WhatWouldGracie
DoVille
The biggest news from the Excited States* this week may be the thing you heard about leastt.
Because it wasn't the revelation that MBS and Jared Kushner really are (gun) running American mid-east policy, on their own, without a valid security clearance.
And it had nothing to do with Kamala Harris' newly patented 'One Hour De-Bidenizing' strategy.
And it sure as heckfire wasn't the Supreme Court's Citizenship Kaning decision of the Republican's Rosebudian census strategy.
Instead, the really, really, really big news was the week's 'other' decision from the Supremes, brought to US'ians everywhere by the evil machinations of Mitch McConnell.
Essentially, that decision says the federal courts have no business stepping in to stop unconstitutional gerrymandering.
This is a situation so grave that even the Grey Lady, front page, above the fold, had this to say in a piece by Michael Wines:
...Gerrymandered maps were once part of an unspoken agreement between rivals that pressing for political advantage was, within limits, part of the electoral game. But in recent years Republicans, aided by sophisticated mapmaking software, have given themselves near-unbreakable power across the country.
Now, with a green light from the justices, the party has an opportunity to lock in political dominance for the next decade in many of the 22 states where it controls both the legislature and the governor’s office...
The real take home here...
As admirable as it is in theoretical, if not historically normative, terms, Adam Gopnik's nicey-nice, center squishy, both-sides-have-good-points-so-let's-all-give-a-little-to-make-everyone-feel-gooder liberalism cannot deal with yet another hammerheaded suplex like this.
OK?
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*Tip-O-The-Toque to Granddad Ed...When we moved there for awhile he loved to give us the gears...
Regarding the title and sub-header...Laila explains.
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King John Would Like a Word with Justice Alito
3 hours ago
7 comments:
When the Excited States starts leaking North...
Canadian Cartoonist Fired After His Trump Cartoon Goes Viral
"Michael de Adder had his contract terminated after his cartoon depicting a callous Trump standing over the lifeless bodies of drowned migrants, Óscar Alberto Martínez Ramírez and his daughter Valeria."
Michael de Adder had his contract terminated with the Brunswick News, a privately-held publishing company that operates in New Brunswick, Canada. The sole owner, James K. Irving is one of the wealthiest people in Canada and he and his family have a vast array of interests and holdings, many of them dependent on access to the United States.
https://crooksandliars.com/2019/06/canadian-cartoonist-fired-after-his-trump
Just in time for CANADA DAY
Since Irving has given so much money to Acadia University, I can foresee his interference in who gets to be admitted, and who gets the boot. This man obviously has no sympathy for a dead father and his dead child. Says a lot about the Irvings. But, that family has run things in my province for many, many years. If an Irving says "jump" you must inquire "how high?,
Those thousand, million fingers will all be middle fingers.
I live in hope that those benefitting from said fingers will overstep in wielding their illegitimate power to the point where the injured electorate awakes in numbers sufficient to overcome the gerrymandering and suppression handicaps.
That may happen given the recent brazen attacks on women’s rights in Alabama, Georgia, Ohio, Kentucky, and Mississippi. Time will tell whether enough is really enough.
Thanks Anons-Above--
A chilling story, indeed.
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I dunno Lew.
It's seems to me that if folks aren't there now, they may never be.
Case in point...North Carolina...went 50/50 pop vote last congressional election...Seat result?...10 to 3, Republican... This is not something that getting rid of Mr. Trump will fix.
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Kind of like Gracie`s finger?
RossK you are right. Getting rid of Trump will not fix gerrymandering. The electoral maps resulting in the congressional disparity you cite are developed in most cases by the state legislatures, not by Trump. They are not under direct federal control. But those same state officials are trashing women’s rights and that’s where I’m hoping they may have fatally overstepped.
Democratic control of the North Carolina legislative agenda is not out of the question as this summary from Ballotpedia illustrates:
“The Republican Party maintained control of both chambers of the General Assembly of North Carolina in the 2018 election but lost supermajority status in each. In the state Senate, all 50 seats were up for election. The Republican North Carolina State Senate majority was reduced from 35-15 to 29-21. The party needed 30 seats to maintain a supermajority. One Democratic incumbent and one Republican incumbent were defeated in the primary. Five Republican incumbents were defeated in the general election.
The North Carolina House of Representatives held elections for all 120 seats. The Republican majority in the House of Representatives was reduced from 75-45 to 65-55. The party needed 72 seats to maintain a supermajority. Two Democratic incumbents and two Republican incumbents were defeated in the primary. Eleven incumbents were defeated in the general election; two Democrats and nine Republicans.”
https://ballotpedia.org/North_Carolina_State_Senate_elections,_2018
Having said that, Trump does get to nominate the Supreme Court judges that rule on the the constitutional grievances that arise on issues like gerrymandering or abortion rights, so it would be much better to see him gone, gone, gone, for that and a thousand other reasons. And McConnell would be impotent if the Dems take back the Senate. As I say, I live in hope:-).
Chuck--
Absolutely.
One can only wonder why that event received so little play in the wake of recent events
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Lew--
Agreed re: the control of the Supremes...The real killer there was Mitch McConnell's kiboshing of Obama nominee Merrick Garland.
Thing about NC is that, even if it were to flip, unless things are rectified immediately, they will have to wait until the next census in 2030.
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