Thread by @lisasharper

There is a moment in Season 4, Episode 8 of #TheCrown that explains the #VotingRights impasse. 1/ #MLKDay

In this e8, The Queen want to unite the Commonwealth to oppose Apartheid, but she must get the one holdout to sign on first—Margaret Thatcher. Thatcher won’t budge. 2/ #VotingRightsAct #thecrown

Round after round the Queen’s men bring her edited versions of the coalition’s statement. Each time she whips out her red pen sniping, “No. No. No.” 3/
#VotingRightsAct #thecrown

No one can understand why Thatcher won’t oppose such an obvious evil. 4/
#Apartheid #thecrown #VotingRightsAct

Thatcher eventually agrees to an edit and everyone thinks she’s bent toward them. Then she stands at the podium and declares the language she agreed to is vague enough that she can justify going the opposite direction. 😵😳 5/
#Apartheid #thecrown #VotingRightsAct

In the final moments of the episode, Thatcher let’s it slip that her son has recently become a businessman—in South Africa. 6/
#Apartheid #thecrown #VotingRightsAct

The @washingtonpost dropped epic report impact of 1700 slaveowning congressmen on legislation. Concludes their economic interests and white supremacist beliefs drastically impacted the legal foundations of our nation. 7/ #VotingRightsAct
washingtonpost.com/history/intera…

As we close #MLKDay 2022, our democracy teeters on a precipice that Dr. Martin Luther King predicted in 1967, in his book, #WhereDoWeGoFromHere. 8/
#VotingRightsAct #MLK

King says whites who want equality are balanced by “…the unrepentant segregationists who have declared that democracy is not worth having, if it involves equality.” (pgs11-12, #wheredowegofromhere) 9/ #VotingRightsAct #MLKDay

In today’s terminology, we would say “the unrepentant white supremacist” or “the unrepentant white nationalist.” And we might think of these guys… 10/
#WhiteSupremacy #VotingRightsAct

But a white supremacist is not determined by the color of their cap or the whiteness of the sheet they wear. They are determined by what the DO. 11/
#WhiteSupremacy
#VotingRightsAct #MLKDay

What is @Sen_JoeManchin doing?
In the face of certain voter suppression/subversion that will lead to the certain dismantling of our democracy, he is blocking a MINOR change (read #carveout) to the #Filibuster rule that would save us all. AND he’s lying about it. 12/#VotingRights

What @Sen_JoeManchin is doing is this: HE is singlehandedly dismantling our democracy.
And why?
Like #TheCrown’s Thatcher, he has a vested interest in the status quo.
13/ #VotingRightsMatter #MLKDay

Manchin is a multimillionaire. 71% of his $$ comes from energy company he started. Plus, over past 5 years he snagged 50+ billionaire donors. Nothing against billionaires. But when the rigged game is working for you, not so keen on letting others play. 14/ #VotingRightsMatter

Like Thatcher, @Sen_JoeManchin has sold his soul to💰. He may not scheme with the Nazis who attempted a coup. But, his love of 💵 is demonstrably greater than his love for America—greater than his love for democracy. 15/ #VotingRightsMatter #MLKDay

And @Sen_JoeManchin’s disregard for the #certain disenfranchisement of BIPOC, LGBTQ+, women, disabled, senior, sick and poor people in #WV and across the US makes him a #whitenationalist in deed and in heart. 16/ #VotingRightsAct #MLKDay

The @Sen_JoeManchin will join 1700 slave owning legislators whose votes shaped our nation to serve their business interests. They laid legal foundations for exploitation/neglect of images of God. Manchin will seal the deal. Why? #itsjustbusiness 17/17 #VotingRightsNow #MLK2022