Districts
Why are both houses of Congress controlled by the political party that is less popular and has gained fewer votes that the other major party? The word of the day is: Gerrymandering. In a world that is increasingly multi-cultural and diverse, the Republican party is Caucasian and working class - meaning they are increasingly part of the not-working class. What that means is that Republican state legislators, who get to draw Congressional districts, drew their maps to disenfranchise minorities and other voters who are not white and reliably stupid.
When the Rightist money machine cranked up to 11 in preparation for the 2010 mid-term elections, they focussed on taking state houses, not just the Congressional races. Since 2010 was a census year, it was the once-in-a-decade chance for the forces that oppose progress to really put a wrench in the works of democracy. And they did. Having the power to do wrong, they used it. Think of them as the party of Dr. Evil. If there is a wrong to be done, they're just the guys to do it. Magnificent.
The 2010 local wins were really the apex of Rightist power. It's a move to keep illegitimate power where real people-derive power can no longer exist. By moving to a neighborhood well outside the borders of the rational world, and by becoming extraordinarily narrow in their approach to voters, Republicans seem to be erasing their own future, vote by vote.
Hispanics are a growing portion of the American population. Republicans not only want to deport millions of them from the US, they want to build a wall to keep them out. This isn't just a Trump thing - remember the 4,600 Central American kids that they turned away. Clearly those children were a risk to our way of life.
And never mind that large segments of the US economy depends on their cheap labour - just ask all the corporation-citizens who aren't so keen on the idea of closing the tap.
Women make up half the population, and one would think that the simple proportion would make them good candidates for an outreach effort. Not to these clowns. Their assault on Planned Parenthood is only one piece of the misogynistic puzzle. At every turn, they reduce the role of women in society to that of chattel. No need for equal pay or access to fair health care options, not to mention reproductive health. Getting reproductive benefits out of Obamacare has been one of the cornerstones of their political mission. They look at it as some motivational slut-shaming, without seeming to realize that they're talking about their own sisters, mothers, and daughters.
They've long given up on African Americans, despite the sleepy and off-putting efforts of Dr. Carson, the mother-hammering saved-again former surgeon to whom the President isn't 'black enough.' Carson's efforts were doomed from the start because the entire party he belongs to is dedicated to return to the antebellum South. They don't let black kids grow up to be neurosurgeons in Rush Limbaugh's America.
The other lie they tell is that 'those people' (non-white, non-Christians) take up more tax dollars that they produce, because they're lazy. The 'lazy' part may be true - but for the Republican base. Right-wing states take in much more federal tax money than their produce. Blue states effectively subsidize their empty-hearted Red state moochers with their tax dollars. And they are thanked but having the fly-over states steal power by rigging elections.
That's because their gambit utilizes a scapegoat. "Government is always the problem and never the solution," why? Because the government works for all citizens, including the darker ones who we didn't have to pay wages to in the good old days. The 'Republican Coalition' is the former 'Dixiecrat' coalition of Southern racist Democrats who voted "D" until Lyndon Johnson broke their hearts with e Voting Rights Act (among other things). Nixon grabbed those voters, even though he'd been an anti-segregation in the 1950's. Added to the real Republican constituency of rich people and corporations, they had a nice racket going for a long time.
One of the changes has taken place in the hearts and minds of a surprising number of people. That is, compassion and rights for the LGBT community. I didn't think I'd live to see it, but the day has come when Gay marriage is the law of the land in not just Canada but the US as well. Barriers are being removed and rights - such as spousal rights, adoption rights, and health benefits- are being put in place.
And Republicans are responding with "Religious Freedom" laws which legalize discrimination against LGBT people. Who vote. Good luck with that.
Not to mention the millions of Muslim Americans who won't be voting Republican any time soon.
It's a grand scheme to protect a narrow (minded) base of bigots and billionaires, while rejecting any new group of voters. So how can they expect to govern when they are basing everything on a motivated, crazy base?
Gerrymandering. The more the fact-based world grows, the more its voters are disenfranchised by the right. Instead of having government change to meet the changes in the will of the people, the people are thwarted by power and money - and ignorance. Republicans are playing a short game that they must know cannot last.
But now the clock has started on their ugly scheme. The Supreme Court has decided unanimously against the Rightist Gerrymander. We'll have to wait until a new census in 2020 before some of the districts can be put right. Probably, some will never be balanced toward the truth again. And they are no doubt working in the Evil Labs to come with their next Evil Scheme.
Pretty nice for the Right to have stolen an entire branch of government for a decade. As grand national frauds go, you can't top Republicans.
When the Rightist money machine cranked up to 11 in preparation for the 2010 mid-term elections, they focussed on taking state houses, not just the Congressional races. Since 2010 was a census year, it was the once-in-a-decade chance for the forces that oppose progress to really put a wrench in the works of democracy. And they did. Having the power to do wrong, they used it. Think of them as the party of Dr. Evil. If there is a wrong to be done, they're just the guys to do it. Magnificent.
The 2010 local wins were really the apex of Rightist power. It's a move to keep illegitimate power where real people-derive power can no longer exist. By moving to a neighborhood well outside the borders of the rational world, and by becoming extraordinarily narrow in their approach to voters, Republicans seem to be erasing their own future, vote by vote.
Hispanics are a growing portion of the American population. Republicans not only want to deport millions of them from the US, they want to build a wall to keep them out. This isn't just a Trump thing - remember the 4,600 Central American kids that they turned away. Clearly those children were a risk to our way of life.
And never mind that large segments of the US economy depends on their cheap labour - just ask all the corporation-citizens who aren't so keen on the idea of closing the tap.
Women make up half the population, and one would think that the simple proportion would make them good candidates for an outreach effort. Not to these clowns. Their assault on Planned Parenthood is only one piece of the misogynistic puzzle. At every turn, they reduce the role of women in society to that of chattel. No need for equal pay or access to fair health care options, not to mention reproductive health. Getting reproductive benefits out of Obamacare has been one of the cornerstones of their political mission. They look at it as some motivational slut-shaming, without seeming to realize that they're talking about their own sisters, mothers, and daughters.
They've long given up on African Americans, despite the sleepy and off-putting efforts of Dr. Carson, the mother-hammering saved-again former surgeon to whom the President isn't 'black enough.' Carson's efforts were doomed from the start because the entire party he belongs to is dedicated to return to the antebellum South. They don't let black kids grow up to be neurosurgeons in Rush Limbaugh's America.
The other lie they tell is that 'those people' (non-white, non-Christians) take up more tax dollars that they produce, because they're lazy. The 'lazy' part may be true - but for the Republican base. Right-wing states take in much more federal tax money than their produce. Blue states effectively subsidize their empty-hearted Red state moochers with their tax dollars. And they are thanked but having the fly-over states steal power by rigging elections.
That's because their gambit utilizes a scapegoat. "Government is always the problem and never the solution," why? Because the government works for all citizens, including the darker ones who we didn't have to pay wages to in the good old days. The 'Republican Coalition' is the former 'Dixiecrat' coalition of Southern racist Democrats who voted "D" until Lyndon Johnson broke their hearts with e Voting Rights Act (among other things). Nixon grabbed those voters, even though he'd been an anti-segregation in the 1950's. Added to the real Republican constituency of rich people and corporations, they had a nice racket going for a long time.
One of the changes has taken place in the hearts and minds of a surprising number of people. That is, compassion and rights for the LGBT community. I didn't think I'd live to see it, but the day has come when Gay marriage is the law of the land in not just Canada but the US as well. Barriers are being removed and rights - such as spousal rights, adoption rights, and health benefits- are being put in place.
And Republicans are responding with "Religious Freedom" laws which legalize discrimination against LGBT people. Who vote. Good luck with that.
Not to mention the millions of Muslim Americans who won't be voting Republican any time soon.
It's a grand scheme to protect a narrow (minded) base of bigots and billionaires, while rejecting any new group of voters. So how can they expect to govern when they are basing everything on a motivated, crazy base?
Gerrymandering. The more the fact-based world grows, the more its voters are disenfranchised by the right. Instead of having government change to meet the changes in the will of the people, the people are thwarted by power and money - and ignorance. Republicans are playing a short game that they must know cannot last.
But now the clock has started on their ugly scheme. The Supreme Court has decided unanimously against the Rightist Gerrymander. We'll have to wait until a new census in 2020 before some of the districts can be put right. Probably, some will never be balanced toward the truth again. And they are no doubt working in the Evil Labs to come with their next Evil Scheme.
Pretty nice for the Right to have stolen an entire branch of government for a decade. As grand national frauds go, you can't top Republicans.
posted by fiduciary at 5:40 PM
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