WASHINGTON - President Joe Biden plunges into a historic, politically
explosive battle on voting reforms Tuesday with a speech in Georgia, the
heart of the US civil rights struggle.

Coming off a powerful speech last week to mark the 6 January anniversary
of an attempt by Donald Trump's supporters to overturn the 2020
presidential election, Biden will argue in the state capital Atlanta that
Congress needs to pass laws to protect the country's democracy.

Democrats have accused Republican state legislatures of enacting laws that
would restrict the voting rights of minorities and curtail early voting
and mail-in voting.

The issue pits Democrats against Republicans in what both sides are
portraying as battle over freedom itself.

https://ewn.co.za/2022/01/11/biden-dives-into-battle-on-voting-rights-in-georgia-speech

And adding to the drama, Democrats' only chance to pass such reforms would
be to use a Senate procedure that Republicans warn will wreck what remains
of already dwindling bipartisan spirit in the divided legislature.

The president is joining the fray at a time when his approval ratings are
stuck in the low 40s and Republicans are predicted to take over Congress
in November midterm elections. The White House says Biden feels it's time
to go big on a key Democratic ambition.

"He believes the stakes should be raised. He wouldn't be going to
Georgia... if he wasn't ready," White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said.

Democrats say there's an existential need for reforms, following the
unprecedented chaos of 2020, brought on by Trump's attempt to dodge defeat.

According to Democrats, bills under consideration would prevent cheating,
ranging from partisan drawing of election districts to the use of security
measures as a way to dampen voter turnout in pro-Democrat districts.

The laws would also end the potential ability of state authorities to rig
results under arcane existing rules.

"We are going right to the belly of the beast, or ground zero, for voter
suppression, voter subversion and obstruction," Cedric Richmond, White
House senior adviser, told Politico.

The problem?

Republicans are just as adamantly opposed, leaving Democrats with only the
so-called "nuclear option" of ending the filibuster.

FILIBUSTER

The Senate is split 50:50, with Vice President Kamala Harris coming in for
the Democrats on tie breaks.

Under an unofficial, but now accepted convention, however, either side can
declare a so-called filibuster, automatically bumping up the required
majority from 51 to at least 60.

That means a death sentence for any bill not enjoying hefty opposition
support.

Republicans are clear they will use the filibuster to kill the voting
rights bills, which they argue would undermine, not strengthen democracy
by shifting power from state authorities to the federal government.

Democrats could enact a one-off suspension of the filibuster. That sounds
easy, but has rarely been done before, because of fear that the other
party would just do the same thing when convenient.

Biden, himself a Senate veteran, long opposed playing with the nuclear
option. But in Tuesday's speech he is expected to give his endorsement,
saying that voting law reforms are simply too vital.

'RENAISSANCE' OR 'POWER GRAB?'

Georgia played a key role in the epic US journey from slavery through to
the civil rights struggles of the 1950s and '60s.

It resurfaced as a focal point in the 2020 election, when Trump
unsuccessfully tried to pressure local officials to somehow reverse his
narrow loss in the state - a loss that helped cement his overall defeat to
Biden.

Biden will be accompanied by Kamala Harris, the first Black vice
president. Harris, also the first woman and first person of South Asian
origin to hold the office, spoke before Biden at his forceful 6 January
speech too.

Biden's goal, Psaki said, is to "ensure that January 6 doesn't mark the
end of democracy but the beginning of a renaissance."

For Republicans, the picture is inverted.

"They want to silence millions of Americans and take over the Senate so
they can take over elections," Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell
said.

"A power grab," another senior Republican, Senator Lindsey Graham, said.

As for breaking the filibuster, Graham warns that what goes around comes
around, with Republicans then freed to suspend the super-majority rule as
soon as they regain control of the Senate.

The result, he said, would be the end of bipartisanship, with "wild
swings" between "extreme agendas of the left and the right."

"This effort to change the Senate rules... will destroy America over time."

### - war declared, and now the first salvo launched??

well here we go america: the battle for your very 's o u l' has...
commenced!

(munch-munch: popcorns anyone? this should be quite good viewing!)

:)

Battles Over