Republicans in Congress have no rational explanations for why they’re refusing to support the For the People Act, which would expand voting rights and guarantee that those who want to vote can do so easily, so they’re resorting to absurd excuses for their attack on the most sacred pillar of American democracy.
A perfect example of this can be found in remarks made on Wednesday during a Senate hearing on the For the People act by Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), who was responding to comments from Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who criticized efforts in some states to eliminate voting in Sunday, a time when many African-American churches have set up “souls to the polls” movements to encourage voter participation.
Hyde-Smith said it was wrong to vote on Sundays, and then explained why:
“Georgia is a Southern state just like Mississippi, and I cannot speak for Georgia, but I can speak for Mississippi on why we would never do that on Sunday.”
The Mississippi Republican then held up a dollar bill and proclaimed:
“This is our currency, this is a dollar bill. This says, ‘The United States of America In God We Trust.’ Etched in stone in the U.S. Senate chamber is ‘In God We Trust.’ When you swore in all of these witnesses, the last thing you said to them in your instructions was, ‘so help you God.’”
But Hyde-Smith wasn’t done proving her own ignorance of the fact that the Constitution specifically calls for the separation of church and state, adding:
“(The Bible says to) remember the Sabbath and keep it holy. So that is my response to Senator Schumer.”
Really?! What about being sworn into the Senate on a Sunday? Is that keeping the Sabbath holy? Because as the Washington Post notes, that’s exactly what Hyde-Smith did:
“Hyde-Smith, who finished the last two years of her predecessor’s term, was sworn in for a full six-year term in January. She took the oath on a Sunday.”
Do as I say, not as I do. Right, Cindy? Isn’t hypocrisy a sin, too?
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