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A Tea Party Lesson On Civics

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COMPARTA ESTE CONTENIDO:

"People who could not even spell the word 'vote' or say it in English put a committed socialist ideologue in the White House. His name is Barack Hussein Obama;" Tom Tancredo former Republican congressman from Colorado.

 

 Attacking immigrants and their culture was a very astute approach to rile up a movement self christened as a 'Tea Party' seemingly to honor the 1773 Boston action against new taxes imposed by the British crown.

 Lacking originality, Tancredo excels in rehashing vitriolic haranguing, effective throughout the ages to fire up mobs bent on riotous action.

 It is no coincidence the rise of Hispanic voting power and today's urge to undermine the very right to vote intrinsic to citizenship.

 If today's Tea Party movement wants to emulate their Boston forbears it would help to remember the basic tenets of our Constitution.

 "The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States… by account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude." Amendment XV

 "Shall not be denied or abridged…on account of sex" Amendment XIX

 "Shall not be denied or abridged…by reason of failure to pay poll tax or other tax."

 "Shall not be denied or abridged… on account of age" Amendment XXVI

 To "abridge" the right to vote would mean to deprive or diminish by means of introducing extraneous requisites such as Tancredo's suggestion to test citizens in civics literacy.

 A passionate defender of gun touting, Tancredo would gnash his teeth at even the suggestion of changing the Constitution's Second Amendment.  And yet with the same passion he counters other provisions of our Constitution that grant citizenship by birth or protect the right to vote.

 Mr. Tancredo you failed your civics literacy test.

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