Common Sense

From Vince:

As We Celebrate Independence & Freedom, Texas Netroots, Blogsphere Should Focus On VRA And Heed The Words Of LBJ

“They are attempting to thwart the realization of our highest ideals. There are those who seek to turn back the rising tide of human hope by sowing half-truths and untruths wherever they find root.”
President Lyndon Baines Johnson on opposition among clergy to the Civil Rights Act, New York Times, March 26, 1964, as quoted in Judgment Days: Lyndon Baines Johnson, Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Laws That Changed America by Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist Nick Kotz (p. 133)

President Johnson’s quote that related to the reluctance of some members of the clergy to support the Civil Rights Act of 1964 could be easily applied today to the Congressmen from this great state who have hijacked and halted the renewal of the Voting Rights Act—one of the bedrock civil rights reforms of the 20th century.

The time is now for those of us in the Texas “Netroots,” and the Texas Blogsphere to focus on stopping those members of our own Congressional Delegation who “are attempting to thwart the realization of our highest ideals,” by “sowing half-truths and untruths wherever they find root.”

As we celebrate freedom and American independence, let us not forget that there is a price for independence, and a constant struggle for our freedoms.

Our friends on the “Right” talk about the concepts of “independence” and “freedom” and say that America is serving the highest ends of these ideals through the “War on Terror” and our continued involvement in Iraq.

And, no matter how many Republican Congressmen may make such statements during their speeches at picnics and patriotic celebrations this Independence Day, they are dead wrong.

America cannot serve the highest ends of the ideals of freedom and independence when its elected leaders work so blatantly to pick away at the hard-won rights of our collective citizenry.

The Voting Rights Act is not a “white” or “black” or “Latino” law. It is an American law, and uniquely so.

To stand for anything less than its complete renewal and claim that states like Texas should be exempted from Section five of the Act in the face of 12,000 pages of testimony that shows that problems still exist represent neither the best interests of Texas nor American ideals.

Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Tyler) is one of the worst of the offenders in our Congressional Delegation. In hopes of seeing other members of Congress cave to demands of radical, Republican Southerners and exempt all or part of nine states from the provisions of Section 5, Gohmert had the audacity to propose an amendment so asinine (to require every jurisdiction in the nation to abide by Section 5) members of his party refused to even allow it debated in the House.

Some of his colleagues—Randy Neugebauer (R-Lubbock) and John Carter (R-Round Rock) have been among the most vocal and frequently called out by the mainstream media, along with Henry Bonilla (R-San Antonio)—deserve special attention from the Netroots and Texas Blogsphere as well.

A recent report shows we still need the VRA—fully intact. It pointed out that Texas was one of the worst offenders in the nation when it came to VRA problems and violations.

The Voting Rights Act is the crown jewel of civil rights legislation that was spearheaded through Congress by the strong hand of one of our own, Lyndon B. Johnson.

To sit idly by and allow members of our Congressional Delegation derail the renewal of that legislation is a betrayal of the legacy of Johnson and the hundreds of thousands of minority voters who have been aided by the VRA in Texas and elsewhere since it was enacted.

This is a betrayal we cannot allow to happen. It is time for the Texas Blogsphere and Netroots to get the Republican Congressmen from Texas off of their current headline-grabbing, anti-VRA kick and urge immediate reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act.

On February 27, 1964, Lyndon Johnson pledged to “press forward with legislation and with education—and, yes, with action—until we have eleminated the last barrier of intolerance.”

It is time now for Texans to do our part and help fulfill the pledge of our Favorite Son. We must press forward, with action, and eleminate the last barrier of intolerance.

I urge each of you to extend your Independence Day celebrations by an extra few hours and to, in celebration of America, call the offices of Congressmen Gohmert, Carter and Neugebauer, first thing Wednesday morning and tell thim it is time to press forward.

Tell them it is time to renew the VRA.

Contact info for Gohmert:

Toll Free
(866) 535-6302

Washington Office
(202) 225-3035
(202) 226-1230 fax

Longview
(903) 236-8597

Tyler
(903) 561-6349
(903) 561-7110 fax

Contact Info For Naugebauer:

Toll free:
888-763-1611

Abilene
Phone: (325) 675-9779
Fax: (325) 675-5038

Big Spring
Phone: (432) 264-0722
Fax: (432) 264-1838

Lubbock
Phone: (806) 763-1611
Fax: (806) 767-9168

Washington, D.C.
Phone: (202) 225-4005
Fax: (202) 225-9615

Contact Info For Rep. Carter:

Washington, D.C. Office
(202) 225-3864

Round Rock District Office
(512) 246-1600

Bell County Office
254-933-1392

posted by Vince Leibowitz on 07.04.06 @ 5:00 am |