It was a simple request. Stand up if you agree. Was it so hard to do?
“The first duty of the American government is to protect its citizens, not illegal immigrants.” If you agree, stand up.
Some Democrats had stood, reluctantly, several times during the State of the Union speech. Some refused to stand for anything.
But it was this point in the speech. Every American in the House chambers should have been on their feet. He did not ask them to applaud. He did not ask them to cheer. He just asked them to stand.
There were many memorable moments in the two-hour State of the Union address. There were cheers and applause for the USA Hockey team.
Tears came to my eyes at the reunion of the Venezuelan political prisoner with his niece. They were clearly emotional as well. Trump then told the pair to go enjoy themselves.
One after another the President introduced military heroes and gave them awards. Two received the highest military honor possible, the Congressional Medal of Honor, right on the spot.
He recognized victims of crimes by illegal immigrants to emphasize why he slammed the border shut He explained that that is why he is now aggressively going after hardened criminals who entered our nation illegally.
It was during the speech that he made the simple request to stand. Democrats sat on their hands. It makes me wonder if the Democrats will stand for anything.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune has an opportunity to pass a measure that 85% of Americans support, the SAVE America Act (Safeguard American Voter Eligibility). Democrats in the Senate have declared the bill dead on arrival as they know that Republicans cannot get 60 votes to stop a filibuster.
But we need understand the filibuster and the Senate rules. It is not as simple as Democrats want to make it out to be.
Over the years the filibuster has morphed into a matter as simple as handing a note to the clerk of the Senate stating that there is a filibuster on a particular vote. When that happens, all action on the vote comes to a halt and the Senate pivots over to work on other matters.
That was not the original meaning of filibuster. The original practice has been so watered down that today there are two names for the filibuster. The “silent” filibuster is what we are familiar with today. One side just “says filibuster” and that’s it.
The other name is the “standing” or “talking” filibuster. In short, the standing or talking filibuster requires one side to keep talking until one of three things happen: (1) 60 Senators vote to end debate; (2) one side gives up; or (3) the two-times rule is invoked, and the minority runs out of speakers.
Congressman Chip Roy sent a “dear colleague” letter to the Senators explaining how they could pass the SAVE act with a simple majority. (A copy of the letter is at the end of this article.) It will not be easy, but it is possible if our Republican senators will discipline themselves and, as Nike says, “just do it.”
In short, Republicans would have to vote with a simple majority to table any amendment that Democrats bring up and keep tabling amendments. Democrats, on the other hand, would have to keep someone talking the full time. The Senate rules only allow a person to speak twice on any one bill or amendment.
Even if the Democrats stayed fully in lockstep to filibuster, they would eventually come to a point of having no one left to debate and Republicans could end debate and vote on the bill. Sound complicated? It is, but it would be worth it.
Congressman Roy closed his letter with a worst-case scenario. “Democrats filibuster to death an 85% issue like Voter ID and citizen voting in front of the entire country.”
Best case, the bill passes and we have real voter ID for national elections. Senate Republicans, this is a no-brainer. All you need is the discipline to make them filibuster.
If you live in Bibb, Crawford, Houston, Monroe, Peach, or Upson counties, then you may be in Senate District 18. There is a special election runoff that puts Steve McNeel, a Republican against a Democrat in a head-to-head contest.
I encourage you to go vote early. You may ask why. That’s a good question and I’ll give you two quick answers.
First, no one is promised tomorrow. You considere voting to be an important patriotic duty. You probably vote Republican. This ballot has a Republican and a Democrat. There is nothing that will come up between now and Tuesday, February 17 that is going to change your mind. So, there is no reason to put it off.
Second, the Republican party, GA Republican Senate Caucus, Steve McNeel’s campaign, and other conservative organizations are working hard to get out all votes. On election day, volunteers will be calling, texting, and reaching out to get voters to the polls. If you vote early, you won’t need a call, and these conservative organizations can focus their attention on those who have not already voted.
We can debate the issue of early and absentee voting. I personally think that there should be one day for voting in person and absentee voting be allowed only for a stated reason. While I hold that opinion, the fact remains that the playing field and rules we operate under allow early voting and no-excuse absentee.
Be assured, the competition is using the early and absentee vote. If we do not use it strategically, then we will lose. This is especially true when there are three weeks of early voting.
I ask you to do two things. Both are simple and cost nothing.
First, go vote early. Get your vote in and take someone with you to go vote.
Second, if you are on social media, then post a photo of you wearing your, “I voted” sticker. You influence others and when they see you, they are more likely to go vote. I’m proud to post two photos of Republican leaders in Senate District 18. Dave Sumrall is the former Republican Party Chairman of Bibb County and Wade Yoder is a Peach County Commissioner.
It is especially important in this election because we are in a special election cycle for one race in a runoff. Let’s face it, going to vote is not high on the news and conversation list right now. That is why, like Dave Sumrall and Wade Yoder, you need to lead by example and let others see you voting early.
So, now that you have read this, go vote. If you don’t get it done early, then by all means get to your polling place on February 17 and, if you live in the district, vote for Steven McNeel, Republican in Senate District 18.
Let me share with you what I learned from listening to him and checking him out with people who know him. The title of this article sums it up best – he is for real.
It is not only what he says, but how he says it. I watched his speech and listened to him carefully. I saw a firm, resolute, calm strength and character that developed over years of testing and trials that most of us will never experience.
Rick Jackson grew up in the projects and foster homes. His life was influenced by living with a Christian family and later in the United Methodist Children’s Home.
An article in TwoTen Magazine from ten years ago told his story. When this article was written a decade ago, he was not running for anything. He did not need anything. He just had a committment to help those who had no voice, children in foster care.
That article told how, at five years old, he walked to Sunday School at a church in downtown Atlanta. Living in a foster home, he experienced a family praying before a meal. It was so foreign to him that he could not process the love and faith of that family.
In his first speech, he said that his company’s main cultural value is “Others First.” I checked the Best Places to Work website and found that 90% of his nearly 2500 employees said that it is a great place to work compared to 57% at a typical US based company.
At one point in the speech when he spoke of his addressing a senate committee about foster care, you could see the powerful conviction welling up in him. It caused him to pause for a moment to catch his composure. That kind of reaction cannot be manufactured. He summed up his Others First values:
“The system forgets the people who don’t have money, power, privilege or fame, not those who need it. Right then, I committed to do everything I could to help those without a voice, without a lobbyist, without a checkbook to make their voice heard.”
He did not have to say that he felt a calling to run for Governor. It was evident in his whole being as he spoke. He laid out his vision to make Georgia the the most affordable state in the nation.
His commitment is to freeze property taxes and slash the income tax by 50% in four years. In eight years he strives to eliminate the income tax all together.
He wants to freeze tuition, room and board for state higher education. He wants to tackle the cost of home ownership.
He addresses the “woke nonsense and complete insanity. “ He says that if Christianity cannot be taught then neither will this ideology find a place in Georgia’s public schools.
There won’t be any boys playing in girls sports or in the girls bathrooms and locker rooms. “There are two genders and they are God-given.” He went farther to say that anyone pushing this ideology will not be just stopped but will be held accountable.
He says that there will not be a stronger supporter of the 2nd amendment. From his own personal experience growing up, he is a passionate supporter of law enforcement. I like the way he said that he will make Georgia the worst place in the nation for criminals.
I went beyond what I could find in research and checked with some of those who know him. One commented, “I know of his genuine faith.”
Rick Jackson is for real. I will be proud to give him my vote and have him as my governor. Check him out and I believe you will too.
Last Week the FBI executed a search warrant at the Fulton County Election Office. About 700 boxes of ballots were seized along with voter rolls, voting machine tapes, absentee ballot envelopes, and other documents and evidence from the 2020 Presidential election.
I wondered just what kind of evidence of what kind of crime the FBI had in mind when they searched the facilities. I thought a Goggle search would easily show the search warrant but I was wrong.
The search warrant was mentioned in many news reports but I could not find a copy of the search warrant itself. Finally I found a copy of the search warrant on Facebook posted by Mark Davis on January 29. I have attached a copy of the warrant at the end of this article.
Apparently the affidavit and the warrant were sealed. Fulton County filed action in federal court to order the return of the items and had to enter the search warrant itself as evidence which effectively unsealed the warrant. The affidavit which gave justification for the search to the judge signing the warrant is still under seal.
Attachment B lists the items for which the FBI was searching. It includes:
* All physical ballots from the 2020 General Election in Fulton County; including, but not limited to: absentee ballots to include envelopes; advanced voting ballots, provisional ballots; in-person election day ballots; emergency ballots; damaged or destroyed ballots; duplicated ballots; or any other ballot that was used to cast a vote;
* All tabulator tapes for every voting machine used in Fulton County; including but not limited to; zero tapes, opening tapes, closing tapes and any other tabulator tape printed from a voting machine utilized during the 2020 General Election in Fulton County;
* All ballot images produced during the original ballot count beginning on November 3, 2020, the recount, and any other ballot images that were created from ballot scanning from the 2020 General Election in Fulton County;
* All voter rolls from the 2020 General Election in Fulton County from absentee, early voting, in person, and any other voter roll that indicates voters: to whom an absentee ballot was issued, from whom an absentee ballot was received, or who participated in advance voting or election day voting.
This is an extensive list. I can understand the reports of 700 boxes carted out to the awaiting vehicles.
Democrats exploded with rage over the search warrant. Secretary of State Raffensperger continues with his mantra that Georgia has the most secure elections in the country and that there were three recounts that proved Joe Biden won.
My issue with the recounts is that all they were doing was counting the same ballots over and over. The count wasn’t the problem.
My question points more toward the reconciliation of votes cast to the absentee ballot envelopes and voter sign-in sheets. In other words, were the ballot boxes “stuffed” with fraudulent ballots. In a mere recount, a fraudulent ballot would be counted the same as a valid ballot.
I remember that Suzi Voyles, one of the recount observers, raised an issue over seeing multiple ballots in unfolded, pristine condition, with the ballot marking appearing to be the same image on every ballot. The process should have been halted then and there to have a closer examination of the ballots to determine if they were original ballots or not. That did not happen so now those questioned ballots are somewhere in one of those 700 boxes of ballots.
The issue of Fulton County handling of the 2020 election was put under the spotlight last December when the Georgia Elections Board finally considered a complaint that was originally filed with the Secretary of State in 2022. One can only imagine why Secretary Raffensperger’s office took nearly three years to bring the complaint before the State Elections Board.
In this case, Fulton County admitted to certifying 315,000 early vote ballots without signatures on the machine tapes. The response from Raffensperger’s office was the same claim that Georgia has the most secure elections in the country. He brushed off the unsigned tapes as a clerical error.
Irregularities such as the ones reported shout for a thorough, trusted, impartial review. Based on the items secured, the FBI search will be looking at all aspects of the 2020 ballot handling to include the proper documentation of ballot handling. They rightly should make a thorough accounting and reconciliation.
I look forward to learning the results of the search. Hopefully it won’t be another five years.
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