Voting 2024

Flipping Your Wig

"I can see you think I'm a crank. It doesn't matter. This is what I know. Human nature, the human heart, the spirit, the soul, consciousness itself – call it what you like – in the end, it's all we've got to work with. It has to develop and expand, or the sum of our misery will never diminish. My own small discovery has been that this change is possible, it is within our power. Without a revolution of the inner life, however slow, all our big designs are worthless. The work we have to do is with ourselves if we're ever going to be at peace with each other. I'm not saying it'll happen. There's a good chance it won't. I'm saying it's our only chance. If it does, and it could take generations, the good that flows from it will shape our societies in an un-programmed, unforeseen way, under the control of no single group of people or set of ideas.”
—Black Dogs, Ian McEwan

People have short memories, or don’t consider that ‘strong men’ governments are authoritarian in nature. Fuckleroy has said that he intends to leave NATO, cut off ties with allies, and go it alone. This is currently happening with the far right in France who REALLY have short memories. Less than 100 years ago, when an authoritarian government took over (commonly known as Hitler and the Nazis), civilians were stripped of communication (at that time, all radios were confiscated), censorship of plays and shows, the press and all publishing, films, and speech (any plays that were produced, the directors wore military dress and were subject to military regulation). Transportation was limited, international trade was restricted, food resources were slim leading to hunger in the general populace, curfews were in place, and books were banned (happening already here). We take for granted the freedom we currently have under a democracy.

Election workers, who used to go under the radar for the most part, should be held in high esteem. It’s not the ‘radical’ left who are lacing their ballots and letters with fentanyl. The Brennan Center For Justice reports that the often complex, technical work of administering elections used to occur largely behind the scenes. However, since 2020, election officials have been thrust into the spotlight amid a campaign to undermine faith in American democracy, scapegoated for election outcomes that some politicians and voters do not like. As they perform crucial work under these challenging conditions, election officials report that they need more resources to keep up with administrative and security needs.

Another thing the ‘radical’ left is not participating in: hate and anti-government extremist groups. According to Southern Poverty Law Center’s new report, in 2023 there were more hate and anti-government extremist groups in the United States than ever before. The SPLC says there are 1,430 hate and antigovernment extremist groups currently operating in the U.S.

The far-right everyday working-class schmoes must be extremely upset that the Democrats have reversed 40 years of supply side economics wherein economists estimate that between 1981 and 2021, more than $50 trillion dollars moved from the bottom 90% of Americans to the top 1%. And they must be LIVID that the US economy added a whopping 272,000 jobs in May. Ernie Flickbottom from Ottomwa, Iowa, said he will cast his vote for Fuckleroy no matter what. “I wants my money to go to the millionaires and billionaires,” said he. There are many low-information voters like Ernie ready to hit the polls.

Simon Rosenberg reports that Biden's 15.6m jobs are 8 times as many jobs as were created in the 16 years of the last 3 Republican Presidencies, combined. (1.9m jobs = 16 years of Bush, Bush, Trump) Republicans created on average just 10,000 jobs a month over 16 years. Last month’s 272,000 jobs would be 27 months (2 years/3 months) of GOP job growth in a single month. Democratic policies have repeatedly been able to make globalization work for the American people in this new and challenging age.  GOP policies have repeatedly failed to deliver, as a national party Republicans have repeatedly failed to do their part. 

Thom Hartmann reports that the so-called Moral Majority movement (and its successor, the Tea Party movement) were heavily funded by oil billionaires (including Fred Koch’s sons) after Reagan, Falwell, et al, committed to broadening their agenda to include deregulation of monopolies and the fossil fuel industry, along with massive tax cuts. Thus was born the modern-day alliance between the morbidly rich, polluting and monopolistic industries, and white supremacists that has taken over the GOP and calls itself MAGA.

A documentary titled Bad Faith reveals how Christian Nationalist leaders have spread fear and anger for decades, distorting political issues into Biblical battles between good and evil. Financed through the secretive Council for National Policy, Christian Nationalists have succeeded in taking over the Republican Party, turning it into a powerful weapon to demolish democracy from within. Discover the origins of this organized grasp for power and the grassroots coalition of secular and interfaith leaders bravely confronting the unholy forces threatening democracy.

Texas has put it in writing it in their Platform and Resolutions adopted by the 2024 GOP state convention. WaPo reports that, in the document, the Bible should be taught in public schools, with chaplains on hand “to counsel and give guidance from a traditional biblical perspective based on Judeo-Christian principles.” That noncitizens who are legal residents of this country should be deported if they are arrested for participating in a protest that turns violent. That name changes to military bases should be reversed to “publicly honor the southern heroes.” That doctors who perform abortions should be charged with homicide. That the United States should withdraw from the United Nations and that the international organization should be removed from U.S. soil. Karen Tumulty, the writer of the article, goes on to say then there is this audaciously undemocratic provision: To be elected to state office, a candidate must win not only a majority of votes, but also more than half of Texas’s 254 counties. Let me translate what that means. Democrats in Texas are concentrated in a few urban areas, while Republicans are spread across the map. This system would effectively mean Democrats — who, as it is, haven’t won a statewide office since 1994 — would be shut out forever.

In the spirit of evangelical Christianity, the rise of House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) demonstrates where we are right now and why we need to vote Republicans out of existence. When asked on Fox News how he would make public policy, he replied: “Well, go pick up a Bible off your shelf and read it. That’s my worldview.” The Guardian reported that Johnson’s inerrant biblical truth leads him to reject science. Johnson was a “young earth creationist”, holding that a literal reading of Genesis means that the earth is only a few thousand years old and humans walked alongside dinosaurs. He has been the attorney for and partner in Kentucky’s Creation Museum and Ark amusement park, which present these beliefs as scientific fact, a familiar sleight of hand where the end (garnering more believers) justifies the means (lying about science). For them, the end always justifies the means. That’s why they don’t even blink when non-believers suffer for their dogma.

This is the GOP now. All Republicans either follow MAGA-think, or they’re shunned and/or given the boot. WE need to be the ones to kick all their asses way beyond the curb.

In Arizona, as I posted in April, there will be two justices on the ballet for a retention election. We don’t want either. These two voted to uphold the 1864 near-total abortion ban, first passed before Arizona became a state, that went unenforced for decades after the US supreme court legalized abortion nationwide in the 1973 decision Roe v Wade. Clint Bolick and Kathryn H. King need to be shown the door. Here’s a handy State-by-State Guide to the 2024 Supreme Court Elections.

And, if you missed it, my first 2024 election post in late May concerned flipping the House. Also, take the time to read Heather Cox Richardson’s post from last night that outlines the philosophy and the power of Russell Vought, the hard-right Christian nationalist who is drafting plans for a second Trump term.

Thanks for reading and share the shit out of this by sending this along or just talking about it. Make some noise. Speak up.

And now…