LETTER: Be part of the solution for democracy

I really hate to say this, but the modern day Republicans have become something they should not be very proud of — they’ve become what the southern Democrats were back in the 1950s and ‘60s. We called them Dixiecrats back then. This new breed of — let’s call them Repulicrats — aren’t the brutal, hate- twisted racists of those days; they’ve even accepted some right-wing African-Americans into their ranks, Florida Congressman Alan West, Michael Steele, the former Republican Party chairman come to mind, and past Secretaries of State Condoleezza Rice and Colin Powell could be included but it seems that Powell decided he didn’t have the heart to be the yes-man the Bush administration wanted him to be, as he changed teams and supported President Obama in 2008.

The racism of this bunch is not the overt type of the old days. Nowadays, instead of lynchings, beatings and fire hoses, they use laws to keep people of color from voting, the excuse being, “they just want to keep our electoral process safe from rampant vote fraud.” Even though investigations have proven people impersonating others to cast an illegal vote is virtually nonexistent, but it sounds like a noble idea.

The real reason for these laws that make it harder for some of our citizens to vote, the poor, the elderly, college students, people of color, because in this country an inordinate number of people of color are poor, is because these people largely vote for Democrats.

The Republicans know that with the changing demographics in this country, the chance of them winning elections, especially national elections, has diminished. So whenever they get the opportunity, they push to change laws limiting the ability for some people to vote.

In other words, they cheat.

What can we do about it? If you know someone who’s having trouble getting around to get registered, give them a hand. If you want, you can contact whatever political party you favor and volunteer to help people get registered and get them to the polls on Election Day. Either party would be glad for your help. If you’re not registered, do it. Then vote on Nov. 6. It should be mandatory, we should think of voting as our duty as a citizen. Remember if you don’t vote, don’t complain about the outcome. If you don’t want to be part of the answer, then you are surely part of the problem.

George Richard,

New Richmond, Wis.

Tags: opinion, letter