Those who think the Democratic party shouldn’t be working hard to become a true national party is nuts. We need a 50 state strategy or we will be stuck with one white man, two votes, the way we are now.
This is the result of a small group of wealthy GOP donors planing and executing their long game. If Democrats were not so dang balkanized they could have done much the same.
With the Appellate Courts now being packed with far right judges it really will be up to the Parkland High Generation to maintain their drive and cohesion for the next forty to fifty years just to turn this country back to a humane direction.
Of all the pieces of the right-wing agenda and its minions in this (mal)administration, the attack on voting rights stuns and depressed me the most. Stuns because I have heard all my life that voter turnout in the US is a disgrace compared to most other democracies, and that we should do everything possible to increase, not limit it further. Depresses because, really, how can anyone be against making the franchise be as meaningful as possible? It’s hard to believe that politicians can be so venal as to support restricting the vote. There can be no principled reason. The only reason is the corrupt, selfish and racist desire to Make American White Again.
I wish and hope that Democrats can make the Supreme Court the base-motivating issue that it has become for Republicans. To the extent possible, we need to make this a central issue in the Senate races.
If only we’d had a once in a generation opportunity to replace Scalia with a Democratic appointee and decisively change the balance of the Supreme Court for the first time in decades.
Oh well, it’s a small price to pay not to have to endure a president who, when a private citizen, gave speeches to investment bankers for the going rate.
All this theoretical discussion is little more than mental masturbation.
The real problem is that the current Supreme Court majority is NOT a conservative court but a Republican Court who will do whatever helps the Republican Party win elections regardless of the constitution. This has been true since Nixon got 4 appointments resulting in the Miliken v Bradly in 1974 that destroyed Detroit and why in 2018 we still have “Black” schools, was made super obvious in 2000 when 5 justices on the Supreme Court who never found an equal protection case they liked until Bush v Gore and today is made obvious in every issue decided from guns to unions to redistricting to voter suppression.
The Roberts Court’s record on reading and enforcing the Voting Rights Act has been a disappointing one, which is no surprise given that Chief Justice John Roberts himself was an opponent of a strong Voting Rights Act when he worked in the Reagan Administration to weaken minority voter protections in Section 2.
It all seems of a piece with McConnell’s delaying of judicial appointments, blocking Garland, loosening of the rules for confirmation in the Senate, Republican voter suppression and so much more.
Presumably, the ideas of protecting minority power in Congress and an independent judiciary will regain coin on the right once they’re again in permanent minority status.
This is a great opinion piece, thank you for printing it here.
Unfortunately, it also embodies most of what is truly and desperately wrong with our current political system (controlled by Republicans on every level), and it makes my heart shrivel when I read it. When McConnell refused to hold hearings for an Obama nomination FOR A FUCKING YEAR, I knew we had entered some new dystopian phase in our so called democracy.
Thanks, Newt. Thanks, Rush. Thanks, Bill. Thanks, Sean. Thanks, Antonin. Thanks, Ronnie.
And most of all, thanks to Roger and FOX propaganda.
[Quote] All three branches of government have pulled back on protecting voting rights, and the effects of that move are becoming clear. We may soon fulfill the late Justice Antonin Scalia’s vision of an emasculated Voting Rights Act and much weaker protections for minority voters by the federal courts.[/quote] Thank god, we still have the Senate and Electoral College to ensure that the only minority voting block that matters, white rural conservatives, will continue to have a disproportionate say to protect them from the tyranny of the majority.
That would be “this kleptokakistocratic malmisadministration”, please. Maladministration doesn’t go nearly far enough to describe these a$$e$.
You know it brother! Now let’s make sure we put the emphasis on permanent.
When can we expect a verdict in that dick Kobach versus the ACLU? Did I miss it yet? or is it still pending?
Indeed. And as long as McTurtle’s outright denial of a Constitutional prerogative is allowed to stand, that is forevermore a tactic either party will be able to use at will, without consequence, rendering Article II, Section 2, Clause 2* null and void. Which is another step on the way to making the Constitution itself a dead letter.
At the time I argued that in the nominations clause, the word “shall” means the President must fill the vacancies as he sees fit and if the Senate refuses to review the nominations then the President must appoint, the lack of review on the part of the Senate being tantamount to consent. Being in Art. II, the prerogative is the President’s, the advice and consent a courtesy extended to the Senate should they wish to avail themselves of it. For the president to allow the Senate to ignore a nomination puts the President in violation of the far-more-important “Take Care” clause, which is the foundation of executive power and the only guarantee that the laws will be carried out.
A novel reading, to be sure, but it has more validity than McConnell’s empty reasoning, which is that the appointment power is somehow constrained during an election year. Sorry Mitch, the President has all his powers until noon on Jan. 20th. Once you start down that slippery slope, what other powers does a president not have because politics may intervene?
Neither of our assertions has precedent, but mine is at least arguable using the text, and has support also in the rationale for recess appointments.
Obama could have forced the question by simply swearing Garland in (if Garland would have gone along, which is doubtful), and telling McTurtle, " if you disagree, undo it, or give my nominee the consideration that I, the President, am entitled to."
So now the only way I see that this dangerous precedent can be neutralised is to impose an equal penalty on a Reactionary president at the earliest opportunity. Then a deal can be made, that either party will follow any such act with the same, tit for tat. Only then can they call it even and move on.
*“The President . . . shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States, whose Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by Law.”
Seems hard to find any good news anywhere nowadays. I only hope that all of the liberal justices (and Kennedy) are able to hang on until at least 2020 (or at least until we get a Senate Majority that can stop any further appointments).
When people don’t vote we get a minority governing the country. In 2016 40% of the eligible electorate did not vote. The resulting count was about evenly split between HRC and PP, which means that about 30% of the electorate put PP into office. Apathy put him into office, and unless and until we address that more effectively than we do now, we’re going to relive it over and over again.
So while you’re thanking some enemies, also thank your fellow Americans who didn’t give a shit and didn’t come out to vote
Isn’t it Kris?
Hey, Republicans!
On the Census, be sure to ask how many people own guns. That would be good to know too, so we can know how many Second Amendment advocates we must protect.
smiles
Be sure to get names and addresses. Thanks.
I wonder how much making Election Day a paid Federal holiday would affect turnout? There could be a significant contingent of the population that would vote if they could, but when it’s a choice between voting and going to their “uniquely American” third job to put food on the table, they may not feel they can afford to take the time out of their day.
Voting on weekends, more absentee ballots with accessible drop off points or by mail, less blatant voter restrictions being applied in red states, longer early voting periods, any or all of these fixes could be applied if only pols who want to suppress votes didn’t stand in the way.
But if people believe they can’t afford to take time to vote, they will have to accept the results of elections which don’t improve their lives even in small ways.
I should also add there needs to more emphasis in education on why voting is a right that must be exercised in order to keep a democracy running as it was intended.
McConnell is evil; having his wife available to be on GOP cabinets should be a per se conflict of interest.