2017's Black History Month will go down in American history as either the beginning of the end or the end of the beginning. If February 7th & 8th are any indication of what is to come—and I believe in my heart of hearts that they are—we are closer to Civilutionary War than ever before. Indeed, I'll be surprised if the country hasn't broken down into armed militias by spring and torn itself apart by summer.
On February 7, Betsy DeVos was confirmed as Secretary of Education. DeVos is committed to privatizing the school system even though private schools have flagrantly higher rates of segregation and were originally created as a white-flight backlash against SCOTUS' ruling on Brown vs The Board of Education.
Later that same day, Senator Elizabeth Warren was silenced by GOP Senate Majority Leader Mitch "The Bitch" McConnell when she tried to read the letter Coretta Scott King wrote regarding Jeff Sessions’ racially bigoted patterns of behavior. The GOP senators then voted to censure Senator Warren using an obscure rule only invoked ONCE in American history, effectively barring her from speaking during the February 8 confirmation hearing of Jeff Sessions to the position of Attorney General.
As awful as all the above is, perhaps the most frightening and foreboding thing to occur on February 7 was this: The House Administration Committee voted 6-3 along party lines to eliminate the Election Assistance Commission, which helps states run elections and is the only federal agency charged with making sure voting machines can’t be hacked. The agency was set up after the Bush-Gore debacle of 2000; the GOP has been trying to get rid of it ever since—mission accomplished.
On February 8, 2017 Jeff Sessions was, as expected, confirmed to the position of U.S. Attorney General. He will be in charge of the country’s civil rights division despite his racist and anti-gay views. All Republican senators and a Democrat from West Virginia voted in favor of his confirmation while all other Democrats voted against it.
I knew both confirmations would go through, but I’m still gutted by the fact they did. America, I do not recognize you anymore.
