This iteration of the Republican Party has sought to shut out, from participation in elections, people who are likely to vote against candidates of that party. The GOP has cited non-existent problems with “voter fraud” to take these actions.

Any political party in a free country should encourage every eligible voter to exercise the right to vote. The way in which to win a competition is not by taking cheap shots at the other side to cripple the competitor, through fear of its ability to win.

Elections are not sporting events, but that is the level to which our elections too often are reduced. If the people accept the beliefs advanced by a candidate or by a party, the people should be allowed to express that approval through the franchise.

Justice Holmes, in dissent in Abrams v. U.S., 250 U.S. 616 (1919), wrote: “[T]he best test of truth is the power of the thought to get itself accepted in the competition of the market, and that truth is the only ground upon which their wishes safely can be carried out. That, at any rate, is the theory of our Constitution.”

Our Nation’s history has been marked by people fighting for the right to vote. In too many instances elected officials of each of the two major political parties have acted to suppress that right. Today the current iteration of the GOP has taken up that evil mantle.

People have the right to vote - and have that vote counted. People need to vote in this election. Those who seek to suppress the vote should be noted and turned out of office at the soonest electoral moment.

If adherents of the creed of this iteration of the GOP are so confident they are right - and that they believe in the principles upon which this country was founded - they should welcome every eligible voter casting their vote.
It appears that people are voting early in record numbers for this general election. The results of the elections - for so many offices - are only a start. Many people safe from discrimination were inured to the notion racism was a part of our past.

Racism and hatred and discrimination in every form has been with this country from its birth. We never can rest in our fight against these evils. We have seen too much hatred the past few years for any reasonable person to believe the roots of it run very deep and are not easily torn out.

D.C. Stephenson moved to Indiana 100 years ago to recruit for the KKK. His conviction for the murder of Madge Oberholzer, a young woman who worked in the office of the Superintendent Public Instruction, was thought by some to spell an end to the "Kluxers".

If this iteration of the GOP is about keeping control of the country in the hands of a few, we need to understand they are the few. We need to vote and let the few know that their ideas are not accepted in the marketplace of ideas.

And here I thought this iteration of the GOP was all about free market economic policies. If you are confident of your position, you should welcome exchanges of ideas. Gosh golly, otherwise all it amounts to is cowardice.