Random Thoughts.
If Trump had used civilized rhetoric like Biden, Obama, and Bush, two of the three attempts on his life would not have had happened.
"Trump’s hypocritical crusade on violent rhetoric — and the country’s emerging split reality"
The one that almost killed him had nothing to do with violent rhetoric from either side, at least directly. The one guy that actually got a shot off did so because he simply wanted to kill somebody who was high profile. Trump just happened to be available.
From (now I guess I have to highlight this) one of the most trusted news networks -https://www.cnn.com/2026/04/27/politics/trump-violent-rhetoric-analysisThe Trumpers want to blame anti-Trump rhetoric for the violence at the Press dinner, but Trump in his “rhetoric” has attacked Democrats and the left far more vehemently. I can’t stand the political right as their outrage is obviously selective in nature. So Trump can engage in it, but no one else may apply his modus operandi against the “King” himself?
"Trump calls on ABC to fire Kimmel after he joked Melania was an ‘expectant widow’"
Now Trump doesn't like being called OLD (which is what Kimmel was referring to). Melania is what, 56? And Trump is close to 80, and in poor physical and mental health.
I guess "widow" is now a banned word for anybody but MAGA to use in their fight for Political Correctness."And Trump is close to 80, and in poor physical and mental health." ECO
More misinformation. The official information that has been released, his physicians’ reports, has consistently described him as being in good health for his age.
TDS is a very sad condition, in my view, incurable.
Where did the idea from Republicans to put the military and paramilitary at our voting booths come from? Why from history of course, it is not a novel idea on how to intimidate voters. Here is a paragraph from my book on Conservatism in America
"On the ground, the counterrevolution refined itself from riots into ritual. In Mississippi, the Plan of 1875 perfected a choreography of intimidation—economic pressure, targeted beatings, and election-day menace—precise enough to flip a state without announcing a coup. South Carolina followed with the Hamburg Massacre in 1876 and then with something even more instructive: Red Shirt parades, rifles on shoulders, escorting voters to the polls. It was violence made visible and, therefore, often unnecessary; the point was not chaos but control.[3]"" Where did the idea from Republicans to put the military and paramilitary at our voting booths come from?" ECO
Misinformation needs to be identified and stopped before it becomes accepted as truth by some.
Misinformation, and pure rhetoric --- There is no mainstream Republican platform or official policy calling for “the military” to be stationed at voting booths. That would raise serious legal issues:
The U.S. military is generally prohibited from domestic law enforcement roles under laws like the Posse Comitatus Act. Elections are run by state and local authorities, not the federal military.
https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/ … hatgpt.com
https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/R4 … hatgpt.com
"On the ground, the counterrevolution refined itself from riots into ritual. In Mississippi, the Plan of 1875 perfected a choreography of intimidation—economic pressure, targeted beatings, and election-day menace—precise enough to flip a state without announcing a coup. South Carolina followed with the Hamburg Massacre in 1876 and then with something even more instructive: Red Shirt parades, rifles on shoulders, escorting voters to the polls. It was violence made visible and, therefore, often unnecessary; the point was not chaos but control.[3]" ECO
That claim is not just inaccurate, it’s detached from how U.S. law actually works. The Posse Comitatus Act explicitly restricts the use of the military in civilian law enforcement, making the idea of troops at voting booths both legally and practically implausible. Presenting it as a serious or imminent threat isn’t grounded in reality; it reads as deliberate fear-based messaging meant to inflame and mislead rather than inform. Hate is a terrible thing, and this kind of comment foments hate.Oh, give me a break, I am using Republican the same way you always use Democrats. Once you understand that, the rest of your comment falls apart.
"“Armed group can monitor Arizona ballot drop boxes, federal judge rules” — AP/PBS. This was the 2022 Arizona case where right-wing associated people showed up near Maricopa County drop boxes armed and in ballistic vests; voters said they felt intimidated."
"Law enforcement preps for potential election-related unrest” — AP. This describes concerns in 2020 about armed groups from the right at polling places and “vigilante groups” trying to “protect the election.”
Are you suggesting you don't remember those? I can get many more if you like." Where did the idea from Republicans to put the military and paramilitary at our voting booths come from?" ECO
You shifted away from the subject of your post. When read in its full context, the statement clearly presents itself as a factual claim. Your inability to apply proper context is a problem. Many people today struggle with this, which is why misinformation is often presented and repeated as fact. That in itself is dangerous.
Where did the idea from Republicans to put the military and paramilitary at our voting booths come from?
There is no evidence of an official Republican policy or directive to place the military at voting booths.You are deflecting again. Only you shifted the context to "official" Republican policy - that is simply a red herring.
Since I wrote it, you might be surprised to know that I understand the context; it is you who are trying to change it.
Also, you apparently ignored my factual claim that I am using "Republican" the same you use "Democrat".
It is ONLY the right wing (i.e., Republican) who have threatened to or actually did put armed men and maybe women at voting places around the country.
Twist the facts all you want, you can't get away from that truth.
What is dangerous is ignoring the violent acts of the right-wing." Where did the idea from Republicans to put the military and paramilitary at our voting booths come from?" ECO
Let me refer to the way this statement is written and address its context. As it is phrased, the placement of the word “Republicans” followed by “put the military and paramilitary at our voting booths” can be read as implying that some form of official directive or congressional order was given. However, that is not actually stated, and the wording creates confusion about what is being claimed versus what is being questioned.
"Also, you apparently ignored my factual claim that I am using "Republican" the same you use "Democrat"" ECO
Gosh, again you offer misinformation. You would need a source and a quote to prove such a statement. When you use the word "claim," it indicates that you feel that you are sharing a fact... But you need to prove your thought with a fully completed quote to prove such a statement.
Again --- Where did the idea from Republicans to put the military and paramilitary at our voting booths come from?
There is no evidence of an official Republican policy or directive to place the military at voting booths.
I am not an English teacher, but you sure as hell need one.Sharlee, your “English teacher” crack is backwards.
In NORMAL, modern English, people routinely use party labels like Republicans and Democrats as broad collective nouns to refer not just to an official national platform, but to the party’s politicians, activists, voters, and aligned movement. That is normal usage and you are guilty of that all the time. Nobody hears “Democrats want X” (again something you often do) and assumes the speaker is claiming there was a formal DNC resolution. Regular people understand it politically, not bureaucratically.
So your reading is not a lesson in grammar; it is a contrived narrowing of ordinary English so you can dodge the point. I did not say “the RNC officially ordered troops to voting booths.” I said Republicans were the source of the idea, and in normal English that plainly includes Republican politicians, Republican activists, and the broader right-wing movement.
In other words, the problem here is not my grammar. It is your refusal to read an ordinary political statement the way ordinary English speakers (including yourself) actually use political language.“We have really everything in common with America nowadays except, of course, language.” King Charles
I so agree
I must add that he shared a wonderful speech.
"Supreme Court limits reach of the Voting Rights Act"
The conservative Supreme Court has done it again and effectively disenfranchised the Black voter under guise of race-neutrality.
Long before the modern Republican Party, the American conservatives and their predecessors built politics around exclusion, caste order, and rule by the “right” (meaning White) people. Before the founding, political power was restricted to a narrow class. After the founding, democracy was widened mostly for white men while Black people and others were excluded or shoved aside.
For one brief, shining moment during Reconstruction, America actually tried to build something like a multiracial democracy that reflected the values in our Declaration of Independence. That lasted a few short years before conservative reaction moved to crush it.
After Reconstruction, the conservative Supreme Court helped destroy Black voting rights and opened the door to race-neutral Jim Crow, which was discrimination by another means. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was supposed to break that pattern - and it succeeded, for a while.
Instead, today’s conservative majority has spent years gutting it and has now gone further still, weakening one of the last meaningful tools Black voters had to challenge vote dilution. The method is always the same: wrap domination by Whites in the language of neutrality, call exclusion constitutional, and leave Black citizenship dependent on the good faith of white-controlled institutions.
That is not democracy. It is the old American order in updated legal prose.
https://www.cnn.com/2026/04/29/politics … ted-statusWOO HOO!!!! Senator Tom Tillis, R-NC, is sticking it to Trump AGAIN!
After successfully defeating Trump in his revenge against Fed Chief Powell, he set his sights on Bondi's replacement as AG. Apparently, it will not be Blanche as he is known to downplay what happened on Jan 6.
Tillis has vowed to stop the nomination of anybody who comes before him that denies what Jan 6 actually was - an insurrection.
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/04/3 … s-00899577WOW!!! DOIJ prove there incompetence on the world stage yet another time.
Fist they indict the former director of the FBI because he posted a photo of some seashells.
Now they argued with a judge to let them tell her why they want Cole Allen detained - AFTER he already conceded to being detained!!!!
Despite Allen conceding his pretrial detention, prosecutors still fought to present their argument to the judge as to why Allen should remain locked up.
“The defendant has agreed to be detained. He’s essentially conceding to your motion,” the magistrate judge assigned to the hearing,” Judge Moxila A. Upadhyaya told prosecutors in denying their efforts.
“I’m denying the government’s request. It’s truly unprecedented,” the judge added."CNN video analysis: Gunman raised shotgun as he stormed security at press dinner"
This report seems to be more about Trump trying to tank the case against his alleged assassin - typical Trump.
The gist is that his prosecutors, apparently in order to save their jobs, are releasing too many "facts", several of them false, to the public. The magistrate in the case has already scolded them once.
"“I don’t know what’s going on here. I know that you want to present your case, I guess, to some audience other than the Court,” Magistrate Judge Moxila Upadhyaya told three prosecutors in the courtroom on Thursday out of earshot of the public and press. “I don’t want this to turn into a circus.”"
Pirro says Allen shot twice, once at an agent. Other law enforcement say he shot once. The video evidence doesn't yet support definitively that Allen pulled the trigger at all (not that it makes any difference relative to Trump).
From one of the most TRUSTED news outlets in America - https://www.cnn.com/2026/05/01/politics … ner-gunmanPerhaps a diner there simply elbowed that agent and we concluded it was a shotgun blast, right? No evidence of anyone shooting a shotgun, after all!
When did you change your standards of proof? So far there is no conclusive evidence that I have seen that Allen pulled a trigger. I thought conclusive evidence only brought at trial was your standard.
Will Democrats IMPEACH Hegseth for perjury to Congress when they take over the House and probably the Senate and finally bring justice back to our government?
"After saying he rejects the notion that Trump would issue unlawful orders, Hegseth said moments later in the exchange: “I will note that in 2024, troops were depl… – that was Joe Biden by the way, Joe Biden – were deployed to polling locations in 15 states.” He repeated, “2024 – Joe Biden – troops deployed to polling locations in 15 states. Explain that one to me.”
There’s an easy explanation. Hegseth’s claim is not true."DEMOCRATS ON A ROLL
"Democrat Chedrick Greene’s win in Michigan state Senate election gives the party another over-performance"
https://www.cnn.com/2026/05/06/politics … n-electionI have to ask - Why does the MAGA here and in general approve of Trump killing hundreds of thousands of people? Is it because those people aren't Americans and aren't worth saving? Maybe some other reason.
"The Trump administration is trying to divert $2 billion in global health funding to pay for USAID shutdown"
"The Trump administration plans to redirect $2 billion in funding intended for global health programs to cover the cost of closing the US Agency for International Development (USAID), according to a copy of the notification obtained by CNN.
The funds would be pulled from money that Congress appropriated for health programs tackling malaria, tuberculosis, maternal and child health, nutrition, global health security, HIV/AIDS and more, two federal health policy experts told CNN. Roughly $1.2 billion originally intended for foreign development assistance would also be redirected."
https://www.cnn.com/2026/05/07/world/tr … nding-intlCheer me up, ESO, with the bad news coming from Virginia the stench of Republicans and reactionary politics seem to be universal. The people were defeated in Virginia over technicalities, while the red state legislatures get to rule by fiat and that’s ok…
I am putting my pedal to medal to make certain that my every sinew and nerve is devoted to defeating the Republicans where ever they may be found. Can we still expect to obtain at least one chamber of Congress?Here's an angle for you ....
In one news cycle, the President has mentioned a glow coming from Iran and, with a political 'shrug', released a bunch of UFO videos.
There are dots to connect. I bet MyEsoteric can help with that. ;-)
GAYep this rubbish laced article from Fox News tells the story. Trump is stalling and trying to create a diversion. The only unidentified flying objects is in fact quite identified, rising gas prices and inflationary effects on the cost of living, that is an IFO and its gets my attention. Most people could not make heads or tails out of any of those photos, so Trumps claim to be candid with the release of this information is anything but.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump- … trial-life
I think that it is all a hoax, what advanced species capable of interstellar space travel would be the least interested in a barbaric planet with hopelessly primitive inhabitants, called Earth?
Carlin quoted: it’s all (BS) and its bad for you…..Nope, can't help you out there, no dots to connect.
How about this. If history is any guide, the Dems will still take the House. If the current reporting holds for another 6-months, they will win in a BIG way.
For example, Texas drew its maps thinking they had the Latino vote locked in. But then when I asked Geo to analyze that for me, it came up with this:
But 2025–2026 polling suggests that support has weakened. A UnidosUS Texas poll found Democrats leading the generic 2026 House vote among Texas Hispanic voters 53% to 28%, while also finding that 66% of Texas Latino voters believed Trump/Republicans were not focused enough on the economy. Texas Tribune also reported that Democratic turnout doubled in four Rio Grande Valley counties that Trump had carried in 2024, which could signal a backlash or at least renewed Democratic engagement.
The same dynamic has shown up in most of the special elections that have been taking place.
Fortunately, all the Ds need in the House is a majority and that seems likely. They can stop a lot of Trump's agenda. But, to get anything done, they need a supermajority in the Senate as well and THAT does not seem likely at all.
There is still hope, thought. Trump has another five months to piss everybody off more than he already has.Another piece of great news - Trump is tanking with Asian voters six months out.
https://www.cnn.com/2026/05/08/politics … day-digvidI don’t sympathize with Hispanics who actually believe that Trump and MAGA would allow them to assimilate into their racist and xenophobic brand. The “Ricky Ricardo” syndrome does not work in reality. Maybe, after ICE, a dragging economy and such, now they will appreciate the straits that they now find themselves in and come home…..
Just like there are few Black MAGA, there are even more Latino MAGA, at least those of the machismo bent. But my take is that most of the Hispanics who voted for Trump believed 1) the propaganda against Biden and his role in inflation and 2) were conned by Trump in his false promises he would lower prices.
Now that they know the truth, they are going back to those who really care about them.
Democrats are appealing the 4-3 Virginia Supreme Court ruling striking down the will of the voters to redistrict. Their 4-3 ruling is being appealed to SCOTUS.
In Virginia, the legislature choses the judges. Three in the majority were Republicans and one was from a split legislature. Two of the dissenters were also from a split legislature and one Democratic legislature.
The four in the majority had to change the meaning of "election day" to arrive at their conclusion. In doing so, they departed from the logic of cases like Foster v. Love (1997), where SCOTUS emphasized that federal elections are to be decided on the federally prescribed Election Day itself, not over an extended period. Instead, they broadened it to mean from when early voting starts through election day.
For SCOTUS to find against the Democrats, they would have to reverse their opinion. But given how this conservative SCOTUS is willing to reinstitute Jim Crow and stack the deck in favor of Republicans, it would surprise me that reverse yet another precedent.
https://www.cnn.com/2026/05/08/politics … istrictingThanks, i spell relief, E-S-O
The Rightwing tribunal passing for non partisan, impartial jurists would have to reveal pure partisanship to uphold the Virginia Supreme Court ruling, while permitting only “gerrymandering” that benefits Republicans. Alas, the court is a right wing tribunal and would discard their role as arbiters of the Constitution in exchange for voting in favor of Trump toadyism and reactionary politics. I don’t trust SCOTUS to rule rationally, anymore.With such a strong opinion, you certainly read the Court's decision, so what part did they get wrong?
Is Election Day the only day of an election, or is it the end of an election? The Court's decision provides a detailed explanation of its reasoning. Do you think they got that part wrong?
How about context and accepted interpretations (what 'everybody' knows 'is' is): did you follow their reasoning from way back in the 1800s and as recent as the 1971 amendment? Did you disagree with that?
What about your 'Virginia court ruling permitting only Republicans to gerrymander'? Where did that come from? The Court didn't rule on the "who," they ruled on the "how."
GARemember, this was a 4-3 decision and the dissenters' opinions were just as detailed in why the majority was wrong, as does federal law.
I saw the majority's addressing of the dissenting opinions' points in the final decision. My opinion didn't need to go any deeper than that. The decision was logically and rationally sound to me.
GA
Ruling View (Majority Opinion)Procedural Violation: Writing for the majority, Justice D. Arthur Kelsey stated that the legislature failed to follow the Virginia Constitution's requirement for approving an amendment, specifically because the first vote occurred after early voting had already begun in an intervening election."
Incurably Tainted": The court ruled that the "legislative process employed to advance this proposal violated" the state constitution, which "incurably taints the resulting referendum vote and nullifies its legal efficacy".
Invalidating the Election: The court rejected the argument that procedural errors should be overlooked, affirming that the legislature must follow established constitutional rules to amend the constitution.
———
Dissenting ViewMisinterpretation of "Election": Chief Justice Cleo Powell, in a dissent joined by two other justices, argued that the majority improperly stretched the definition of "election" to include weeks of early voting.
Ignoring the Will of Voters: The dissent contended that the court should not have overturned the vote of the people, arguing that the legislative process was legally sufficient.
Procedural Disagreement: The dissent argued that the General Assembly's actions did not violate the constitution and that the amendment was lawfully advanced
————————
Your point is well taken.
Yes, the majority ruled regarding procedural errors which made the plebiscite null and void. But, the argument from the dissent was compelling as well. It comes down to the same thing, Democrats are expected to abide by the rules, while republicans are free to break them.
The question remains as it is that here in Florida, DeSantis is attempting the redistricting. Will “technicalities” such as that the redistricting he proposes is in explicit violation of the State Constitution, be accommodated? Explicitly prohibited, is more than just a “technicality. So, if your timely adage of “two wrongs don’t make a right” applies than you cannot excuse DeSantis’ actions in Florida, right? Will the Florida Supreme Court where this will probably end up, rule based on how and not who?
Well, GA, a cauldron is being stirred, and the the slogan “no justice, no peace, will take on so much more greater significance in these times.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/bla … 07880.htmlHere is what SCOTUS said about it in Foster v Love
"When federal law speaks of “the election,” it refers to the combined actions that make the final selection of the officeholder, and Congress required those actions to occur on “the day” it established."
Further "Congress chose a single national day for federal elections, and states cannot legally complete the actual selection of federal officeholders before that day."
Further still "“The Tuesday next after the first Monday in November … is established as the day for the election...”
The Courts rational fell in three main areas:
1. Uniformity
Congress wanted one national federal election day so states could not influence each other by voting earlier.
2. Preventing premature finality (This case was about Louisiana's ability to call an election final before election day.)
A state cannot legally conclude a federal election before the congressionally designated day.
3. Congress controls timing - not the State
Under the Elections Clause, Congress can override state timing rules for federal elections.
Finally, "the legally operative act that finally selects the winner cannot be completed before the federally designated election day."
That is why the modern mail-ballot fights exist: everyone agrees states can have early voting and absentee voting; the dispute is whether ballots arriving after Election Day mean the election is still legally ongoing.
One question the majority will have to answer is "if “general election” automatically expands whenever voting procedures expand, (which is what the majority claimed) then federal constitutional timing language can effectively be altered by ordinary State statutory changes rather than constitutional amendment."I don't support either party's gerrymandering.
The point on this issue was the procedure used. Similar Republican efforts should also be shot down.
What is your re example showing that the Republicans didn't have to follow the rules?
GAHow about the third Jim Crow ruling from SCOTUS letting AL gerrymander a majority-minority district put in place by a conservative federal judge into a White majority district yesterday.
SCOTUS is clearly going out of its way to dilute the Black vote such that it looks like it was pre-1965.A brief look-about offered a different view of the Alabama case. It looks like the fight is against minority districts purposely formed using race-based discrimination to 'correct' past race-based discrimination injustices
The district(s) undersiege were purposely formed by a 'special master' using race to create them as minority districts, right?
Race-based discrimination is wrong, isn't it?
GAWhy not make the US one big voting district?
Sounds to me the most simple and honest solution.Yeah, one big color blind homogenious district, that's the ticket.
If your point was serious, it misses the 'representative' purpose of having districts. The idea of having districts seems right and fair to me. Every free society does it.
I bet the one you're living in has its form too. So maybe the thought was sarcasm?
My interpretation is that gerrymandering is a necessary evil, a cost of having parties and districts, and choices. We (American states) generally have good legal and constitutional protections that constrain partisan efforts, as the recent Virginia redistricting controversy has shown, but being legal doesn't mean it doesn't stink. Virginia's 'lobster claw" district was an example of that.
GATo be honest it wasn't sarcasm. In the Netherlands, although there are districts, it is not a First-past-the-post system.
When we vote in a national election all the votes of The Netherlands are counted together and resulting into seats directly. Not by districts. So if the total votes in the Netherlands is a 1000 for party blue and 500 for party Green, Party blue gets twice as much seats as party green. No matter in which city you've voted. Simple and fair.
(In reality we have about 15 parties. So enough to choose from and the calculation with percentages is slightly more complicated but not any different than the example I gave with the two parties)
I can also vote for the third person on the list. And if the party only gets 2 seats but the third person on the list gets more votes than the 2nd, the 3rd person gets the seat.You took a wrong turn. This issue is about state-level politics and voters' ability to choose their representatives.
The House of Representatives is intended to be the voice of the people. It has the most representatives and the most power to approve things. So the logic is that it is the chamber that most represents the voice of the people. Ipso facto — it is the chamber that should have the most varied input—via representative-group district-level representation.
Winner-takes-all voting is a different conversation. I think I like the idea of proportional voting.
GAI agree, the voice of the people. But in all those Republican states I mentioned earlier, it will only be the voice of the White people.
Ah, sorry, my mistake. I thought you were talking about the votes for the presidency.
I guess in general the way a country is governed is linked to its history. Like China is ruled by one party, not much different than ruled by an emperor or Russia with it's pyramid power structure not much different than ruling under a tsar.
So has each country it's history. And although the West has tried to force their own way of governing on other countries, it seldom works.
I guess the US has to find a way to modernize its voting system. As I understood it, the ground principles were negotiated by two different philosophies, that of the North and the South.
(Same can be said for the UK and Spain..)
That sounds a little bit of ranked-choice voting used by a couple of States, which I favor.
Now that SCOTUS decided to reinstitute Jim Crow (separate but equal discrimination) the Democrats will need to use their Article 1 authority and tell the states how to draw their maps since the states are not competent to do it fairly themselves.
The way I think it should be done is overlay each state map with a 3-mile by 3-mile grid. Then starting where the states western boundary meets the grids left most line count the number of people (not citizens) in each cell and add them to the population in the next cell below. Repeat until you reach the south border of the state and then jump up to north border and add in that cell. Keep going down and to the right until you have the required number of people for a district - roughly 761,000, I think. That becomes district 1. Then start all over again and repeat.
That way nobody can scream foul.
I find it antithetical to my historical reading of what the creators of our Constitution intended. One of their stated goals was to protect the minority from the majority. As we have seen throughout history, the only purpose of gerrymandering is to disenfranchise one minority or another.
I would debate that "We (American states) generally have good legal and constitutional protections that constrain partisan efforts," Just looking at recent history in Texas, California, Missouri, Florida, Tennessee, Ohio, North Carolina, and now Louisiana and Alabama shows those "protections" do not exist. In all but the California case, the sole purpose was to disenfranchise the Black voter - in which they have been very successful.
The whole purpose of the 1965 Voting Rights Act was to undo what the conservative Democrats of the 1870s - 1960s did to suppress the Black vote, and that conservative Republicans and SCOTUS are doing today.
The only reason that California did what it did and Virginia tried to do was to counter what Trump started in trying to rig the outcome of the elections.That's a lot to argue, and much of it is opinion. But the initial gerrymandering point is a good starting point.
And on that point, you're wrong. The purpose of gerrymandering is not to disenfranchise a minority; the purpose is to consolidate power. The disenfranchisement — if it exists, is the result, not the purpose.
I'm not trying to be picky, just trying to be clear in my direction. And purposely aiming at the practice before the details complicate things.
Another uncomplicated caveat is that both parties are guilty, so any defense or criticism is just arguing about who is the worst offender. In this case, you're right, Trump did start it, but maybe the Virginia debacle (plucked from a CNN panelist discussion - shrug) will be the finish of it. Fingers crossed.
And speaking of California ... kinda dissed the credibility of 'independent commissions,' doesn't it?
GA
Ok, so you don’t support gerrymandering in principle anyway…
But we on the progressive left did not start the fire, it was your red buddies that opened Pandora’s box from the beginning in 2019.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rucho_v._Common_Cause
It was the source of all the problems that came after and would be shown to have been an irresponsible interpretation of the law. The successful argument in that case was from the conservatives on the court, am I to be surprised? Gerrymandering undermines the idea of one man one vote, struggled over during the 1960’s, principles that I thought even the most laggard of conservatives could have learned to appreciate by now. But, as you always say, conservatives are naturally slow to acknowledge and adapt to the reality before their very faces.
So, what’s next?
Your red buddies on the Supreme court have been carving up the carcass of the VRA like so much roast beef. The “new South” is more the “the old south with a smile”. At the blink of eye, all of the Southern states are jumping for the opportunity to redistrict and in effect disenfranchise blacks residing in those states at significant numbers. What going on now is not much better than the injustice splayed out during the post Reconstruction period. Take a look at Tennessee, there is one democratic district in the area of Memphis and the corrupt Republican dominated legislature is determined to wipe it out. The racial gerrymandering verses partisan gerrymandering is just more right wing rubbish. The lines between black democrats and white republicans are so stark that for all practical purposes, partisan gerrymandering IS racial gerrymandering. This is something that should have never been allowed in the first place.
Finally, you can spare me the “tit for tat” stuff. I hold Republicans and the Right 100 percent responsible for what is going on now. Trump started it all by breaking established rules and as I told you before, sometimes two wrongs make a right. I will be damned if I can’t vote out Trump and his scurvy crew because they decide to cheat. There can be no game if one side cheats while the other follows the rules of the game, i will topple the entire table and game board in such a circumstance. The Democrats reaction was merely defensive, at its very worst. I say to the rabid Right, “two can play at this game”.
So, I don’t mince words, yes the GOP, Trumpers, Conservative, Rightwings, Reactionaries are all 100 percent to blame for this current crisis..A good start would be a review of your history.
Here's a quote to give you a starting point: " The Democratic-Republican Party is recognized as the forerunner of the modern Democratic Party."
By the time you reach our times, you will find that both parties have been doing it forever. Republicans did start this latest 'battle,' but there aren't any innocents here bud. Your party is as guilty as the Republicans who make you sick. Your defense of them puts you in the same category you condemn.
GAIf you dig deeper and you will find that 1) you are correct - organizationally but very misleading ideology. History shows that when you move backward in time, prior to 1980, party labels lose all meaning.
I think you will find that lineage works something like this:
Democratic-Republicans had a liberal wing and a conservative wing.
It spit into the Jacksonian Democrats (similar in ideology to today's Republicans) and the National Republicans (similar to today's Democrats).
The very conservative Jacksonian Democrats kept their conservative ideology until the 1940s when the more liberal wing began gaining in power. In the 1990s the main switch happened when the racist southern Democrats switched parties to join the ever more conservative Republican Party.
On the other hand, the liberalish National Republicans became the Whigs and then the very liberal Republican Party around 1862, They were responsible for the very liberal 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments and Reconstruction.
Like the Democratic Party, the minority wing, conservatives in this case, began gaining power in the Republican where the switch happened in the 1940s. They slowly became more radical through the 1980s and took the great leap forward when the racists southern Democrats joined them in the 1990s. It has, from my perspective, gone downhill since then until you end up with the MAGA party of today.
Further, when you look back in history, it was the conservatives (regardless of party label) which used gerrymandering the most (by a lot), almost always - like today - with the intent to suppress the Black vote.“What is your re example showing that the Republicans didn't have to follow the rules?”
Well, GA
I answered this question through many points. How does dredging out an 18th century circumstance relevant to what we are discussing in 21st century American politics?
You said in another post that gerrymandering is a consolidation of power, a consolidation of power against whom?
Yes, both parties have been doing it, yet it was conservatives who, in their typical lack of vision, did not foresee the danger of how it could be abused and stop it cold. You said you disagree with any form of gerrymandering, yet excuse the entire conservative clan for making it possible, when they had the opportunity to eliminate it.
It is funny how you guys would literally go to the grave to support the Electoral College that allow fly over tumbleweed states to have disproportionate political power in selecting the president. But, i can see that is also a typical example of conservative expediency over principle, why they are happy to wipe out so much as a whimper from contrary voices at the state level.
Rather than address my points, it appears that you just strike back in frustration. Compared to the role of the GOP starting it, the Democrats are innocent in comparison. And yes, i will stop at nothing to be able to see the GOP chased back under the floor boards.
It's Deja vu all over again ... First it was the definition of "is", now it's the definition of "election."
The Court's decision read as reasonable to me. Watching CNN and BBC, since this ruling, seems to show the majority of Democrat spokesfolks — experts and talking heads — agree with the Court in this matter, and criticize their party's efforts.
Looks like you're the fringe on this one.
GAI will agree there is room for debate. But since 1) "early voting" did not exist in Virginia at the time the law was written, 2) SCOTUS has ruled previously that the definition of "election" is the day it is officially counted and 3) several federal laws say that the election is the Tuesday after the first Monday in November on even numbered years including 2 U.S.C. § 7 and 3 U.S.C. § 1.
It seems to me the Virginia majority is on very shaky grounds.
As to your claim that the "majority of Democrats ..." agree with the majority, you will need to provide proof of that. As you are aware, I am big consumer of things like CNN, Politico, The Hill, etc and I don't recall seeing even one Democrat siding with the majority on the court. That isn't to say a couple have, I am just saying I haven't see it yet.
My take is that we are smack dab in the vast majority view.I have only read the decision. And it was your comment that prompted that. So my only authority is what I've listened to or 'clicked on' since election night.
Asking for 'proof" of what I claimed to have heard is silly. I was only relating the perception I had from my news diet since then. Which was nearly identical to your list.
The lament I heard, and intended to imply, was about the Democrats' premonition/foreknowledge/worry that their procedure would fail a court challenge, but they plowed ahead anyway.
Their Court's decision seemed right to me.
GA
A quote from Salon editor, Jason Howard.
Interesting article
https://www.salon.com/2026/05/07/the-da … -makeover/
When I was an undergraduate student at The George Washington University in the early 2000s, I used to take a couple of textbooks and trek down 23rd Street — past the Watergate and the Kennedy Center in the distance on my right, and the State Department complex on my left — to the Lincoln Memorial. I had a study spot I considered my own that offered a respite from university life, as well as a reminder of the weight of history surrounding me in the city I was learning to call home. Reaching the memorial’s terrace after climbing the small mountain of steps, I would bypass the temple housing Daniel Chester French’s famous statue of the 16th president and walk along the colonnade until I reached the quiet rear, where most Washington tourists never think to venture. There, I’d sling my backpack to the ground and, reclining into one of the large grooves in the monument’s columns, I’d read and study for hours, with the Potomac River and Memorial Bridge as my personal vista. In the distance, across the river in Virginia, was Arlington National Cemetery, and when the gloaming fell, I could see the flicker of the eternal flame marking the graves of John and Jacqueline Kennedy, with Arlington House illuminated by floodlights on the slope above.
Now, each time I read about or see plans for the president’s proposed triumphal arch, which would stand in a traffic circle that marks the end of the bridge and the beginning of the cemetery’s formal entrance, I think of that view and how it could soon be no more. Plans for the arch were preliminarily approved in mid-April by Trump devotees who sit on the Commission of Fine Arts. The graves of America’s fallen soldiers will be obstructed, the eternal flame blocked — and from the cemetery, the majestic view of the Lincoln Memorial obscured — by a 250-feet monument. To Donald Trump.
Last year, when he was asked whom the arch would honor, the president was, perhaps admirably, honest: “Me,” he replied. According to reporting from the Atlantic’s Ashley Parker and Michael Scherer, Trump “has privately started talking about himself as being on par with great, norm-defying, historical figures [like] Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar and Napoleon Bonaparte.” By including himself in such company, he believes he should be memorialized in stone. And so, in his second term, he has turned his attention to leaving his mark on the nation’s capital.
—————-
This is total madness, how long are supposedly decent intelligent people supposed to sit by with their thumbs up their arses and ignore what is clearly right before them? Trump is determined to leave his stain on our nations capitol in perpetuity. It should also be noted that only TYRANTS create national monuments of and for themselves.
I implore Democrats if they take the House, to give Trump ABSOLUTELY nothing!!!"ME"
That is Trump, the felon and sexual predator, in a nutshell.
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