from Michael Garrett NC Senate FB page on NC redistricting

They Were So Afraid, They Erased the Words.

Yesterday, I stood on the Senate floor and spoke truth about what happened in North Carolina. About democracy being stolen in broad daylight. About rigged maps and broken promises. About betraying every sacrifice ever made for the right to vote.

Then something extraordinary happened.

Senator Grafstein moved that my remarks be spread upon the journal, entered into the permanent record of this body. This is routine. It happens constantly. It's almost always done without objection, a simple courtesy extended across party lines for speeches on both sides.

The Republicans immediately objected.

They forced a vote. And on a straight party line, they voted to keep my words out of the permanent record.

In my entire time in the Senate, I have never seen this happen.

Let that sink in for a moment.

They rigged the maps. Then they voted to erase any record of someone calling them out for it.
This isn't about me. This is about what their fear reveals.

They weren't afraid of my words because they were false, they were afraid because they were true. They weren't blocking the record to protect themselves, they were doing it because they know history will judge them harshly for what they did yesterday.

They stood on that floor, voted to rig our elections at Trump's command, and then, in the very next breath, tried to memory-hole anyone who dared to say it out loud.

That's not the behavior of people confident in their principles. That's the behavior of people ashamed of their actions.

If what they did was righteous, they'd want it documented. If their cause was just, they'd welcome debate for the permanent record. If they believed they were serving North Carolina, they'd let history judge them on the merits.

But they don't believe any of that. They know what they did was wrong. They know they sold out democracy. They know they chose Trump over the people of North Carolina. They know they stole voices and rigged maps and betrayed their oaths.

And they're so ashamed, so terrified that future generations will read what was said and render judgment, that they won't even let the words stand in the record.

But you can't erase truth by blocking it from a journal.

You can't make democracy's defenders disappear by parliamentary procedure. You can't memory-hole a movement by refusing to record it.

Those words were said. Thousands watched online. The press reported it. North Carolinians heard it. And now millions more will hear about it, because their attempt to silence it only amplified the message.

They tried to bury the truth. Instead, they proved it.

Their fear is our proof. Their shame is our vindication.

Because you don't try to erase words from the record unless those words have power. You don't vote on party lines to block routine motions unless you're terrified of what they represent. You don't abandon decades of Senate courtesy unless you know, deep in your bones, that history will not be kind.

They are losing, and they know it.

Not today's vote, they won that. They got their rigged maps. They'll steal their seats. They'll cling to power for a few more years.

But they're losing the war that matters. The war for legitimacy. The war for history's judgment. The war for the hearts and minds of the next generation watching this unfold.
This weekend, millions marched saying "America has no kings." Yesterday, North Carolina Republicans proved exactly why those marches were necessary. They rigged our elections, tried to erase any record of opposition, then went home thinking they'd won.

They have no idea what's coming.

Because every time they silence a voice, ten more rise up. Every time they rig a map, a thousand more people organize. Every time they betray democracy, a million more Americans understand: this is the fight of our generation, and surrender is not an option.

Their fear means we're winning. Their desperation means our movement has power. Their need to erase us from the record means they hear us perfectly, and what they hear terrifies them.

So we get louder. We organize harder. We fight fiercer.

They can block words from a journal, but they cannot block the march of justice. They can erase speeches from the record, but they cannot erase the promise from the hearts of a people who refuse to bow to kings.

They were so afraid of the truth, they voted to erase it from history.

That tells you everything about the weakness of their cause and everything about the power of ours.

Yesterday, truth was spoken. Today, they're still trying to silence it. Tomorrow, we rise louder than before.

The fight continues. The promise endures. And every desperate attempt they make to silence us only proves we're saying exactly what they fear most:

Their time is ending. Democracy's reckoning is coming. And no rigged map, no stolen vote, no erased record can stop a people who refuse to be silent.

We're just getting started.

#NoKings #NCPolitics #DefendDemocracy #TheyreAfraid #Democracy #WeAreWinning



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