Helen Sloan / HBOGeorge R.R. Martin, author of A Game of Thrones, took to his blog last weekend to go on a rant against Republicans and "their Teabagger allies."
In a blog post titled "Show Us Your Papers," Martin writes that he must comment on the "attempts at voter suppression" in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Florida and Iowa, saying that "the people behind these efforts at disenfranchising large groups of voters (the young, the old, the black, the brown) are not Republicans, since clearly they have scant regard for our republic or its values. They are oligarchs and racists clad in the skins of dead elephants."
He continues: "It is one thing to attempt to win elections. But trying to do so by denying the most basic and important right of any American citizen to hundreds and thousands of people, on entirely spurious grounds... that goes beyond reprehensible. That is despicable."
The mood of his blog post? "Angry." The music? "We Shall Overcome." Think a fantasy novelist has no right to talk politics? Martin begs to differ, replying to a reader's comment with this: "I am pretty upfront about my political views… but I also strive to keep contemporary politics out of my medieval fantasies. Mind you, there are certain themes that are universal — musings on power, justice, the purpose of government — and those will inevitably be a part of any book that treats with kings and wars, etc."
After you get over the fact that Martin still uses livejournal (what an awesome, old-school move), check out his full blog post.