Fran Millar, Asshole of the Day for September 10, 2014
There's a lot of competition among politicians to show who loves America the most. And there's plenty of trappings for showing patriotism, from flag pins to copies of the Constitution carried with them at all times.
But America is a democracy, and democracies are based on voting. To love America then, it would seem you should love voting. The original 13 states declared independence from England because they didn't have a vote, right?
An angry state Sen. Fran Millar, R-Dunwoody, is promising to end Sunday balloting in DeKalb County when state lawmakers assemble in the Capitol next January.
[Says Millar:]”Now we are to have Sunday voting at South DeKalb Mall just prior to the election. Per Jim Galloway of the AJC, this location is dominated by African American shoppers and it is near several large African American mega churches such as New Birth Missionary Baptist. Galloway also points out the Democratic Party thinks this is a wonderful idea - what a surprise. I’m sure Michelle Nunn and Jason Carter are delighted with this blatantly partisan move in DeKalb.”
Ed Kilgore flags this and points out that:
Interesting that Millar immediately wanted to shut down Sunday voting in South Dekalb instead of expanding it to North Dekalb. That tells you everything you need to know about the GOP attitude towards voting rights.
Meaning that rather than find ways to accommodate increased voter participation in all areas of his district, Sen. Millar wants to discourage the African Americans from participating.
And then the next day, after he'd been criticized for his outrage over African Americans exercising their constitutional right to vote, he doesn't walk it back. Instead he explains his reasoning by saying:
"I do agree with Galloway and I never claimed to be nonpartisan," Millar wrote. "I would prefer more educated voters than a greater increase in the number of voters. If you don't believe this is an efort [sic] to maximize Democratic votes pure and simple, then you are not a realist. This is a partisan stunt and I hope it can be stopped. Furthermore I don't control where people are allowed to vote but am glad Brookhaven has been added for the last week."
"Democrats are showing their hand on how they might boost their numbers," Millar wrote.
Yep. He said "educated". As though a college education doesn't constitute a very large and very illegal poll tax.
And based on his previous statement, I think it's safe to say the educated voters he wants aren’t people with doctorates in African American or Womens Studies either. And not from community colleges, because I mean, well, you know.
Look, if you believe in democracy, then you believe that every vote counts the same and that the more people who participate the better.
If you would rather try to keep people from voting than try to convince them of your platform, well, you really don’t care about democracy or voting.
And if you are the party that wants to cut the social safety net because you believe everyone needs to work, then you should make it easy for them to vote without creating problems for them at work.
And if you’re trying to keep people from voting, then please stop quoting the Declaration of Independence, since the high crime of taxation without representation would necessarily apply to all the people you are trying to prevent from voting, while still expecting them to pay sales tax, income tax, property tax, and the rest. Because without voting, there is no representation.
Bottom line: A vote on Sunday by an African American is worth the same as a vote on Tuesday by a white man. But not to Sen. Millar apparently. And that's why he's the Asshole of the Day.
It is Fran Millar's first time as Asshole of the Day.
