Republicans Use Stalinesque Tactics to Show Their Love For The Constitution

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The next time Republicans and their surrogates at Fox news talk about their love for the constitution, and especially when they claim to care about civil rights, remember Wednesday, March 5 2014. That was the day Republicans in the House and the Senate took a sledgehammer to the constitution of the United States.

There was the stunt bill to sue President Obama for being president.

There was that predominantly Republican block of Debo Adegbile’s nomination to head the DOJ’s civil rights division.  As Sarah Jones  pointed out beautifully in her post, the real reason Republicans objected to Adegbile’s nomination is his effectiveness as an advocate for voting rights that extend beyond the devout followers of the Republican cult.

Their stated reason, in reality, is as much a swipe at civil rights as their primary motive. By stating their opposition to Adegbile because as a criminal defense attorney he represented Mumia Abu Jamal amounts to an admission of the Republican Party’s opposition to the sixth amendment which guarantees all criminal defendants a right to counsel – including those accused of the most heinous of crimes. After all, the constitution that Republicans love only provides privileges for Republicans and corporations.

It’s more than shameful that seven Democrats (Casey, Coons, Donnelly, Heitkamp, Manchin, Pryor and Walsh) joined the Republicans in their opposition to the sixth Amendment.

Then there’s the Darrell Issa meltdown after Louise Lerner, once again, invoked her Fifth Amendment right to remain silent during the latest chapter of Issa’s IRS inquisition.  How dare she invoke a right that is guaranteed under the Constitution. After all, she isn’t a Republican!  How Dare Elijah Cummings think that, as the ranking member on this committee, he also gets to ask questions.  Didn’t he know Issa’s inquisitions are one sided validations of debunked conspiracy theories?

Moreover, this inquisition is really about preserving the life’s blood of the Republican Party. Issa is fighting to protect the anonymity of rich individuals and corporations that launder money to the Republican Party through 501(c )(4)s.   Anonymity is key because corporate free speech shouldn’t mean people knowing if their purchases might be financing efforts to allow corporations to poison their air and water with impunity while simultaneously taking away people’s jobs, housing, healthcare, insurance and education.

Republican surrogate, Fox, wasn’t about to miss out on the day of assault on the constitution.  Republican puppet, Jon Scott, came right out and said if Louise Lerner waves her Fifth Amendment rights, the death threats she has been receiving will go away.

Video Courtesy of Media Matters 

I can see why if you’re getting death threats, why you wouldn’t want to open yourself up to more scrutiny,” Scott admitted. “But at the same time, it would seem that answering some of the questions might cause some of these people who are so angry to ease up.

Make no mistake.  Scott’s comments amounted to legitimizing the Stalinesque death threats as a means of getting people to give up their constitutional rights.

All of this fits a pattern in which the constitution that Republicans say they love is much like wealth.  They believe both are reserved exclusively for Republicans and their corporate sugar daddies and they are willing to use Joseph Stalin’s tactics to make sure the rest of us get the message.

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Adalia Woodbury

Former contributor.