The Adventures of Accordion Guy in the 21st Century

On September 17th, Congress passed a measure that demands the condemnation of all forms of racism and scapegoating and calls on public officials to denounce any anti-Asian sentiment, which has become a problem with COVID-19.

It passed in a 243-164 vote, with all 164 “nay” votes coming from…well, guess which party:

The resolution did not reference Trump by name or the presidency, yet it passed on a largely party-line vote — with 164 Republicans voting against it.

Some responses from the Asian-American community:

I just read this bill. All it basically says is that Anti-Asian sentiment, racism and discrimination is wrong. It asks for nothing more than that. Yet 164 members of Congress (all Republican) voted against it. #vote https://t.co/GzSCEc8c77

— Daniel Dae Kim (@danieldaekim) September 18, 2020

Take note of the 163 Republicans who refused to condemn anti-Asian rhetoric. (And thank you to those from all parties who did.) https://t.co/cKONSTJgar

— Celeste Ng (@pronounced_ing) September 18, 2020

I compiled the 164 House Repubs who just voted AGAINST a resolution to condemn anti-Asian sentiment, racism, & discrimination. An easy slamdunk vote to publicly support our community as attacks on us rise. They were the ONLY “NO” votes. This is what unashamed racism looks like. pic.twitter.com/gaxFOIpiJl

— philipwang (@philipwang) September 22, 2020

This resolution had no action attached to it and was merely symbolic. It was a pittance to the Asian community that 164 Republican representatives in Congress refused to give.

Absolutely disgraceful… https://t.co/TuL59B09xn

— Ray Liu (@RayLiuNYC) September 24, 2020

I just need any As Ame contemplating voting for a Republican (either at the top of the ballot and/or down ticket) this Nov to know that 164 House members — ALL Republican — voted AGAINST a bill condemning anti-Asian racial violence in the wake of COVID19. https://t.co/gCaQynKtmU

— Reappropriate (@reappropriate) September 17, 2020

Credit where credit is due

First, I’m going to say “thanks” to the 14 Republicans who broke ranks and voted “yea” on the measure:

…and hey, there’s a Florida representative in there, and he’s from the district just north of mine!

Censure where censure is due

And now, the racist a-holes who couldn’t even bring themselves to make a symbolic gesture condemning anti-Asian discrimination.

If you can, please vote them out.

Florida Senator Rick Scott — or, as I like to call him, “Senator Skeletor” — has proposed a new bill whose desired effect appears to be to reduce the number of eligible votes.

On Thursday, he proposed the ironically-named Help America Vote Act of 2020 (aren’t they always named ironically now?), which:

• Requires that mail-in ballots be counted within 24 hours of when voting closes on Election Day, and
• Prevents mail-in ballots received before Election Day to NOT BE PROCESSED and COUNTED before Election Day.

This bill drastically cuts the window of time for counting votes down to just over a day. Any votes not counted during this period are simply not counted.

This is a drastic reduction from the the way it is now, where the period to count votes can be weeks, because of advance absentee and mail-in voting. For example,

• In Colorado, where all voting is mail-in, votes can be processed as early as 15 days before Election Day.
• In Florida, Senator Skeletor’s home state (and mine!), votes can be processed as early as 22 days before Election Day.

This runs against a lot of election statutes across the U.S., where federal elections are handled at the local level and subject to local laws.

It’s probably too late to pass this law, as advance and absentee voting has already started, but there’s no reason why Senator Skeletor and company can’t try to get it enacted for the next election.

As to why the Republicans seem to like minimizing the number of votes counted, I present you with some reading material:

• Pew Research Center, October 31, 2018: Conservative Republicans are least supportive of making it easy for everyone to vote
• Mother Jones, January 30, 2019: Mitch McConnell Admits That Republicans Lose When More People Vote
• Washington Post, March 30, 2020: Trump just comes out and says it: The GOP is hurt when it’s easier to vote
• The Guardian, March 30, 2020: Trump says Republicans would ‘never’ be elected again if it was easier to vote
• Business Insider, March 30, 2020: Trump baselessly claimed that expanding voting access would lead to a Republican never being elected in America again
• Vanity Fair, April 3, 2020: Republicans Now Just Admitting They Want Fewer Americans To Vote
• The New Republic, April 5, 2020: The Republican Plot Against Voting Turns Deadly
• Bill Moyers, April 8, 2020: Republicans Admit They Lose When Elections Are Fair and Free
• CNBC, April 8, 2020: Trump slams mail-in voting, says it ‘doesn’t work out well for Republicans’
• Chicago Tribune, April 10, 2020: Trump says mail voting means Republicans would lose every election. Is that true? No.
• The Hill, April 15, 2020: Trump lays bare the Republicans’ mail-in voting hypocrisy
• NPR, June 12, 2020: Voting And Elections Divide Republicans And Democrats Like Little Else. Here’s Why
• Esquire, September 25, 2020: Why Won’t Florida Leave Our Elections Alone?