State Senator Carol Alvarado gave all Democrats who believe in the right to vote a shot of much needed ánimo when she stood up and spoke against Greg Abbott’s voter suppression bill.
Unable to take bathroom breaks or drink water, she had worn a back brace, eyeglasses and running shoes and talked slowly behind a desk stacked with papers and with a microphone in her hand as she mounted a 15-hour filibuster. The target of her efforts was Senate Bill 1, the GOP’s priority bill that would place new restrictions on voting that many opponents say would disproportionately suppress ballots from voters of color and disabled voters.
With 20+ days left in this second forced special hate session put on by Greg Abbott, the intent was not to kill the bill, but to increase public awareness about voter suppression. While Texas House members continue to boycott these special sessions for the purpose of stopping for the third time Abbott’s long list of bigoted bills, it was good to see the Senator do something equally bold.
The only thing that is left to happen is for the Democratic majority in the US Congress to stop pretending bipartisanship exists and push through a federal voting rights bill that supercedes state governments who are intent on violating Americans’ voting rights in various states. But thanks to right-wing Democrats, much of the Biden agenda is in peril.
Texas Lege Democrats have delivered their point to Greg Abbott, Republicans, to Democrats in DC, and to the general public. It is time for Biden and the Democratic majority in DC to deliver a just result.
Meanwhile, the Texas House now has civil arrest warrants out for the Texas House Democrats and have deputized the DPS to arrest them and take them back to Austin. Does give one a mental picture of Headly Lamarr swearing-in his “deputies” in Blazing Saddles.
