just revealed themselves as modern segregationists”

§  Despite passing unanimously in the Senate, 14 House Republicans voted against the bill to make Juneteenth a national holiday.

§  Their reasoning was terrible and at the core revealed something simple: They don't support Black people.

§  The 14 are modern segregationists and should be considered as such.        

Earlier this month, President Biden signed a bill proclaiming Juneteenth (commemorating June 19, 1865, the day on which Union General Gordon Granger rode into Galveston, TX and informed the formerly enslaved people there that they were free) as the official end of slavery and a new Federal holiday. That bill had been unanimously passed by the Senate and passed the House 415 to 14. It was a rare moment of bipartisanship on Capitol Hill for everyone but those 14 Representatives, all Republicans, who voted against it.

Those 14 (NPR article) are a veritable who's who of the most objectionable names in Congress. They represent the cutting edge of those who want to return America to the worst parts of its past. These 14 come from a long tradition of legislators standing in the way of justice and progress, and they have built a new level of divisive politics.

Their notion on its face that is eliminates the July 4th holiday is only true for those against Juneteenth. All of the objections, no matter the language used, are coming from a racist place. We have to look no further than the past comments of the 14 who voted “no” to figure that out.

In the 1950's they would've stood in the way of integrated schools. 

In the 1960's they would've voted against civil rights. 

They are today's George Wallaces.

Among those 14 who voted against Juneteenth are some recognizable names. Each of them twisted themselves into a pretzel to make their argument against recognizing the holiday – but at the core of it is simple: They don't support Black people.

Rep. Gosar is probably the least surprising name on this list. He has a bit of a reputation for cozying up with white power activists, and his excuse, that Juneteenth is in his words “critical race theory (CRT) in action,” thus he doesn't even pretend to hide that his objections are racist in nature.

Rep. Norman claims he opposes Juneteenth because he thinks it will be too costly for federal workers to have another day off. But South Carolina, his home state, closed down on Confederate Memorial Day, a far more objectionable holiday. Norman has not raised any objections to that holiday, which would suggest an ulterior motive for opposing Juneteenth.

Rep. Massie claimed that calling Juneteenth “Independence Day” (the official name of the holiday is “Juneteenth National Independence Day”) not merely “Independence Day” like the original July 4, 1776 – our independence from England that he professes. He says it could create confusion and push Americans to pick between Juneteenth and July 4th.

Rep. Brooks was one of the 14. Back when Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) was nominated for AG under Trump, Brooks said the criticism of Sessions' past was part of a war on whites. That mirrors the most heinous of white nationalist talking points.

Rep. Biggs voted against a resolution condemning recent violence and killing them calling it woke culture on steroids. So, it really comes as no surprise that he voted against Juneteenth, too.

The emancipation of Black Americans is something unequivocally worth celebrating, as it was the first step in the ongoing struggle to eradicate the racism that has long infected the American state and body politic. It is frankly remarkable it took more than 150 years to recognize it with a federal holiday. In many of their objections, the 14 protested that calling Juneteenth an independence day cheapened the 4th of July (as stated above, it does not).

My 2 cents: From the article, the examples go on and on.

I agree, the history is clear as the article goes on to say: Those 14 are modern racists – today's segregationists. They are the most extreme of the most extreme. 

I conclude, sadly speaking, that they are also fully representative of the current brand of this, what I call this “new” Republican politics and that spells bad news for the nation as a whole. It keeps us more divided than ever and on purpose by design.

Worse is that faction like those 14 and others seen above is growing. Just wait and see what the 2022 and 2024 candidates sound like. It's not going to be pretty. Imagine triple that their number by adding the likes of more Taylor Greene’s, Bobert’s, Gohmert’s, and other of that same ilk to congress. Not pretty not one bit.

The only way to stop that is get out the rational logical voting public and stop them in their tracks. Even that is a tall order with the recent GOP-run states changing voting laws, but it can be done and it must be done. 

The GOP always talks about “saving our country from the DEMS” well voting against the likes of those 14 and the others I named, saves the nation in a more perfect way for us all not just their narrow racist point of view. 

Thanks for stopping by.