Originally published at: Come Inside the War Room Prepping for SCOTUS to Upend Democracy
For over a decade, no enemy has loomed larger to the Roberts Court than voting protections, especially those for minority groups who have historically been kept away from the polls with laws and violence. The Court in recent years has raised tests for discrimination to unreachable heights, required voters to employ their own mapmakers, put…
3 Likes
Poll Tax We Hardly Knew Ye
6 Likes
Thanks for the photo of the 3 Stooges.
6 Likes
Methinks history will record the ongoing events as a momentous World War among the Abrahamic religions in the Middle East. Its causes too will be traced to the outcomes of the preceding World War II, the incompetence of the United Nations, the election of unhinged, authoritarian right-wing christian jingos, and the rise and virulent spread of jihadi islamic terrorism.
4 Likes
Unless Democrats grow a spine the next time they run the federal government, democracy will continue to erode.
9 Likes
Re: Supreme Court Reform
Probably most recognize that something is badly broken … but fixing it will require a thicker skin than the Democratic Party and individual Dems have had in recent decades. They will need to be braced for a flood of op-eds, “news” slants, heavily covered Republican accusations that they are “weaponizing” the Constitution, just exacting “revenge”, “Playing politics”, trying to slant the playing field, etc.
In short, doing things that Republicans have trademarked as their own, very exclusive property and right for decades now. They’re not “hypocrites”; they’re just defending their own “intellectual property.”
10 Likes
Oh, and nothing about genocidal, single minded, selfish Zionism, which refuses to recognize any borders or any peoples other than its own? Israel has nothing to do with any conflicts in the Middle East?
3 Likes
A modest proposal from not-the-51st-state 
. Perhaps a constructive addition to the debate.
Constitutional right to vote
“Every citizen of Canada has the right to vote in an election of members of the House of Commons or of a legislative assembly and to be qualified for membership therein.”
Charter of Rights and Freedoms 1982
The Canadian government goes out of its way to make it easy to register to vote, to vote, and to have that vote count. Elections are run by the federal government under rules that are consistent across the country. Most Canadians register to vote by ticking a box on the annual tax return. Polls are readily accessible, as are advance polls and vote-by-mail. We want people to vote. Felons can vote. Students can vote. Indigenous people can vote. Electoral maps are adjusted every ten years based on the census by an independent agency of government. Registration is registration to vote, with no declared party affiliation. Candidates are chosen by the political party organization; there are no primary elections. Rules for provincial elections are set similarly. Universal suffrage applies in both federal and provincial elections.
The concept of voter suppression does not exist. The concept of gerrymandering does not exist; in fact most Canadians recognize it is utterly absurd to allow the party in power to draw electoral maps that favour their party. The notions that there is some sort of difference between gerrymandering along racial lines and gerrymandering along party lines, or that gerrymandering to disadvantage multiple racial groups is different from disenfranchising a single racial group are, to our collective political sensibilities, ridiculous.
Canada became a country in 1867 (the British North America Act), but it became a fully sovereign nation in 1982. The Charter of Rights and Freedoms that we wrote in 1982 has a definite twentieth-century sensibility to it, and consciously aimed to avoid the weaknesses we saw in the US Constitution.
7 Likes
This current crop of Dems don’t have it in them. There may be possible candidates further down the food chain, but I doubt they will be able to come to our rescue in time.
2 Likes
Was there ever a better time to be in the war business? The danger, of course, is that US civilian manufacturing and services suffer as the US transforms to a wartime economy. Wars, like firework shows, are wasteful, The difference is that government customers often are sold weapons systems which are expected to have decades of service, with the result that 2/3 of the cost of ownership of such systems is in maintenance, upgrades, rebuilds and new consumables. Upgrades for the F-35 Lightning II, for example, are designed to be continuous, with major, bundled hardware and software updates historically planned for insertion into the production line roughly every two years. In practice, these upgrades suffer from significant delays. The Block 4 upgrade has experienced significant delays, with the full suite now expected to be completed around 2031, a five year delay from expected delivery. In contrast, Ukraine drone companies, of which there are now hundreds, as well as hundreds of subcontractors for ai-support, electronics, fiber, etc. can complete a development and upgrade cycle in weeks based on feedback from the front line. Another difference is financial certainty. Ukrainian companies are not sure they’ll get paid or be in business, whereas American firms know they will be paid in coming years, and in the case of subs and spaceships, decades.
Top U.S. Defense Contractor Backlogs (2024–2026 Data)
| Rank | Company | Backlog Value (Approx.) | Key Programs & Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | RTX Corporation | $268 Billion | Includes $107B directly for defense (Patriot missiles, EW systems); remainder is commercial aerospace. |
| 2 | Lockheed Martin | $160.6 Billion | Led by the F-35 Lightning II, hypersonic weapons, and missile defense systems. |
| 3 | Northrop Grumman | $85 Billion+ | Driven by the B-21 Raider, Sentinel ICBM, and space systems. |
| 4 | The Boeing Company | $78 Billion+ | Defense backlog includes F-15EX, KC-46 tankers, and satellite constellations. |
| 5 | General Dynamics | $73 Billion+ | Record levels supported by Virginia-class submarines and Columbia-class programs. |
2 Likes
This is the project I just walked away from because it was just too convoluted. If it’s the case that they’re going to be a major supplier to this war effort, they may decide that they don’t want to do the implementation at this time.
I speak from experience - I was on the Army project as the first Gulf war revved up. We were sent home with the idea that they didn’t want to do a logistics project during war-time.
Thankfully I’m off that project, but it will affect the consulting company that’s hired a bunch of folks to do the work, in the face of a buy-out from IBM that should take full-hold later this year.
Am I retired yet?
3 Likes
Simple enough: The number of Supreme Court justices should match the number of Circuit (Appeals) Courts, currently at 13. That’s how it’s historically been, it justifies the increase in Supreme Court justices, and it would solve the problem of McConnell’s court packing.
3 Likes
From experience, you’re retired when you decide that at the end of the contract, you aren’t going to look for another one. I removed myself four months early, (age 72) and was pleasantly surprised they bought out the contract. Folks who ‘are removed’ don’t have that calm certainty.
4 Likes
I don’t actually have a contract with these people. I’m a W2 contractor, meaning I don’t have to deal with all the nonsense that direct employees have to. I bill the hours I work, which is rarely over 10 a week. They ask if I can look into a project with an issue for them and I say yea or nay.
It’s a nice position to be in, actually.
3 Likes
I was a full time employee but on an employment contract for two and half years work from home at my dining room table during COVID. Over seeing a staff of eight who were also working from home. I liked the work and wanted to work… until I didn’t.
3 Likes
I think there is a perfect solution that would not require a Constitutional amendment or an expanded Supreme Court. It would, however, require a Dem majority in both Houses, a Dem President, and a Senate willing to kill the filibuster to adopt new voting legislation. The districts would be drawn based on geography and common sense, but all voting for Congress would be at large. Post-election, the winners would choose which district to represent of the pre-drawn districts based on who has the most votes – like teams selecting players for a pick-up game.
1 Like
Larry, Moe, and Surly.