Skip to content
News

Meshell Ndegeocello on the Party That Wants a Piece of Your Privacy

Meshell Ndegeocello / Photo by Charlie Gross

Remember that this election is bigger than the presidency, y’all! The Republican party favors the Citizens United ruling, which has opened the floodgates for Super PACs to pour massive amounts of money into political campaigns, to the point that a wealthy few individuals and corporations have much more power and influence than average citizens.

That same party favors restrictive voting rules that tend to disenfranchise completely legitimate elderly, disabled, and young voters, which for me is painfully reminiscent of the poll taxes, literacy tests and grandfather clauses that were used for decades to prevent lawful citizens from voting. That same party, which is mathematically favored to gain full control of Congress, favors laws that insert the government into private matters like who people choose to love, what people do in their bedrooms, and how women care for their bodies, all of which are likely to be challenged legally and end up in the Supreme Court. With at least two Supreme Court appointments likely in the next Presidential term, I’ll be thinking about the quality of our democracy if it continues to be controlled by the wealthy few, if every citizen’s right to vote is not protected, or if the judicial check on legislative abuse is dominated by more Scalias instead of more Sotomayors.

Be conscious of your whole ticket, of your whole government, and vote your heart out.