U.S. Rep. Jody Hice (R-Greensboro) has reached the height of hypocrisy. He is one of a few extremists who, for totally political reasons, have proposed that the House impeach Rod Rosenstein, the Republican deputy attorney general who is overseeing the Mueller investigation. There is absolutely no rational reason for taking this action, other than to impede and halt this highly productive investigation by removing Robert Mueller.
At the same time, Hice, who supports President Trump regardless of how outrageous his lies and actions are, has not said one word about impeaching Trump. Objectively, there is more than ample reason to consider his impeachment, although it clearly will not happen under this partisan Congress.
As most of you know, Hice is a former right-wing talk show host and extremist preacher. The only reason that he was elected to represent Athens, a liberal bastion in a red state, is that our state legislature decided to add rural, very-red counties into the district to ensure a moderate (like Ken Dious, the Democrat who ran against him in 2014) stood no chance. This gerrymandering is responsible for electing ideologues like Hice all over the country, in many red (and a lesser number of blue) states.
Hice does not represent his district well. He was against the Affordable Care Act, which has cut the number of uninsured in Georgia by over half. He was for Trumpcare, which would have resulted in a $662 billion windfall for the very wealthy and the loss of insurance for 23 million Americans. Of course, Hice also believes in doing away with the progressive income tax, which has the working man paying proportionately less than the billionaire.
Hice believes women are subservient to men. Per Hice, a woman can enter politics, “as long as she is acting within the authority of her husband.” He also had the audacity to compare gay marriage to bestiality.
He is against any form of gun control, although our gun deaths per capita are five times that of any European nation, all of whom have strong gun control. Further, over 60 percent of Americans believe that there are specific measures which should be taken to strengthen our laws to keep guns out of the hands of criminals and crazy people. Needless to say, the National Rifle Association fully supports Hice (as well as the recently indicted Russian spy).
He does not believe in the separation of church and state, ignoring the fact that the Constitution is clear on this matter. Hice also fails to acknowledge that many of our founding fathers—including Ethan Hale, Samuel Paine, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and Ben Franklin—did not believe in the Trinity or Christianity as Hice preaches it.
Back when I was a commissioner in Jasper County, not far from Athens, Hice encouraged the Barrow County Board of Commissioners to have religious displays in their courthouse. This was clearly unconstitutional, and they lost the case, paying $150,000 to the ACLU to offset legal fees. Hice just didn’t understand that we are not a theocracy, and still doesn’t.
The only way that we can make progress in our nation is to rid our Congress and state legislatures of extremists like Hice. That will only happen if we vote them out.
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