H.R.1 – For the People Act — “Yad Sloof Lirpa Yppah!”

By Gary Bennett

Voters patiently waiting in line in Wisconsin on Election Day 2020.

As seen in the Frederick News-Post, Thursday, April 1, 2021

By Gary Bennett

In a recent FNP letter to the editor, the writer made a gallant attempt to explain H.R.1 and S.1, For the People Act of 2021, the controversial bills winding through both Houses of Congress. They address voter access issues such as automatic and same-day registration, vote-by-mail, and early voting among other things. The writer can’t be blamed for missing one important item, because like a lot of bills written by deep-state, congressional staffers, the devil is not in the details but in the footnotes!

A close reading of footnote 8371.4/3.5 in H.R.1 allows that citizens showing fealty to the former Confederate States of America, including actions such as displaying the confederate flag and protesting the removal of confederate general statues, be hereby flagged for voter registration review. To be fair, this doesn’t mean that said people cannot vote, only that they could be effectively tied up in review well past Election Day 2022. This is outrageous, but I’m sure the deep-staters use this logic: “Trump sympathizers, some parading the confederate flag through the capitol on Insurrection Day 2021, were hellbent on changing the presidential election result to one more to their liking. Same thing happened in 1860. Let’s not let this happen again.”

Rioter proudly carrying the confederate flag in the U.S. Capitol, January 6, 2021.

This development, bad as it is in general, is particularly troublesome for the poor white folks of West Virginia and at least some western Maryland counties, who believe they are part of West Virginia.  (Before you say that my characterization of West Virginians is racist, may I say in my defense that I was not only born in West Virginia but was raised in Allegany County, MD—aka eastern West Virginia. Plus, I’m only making generalizations like I was taught.) Luckily, statistics are on my side—West Virginia is 93% white and ranks near the bottom of the 50 states in personal income. So, there’s that.

The problem for West Virginians, unlike citizens of the southern states, is that displaying the confederate flag not only calls into question their loyalty but also their intelligence. During the Civil War, the northern and western counties of Virginia were allowed to leave the confederacy for the union because they could not stomach what the confederacy stood for. (No doubt, irony is now lost.) And just like that, for better or worse, we had West Virginia. But particularly worrisome are those that display their confederate Stars and Bars right beside Old Glory. After all, who in their right mind roots for both Ohio State and Michigan?

So, watch out for this nefarious bill and fight tooth and nail against it. By one count this new law, if passed, could disenfranchise up to 600,000 confederate flag waving, right-leaning West Virginians, which would be enough to turn the state blue! If West Virginia falls, who’s next, Arkansas?

This whole sordid affair is best summed up in this Yiddish phrase my great-grandmother taught me, which lawyers love to use and often appears in court briefs and, unfortunately, the laws of the land—Yad Sloof Lirpa Yppah!  This roughly translates to Happy April Fools’ Day!

Gary Bennett
Frederick, MD