OPINION:
When Democrats can’t win fair and square at the ballot box, they resort to undermining American Democracy.
The latest target of these anti-democratic tactics is Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who is despised by the left but loved by the 765,136 voters in Georgia District 14, who elected her to represent them in Congress.
A leftist dark money group absurdly named “Free Speech for People” has gone to court to remove Mrs. Greene from the ballot, thereby denying Georgia voters the freedom to vote for her.
Mrs. Greene won her R+28 district, beating her Democratic opponent by more than 225,000 votes in 2020. She remains extremely popular at home as she goes to war in Washington to uphold her constituents’ values: standing up for the life of the unborn, protecting the right to bear arms, reining in Washington’s out-of-control spending and securing our nation’s borders.
Democrats know they are in trouble come November and cannot win Mrs. Greene’s “deplorable” district on merit. So they’re looking to rip her name off of the ballot, leaving her constituents no choice in the matter.
Talk about undermining Democracy.
The group leading the charge — the aforementioned Orwellian “Free Speech for People” — is a 501(c)(3) whose donors cannot be disclosed. Its founders all hail from left-of-center advocacy groups. It lobbied for former President Donald J. Trump’s impeachment from the day he took office in 2017, and for the abolition of the Electoral College, which allows rural states to have influence in presidential elections, as defined in the Constitution.
Free Speech for People is arguing that Mrs. Greene has disqualified herself from representing the state of Georgia because, according to the group, she is an “insurrectionist.” Under the 14th Amendment, which was adopted during the reconstruction to punish the confederacy, those deemed “insurrectionists” are barred from serving in Congress.
Now mind you Mrs. Greene did not participate in the so-called “insurrection” on Jan. 6, 2021, and has repeatedly condemned any rioters who broke the law. She even issued a video on social media that day urging the crowd to “Be safe. Be smart. Stay Peaceful. Obey the laws. This is not a time for violence.”
She has never been charged with being an insurrectionist or convicted of any related crimes in any court of law.
Yet to Free Speech for People, Mrs. Greene is an “insurrectionist.” In other words, they just don’t like her. And you can be sure they don’t like the Georgia voters who elected her, either.
We suspect that the real crime Mrs. Greene has committed in the eyes of this dark money group is that she is an unapologetic supporter of former President Donald Trump and his America First agenda. By this logic, the 74 million Americans who voted for Mr. Trump in 2020 are also “insurrectionists” and should be barred from holding public office.
Already, Mrs. Greene is not the group’s only target.
Free Speech for People filed similar lawsuits challenging the candidacies of Arizona U.S. Reps. Paul Gosar and Andy Biggs and state Rep. Mark Finchem, who is running for Arizona’s secretary of state and has been endorsed by Mr. Trump, on the same grounds.
Another Democrat-aligned super PAC is pursuing lawsuits against Sen. Ron Johnson and Reps. Tom Tiffany and Scott Fitzgerald, all Wisconsin Republicans.
Note how these dark money groups are targeting elected Republicans in purple states — all in an effort to turn them blue.
On Monday, an Obama-appointed judge ruled Free Speech for People’s lawsuit against Mrs. Greene could proceed. A state administrative judge is scheduled to hear the case on Friday. Georgia’s primary is on May 24, and absentee ballots will start to be mailed on April 25.
Free and fair elections are to be determined by the people — not by unelected bureaucrats, lawyers, partisan dark money groups and cleverly argued lawsuits.
Democrats have shown an enthusiastic willingness to demoralize, disrupt, lie, cheat and even use a pandemic in order to steal elections from candidates who support Mr. Trump’s agenda. If successful, more Republicans will be targeted, as the “insurrectionist” language will surely be expanded into areas like dissenting with war, or any part of President Biden’s legislative agenda.
Unable to convince voters to support their crazy, destructive agenda, Democrats will stop at nothing to protect and expand their power and influence — including subverting our elections.
The GOP must defend against these lawless, thuggish tactics. Democracy as we know it is at stake.
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