EDITORIAL: Our Democracy is Fading: Georgia Deploys Troops to Washington, D.C.

By State Representative Eric Bell (D-Jonesboro)

(531 words)

My fellow Georgians, I write to you as both a representative and a veteran of the United States Navy, deeply alarmed by the direction in which our state and nation are headed.

Georgia's governor has chosen to send the sons and daughters of Georgia's National Guard not to protect our communities in times of disaster or crisis, but to Washington, D.C. to serve as symbols of force. This decision does not strengthen democracy; it erodes it. It does not keep us safe; it places us on a dangerous path toward authoritarian rule.

When I swore my oath as a naval officer, it was not to a political party or the theater of power. It was to the people, to liberty and to the enduring promise of America. Yet today, our Guard members are being used as pawns in a spectacle of intimidation-deployed not to defend, but to display.

Look closely at the images coming from our nation's capital: tanks on American streets, soldiers in combat gear where citizens should walk in peace and a militarized presence overshadowing the very seat of our democracy. These are not the sights of freedom. These are the signs of a democracy in peril.

If this is not martial law, it is dangerously close. And we must ask: why must citizens feel occupied in their own country? Why are tools of war being turned inward against the very people they were sworn to protect?

This is not sound leadership. It is a misuse of Georgia's resources, a betrayal of public trust and a distortion of the National Guard's sacred mission. The Guard exists to serve in times of calamity and bring relief when disaster strikes, not to be twisted into an instrument of fear.

What begins as a misuse of troops for political theater can end with a government that no longer answers to its people. Today, it is the National Guard on the streets of Washington. Tomorrow, unchecked, it could be the Guard on the streets of Georgia. Authoritarianism does not arrive overnight. It comes step by step, in the name of order, disguised as security, until the freedoms we cherish have quietly slipped away.

We cannot remain silent. At the very least, this decision demands accountability, transparency and resistance from all who believe in democracy.

The people of Georgia deserve answers. They deserve leaders who put their well-being above political theater and a government that guards their freedoms rather than erodes them.

As a Navy veteran, as a state representative and as a Georgian, I tell you this: I will not stand by while our state's resources are misused and our people are left less safe. I will not agree to the militarization of our democracy. And, I will not be silent while the early steps of authoritarianism are being laid before our eyes.

I still believe in a Georgia where our troops serve the people, not politics. I still believe in an America where liberty is protected, not suppressed. And, I still believe that if we raise our voices together, loudly, urgently and without fear, we can turn back from the path of dictatorship and reclaim the promise of democracy for all.

Representative Eric Bell represents the citizens of District 75, which includes a portion of Clayton County. He was first elected to the House of Representatives in 2023 and currently serves on the Defense & Veterans Affairs, Human Relations & Aging and Small Business Development committees.

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