Often when I try to register voters, I will get the response “Why bother, they’re all crooks.” I often feel like responding, “You never met Congressman Don Edwards.”
When we lived in San Jose, Don Edwards was our Congressman. He was a former FBI agent, hated by J. Edgar Hoover, because he always rose in defense of the Bill of Rights. He authored numerous civil rights bills, including the Voting Rights Act provision for “pre-clearance” to prevent certain states from adopting laws to restrict black voting. (This was struck down by the Supreme Court on a 5-4 vote in 2013, and already states like North Carolina have adopted laws to depress black turnout.)
Edwards was on the right side of every issue. He opposed the Vietnam War. He pushed for the impeachment of Nixon. He was able to work with Republicans to protect the First Amendment, and he was sometimes called “The Congressman from the First Amendment.” He helped to scuttle proposed constitutional amendments on flag burning, busing, abortion, and a balanced federal budget.
I have been represented at the federal and state levels by some rather mediocre and downright pathetic legislators (Santorum, Toomey, and Heffley spring to mind), but I was also represented by one of the best.
Our national refuge in south San Francisco Bay was named the Don Edwards National Wildlife Refuge. I can’t think of a better honor, unless they name the new FBI building for him as well.
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