Breaking the law

To vote early and often was supposed to be a Louisiana political joke. It was up there with an old adage often quipped by Senator Russell Long, who expressed a desire to be buried in St. Bernard Parish so he could continue to participate in the political process after his demise.

Voter fraud is supposed to be a political joke at best – not the advice of the U.S. president. President Donald Trump told North Carolina Republican voters to attempt to cast more than one vote this autumn. He urged them to vote by mail and then to vote in person, to show potential flaws in the electoral system. In other words, the chief law-enforcement officer of the United States asked millions of his fellow citizens to commit a felony.

It is a testament to how far our political discourse has fallen that the story barely caused a ripple in national news feeds. When a president encourages treason, that should prove sufficiently important to dominate headlines for weeks.

This article originally published in the September 7, 2020 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.