“Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide.” -John Adams Gerrymandering of last few decades is not the same thing as what it means today. Yes, both sides have done it. Conservatives have a defensible stance to argue what is good for the goose is good for the gander. I argue, this time it's different. This time the president has demonstrated he's not acting in good faith. He doesn't stand for the basic principle, that which is what this country was founded upon, that America shall not be run by a monarch. This is not a question about disagreeing about policy or who's side lost the election. Trump only has one side, his own. The issue of gerrymandering is just one cog of a larger strategy. Aggregate power and overturn the constitution. Once we cross that threshold, there is a real potential there is no going back. See Putin. Fixing gerrymandering would be nice but it can't be done if the key actors are not negotiating in good faith.
Agreed. The problem with modern America we think Tradition and Precedence will protect us Which is why alot of things have not been codified into LAW and If it is not a law . . .then it is kind of unenforcable which is what Trump takes advantage of If you offer Free Candy everyone goes and Takes one peice of candy to leave some for others Then Trump comes in and Dumps the whole bowl in his pocket and says he is smart for doing it Well . .. There wasn't a rule against it .. . . but that does not make it right The Modern Republicans . . .seem to feel like if there is not implicit rule against it .. .its RIGHT and if their is they can work around the Rule Rocket River
Yes. But I'd like to make a nuanced distinction that is very important. If the actors are not behaving in good faith, no laws can protect you. You can't make a law to cover every possible situation. Your candy example is great. We all understand it's Halloween and many people will come for candy so there is a social contract that we all buy into. Don't be greedy. But if one kid, or their parent, doesn't buy into that contract, there isn't anything you can do about it. They'll find a way to get around whatever safeguards you put in place. Maybe they'll come back multiple times or maybe they'll send multiple people or or or. They'll find a way because their plan is to definitely take all the candy and utilize any weaknesses in the rules as justification for their own behavior. They'll use the rules against you. Trump is not acting in good faith. He has no intention to uphold constitutional values ...because it's clear he fully intends to take all the candy.
He's made that obvious for years. What I don't get is how so many couldn't see the obvious, and instead, chose to look at him the way he wanted them to, by filling their heads with some warped sense of reality where everyone else is lying, everyone else is the criminal, everyone else is crooked, and everyone else is stupid.
Abbott is basically saying, "y'all little wimps come back and take your beating, or I'm going to beat you even more ." I still don't think the Dems have enough backbone to break quorum until December. I think we're getting a 45% Republican vote share in the midterms next year with a 52% Republican majority. I think the NY and Cali redistricting tit for tat won't happen until after midterms, so 2028 is going to be the day. Dems might still be too dumb to put up a viable candidate by then.
I think Trump has some issues where he can't even privately accept facts. So really, it's about many of his sycophants in government who are not acting in good faith. There are true believers too, but I think the majority of Repubs in government are going along with the ride.
Well the system favors land which is why the GOP is tying my city of Austin to bubbaville which is 200 miles away and will do the same with all the major Texas cities.
While Trump's power grab has been obvious, there has been a massive shift. He has seen what is possible. Now he wants to be king. He has taken it to next level. I don't mean he wants to be king metaphorically. He wants to be Putin and he sees the path on how to get there ...and he's very close. Somebody else made the comment "well, wake me up when he gets there". The problem with that logic is if Trump is able to knock down the last domino, there is no going back. It's a one-way street. This isn't hyperbole. If Trump completes the consolidation of power, there are no safe guards. So at that point, the ONLY recovery is relying on Trump to do the right thing and relinquish power and restore constitutional order. What are the odds of that? The ONLY domino left standing is the next presidential election. The mid-term would be an enabler for Trump to win the next presidential election if the Dems can't regain control of the House or Senate. If Trump wins the mid-terms, he will definitely run for a 3rd term. He's already said as such. If Trump wins a 3rd term, America is "officially" an autocracy. There will be no more free elections, just like Russia, where Putin "wins" 90% of the vote.
