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Editorial/Letters To The Editor
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f you find it disturbing or
disrespectful for someone to find joy in another person's death, I suggest you stop read- ing this right now. That is be- cause the entirety of this column will consist of me cel- ebrating the earthly departure of two men I could care less about.... Toxic radio personal- ity Rush Limbaugh and Marion Lambert, the con- troversial land owner whose enormous Rebel Flag over In- terstate 75 gave the entire city of Tampa a black eye.
Last week, when I found out that both of these individuals died within days of each other, I could barely control my gid- diness. And the fact that each of their demises came at the peak of Black History Month, to me, seemed like poetic jus- tice.
I mean, what are the odds that two people, who dedi-
cated their existences to de- grading the Black race, would meet their ends during a pe- riod of time when we recog- nized Black excellence? And Lambert, passing away on Huey P. Newton's birthday, made the timing of these events even more ironic.
I am sure that there will be some Black people who will read this piece and find them- selves appalled by my lack of sympathy for the loss of life of other human beings. But, frankly speaking, I don't give a damn.
The days of me following the Christian ideals of "turning the other cheek" and "loving my enemy" played out some- where around the time Dylan Roof showed zero remorse after walking into a South Car- olina church and murdering nine innocent people during a Bible Study. The way I see it, in
a world where white racists re- ally don't believe that Black lives matter, finding peace and happiness in knowing that a couple of your torturers will no longer be around to torment you is completely appropriate.
For over 25 years Lim- baugh used his radio plat- form to inspire racial intolerance toward Black progress while making a mockery of our pain. Though Lambert didn't have the same reach as Limbaugh the fact that he purchased the property near the interstate, with the sole purpose of needling the community on a daily basis with his hundred foot monument to African- American oppression, makes him an arch nemesis of Black people whose grave should be trampled upon.
Am I glad they're both gone? I think that goes without saying. The only thing I hate about them heading to the hereafter, though, is that they weren't able to take another orange-haired bigot with them. But that's a topic for a different day.
Reality On Ice is © by the Florida Sentinel Bul- letin Publishing Com- pany. You can email Mr. Barr at: cbscribe- 2@gmail.com.
All I Can Say Is ‘Good Riddance’
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No Need For DeSantis’ Voting Bill
Republicans are at it again. The GOP has consistently at- tempted to attack voters’ rights and access to ballots during elections. In 2018, the Republican Party just completed 35 years of court supervision of a 1981 consent de- cree (which they consistently violated) to immediately begin/continue attacking voters’ rights under the guise of voter fraud and “ballot security.” Governor Ron DeSantis en- tered the fray with his recent filing of a virtually “nonexistent voter fraud” bill.
Of course, Republican lawmakers ran to support the bill. The 1981 consent decree barred the Republican National Committee from engaging in “ballot security” tactics. History has shown that the GOP will do practically anything to win elections and to gain power and to stay in power.
Any procedure used to make voting easy has always been attacked by the GOP. We just ended a four-year period of silent enabling of the spread of misinformation, lies, and false claims of voter fraud that nearly led to the overturn of the American government during the January 6, 2021 attack on the nation’s Capitol.
In the 1980s, the GOP “sent sample ballots to communities of color, and then had the names for each ballot returned as undeliverable removed from voter rolls, and hired all off-duty cops to patrol majority-minority precincts wearing intimidat- ing name arm badges.
In North Carolina, the GOP mailed intimidating postcards to voters, and concocted a “voter challenge list” of Black vot- ers, to use at the polls to discourage Black voters. GOP poll watching and vote challenging practices that were repeatedly found to be in violation of the Voting Rights Act were used even while they were under the consent decree.
Other tactics used included strict voter ID requirements, requiring an excuse to vote by mail, limiting the number of voting precincts to cause long waits and long lines, preventing or using small number of ballot drop boxes in areas with large populations, requiring witnesses to voter signatures on bal- lots, delaying delivery of ballots by mail and a long list of other tactics we will share in future editions.
No doubt Governor DeSantis’ voting rights bill would be necessary IF there was a reason for it. However, the truth sustains itself. DeSantis’ effort and those who support him is yet another attempt to steal the most precious American gift --- the right to vote. Indeed, our founding fathers must be rolling over in their graves.
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