We’ve talked about the North Carolina gerrymandering case, also called the independent state legislature theory case, that the Supreme Court is considering this term and how the Court’s continued jurisdiction was compromised when the North Carolina Supreme Court suddenly reopened proceedings. The U.S. Supreme Court has jurisdiction to hear only final decisions from lower courts in a case like this. So after the North Carolina Supreme Court decided to rehear the case, they asked the parties to brief whether they could still decide it. No ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court yet, but today the North Carolina court entered a decision in its reopened proceedings.
I never thought I would see a Republican party go fascist. I never thought the Supreme Court would lose all integrity and ignore the law. I never thought Republican state legislatures and courts do everything in their power to suppress voting. They cannot win without cheating. A minority is hellbent on ruling over the majority. It's nice to think "we're in this together" but some days feel insurmountable.
And now we are seeing it. Shout from the rooftops! We have to get this word out. The republicans are plotting a fascist takeover. With their gerrymandering and silencing their democratic constituents. Look at it. It’s trying to happen. Now is where we stop them! Some years ago I would have dismissed myself as alarmist. Not so today. I believe we are at a precipice of our democracy
Arnold Schwarzenegger recently did an exclusive interview on CNN about how Republicans cannot possibly win in 2024. It was awe inspiring amidst all the noise and destructive plays the Republicans have going on right now.
Just to clarify, he said TRUMP can't win the general in 2024, not all Rs. His reason is that since so much has been learned about Trump, a large enough majority will vote for Biden. He didn't specify "in the swing states", but that's the only way Biden wins the EC and beats Trump.
According to NPR, "Just 44,000 votes in Georgia, Arizona and Wisconsin separated Biden and Trump from a tie in the Electoral College." That's not a lot of people. And those swing voters know SO MUCH MORE about Trump and will learn more in the coming months. I pray every day for Biden's continued health.
I just got warned by my new neighborhood book club lead, via mass email to the club, that the ladies don’t want to hear about politics or religion. This is from me saying, “We need a functioning Republican Party. I’m an activist.” The book was Newsroom Confidential. The Dominion lawsuit was top news that day. Blue, blue Durham in NC. So, I’m struggling with how to “shout it from the rooftops.” People are still shell shocked from the pandemic, and just getting to know one another. So, there’s that. Some of it may be “I’m fine; my life is good. I just want to enjoy my life.” Or just a sense that you can’t have an intelligent, respectful conversation on a hot topic--unless everyone agrees with one another. *sigh*
This reminded me of some Republican friends in Orlando, as well as the book club dynamic: “Residents here bought into a dream — to live in a place with echoes of the magic of Disney World. Streets in Celebration are exceptionally clean and lawns immaculately manicured ... Many homeowners relocated from other states, hoping they’d found a place free of chaos and conflict. Now, residents fear the feud between Disney and DeSantis could cast a shadow over their tranquil existence, as they find themselves caught in the middle.”
They also gave me the “no politics, no religion” lecture. I’m now hoping that she’ll put her Palin t-shirt away, regret voting for the dumpster fire, and figure out that this ain’t the Reagan Republican Party that she bought into years ago. Pretty staunch in their tribal affiliation, though, I have to say. As an unaffiliated, this mystifies me, tbh.
Well I hope so. But voters also have a tendency to vote against the party in power when there is a lot of unrest. Abortion restrictions and gun violence are the republicans,but Joe Biden is president and if he does nothing to halt the chaos, he will be blamed. People expect,at a president's first midterm he should have fixed the economy. That his policies have to be voted on,and then go into effect takes roughly a minimum of two years, so when they vote the other party back into congress they impede the progress of the party or president they just elected two years prior. Voters are very impatient. Don't expect a miracle tidal wave if major changes in the gun violence and a righting of the court's abortion wrong. The dems may not be blamed for the issues, but they will be blamed for not fixing the problems.
My late sister, who majored in political science but wasn't an avid debater, said the same thing once Trump came along. What she was objecting to was the rancor, AND the fact that she couldn't chime in and defend her side (a lifelong Dem). So, I don't think shouting from the rooftops is a good strategy for reaching women like my sister.
They're no longer in the "plotting" stage... that's been going on since Reagan (well, since Nixon)... They are now in the full blown Implementations Stage.
And it's disheartening, shocking, and difficult to believe. Yet...
The mood in this comment section is pretty low tonight. It is hard to watch how selfish, immoral, ignorant and vicious the Republican fascists behave. But this is nothing new, especially since 2015.
Maybe it's time to take the weekend off, ignore politics and just do something that makes you happy. Everyone needs to get away from the news at times, particularly political news.
But we need to remember that Democrats have pulled off some great victories recently and have also had setbacks like what happened in North Carolina. The setbacks can be discouraging, but our only choice is to keep fighting. This is not the first existential fight that America has suffered through since its founding and we're still here.
Attorney Marc Elias, founder of Democracy Docket, a Democratic Party voting advocacy group, said the following to Nicole Wallace on Deadline Whitehouse today:
"The fight for democracy is the fight of our time...you can't let yourself believe the fight is over when you win and you can't let the other side discourage you when you lose."
I hear you and understand it is important to take breaks. I feel completely overwhelmed. I would like to take time off and just be happy. Today is not that day- because I live in NORTH CAROLINA. I have talked to the teachers and school librarians and parents of trans kids and listened to our Dem State legislators. And I have daughters! This is all happening way too FAST folks! Today I am rolling up my sleeves and will be canvassing with my fellow Democrats. It can be wonderful, energizing and empowering to be surrounded by our peeps! We are like minded and Together we can make a difference. Look at Tennessee! Take heart! (Maybe tomorrow I will take just a little break🤣)
I live here, too, Lynn. Please consider checking out BetterBallotNC and support our efforts to bring ranked choice voting to NC, if it makes sense to you.
I canvassed in 2016 for Katie Hill (CA Rep who later resigned). At the end of the day, guess who showed up? Mark Kelly and Gabby Giffords! What an honor to meet them.
Wow - that must have been very exciting to meet them! I am trying to do my part and make a difference where I can but honestly I feel kind of “late to the party” as there were many years when my focus and time was spent on raising my children and working on my career. There are so many dedicated, inspiring folks I have met who have been working hard for our rights for a very long time. I admire them very much for their important work.
Check out Rogan’s List for daily, small effort things that any citizen can do on issues of importance. And yes, we all have to cultivate our own wellbeing by doing things that make us happy, eating well, meditating, nature walks, etc. And then get on with doing constructive things to help strengthen our democracy.
I live in N C; always have. We used to be a really great state to live in. Our public schools were above average and our public colleges and universities were some of the best in the country. We used to have good roads and everything from our mountains to our coastline. All that was until the god-awful 2010 takeover of the state legislature and a four year occupancy of the governor’s seat. Republicans did more damage in those four years that even the election of a Democratic governor nine years ago couldn’t quite turn things around because the rethuglicans undermined Gov. Cooper’s powers. We thought things might get better when Democrats won the trifecta in the 2020 election that saw Joe Biden win. How we managed to backslide in 2022 is beyond me. It didn’t help that there was a recent fliperoo D➡️r just a couple or three weeks ago. Now Gov Cooper’s veto can be overridden because of that one turncoat. I fear we are screwed now. Democrats and Unaffiliated voters would have to overrun the polls to outvote these gerrymanders that will be coming down the pike.
It’s said that hindsight is 20/20. My hindsight has shown me that this republican cancer started small as just a nodule somewhere in the country. Nothing too big or out of the ordinary. Nothing that would rouse suspicion. Reagan’s election we felt the first lump; still nothing to be concerned about, then HW Bush; one term, no biggie. Clinton got elected and republicans went ballistic. Funny now how everyone poo poo’ed her “giant, right-wing conspiracy”. If only we’d taken her seriously. But she was only a woman who was too big for her pantsuits. Newt Gingrich showed us the tumor who had suddenly erupted on the body. President Clinton’s dalliance in the Oval Office seems almost quaint now but that and the Supreme Court helped GW Bush get elected and we were off to the races with two wars and a financial meltdown that President Obama had to try clean up. By the time the full blown tumor got elected in 2016 it was too late. The cancer was fully involved; republicans from dog catcher to state house to the Supreme Court, the crazy House and only by the skin of our teeth do Democrats hold the Senate. I’m not going to mention the damage Diane Feinstein is doing but, dammit, she is! No one can know how hard I’m praying that all this judicial dust that’s being stirred up over The Defendant and his co-conspirators will land all over them and choke them all into obscurity.
Lord, I’ve got to get to bed. It’s way too late and I’ve written way too much.
Well said. I moved to NC without regret although I feel your pain. Driving from the mountains to the coast is still a wonderful experience. So many well meaning intelligent people and yet we have been undermined by the few. I look forward with hope to 2024 as Republican bad optics are having affect on the young, women and independent voters.
And so, I wonder, where does the fight go for North Carolina residents now? With extreme Gerrymanders, their legislature is not representative. Republicans have done a much better job of mapping out plans to exert minority control than Democrats have in asserting majority rule. How can this change?
To an alarming extent, we’ve lost the judicial branch. Our US supreme court’s horrible example of politicization over the past few years has opened the floodgates. The impact upon our system of checks and balances is immeasurable. And not in a good way. But a dangerous way.
The US Supreme Court will do one of two things: It will either abstain from doing anything (thereby implicitly blessing what the partisan North Carolina Supreme Court did); or it will explicitly bless it.
Part of the problem is Senator Feinstein who has been out sick and won’t resign. While she is out we cannot possibly have enough votes to nominate new Justices to the Supreme Court.
It seems I just became part of your legal family. I appreciate your writing. I had a need to express myself after the shock of Trump’s election and published a book in 2020. Anyway, to the issue, the legal opinions are making a mockery of the concept of fairness. The highest Court and all of them for that matter, is the place for citizens to seek relief and this is being deprived. I don’t know if this battle can be won and I am less then hopeful because we on the democratic side must stop supporting issues that are divisive and in my opinion, wrong. We open the door and give the opposition issues that win. I’ll leave it vague for now.
My afterthought: I won’t leave it vague. Let me explain my position. I often question myself if I’ve come up short and made a mistake in a given situation. Self criticism is important. In my opinion, we are making several political mistakes. One certainly is the border. We wanted to include the Dreamer’s Act in border legislation and that should not be included. It’s a deal breaker for republicans. Let’s deal with one issue at a time. The border is complicated and it needs to be addressed on many fronts. And it’s used against all democratic candidates every election cycle. The new issue de jour is transgender as it applies to women’s sports. Please understand that men dressing as women doesn’t make them women. What it does do is give them an unfair advantage in and woman’s competition. This is a fraud. You never hear of trans men in sports right? Good reason. A woman n a male team would never win. Of course I’ll be accused of hate but far from reality. I’ve accepted other lifestyles my whole life. But first and foremost, I’m supportive of women’s issues. And I’m certainly not in favor of drag queen children’s reading. Leave children out of these gender wars. Let them develop to the point where can can decide for themselves. Drag queens are a continuation of Burlesque and when I was a child, I couldn’t go into a speakeasy to watch women dancing around in suggestive clothing. Same thing but understand, if we insist on supporting these very divisive issues, we won’t win. Stop being dense. We simply won’t win.
Now you can beat up on me. My inaugural post, lol.
Thank you. I only catch criticism for my opinions on this but it’s my observation and opinion. I’m clearly in middle ground on many issues. And our middle is missing in action. And my sense is that when the middle vanishes, we tend to go to the right not the left. Think 1968 after the riots in Chicago after the democratic convention and Nixon’s rise.
Please post away but before you hit that little blue arrow to send it out, be sure of your terminology and your facts. There seems to be some confusion concerning how a transgendered child presents and then what a trans child has to do to become the person they know themselves to really be. So with that, I’ll leave it with you. Oh yes, please know that transgendered persons in sports competition is infinitesimal.
You missed one of my main points. The opposition uses the issue as a divisive issue to win. And if this is unimportant to you, then I feel sorry for your inability to understand optics besides the issues themselves. And if I were you, I might investigate how suddenly so many children are becoming gender confused maybe just maybe it’s influenced from platforms like Tik Toc that just happens to be Chinese government controlled and btw, the same subject matter is banned in China least you accuse me of being a conspiracy theorist which I’m not. And I’m sorry, the last time I studied child development, those young minds were incapable of higher thinking which is maybe why they can’t vote, drive a car, buy a gun, propagate and a few other things adults do. Oh and lastly, a man won the London marathon recently dressed as a woman. And that is simply a fact.
Agree. I think what you don't understand is that there's one's biological sex - your sex organs at birth - and one's gender identity. My biological sex is female and I have always felt that I am a female. A very tiny portion of humans grow up to feel different from their biological sex. Men who dress like women feel female, not male.
I'm far far past the younger generation - but I have to say - there is a HUGE difference between "men dressing as women" as in drag and the whole transgender issue. I also think progressive Dems seem to jump on any issue that the right wing opposes & then runs it right into the ground! I remember burlesque - and yeah, drag & strippers. But really, story hour in a library for small children? On the other hand, far too many older politicians have been there TOO LONG!
I’m concerned that we have enough younger voters to make the difference in 2024. I talked to one younger black female who said she is not voting in the presidential election at all and would not even talk about it. This is a highly personalized election coming up and we need to reach the younger generation. I do believe most young people are informed but we cannot take it for granted.
I have said the same thing based on a bad choice of VP and president but I know I will have no choice but to vote fore the lesser destructive. However, others are more ruled by emotions and won’t vote. I would never withhold my vote but I have certainly thought bout it.
I have always voted even when I didn’t particularly “like” the candidate. THIS IS NOT A HIGH SCHOOL POPULARITY COMPETITION! Voting for any political office is now deadly serious business. The sooner people understand this, the safer we will all be.
You should check out pollster John Della Volpe. He writes exclusively about the youth vote. He's on Substack. His book is here: https://www.johndellavolpe.com/
One issue that may become reality if it is left up to the GOP is raising the voting age! They are afraid of this youth-based voting block.
I will vote no matter what. I think Biden has been a very effective president, the best in my lifetime, has put thru a lot of legislation. The GOP demeaning him and saying he has dementia, helps nothing. I don't believe he does. But he does have a world of wisdom from serving in government for so most of his life.
Arrogant for Republicans to step in and change laws to get whatever they want. Democrats help people. Republicans only help people if they get something in return.
Of course we will. The problem may be behind the scenes illegal planning at every level to stop the next certification. And I’m sure hoping the Capitol has since implemented measures to make it much more secure. We also have to get Manchin and Sinema out of the Senate. They have held us hostage far too long.
Ginsburg? She shoulda' retired!!! She had been ill! "(T)he first calls for Ginsburg to retire for safe-replacement reasons came before the 2012 elections, by which point the justice had already gone through BOUTS (that means repeated incidences) of colon and pancreatic cancer. Those early calls for retirement were met with Ginsburg’s very same, characteristically stubborn, refusal to heed people telling her to get out . . . an extraordinarily self-centered thing to do" (https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2022/06/10/ruth-bader-ginsburg-retire-legacy-00038638).
How can you say "of course we will"? It was only 44K voters in three states that gave Biden the EC win in 2020. That's a very slim margin to be so sure on. And that election is 18 months away. Anything can happen to chip away at that small margin.
I've been feeling that for a while. I've seen writing that claims we won't have a war like the Civil War. It'll be within the red/blue divide within states. I live in CA, a big blue state where the Dems are twice the size of the Rs. The only right-wing militias, to-date, are in the far northeastern corner of the state. I'm in the southwestern corner. So the only question is could the National Guard be infected by MAGA?
As you understand, the vast "middle" of the country is being shouted over by the far right and right. Issues are being seen through the lens of the minority fringe right. Culpable as well is the media. They can't get enough of Trump. He sells air time. The media loves it when they can point at Trump and say, "Look at what he said!" Trump is a master at media manipulation and the media, for better or worse, can't let go of him. We are in a sad state of affairs.
Question for you Joyce. How do you make people realize their vote still can count in the big picture. Sure the local people running with a “R” are a sure bet but the state wide ones are not an automatic loss where the votes from the whole state makes up the winner. This is a big problem as I see it.
The “r’s” have long given up trying to win on a level playing field making it harder and harder to vote. More and more road blocks being put up. Glad I am in California where ballots are mailed out and mailed back.
I'm not the brightest bulb on the tree, but doesn't this extreme gerrymandering carry risk for the GOP? You can't create these supermajorities without many Republicans holding seats in relatively tight districts. It seems to me that a true blue wave would in fact swamp gerrymandering, at least to some extent.
Bending so far to right should have implications. Will knowledge based industries be able to recruit in these states? Would I allow my son or daughter to work in such a state? Would you? The Research Triangle likely contributes significantly to NC economy. How long before those engines stall out because they cannot recuit workers due to the fascist nature of the state? It seem inevitable, but the question is the timeline, praying it is not too long.
I never thought I would see a Republican party go fascist. I never thought the Supreme Court would lose all integrity and ignore the law. I never thought Republican state legislatures and courts do everything in their power to suppress voting. They cannot win without cheating. A minority is hellbent on ruling over the majority. It's nice to think "we're in this together" but some days feel insurmountable.
And now we are seeing it. Shout from the rooftops! We have to get this word out. The republicans are plotting a fascist takeover. With their gerrymandering and silencing their democratic constituents. Look at it. It’s trying to happen. Now is where we stop them! Some years ago I would have dismissed myself as alarmist. Not so today. I believe we are at a precipice of our democracy
Arnold Schwarzenegger recently did an exclusive interview on CNN about how Republicans cannot possibly win in 2024. It was awe inspiring amidst all the noise and destructive plays the Republicans have going on right now.
Just to clarify, he said TRUMP can't win the general in 2024, not all Rs. His reason is that since so much has been learned about Trump, a large enough majority will vote for Biden. He didn't specify "in the swing states", but that's the only way Biden wins the EC and beats Trump.
According to NPR, "Just 44,000 votes in Georgia, Arizona and Wisconsin separated Biden and Trump from a tie in the Electoral College." That's not a lot of people. And those swing voters know SO MUCH MORE about Trump and will learn more in the coming months. I pray every day for Biden's continued health.
I am going to look for that one. Good to hear.
I completely agree.
Ditto!
I just got warned by my new neighborhood book club lead, via mass email to the club, that the ladies don’t want to hear about politics or religion. This is from me saying, “We need a functioning Republican Party. I’m an activist.” The book was Newsroom Confidential. The Dominion lawsuit was top news that day. Blue, blue Durham in NC. So, I’m struggling with how to “shout it from the rooftops.” People are still shell shocked from the pandemic, and just getting to know one another. So, there’s that. Some of it may be “I’m fine; my life is good. I just want to enjoy my life.” Or just a sense that you can’t have an intelligent, respectful conversation on a hot topic--unless everyone agrees with one another. *sigh*
This reminded me of some Republican friends in Orlando, as well as the book club dynamic: “Residents here bought into a dream — to live in a place with echoes of the magic of Disney World. Streets in Celebration are exceptionally clean and lawns immaculately manicured ... Many homeowners relocated from other states, hoping they’d found a place free of chaos and conflict. Now, residents fear the feud between Disney and DeSantis could cast a shadow over their tranquil existence, as they find themselves caught in the middle.”
They also gave me the “no politics, no religion” lecture. I’m now hoping that she’ll put her Palin t-shirt away, regret voting for the dumpster fire, and figure out that this ain’t the Reagan Republican Party that she bought into years ago. Pretty staunch in their tribal affiliation, though, I have to say. As an unaffiliated, this mystifies me, tbh.
Well I hope so. But voters also have a tendency to vote against the party in power when there is a lot of unrest. Abortion restrictions and gun violence are the republicans,but Joe Biden is president and if he does nothing to halt the chaos, he will be blamed. People expect,at a president's first midterm he should have fixed the economy. That his policies have to be voted on,and then go into effect takes roughly a minimum of two years, so when they vote the other party back into congress they impede the progress of the party or president they just elected two years prior. Voters are very impatient. Don't expect a miracle tidal wave if major changes in the gun violence and a righting of the court's abortion wrong. The dems may not be blamed for the issues, but they will be blamed for not fixing the problems.
Docpatti, could your group have a respectful conversation about how to have respectful conversations?
My late sister, who majored in political science but wasn't an avid debater, said the same thing once Trump came along. What she was objecting to was the rancor, AND the fact that she couldn't chime in and defend her side (a lifelong Dem). So, I don't think shouting from the rooftops is a good strategy for reaching women like my sister.
So agree!! I never imagined our country would be in such difficulty in my 78 years
You might want to watch this short video from PBS, "Political violence throughout American history" (https://www.pbs.org/wnet/preserving-democracy/video/political-violence-is-woven-into-americas-history/). It's in our genes, from before the Declaration was signed.
You and I (my total to-date is only 72) were fortunate to grow up during post-WWII America. For 20 years, it was a golden age (if you were white).
Thank you. Will definitely check that
They're no longer in the "plotting" stage... that's been going on since Reagan (well, since Nixon)... They are now in the full blown Implementations Stage.
And it's disheartening, shocking, and difficult to believe. Yet...
Ditto!
The mood in this comment section is pretty low tonight. It is hard to watch how selfish, immoral, ignorant and vicious the Republican fascists behave. But this is nothing new, especially since 2015.
Maybe it's time to take the weekend off, ignore politics and just do something that makes you happy. Everyone needs to get away from the news at times, particularly political news.
But we need to remember that Democrats have pulled off some great victories recently and have also had setbacks like what happened in North Carolina. The setbacks can be discouraging, but our only choice is to keep fighting. This is not the first existential fight that America has suffered through since its founding and we're still here.
Attorney Marc Elias, founder of Democracy Docket, a Democratic Party voting advocacy group, said the following to Nicole Wallace on Deadline Whitehouse today:
"The fight for democracy is the fight of our time...you can't let yourself believe the fight is over when you win and you can't let the other side discourage you when you lose."
Be kind to yourself and have a peaceful weekend.
I hear you and understand it is important to take breaks. I feel completely overwhelmed. I would like to take time off and just be happy. Today is not that day- because I live in NORTH CAROLINA. I have talked to the teachers and school librarians and parents of trans kids and listened to our Dem State legislators. And I have daughters! This is all happening way too FAST folks! Today I am rolling up my sleeves and will be canvassing with my fellow Democrats. It can be wonderful, energizing and empowering to be surrounded by our peeps! We are like minded and Together we can make a difference. Look at Tennessee! Take heart! (Maybe tomorrow I will take just a little break🤣)
I live here, too, Lynn. Please consider checking out BetterBallotNC and support our efforts to bring ranked choice voting to NC, if it makes sense to you.
OK - will do!
Canvassing! God bless you, my fellow American!
I canvassed in 2016 for Katie Hill (CA Rep who later resigned). At the end of the day, guess who showed up? Mark Kelly and Gabby Giffords! What an honor to meet them.
Wow - that must have been very exciting to meet them! I am trying to do my part and make a difference where I can but honestly I feel kind of “late to the party” as there were many years when my focus and time was spent on raising my children and working on my career. There are so many dedicated, inspiring folks I have met who have been working hard for our rights for a very long time. I admire them very much for their important work.
It was! But I must say you're never late to the party in your civic duty. Raising children is as important to the future of our country!
Thank you for talking us off the ledge. Peace🫶🏻
Well put!
Check out Rogan’s List for daily, small effort things that any citizen can do on issues of importance. And yes, we all have to cultivate our own wellbeing by doing things that make us happy, eating well, meditating, nature walks, etc. And then get on with doing constructive things to help strengthen our democracy.
Amen!
I live in N C; always have. We used to be a really great state to live in. Our public schools were above average and our public colleges and universities were some of the best in the country. We used to have good roads and everything from our mountains to our coastline. All that was until the god-awful 2010 takeover of the state legislature and a four year occupancy of the governor’s seat. Republicans did more damage in those four years that even the election of a Democratic governor nine years ago couldn’t quite turn things around because the rethuglicans undermined Gov. Cooper’s powers. We thought things might get better when Democrats won the trifecta in the 2020 election that saw Joe Biden win. How we managed to backslide in 2022 is beyond me. It didn’t help that there was a recent fliperoo D➡️r just a couple or three weeks ago. Now Gov Cooper’s veto can be overridden because of that one turncoat. I fear we are screwed now. Democrats and Unaffiliated voters would have to overrun the polls to outvote these gerrymanders that will be coming down the pike.
It’s said that hindsight is 20/20. My hindsight has shown me that this republican cancer started small as just a nodule somewhere in the country. Nothing too big or out of the ordinary. Nothing that would rouse suspicion. Reagan’s election we felt the first lump; still nothing to be concerned about, then HW Bush; one term, no biggie. Clinton got elected and republicans went ballistic. Funny now how everyone poo poo’ed her “giant, right-wing conspiracy”. If only we’d taken her seriously. But she was only a woman who was too big for her pantsuits. Newt Gingrich showed us the tumor who had suddenly erupted on the body. President Clinton’s dalliance in the Oval Office seems almost quaint now but that and the Supreme Court helped GW Bush get elected and we were off to the races with two wars and a financial meltdown that President Obama had to try clean up. By the time the full blown tumor got elected in 2016 it was too late. The cancer was fully involved; republicans from dog catcher to state house to the Supreme Court, the crazy House and only by the skin of our teeth do Democrats hold the Senate. I’m not going to mention the damage Diane Feinstein is doing but, dammit, she is! No one can know how hard I’m praying that all this judicial dust that’s being stirred up over The Defendant and his co-conspirators will land all over them and choke them all into obscurity.
Lord, I’ve got to get to bed. It’s way too late and I’ve written way too much.
Well said. I moved to NC without regret although I feel your pain. Driving from the mountains to the coast is still a wonderful experience. So many well meaning intelligent people and yet we have been undermined by the few. I look forward with hope to 2024 as Republican bad optics are having affect on the young, women and independent voters.
Focusing on the young, women and Independents seems like a winning strategy to me. I hope you'll get involved.
I'm glad you did. "Rethuglicans" and "a woman who was too big for her pantsuits" made my day.
And so, I wonder, where does the fight go for North Carolina residents now? With extreme Gerrymanders, their legislature is not representative. Republicans have done a much better job of mapping out plans to exert minority control than Democrats have in asserting majority rule. How can this change?
It changes when North Carolina’s stand up for themselves like folks from Tennessee!
To an alarming extent, we’ve lost the judicial branch. Our US supreme court’s horrible example of politicization over the past few years has opened the floodgates. The impact upon our system of checks and balances is immeasurable. And not in a good way. But a dangerous way.
The US Supreme Court will do one of two things: It will either abstain from doing anything (thereby implicitly blessing what the partisan North Carolina Supreme Court did); or it will explicitly bless it.
They better not. Or it’s time to pull the trigger on packing the court.
Part of the problem is Senator Feinstein who has been out sick and won’t resign. While she is out we cannot possibly have enough votes to nominate new Justices to the Supreme Court.
Right there with you. She's hamstringing her own party.
Are you expecting a resignation or a death in the next few months? She'll be gone by the start of next year's Senate.
Sad case.
Past time to pack the court.
That is so horrible to read. Even worse is when it happens.
It seems I just became part of your legal family. I appreciate your writing. I had a need to express myself after the shock of Trump’s election and published a book in 2020. Anyway, to the issue, the legal opinions are making a mockery of the concept of fairness. The highest Court and all of them for that matter, is the place for citizens to seek relief and this is being deprived. I don’t know if this battle can be won and I am less then hopeful because we on the democratic side must stop supporting issues that are divisive and in my opinion, wrong. We open the door and give the opposition issues that win. I’ll leave it vague for now.
My afterthought: I won’t leave it vague. Let me explain my position. I often question myself if I’ve come up short and made a mistake in a given situation. Self criticism is important. In my opinion, we are making several political mistakes. One certainly is the border. We wanted to include the Dreamer’s Act in border legislation and that should not be included. It’s a deal breaker for republicans. Let’s deal with one issue at a time. The border is complicated and it needs to be addressed on many fronts. And it’s used against all democratic candidates every election cycle. The new issue de jour is transgender as it applies to women’s sports. Please understand that men dressing as women doesn’t make them women. What it does do is give them an unfair advantage in and woman’s competition. This is a fraud. You never hear of trans men in sports right? Good reason. A woman n a male team would never win. Of course I’ll be accused of hate but far from reality. I’ve accepted other lifestyles my whole life. But first and foremost, I’m supportive of women’s issues. And I’m certainly not in favor of drag queen children’s reading. Leave children out of these gender wars. Let them develop to the point where can can decide for themselves. Drag queens are a continuation of Burlesque and when I was a child, I couldn’t go into a speakeasy to watch women dancing around in suggestive clothing. Same thing but understand, if we insist on supporting these very divisive issues, we won’t win. Stop being dense. We simply won’t win.
Now you can beat up on me. My inaugural post, lol.
Greetings.
Your arguments make good sense. But as you correctly point out, Democrats don't see this. I am very concerned for the 2024 election.
Thank you. I only catch criticism for my opinions on this but it’s my observation and opinion. I’m clearly in middle ground on many issues. And our middle is missing in action. And my sense is that when the middle vanishes, we tend to go to the right not the left. Think 1968 after the riots in Chicago after the democratic convention and Nixon’s rise.
Please post away but before you hit that little blue arrow to send it out, be sure of your terminology and your facts. There seems to be some confusion concerning how a transgendered child presents and then what a trans child has to do to become the person they know themselves to really be. So with that, I’ll leave it with you. Oh yes, please know that transgendered persons in sports competition is infinitesimal.
You missed one of my main points. The opposition uses the issue as a divisive issue to win. And if this is unimportant to you, then I feel sorry for your inability to understand optics besides the issues themselves. And if I were you, I might investigate how suddenly so many children are becoming gender confused maybe just maybe it’s influenced from platforms like Tik Toc that just happens to be Chinese government controlled and btw, the same subject matter is banned in China least you accuse me of being a conspiracy theorist which I’m not. And I’m sorry, the last time I studied child development, those young minds were incapable of higher thinking which is maybe why they can’t vote, drive a car, buy a gun, propagate and a few other things adults do. Oh and lastly, a man won the London marathon recently dressed as a woman. And that is simply a fact.
I understand your point just fine. But if you write, as you did, "men dressing as women doesn’t make them women," then you have a lot to learn.
Agree. I think what you don't understand is that there's one's biological sex - your sex organs at birth - and one's gender identity. My biological sex is female and I have always felt that I am a female. A very tiny portion of humans grow up to feel different from their biological sex. Men who dress like women feel female, not male.
I'm far far past the younger generation - but I have to say - there is a HUGE difference between "men dressing as women" as in drag and the whole transgender issue. I also think progressive Dems seem to jump on any issue that the right wing opposes & then runs it right into the ground! I remember burlesque - and yeah, drag & strippers. But really, story hour in a library for small children? On the other hand, far too many older politicians have been there TOO LONG!
Thx Joyce for the much needed explanation. This is where my personal mantra comes in. WAKE UP AMERICA! VOTE❤️🤍💙
I agree that America has to vote, however, the point of this gerrymandering is that many will have had the opportunity to vote stripped from them.
While I agree that it the case they are trying to make, I also believe that the youngest voting generation will stop it.
I’m concerned that we have enough younger voters to make the difference in 2024. I talked to one younger black female who said she is not voting in the presidential election at all and would not even talk about it. This is a highly personalized election coming up and we need to reach the younger generation. I do believe most young people are informed but we cannot take it for granted.
I have said the same thing based on a bad choice of VP and president but I know I will have no choice but to vote fore the lesser destructive. However, others are more ruled by emotions and won’t vote. I would never withhold my vote but I have certainly thought bout it.
But that feeds into the fascist game plan on the right if withholding one’s vote, an ugly truth.
I have always voted even when I didn’t particularly “like” the candidate. THIS IS NOT A HIGH SCHOOL POPULARITY COMPETITION! Voting for any political office is now deadly serious business. The sooner people understand this, the safer we will all be.
You should check out pollster John Della Volpe. He writes exclusively about the youth vote. He's on Substack. His book is here: https://www.johndellavolpe.com/
One issue that may become reality if it is left up to the GOP is raising the voting age! They are afraid of this youth-based voting block.
I will vote no matter what. I think Biden has been a very effective president, the best in my lifetime, has put thru a lot of legislation. The GOP demeaning him and saying he has dementia, helps nothing. I don't believe he does. But he does have a world of wisdom from serving in government for so most of his life.
Arrogant for Republicans to step in and change laws to get whatever they want. Democrats help people. Republicans only help people if they get something in return.
Touche'
The rule of law no longer applies to the Republican Fascist Party.
This scares me no end. Will Democrats have enough electoral college votes to win in 24?
Of course we will. The problem may be behind the scenes illegal planning at every level to stop the next certification. And I’m sure hoping the Capitol has since implemented measures to make it much more secure. We also have to get Manchin and Sinema out of the Senate. They have held us hostage far too long.
Amazing how pieces fall at just the wrong time. Thinking Manchin, Sinema, Feinstein and Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Ginsburg? She shoulda' retired!!! She had been ill! "(T)he first calls for Ginsburg to retire for safe-replacement reasons came before the 2012 elections, by which point the justice had already gone through BOUTS (that means repeated incidences) of colon and pancreatic cancer. Those early calls for retirement were met with Ginsburg’s very same, characteristically stubborn, refusal to heed people telling her to get out . . . an extraordinarily self-centered thing to do" (https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2022/06/10/ruth-bader-ginsburg-retire-legacy-00038638).
How can you say "of course we will"? It was only 44K voters in three states that gave Biden the EC win in 2020. That's a very slim margin to be so sure on. And that election is 18 months away. Anything can happen to chip away at that small margin.
What is the reasoning behind your certainty.
I don’t want to feel this; I’m feeling like we’re in the 1850’s
Yes.
I've been feeling that for a while. I've seen writing that claims we won't have a war like the Civil War. It'll be within the red/blue divide within states. I live in CA, a big blue state where the Dems are twice the size of the Rs. The only right-wing militias, to-date, are in the far northeastern corner of the state. I'm in the southwestern corner. So the only question is could the National Guard be infected by MAGA?
Most discouraging. I wll keep voting, however.
As you understand, the vast "middle" of the country is being shouted over by the far right and right. Issues are being seen through the lens of the minority fringe right. Culpable as well is the media. They can't get enough of Trump. He sells air time. The media loves it when they can point at Trump and say, "Look at what he said!" Trump is a master at media manipulation and the media, for better or worse, can't let go of him. We are in a sad state of affairs.
Question for you Joyce. How do you make people realize their vote still can count in the big picture. Sure the local people running with a “R” are a sure bet but the state wide ones are not an automatic loss where the votes from the whole state makes up the winner. This is a big problem as I see it.
The “r’s” have long given up trying to win on a level playing field making it harder and harder to vote. More and more road blocks being put up. Glad I am in California where ballots are mailed out and mailed back.
I'm not the brightest bulb on the tree, but doesn't this extreme gerrymandering carry risk for the GOP? You can't create these supermajorities without many Republicans holding seats in relatively tight districts. It seems to me that a true blue wave would in fact swamp gerrymandering, at least to some extent.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/08/learning/lesson-plans/lesson-of-the-day-a-gerrymandering-game.html?searchResultPosition=1
thank you. I’m still grasping at straws of actions to take to stop this kind of blatant partisan anti-democratic behavior.
Bending so far to right should have implications. Will knowledge based industries be able to recruit in these states? Would I allow my son or daughter to work in such a state? Would you? The Research Triangle likely contributes significantly to NC economy. How long before those engines stall out because they cannot recuit workers due to the fascist nature of the state? It seem inevitable, but the question is the timeline, praying it is not too long.