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#gerrymandering

3 toots3 participants0 toots today
Continued thread
Public *
Chuck Darwin

For decades, the right has targeted the protections of the 1965 Voting Rights Act,

most visibly via court decisions,
as well as spurious voter roll #purges and #gerrymandering efforts,
which warp territorial districting law to divide opponents and consolidate supporters.

One of the most reliable methods of suppression, though,
is to tighten #voter #identification rules.

Requiring #citizenship #paperwork, which many (fully eligible) citizens do not possess,
leads to the emergence of a racially inflected pattern of #vote #suppression.

If you make voting as inconvenient and costly as possible,
by default, some percentage of those who are short on money and time
— people of color, students, low-income workers and others who juggle lots of obligations with few resources
— will decide that getting to the polls just isn’t worth it.

Maximizing this effect is the primary motive driving the rampant right-wing infringements on democratic participation,
Trump’s latest order included.

To justify these measures, the executive order
👉purports to combat large-scale voter fraud:
⚠️the familiar right-wing myth that millions of illicit votes are cast in the U.S., in numbers that could throw a presidential election.

(The real nationwide illegal vote count is a few hundred, at most

-- of those, quite a few were Trump voters.)

The type of voter fraud claimed by the right is so vanishingly rare as to be an utterly negligible force in U.S. politics.

If anything can be said to constitute actual substantive electoral fraud,
it is the right’s systematic and wildly successful campaign to #obstruct voting rights.

Trump’s order,
while perhaps the most aggressive foray into voter suppression of late,
is far from the only effort to impair democracy.

🔥Right now the SAVE Act is making its way through Congress;

the Republican-sponsored legislation would alter registration procedures
and demand proof of citizenship documents like
a passport, birth certificate or naturalization certification.

(As NPR reported, researchers have found that
👉 1 in 10 voting-eligible Americans don’t possess these documents.)❗️

There’s notable overlap between the two efforts
— the administration seems to be hedging its bets.

“A lot of [the executive order] tracks pretty closely with what’s in the SAVE Act,”
said Diaz.

Should the SAVE Act fail, the executive order may
allow “the White House to get around the congressional lawmaking process
-- and do whatever they want.”

truthout.org/articles/trump-as

Donald Trump
Truthout · Trump Assumes Unheard-of Powers in Ordering Federal Overhaul of ElectionsHis order on voter policy could disenfranchise millions, but multiple lawsuits have already sprung up to challenge it.
Public
Noah

I grew up #jewish in what once was a moderately blue area in a pretty red state. This has thankfully evolved into a very blue area in a kind of blue state with enough pockets of red #gerrymandering to make it possible for the #republicans to get a governor here.

Anyway, when you grow up around a group of Southern Baptists who all think you're a part of the chosen people but that you'll still burn in hell without accepting Christ into one of your organs, you learn how scripture can be weaponized pretty quickly and that having a couple of verses handy to toss back at the overzealous is a truly joyous experience as you watch their bigoted heads explode.

I was thinking of that today when I saw someone mention something about praying for #trump and while my heathen ass generally doesn't bandy about scripture, in this case I thought I might offer this little nugget for y'all to keep on hand if you happen to run across folks asking you to do such a thing.

I suggest you reply with, "Of course...Psalm 109, Verse 7–16 perhaps?" This reads as follows:
---
When he is tried, let him come forth guilty; let his prayer be counted as sin!

May his days be few; may another take his office!

May his children be fatherless and his wife a widow!

May his children wander about and beg, seeking food far from the ruins they inhabit!

May the creditor seize all that he has; may strangers plunder the fruits of his toil!

Let there be none to extend kindness to him, nor any to pity his fatherless children!

May his posterity be cut off; may his name be blotted out in the second generation!

May the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the Lord, and let not the sin of his mother be blotted out!

Let them be before the Lord continually, that he may cut off the memory of them from the earth!

For he did not remember to show kindness, but pursued the poor and needy and the brokenhearted, to put them to death.
---
So while I'm not a new testament kind of guy, in this case, I'd be more than happy to offer this up as an extremely heartfelt prayer.

Public *
MikeDunnAuthor

Super exciting and inspiring to see so many people out there yesterday. Truly historic numbers of participants. And in spite of my following comments, I think demos like these are critical. If nothing else, they show the world that we are not sheep, that we oppose the fascist regime. It gives the government a taste of how strong we can be. Large demos like these provide a forum for activists to communicate with each other, share ideas, agitate for more radical changes. And it is empowering to be part of large demos, particularly for those who haven't done it before, instilling some hope in these dark times.

But here are a couple of things to consider:

(1) "Hands Off" is a liberal, not a leftist, slogan, devoid of anti-capitalist critique. Consider that the posters included "Hands Off NATO." That piece suggests that at least some organizers and participants actually support imperialist wars and interventions. NATO is one of the most anti-working-class organizations there is. Its entire purpose (contrary to the propaganda) is to pit working-class soldiers against each other in order to protect existing, and acquire new, territory, markets, and workers for the benefit of capitalists.

(2) "Hands Off Medicare, Social Security, libraries, immigrants, trans folks, etc." are necessary and existential short-term goals. But, at best, success brings us back to the pre-Trump status quo, which wasn't particularly good for most working-class people, nor for members of most marginalized communities. We need to be demanding a lot more (which many activists at yesterday’s demos were calling for).

(3) Some of the posters demanded "Fair Elections." But what does this even mean in a representative democracy? Yes, the Republicans have certainly exploited gerrymandering, the electoral college system, and voter suppression to win elections, sometimes even in spite of losing the popular vote. In fact, there are some who think Texas, with the 7th & 8th largest African American communities in the country (Dallas, Houston), would vote blue if not for gerrymandering and voter suppression. But then what? We'd still just be voting for who gets to rule over us and those rulers would still be primarily rich people, whose interests and policies align much more with the CEOs and corporate bosses than with working-class people. If the past is any indication, Democrats would still be supporting Zionism & Genocide, government suppression of strikes and worker movements (e.g., the recent train strike), imperialist & NATO interventions abroad. We'd still have millions living in the streets and millions dependent on food stamps and food pantries. We'd still have snowballing climate change and a government hamstrung by its subservience to capital. Let’s not forget, under Clinton, a Democrat, we got NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, the anti-worker NAFTA, and an “End to Welfare as We Know It.” And under Obama we got drone assassinations of U.S. citizens living abroad and a continuation of Bush’s mass deportations and imprisonment of immigrant children.

Optimistically, there were many people at yesterday’s demos who ARE thinking about these issues and fighting for far more than just a return to the pre-Trump status quo. There were lots of anti-genocide signs and posters and solidarity with Palestinians. Many demanding bodily autonomy for all, including both access to birth control and abortion, as well as access to gender affirming care. There were many demonstrators calling for a General Strike, which has far more potential to achieve results than do mass demonstrations. (Direct Action gets the Goods!)

So, let’s continue with these large mass demos. But let’s also start organizing direct actions that hurt the rulers’ bottom line. And let’s also remember that the most enduring North American General Strikes (e.g., Saint Louis, 1877; Seattle, 1919; Winnipeg, 1919; Minneapolis, 1934) all involved incredible organization and coordination, including the delivery of free food to residents; worker control of policing and emergency services; shutdown of corporate media and worker control of mass communication; worker control of transport and shipping.

#HandsOff#goodtrouble#protest
Replied to Nonilex
Public *
Six Grandfathers Mountain

@Nonilex
RE
#ElonMusk #Wisconsin #VoterID requirement ballot “was the most important thing"
It literally was already required... incapable of admitting...losing

Well, #Musk is right, the ballot (#gerrymandering #MailinVoting #citizensunited) is the whole thing, because the #MAGA #Republicans have no norms, rules or laws to control them.
Crashing the economy _and_ helping the rich⁉️ Just another Tuesday

#KaraSwisher VIDEO
gets into the area of WHY #Trump keeps #Elon around

Public
Rasta

When I discovered my phone had been saving *drafts* for over a year, I just sent them anyway, reminding everyone of better times.

#GoodMorning but bitter cold..

She was gone this morning but I did see a homeless, soon-to-be mom, camping in my backyard last night. I pretended not to notice her, but the cat stared all night

#Homelessness#Gerrymandering#Housing
Public
Thelonious08

If Democrats had done extreme partisan gerrymanders of New York and California back in 2010 or 2017 or 2021 we would have a 20+ seat House Majority right now and a Democratic House Speaker could impeach, investigate, subpoena, and block all bad legislation. They chose not to. It was surrender. Even today no one even mentions this critically important field of battle.

#Gerrymandering#RaiseTheBar#DemandMore
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