Cindy Hyde-Smith… a Mississippi joke of a U.S. Senator

Yesterday, Cindy Hyde-Smith, a White Banana Republican United States Senator from Mississippi made some genuinely STUPID remarks in a Senate Rules Committee hearing.

She’s the same Cindy Hyde-Smith who not too long ago infamously said “If he invited me to a public hanging, I’d be on the front row,” in Tupelo, MS after Colin Hutchinson, cattle rancher, praised her on November 11, 2018.

I’ll let the Wonkette site headline speak for me… at least in part – on her current stupidism.

Cindy Hyde-Smith Is A Mississippi Goddamn Moron

by Evan Hurst
March 24, 2021; 4:20 PM

“In the Senate today, during the Rules Committee’s big hearing on HR1/S1, the “For The People” Act, which among other things would protect the right to vote for ALL eligible Americans, Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith, a Republican from Not Georgia, let us know why she thinks people shouldn’t be able to vote on Sundays, and definitely not in Mississippi.”

First of all, she’s a Banana Republican.

Secondly, she attended a segregated, Whites-only High School.

Thirdly, she’s from Mississippi.

Fourthly, she’s a Trump sycophant.

Need I continue?

But ANYONE can view her remarks in context in the links below. Also, her remarks are transcribed as follows.

The FULL Committee hearing may be viewed here:
https://www.rules.senate.gov/hearings/watch?hearingid=92E7CB0D-5056-A066-6054-8B48164806BF

The pertinent excerpt occurs here:
https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4954273/user-clip-ms-sen-cindy-hyde-smith-sunday-god

Her remarks begin at 2:46:10 as Committee Chair Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar acknowledges Mississippi Senator Hyde-Smith, who then states, “Before we start, I have a question for the Chair,” addressed to Chair Amy Klobuchar, which Chair Klobuchar acknowledges, and bids her to continue, which she does, as follows:

“Senator Schumer’s question was he was wondering why on Sundays Georgia would not participate in an electoral process of gathering signatures, registration and things on registration and things on Sunday. I would just like to respond to that, because Georgia is a Southern state just like Mississippi. I cannot speak for Georgia, but I can speak for Mississippi, on why we would never do that on a Sunday, or hold an election on a Sunday.

“You know, this is our currency, this is a dollar bill. This says the United States of America, in God we trust. Etched in stone in the U.S. Senate chamber is “in God we trust.” When you swore in all of these witnesses, the last thing you said to them in your instructions was “so help you God.” And God’s word, in Exodus 20:18, it says remember the Sabbath and keep it holy.

“So that is my response to Senator Schumer.

“Thank you, Madam Chairman.

“Now I will begin with my questions.

“Also I have a letter I would like to have entered into the record. You know, I’m really concerned how this election will negatively affect the integrity of the election system. I recently received a letter from our Secretary of State in Mississippi, Michael Watson. He was concerned that the various provisions in this act provide new pathways for election fraud and undermine the First Amendment right to free speech through censorship of campaign activity and restrict the State’s authority to conduct local elections. Given Secretary Watson’s role as Mississippi’s Chief Election Officer, would ask that the entire letter from Secretary Watson be entered into the record.”

The context of the hearing was about H.R. 1/S. 1 popularly known as the “For The People Act” which would accomplish many things, among them, protecting the right of all citizens to vote, and establish uniformity of rules for the same in Federal elections, prohibit so-called “dark money,” require Federal judges to adhere to a code of conduct, require Presidential candidates to publicly divulge at least 10 years of income tax returns, overturn the disastrous Citizens United ruling by the Supreme Court, require that non-politicians draw redistricting lines, and many, many more good things, about which I have written twice.

And with regard for Mississippi Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith, though it should go without saying, it apparently must be said that:
1.) Not everyone is religious;
2.) Not everyone who is religious subscribes to the same version of religion, and;
3.) Various provisions in our United States Constitution
a.) specifically prohibit the establishment or “respect” of a religion by the government, as well as
b.) prohibit any “religious test” for any office of public trust at any level of government, and
c.) provides for equal treatment of all.

As Senator Hyde-Smith quoted from the Torah in the book of Exodus (known as the “Old Testament” to Christians), the “Sabbath” is for Jews, and occurs from sundown on Friday, through sunrise on Sunday. So that’s essentially ALL of Saturday. Of course, Senator Hyde-Smith is a Christian, not a Jew.

And yet, there are so many things that she blithely ignores when she makes that religious observation and claim. Among them are numerous sports games, such as football, baseball, soccer, golf, automobile racing, and more.

Then, there’s the fact of the matter that Senator Hyde-Smith was herself sworn in on a Sunday. See: Hyde-Smith Sworn In To First Full Term, Published 1:12 PM Monday, January 4, 2021; “Republican U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, of Brookhaven, took the oath of office Sunday to serve Mississippi for her first full term for the next six years in the 117th Congress.”
See also: Cindy Hyde-Smith Sworn Into 117th Congress During Ceremony, January 3, 2021; “JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) – U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) took the oath of office Sunday. Vice President Mike Pence officiated during the ceremony marking the start of the 117th Congress.”

So there’s that apparent conflict between what she says, and what she does.

And there’s the Twitter thing. She not only Tweets on Sunday, but promotes basketball sports activity. But that’s enough about her. The hypocrisy is glaring.

Naturally, for observant Jews, especially orthodox ones, nothing at all happens on Saturday. Practically nothing, that is. They certainly have peculiar rules concerning their behavior on that day, such as anything that could even remotely be considered “work” is strictly forbidden, such as not cooking, not using light switches, and not driving cars. Seriously. For many, it’s a bizarre little world with strange rules. But, it’s their little world. And if makes them happy, so be it. They certainly have that right afforded to them by the Constitution.

And, while there are Jews in Mississippi, and their history in that state, and in the South in general, is a beautiful one, it is certainly a minority one, just as much as the presence of Chinese emigrants in Mississippi.

See: Chinese in Mississippi: An Ethnic People in a Biracial Society
by Charles Reagan Wilson
http://www.mshistorynow.mdah.ms.gov/articles/86/mississippi-chinese-an-ethnic-people-in-a-biracial-society

The Legacy Of The Mississippi Delta Chinese
by Melissa Block, and Elissa Nadworny
March 18, 2017 – 8:12 AM ET
https://www.npr.org/2017/03/18/519017287/the-legacy-of-the-mississippi-delta-chinese

Pioneer Chinese Immigrants in the Mississippi Delta: Chinese Merchants in the Delta
by John Jung
8/23/13
https://chineseamericanhistorian.blogspot.com/2013/08/pioneer-chinese-immigrants-in.html

Chinese Oral Histories
https://www.deltastate.edu/library/departments/archives-museum/guides-to-the-collection/oral-history-collections/chinese-oral-histories/

Honor And Duty: The Mississippi Delta Chinese
by Ellie Banks
April 29, 2016
https://www.mpbonline.org/blogs/mississippi-public-broadcasting/honor-and-duty-the-mississippi-delta-chinese/

The Southern Chinese Americans of the Mississippi Delta
March 10, 2020
https://www.pbs.org/video/southern-chinese-americans-mississippi-delta-v89zqd/

The Untold Story Of America’s Southern Chinese
AJ+
August 16, 2017
https://youtu.be/2NMrqGHr5zE

While there are a few Christians who observe Saturday as the “Sabbath,” such as Seventh Day Adventists, most Christians observe Sunday as their “Sabbath” because of a decree from Roman Emperor Constantine, who was a religious devotee of the sun, and who later was purported to have “converted” to Christianity… though he largely retained his former religious practices. It’s probably more likely that he “saw the handwriting on the wall” with regard for the newfound, and rapidly-growing religious adherents newly known as “Christians,” and desired to maintain peace with them, so he may have found placating them significantly less burdensome than making them enemies of the state.

But with regard to the matter of Sunday being considered a worshipful day among Christians, Philip Schaff wrote an authoritative series of books about the history of Christianity, from which the following was obtained.

In AD 321, Constantine decreed that:

“On the venerable Day of the sun let the magistrates and people residing in cities rest, and let all workshops be closed. In the country, however, persons engaged in agriculture may freely and lawfully continue their pursuits: because it often happens that another Day is not so suitable for grain sowing or for vine planting: lest by neglecting the proper moment for such operations the bounty of heaven should be lost.” [English translation from Latin]

Ref: https://archive.org/details/historyofchristi03schauoft

§75. The Civil and Religious Sunday., p379-381.
History of the Christian Church
by Philip Schaff
Volume 3
Nicene and Post-Nicene Christianity: From Constantine the Great to Gregory the Great A.D. 311-600
5th edition, 1906, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York

“Constantine is the founder, in part at least, of the civil observance of Sunday, by which alone the religious observance of it in the church could be made universal and could be properly secured. In the year 321 he issued a law prohibiting manual labor in the cities and all judicial transactions, at a later period also military exercises, on Sunday. (1) He exempted the liberation of slaves, which as an act of Christian humanity and charity, might, with special propriety, take place on that day.(2) But the Sunday law of Constantino must not be overrated. He enjoined the observance, or rather forbade the public desecration of Sunday, not under the name of Sabbatum or Dies Doming but under its old astrological and heathen title, Dies Solis, familiar to all his subjects, so that the law was as applicable to the worshippers of Hercules, Apollo, and Mithras, as to the Christians. There is no reference whatever in his law either to the fourth commandment or to the resurrection of Christ. Besides he expressly exempted the country districts, where paganism still prevailed, from the prohibition of labor, and thus avoided every appearance of injustice. Christians and pagans had been accustomed to festival rests ; Constantino made these rests to synchronize, and gave the preference to Sunday, on which day Christians from the beginning celebrated the resurrection of their Lord and Saviour. This and no more was implied in the famous enactment of 321. It was only a step in the right direction, but probably the only one which Constantino could prudently or safely take at that period of transition from the rule of paganism to that of Christianity.”

(1) Lex Constantini a. 321 (Cod. Just. 1. iii., Tit. 12, 3): Imperator Constantinus Aug. Helpidio: “Omnes judices, urbanæque plebes et cunctarum artium officia venerabili die Solis quiescant. Ruri tamen positi agrorum culturae libere licenterque inserviant, quoniam frequentur, evenit, ut non apitus alio die frumenta sulcis aut vineæ scrobibus mandentur, ne occasione momenti pereat commoditas cœesti provisione concessa. Dat. Non. Mart. Crispo i. et Constantino ii. Coss” In English: “On the venerable Day of the Sun let the magistrates and people residing in cities rest, and let all workshops be closed. In the country, however, persons engaged in agri culture may freely and lawfully continue their pursuits ; because it often happens that another day is not so suitable for grain-sowing or for vine-planting ; lest by “neglecting the proper moment for such operations the bounty of heaven should be lost. (Given the 7th day of March, Crispus and Constantine being consuls each of them for the second time.)” The prohibition of military exercises is mentioned by Eusebius, Vita Const. IV. 19, 20, and seems to refer to a somewhat later period. In this point Constantine was in advance of modern Christian princes, who prefer Sundays for parades.

If someone does NOT want to vote on Sunday, or any other day of the week, then don’t vote on Sunday, or any other day of the week. It’s just that simple. NO ONE is, nor will be, forcing anyone to do anything against their will. Not in H.R. 1/S. 1, nor in any other prospective legislation.

This is just another example of “stupid shit Banana Republican politicians say.” That, and nothing more.