Stephan: I find it astonishing that people whose lives are being made more difficult, in some cases more miserable, by the acts of MAGAt Republicans, are yet more inclined to vote for them. This article is an attempt by someone else who has been struck by this shift to explain it. A combination of low IQ, poor education, racism, and fear of change.
Trump speaks at the “Stop the Steal” rally on Jan. 6. Credit: Screenshot / YouTube.com
Over the long weekend, Gallup released a poll that sent a shock wave through Democratic circles: There’s been a 14 point swing in party preference from Democratic to Republican in the past year. While 49% of Americans leaned Democratic and 40% leaned Republican in January 2021, at the beginning of 2022, the parties have nearly reversed positions. Now 47% of Americans prefer Republicans while a mere 42% prefer Democrats.
From one angle, it makes sense. The COVID-19 pandemic continues to be the dominant political issue, and President Joe Biden is getting blamed for it, even though the real cause is Republican pundits and politicians convincing their followers to be disease vectors in order to sabotage Biden’s presidency. The ongoing failure of Democrats to pass any of Biden’s political priorities can’t be helping, either, especially as the result is a drumbeat of headlines about Biden failing.
But it still is stunning to see this dramatic swing, […]
Stephan: Thanks to Manchin and Sinema and, of course, every single Republican, American democracy was kicked in the groin and there will be no voting rights bill. How any Black or Brown voter in the United States can vote Republican, that is vote for a party doing everything in its power to keep them from voting, is beyond me. And yet they will.
Senator Mitch McConnell and fellow Republicans aggressively fought both the voting measure and the attempt to weaken the filibuster. Credit: Sarahbeth Maney/The New York Times
WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats made an impassioned case on Wednesday for legislation to counter an onslaught of new voting restrictions around the country, but they failed to overcome a Republican blockade or unite their own members behind a change in filibuster rules to pass it.
Though the twin defeats were never in doubt, Democrats pushed forward in an effort to highlight what they called a crisis in voting rights and to underscore the refusal of Republicans to confront it. They did succeed in forcing the Senate for the first time to debate the bill, leading to hours of raw and emotional arguments on the floor over civil rights, racism and how elections are conducted.
“The people of this country will not tolerate silencing,” said Senator Amy Klobuchar, Democrat of Minnesota and a chief author of the voting bill. “I think by voting this down, by not allowing us even to debate this, […]
Stephan: The MAGAt Whites in Texas are terrified that the state is becoming a majority minority state and are doing everything in their power, while they still are in power, to severely limit the non-White vote. Is that an exaggeration? Read this and make up your own mind.
Two women voting at the polls Credit: Shutterstock
The 2022 primary elections in Texas will come on March 1, but the voter suppression bills are already having an impact on those who hoped to participate.
The Harris County Judge, who manages elections in the largest county in the state, tweeted that she has been forced to refuse seven times as many vote by mail applications as last year.
Linda Hidalgo explained that because of the new laws, people must register to vote with their driver’s license number and if you use your social security number with your mail-in ballot, it gets rejected.
Another person noted that the new ballot application was also “written to cause confusion and uncertainty.” He said that it requires people to know their VUID or precinct number. The VUID is a Voter Unique Identifier. He explained it can be found by going to the Secretary of State’s website input an ID or license number with date of birth. It would then spit out the VUID. The same can be […]
Stephan: There can be no doubt that the MAGAt Republican Party is actively trying to rig elections. What amazes me is how absolutely blatant it all is, and how people in the Red states are so uninterested in what is happening to the most sacred aspects of democracy, fair elections and the ability to vote. Happily the judiciary in Ohio still has integrity.
Freda Levenson appears before the Ohio Supreme Court in Columbus during oral arguments last month in a constitutional challenge to new legislative district maps. Credit: Julie CarrSmyth/Associated Press
The Ohio Supreme Court threw out a pair of state legislative redistricting maps as well as a newly drawn congressional map last week. The twin rulings highlighted how good intentions of the voters can be scuttled by politicians with a partisan agenda.
The decision on the state legislative maps was also further proof that redistricting commissions, often seen as the solution to avoid partisan gerrymandering, are not always the answer. It showed that who controls these commissions can be the difference between fair lines and partisan lines.
The 4-3 ruling on the legislative maps found that the work of Ohio’s bipartisan redistricting commission amounted to partisan gerrymandering favoring Republicans, who just happen to control both the state House and Senate and the governor’s mansion.
A 4-3 ruling days later negated the congressional district map for the same reason, though those lines were the work of the state’s General […]
Stephan: Here is a good explanation of what happened in the Texas synagogue terrorist act. Some of it you may already know. What stood out for me that I had not previously known was that a man with a terrorist record could fly into the U.S. from a foreign country, and essentially immediately purchase a weapon, a handgun with which to carry out his assault and hostage taking. That is insane, and a measure of America's obsessive gun psychosis.
Biden and law enforcement officials at Texas synagogue. Credit: Drew Angerer and Andy Jacobsohn/Getty
The British man who took four people hostage in a Texas synagogue was able to get a gun within two weeks of being in the United States and may have got one almost immediately after landing.
On Saturday morning, Malik Faisal Akram, 44, stormed the Sabbath service at Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas. Armed with a handgun, he held four people, including the rabbi, Charlie Cytron-Walker, hostage for more than 10 hours.
Akram was shot dead when a SWAT team entered the building, and all four hostages were rescued unharmed.
President Joe Biden suggested lax American gun laws played a part in allowing a British citizen to purchase a gun so soon after landing in the U.S. Biden said U.S. authorities are still gathering facts, but it is believed Akram purchased the weapon “on the street” shortly after he arrived.
“The idea of background checks are critical,”
said Biden. “But you can’t stop something like this if someone […]
