Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.) is the reason Joe Biden is president.  It was he who convinced South Carolina's Black Democrat voters to throw their weight behind Biden, not Bernie, in that state's Democrat primary, killing Bernie's momentum.  Now Clyburn, who is the majority whip in the House, is trying to convince all Americans that a voter registration card is "ID."  Isn't it bad enough that he already saddled us with something awful in the White House?

The centerpiece of the Democrats' grossly misnamed "For the People" Act was that it would do away with photo ID requirements to vote because, Democrats' claim, they're racist.  As far as Democrats are concerned, while Blacks and other non-Whites are capable of getting photo ID for flying, attending Democrat conventions, buying alcohol, and generally living life in the modern world, these same minorities cannot get photo ID to vote.

In this regard, America is out of step with the rest of the world.  For example, every country in continental Europe requires photo ID to vote.  Mexico, too, requires photo ID to vote.  In Africa, a continent with a fragile infrastructure that makes photo ID truly difficult to obtain, the current trend (more than 60% of countries) is to digitize people's identities to improve election integrity. And yet Democrats assure us that American Blacks just can't get that ID

The problem for Democrats is that, even as they denigrate minorities' ability to get photo identification, most Americans think that photo ID is a good idea for election integrity.  In April, 75% of U.S. voters gave a photo ID a thumbs up, with 73% of Blacks saying yes and 81% of other non-White voters saying yes.  By June, the overall percentage of Americans supporting voter ID had soared to 80%.

Clyburn may have political values that I deeply oppose, but he's no fool.  If voters want ID for elections, he's willing to lie and prevaricate to make them think that he, too, wants such ID.  On July 4, he appeared on CNN with Dana Bash, who still dreams that the "For the People" Act can be resurrected.  However, she recognizes that the Supreme Court's decision in Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee, supporting Arizona's new voting laws, puts the Court's imprimatur on those states requiring voters to show photographic identification.  Clyburn, seeing which way the wind is blowing, suddenly enthusiastically endorsed ID laws.  Pay attention to what he says, though, because every word is a lie:

Democratic Rep. Jim Clyburn says he's "absolutely" open to a voter I.D. requirement as long as it is "equitable:" "You ought to be able to vote with whatever I.D. that you have" #CNNSOTU pic.twitter.com/v9QynSQFTo

— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) July 4, 2021

Bash points out that, last year, Clyburn was calling ID "voter suppression."  This year, though, with Sen. Joe Manchin (D-State of Duplicity) saying voters should show ID or a utility bill, Clyburn is singing a different song.  (Incidentally, utility bills do not prove that someone is who he says he is.)  When Bash asks if Clyburn could go along with Manchin's plan, Clyburn enthuses:

Absolutely. Dana, when I first registered to vote as a 21-year-old — back then, 18-year-olds could not vote — I got a voter registration card. And I always present that voter registration card when I go to vote. And that is voter ID.

No, that is not "voter ID."  That is a lie.  A voter registration card merely says that someone named Jim Clyburn is registered to vote.  However, it does not show that the person holding that card is, in fact, Jim Clyburn.  Only a driver's license, state ID card (for those who don't drive), or a passport — all of which have reliable photos — provide identification.

After that outright lie, Clyburn throws a lot of dust in the air about student "activity" cards, hunting licenses, and the fact that he doesn't own a gun.  It is true that, in some states that require concealed carry licenses, those licenses, just like a driver's license, have a photo.  However, that requirement does not apply to owning a gun or hunting.  As for student IDs, there's no way to ascertain that the hundreds of different ID cards students might present are valid.

And then Clyburn brings up something called "inequitable ID":

I'm drawing the line at inequitable ID. Any kind of ID that you got, people, if you're 94 years old, you don't drive anymore, but you're still watching the news every day, and you want to keep up, you want to vote, and you don't have a photo ID, then you ought to be able to vote with whatever ID that you have.

Again, a lie.  Every state will provide photo ID to people who don't drive.  There's no such thing as a 94-year-old who cannot get a photo ID.  Moreover, when Clyburn refers to "whatever ID that you have," he's again saying he does not want people to have to provide photographs — which are the only reliable forms of ID we have.

As I said, Clyburn's no fool.  He sees which way the wind is blowing, and he's willing to speak political Double Dutch to get voters to think he's on board.  Don't you be fooled.  He's not.

Image: A sample South Carolina Driver’s license for James Clyburn by Andrea Widburg, using public domain images.

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