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Report: Global Democracy Under Threat, US Democracy in “accelerating decline”
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[link=https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-election-breaches/]Reuters[/link]
[h1][b]Trump allies breach U.S. voting systems in search of 2020 fraud evidence[/b][/h1]
Chasing proof of vote-rigging conspiracy theories, Republican officials and activists in eight U.S. locales have plotted to gain illegal access to balloting systems, undermining the security of elections they claim to protect.The episode is among [link=https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-election-breaches/#breaches]eight known attempts [/link]to gain unauthorized access to voting systems in five U.S. states since the 2020 election. All involved local Republican officeholders or party activists who have advanced Trumps stolen-election falsehoods or conspiracy theories about rigged voting machines, according to a Reuters examination of the incidents. Some of the breaches, including the one in Elbert County, were inspired in part by the false belief that state-ordered voting-system upgrades or maintenance would erase evidence of alleged fraud in the 2020 election. In fact, state election officials say, those processes have no impact on the voting systems ability to save data from past elections.
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Four experts in voting law told Reuters the extent of these balloting-data breaches is unprecedented in modern U.S. elections. The violations are especially worrying, say election officials, because they break the chain of custody over ballots and tabulating equipment. Such safeguards allow for the tracking of exactly who has handled sensitive voter data; they are essential to making elections secure and to resolving any challenges or fraud allegations.
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Such breaches can also constitute privacy invasions by exposing information about individual voters. The Colorado data Schroeder leaked likely included ballot images that showed how people voted, according to the secretary of states office. If so, that would violate a core principle of modern American democracy: the secret ballot, which is intended to protect voters from politically motivated harassment or intimidation and to prevent vote-buying.[/QUOTE]
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Someone in Lake County let them into a locked office to access the Lake County network. I don’t think they got anything but as far as I know the FBI was investigating that. It was in an inside job from a county official to let the pillow guy IT squad into the building.
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[link=https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/04/29/opinion/blueprint-coup-comes-into-focus/]https://www.bostonglobe.c…coup-comes-into-focus/[/link]
[h1][b]Blueprint for a coup comes into focus[/b][/h1] [h2]The Jan. 6 House committee needs to connect the dots and show how democracy was imperiled.[/h2]There is no patriotic face, and no innocent explanation, that can be put on calls to impose martial law to prevent the inauguration of Joe Biden as president especially when those calls came from members of Congress.
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{M}ost of all, while a wary nation awaits whatever action may come from the Justice Department, the committee must connect the dots of this probe in a way that compels the attention of the American public. This may be the last, best chance for those on the committee and for all of those in Congress who care about the rule of law to tell the story of what really happened in the days after the 2020 election, to build a consensus around that narrative a consensus that can lead to real reform.
The peril to democracy was real, but its the job of the Jan. 6 committee to document how that moment came to be so that we may all learn the lessons of that recent past.[/QUOTE]
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Reps. [link=https://thehill.com/people/liz-cheney/]Liz Cheney[/link] (R-Wyo.) and [link=https://thehill.com/people/jake-auchincloss/]Jake Auchincloss[/link] (D-Mass.)[link=https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/05/06/cheney-auchincloss-democracy-ukraine/]op-ed in The Washington Post[/link] :
Our democracy at home depends on preserving freedom in Ukraine[/h1]
They are not just fighting for their own freedom. They are fighting for ours, too.{T}here should be no partisan divide among members in Congress. It must be the policy of the United States that the strategic objective in Ukraine is victory for a free and democratic Ukraine, and defeat for Vladimir Putin. The strength of our democracy here at home depends on it.
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Putin, in particular, must be under no illusion about U.S. resolve. The Russian president has long sought to divide, disorient and demoralize the U.S. body politic. His efforts will not succeed. Neither the United States nor the world will sit silently by as Russia commits atrocities and war crimes across Ukraine. We will not remain neutral in this fundamental battle for freedom. In the United States, across party lines, we know that our own security requires the survival of freedom and the defeat of Russian forces in Ukraine. In this, we are united.…
The United States and Congress must continue to deliver a strong and unequivocal answer, because democracy everywhere is fragile. Strains of authoritarianism here at home make that painfully clear. Democracies, though, draw succor from one another. In defending Ukraines democracy, we stand up for our own. In combating tyranny overseas, we strengthen our freedom at home.
[/QUOTE]
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Yep. Looks like an accelerating incline to me when representatives on both sides of the aisle write a piece like that together.
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[h3][link=https://thefulcrum.us/big-picture/Leveraging-big-ideas/flawed-democracy]US remains a ‘flawed democracy’ in annual rankings, Slightly down from last year [/link][/h3]
The latest edition of the Economist Intelligence Units [link=https://www.eiu.com/n/campaigns/democracy-index-2021/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter_axiossneakpeek&stream=top#mktoForm_anchor]Democracy Index[/link] ranks the United States 26th of 167 countries, sandwiched between Chile and Estonia, when measuring electoral process, government functionality, political participation, political culture and civil liberties.
On a 10-point scale, the U.S. earned 7.85 points slightly down from last year 7.92 and the nations lowest score since the EIU created the index in 2006. The United States also dropped one spot in the rankings over the past year.
The researchers pinned the United States low score on two factors, both of which are tied to polarization: functioning of government and political culture.
[/QUOTE]US score aided by the high level of participation in the 2020 election, the fact that our system held and a peaceful transfer of power occurred despite Trump’s attempts to destroy it, and relatively high level of civil liberties.
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Next time the velociraptors will know how the door handles work.
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[h1]The Next Insurrection Wont Rely on Amateurs[/h1]
[link=https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/trump-insurrection-election-vote-suppression-stop-steal-fraud.html]Jonathan Chait[/link]: Donald Trumps bid to win an unelected second term spectacularly failed. But the effort he inspired is winning a longer-term campaign to reshape his party into an organ to advance his belief that Democratic election victories are inherently illegitimate. Trumps success can be seen in the general refusal of Republican officials to acknowledge Joe Bidens legitimate victory and their co-option of stop-the-steal fantasies with vote-suppression laws and new election police forces.
Its most dangerous manifestation is probably the creation of an institutionalized movement to disrupt and challenge elections on the ground as they occur.
“Just like Christian conservatives and gun owners, election challengers are becoming an entrenched wing of the Republican Party. They are building organizations, training cadres, raising funds, and planning for contingencies. What is happening is the institutionalization of an insurrectionary movement.”
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Again, can we get Electoral Count Act reform now?
I know it’s not the end all of election reform but it is the most important first step to avoid another 1/6/22 and avoid the need for anti-velociraptor door handles.
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Quote from dergon
Reps. [link=https://thehill.com/people/liz-cheney/]Liz Cheney[/link] (R-Wyo.) and [link=https://thehill.com/people/jake-auchincloss/]Jake Auchincloss[/link] (D-Mass.)[link=https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/05/06/cheney-auchincloss-democracy-ukraine/]op-ed in The Washington Post[/link] :
Our democracy at home depends on preserving freedom in Ukraine
They are not just fighting for their own freedom. They are fighting for ours, too.
agree, and whatever the outcome it has to be viewed by Putin and autocrats everywhere as a defeat
one question– I’m no expert on this stuff, but generally when one looks back there are many mistakes that led up to something like this. In particular, did we err in letting Russia take Crimea years ago?
Like the old adage about fighting fires– you should fight them early. Once they spread, much bigger problem.-
[h1][b]Trump Sought to Hang Onto Power at All Costs[/b][/h1] [link=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/09/us/politics/trump-jan-6-hearing.html]New York Times[/link] –
In the entire 246-year history of the United States, there was surely never a more damning indictment presented against an American president than outlined on Thursday night in a cavernous congressional hearing room where the future of democracy felt on the line.
Other presidents have been accused of wrongdoing, even high crimes and misdemeanors, but the case against Donald J. Trump mounted by the bipartisan House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol described not just a rogue president but a would-be autocrat willing to shred the Constitution to hang onto power at all costs.
Teagan Goddard: “And yet Trump remains the clear frontrunner for the 2024 Republican nomination for president.”
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Yet? It hasnt even been a full day. A bit of a stretch to juxtapose those quotes?
I actually felt a shift last night. What a pleasure to watch Trump losing his grip.
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[h1][b]Most Americans Think U.S. Will Cease to Be a Democracy[/b][/h1]
A new [link=https://news.yahoo.com/poll-half-of-americans-now-predict-us-may-cease-to-be-a-democracy-someday-090028564.html?soc_src=social-sh&soc_trk=tw&tsrc=twtr]Yahoo News/YouGov poll[/link] shows that most Democrats (55%) and Republicans (53%) now believe it is likely that America will cease to be a democracy in the future a stunning expression of bipartisan despair about the direction of the country.
Half of all Americans (49%) express the same sentiment when independents and those who do not declare any political affiliation are factored in, while just a quarter (25%) consider the end of U.S. democracy unlikely and another quarter (25%) say theyre unsure.
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I understand the pessimism, but the U.S. will seek to be a democracy? I’ll gladly put a wager on that at even odds.
No uptake on the article reminding us of our history during the worst of times? “things are really bad, but it has been worse”
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[h1][b]Texas Republican Party Formally Calls Bidens Win Illegitimate[/b][/h1]
Meeting at their first in-person convention since 2018, Texas Republicans on Saturday acted on a raft of resolutions and proposed platform changes to move their party even further to the right, the [link=https://www.texastribune.org/2022/06/18/republican-party-texas-convention-cornyn/]Texas Tribune[/link] reports.
They approved measures declaring that President Joe Biden was not legitimately elected and rebuking Sen. [link=https://www.texastribune.org/directory/john-cornyn/]John Cornyn[/link] for taking part in bipartisan gun talks. They also voted on a platform that declares homosexuality an abnormal lifestyle choice and calls for Texas schoolchildren to learn about the humanity of the preborn child.
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Inmates running the Texas asylum.
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Laurence Tribe op-ed in the LATimes:
[link=https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2022-06-20/jan-6-insurrection-prosecution-donald-trump-reelection]https://www.latimes.com/o…onald-trump-reelection[/link]
[h1]The insurrection wont end until Trump is prosecuted and disqualified from future office[/h1] Holding Trump accountable and disqualifying him from future office would not be a partisan act, but one needed to preserve the republic.
Without a prosecution of Trump, here are three things that seem sure to happen if he were allowed to run again and either be lawfully elected or succeed in installing himself in office despite defeat in the electoral college, as he attempted to do in 2020:[b]The end of elections in which a majority of voters choose their leaders[/b]
…even though Trump wont hold the levers of presidential power in 2024 the way he did in 2020, he wont need to: His allies and his disinformation are putting officials in place around the country who will certify his win whatever the vote.
[b]
The use of the military for domestic control[/b]
On Nov. 9, 2020, Trump [link=https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-usa-election-pentagon-trump-idINKBN27Q3F4]fired[/link] Defense Secretary Mark Esper and installed a more compliant Christopher Miller. On Jan. 4, 2021, Miller [link=https://imgur.com/gallery/x43eqfj/]issued a memo[/link] requiring his approval to deploy the National Guard in Washington, D.C. On Jan. 6, Defense Department leadership [link=https://www.npr.org/2021/03/03/973292523/dod-took-hours-to-approve-national-guard-request-during-capitol-riot-commander-s]delayed [/link]the National Guards response to the Capitol siege by three hours.
You dont have to be a clairvoyant to imagine how military force against political foes and restraint of force to protect violent supporters will be used if Trump regains office.
[b]
The end of accountability[/b]
On June 17, in Nashville, Trump said that if reelected, he would consider very, very seriously [link=https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/3528189-trump-says-he-would-look-very-very-seriously-at-pardons-for-jan-6-defendants-if-reelected/]pardoning[/link] all the participants in the Jan. 6 insurrection.
That could clear more than 310 insurrectionists who have [link=https://www.insider.com/capitol-rioters-who-pleaded-guilty-updated-list-2021-5]pleaded guilty[/link] or been [link=https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/04/14/jan6-trump-presidential-orders-thompson-capitol/]convicted[/link] at trial. Deterrence of future violence depends on judicially imposed sanctions. Trump would remove them, signaling that violent extremism in defense of Trump is no vice.
If he returns to the White House, he will install his people in the Justice Department and turn the machinery of prosecution against his enemies and toward protecting his friends and his schemes.….
And should Trump get an encore, look to pre-World War II Germany for a mirror. A failed coup in 1923 [link=https://www.currentaffairs.org/2021/01/lets-remember-how-authoritarianism-takes-hold]taught[/link] Hitler a better route to dictatorship nine years later.
Those who repeat history are doomed to learn it. The hard way.[/QUOTE]
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I agree. Trump is NOT Nixon. And further, unlike Nixons Republicans, there will be no mea culpa from Trumpers who see free elections as an impediment.
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I hope to see it happen. I would be horrified if it happened and he were acquitted.
Even if that happened I am certain he will not win another election or have the people in place to illegally claim victory. That is an absurd notion. Just look at the testimony from those supposedly on his side when he was in the best position to do it. Not a chance.
Oh wait, I know. Pollyanna!
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[link=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/06/17/ignoring-jan-6-hearings-michael-luttig-explains-why-you-shouldnt/]https://www.washingtonpos…ains-why-you-shouldnt/[/link]
[b]Ignoring the Jan. 6 hearings? Michael Luttig explains why you shouldnt.[/b]
[b][/b]
The war launched by Trump that day has not ceased, and Luttig argued that the former presidents false insistence that he won the 2020 election has laid waste to Americans confidence in their national elections with potentially tragic consequences. He asserted that Trumps insistence that he will not allow any future election to be stolen an indication that he is prepared to subvert the 2024 election if he or a designated nominee loses is an affront without precedent to American democracy.-
Luttig, another conservative who gets it. There arent many but there are enough. There will be more.
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Luttig=RINO
No bagging limits.-
Im interested to known what you mean by a post like that. Care to share?
We are being shown more and more examples of this type of person who are responsible for saving our republic. Luttig is probably the best.
I hope you see that and and are willing to defend him from the hunters.-
I’ll guess at Frumi’s thought.
It’s that the Republican base and many GOP elected officials simply label any person who criticizes Trump as a RINO and then use that label as an excuse to disregard whatever that person says says
(see also: Liz Cheney, Adam Kinzinger, etc, etc, etc, etc)
“RINO” has evolved from a pejorative mostly used against Republican moderates over policy positions to being code for “opposed to Donald Trump.”
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I don’t consider Killer’s posts serious or genuine in any manner.
So I see the question and you, dergon, have answered it very well. Considering that poll after poll has over 70% of Republicans responding that they actually believe Trump won the election and that Biden is illegitimate is part, a primary part of the answer. The other parts have to do with the state of Misery’s candidate who posted his candidacy as a RINO hunt, “No bag limits.” Then there is the Texas GOP deciding that Biden’s administration is illegitimate.
(please, please, please, all Republican Texas Federal employees immediately resign in protest of Biden’s “illegitimate” government starting with Senators and House Representatives, then go down to Federal employees in the state. That will show us all their true commitment to their stated belief short of actual seceding.)
And any so-called Republican who does not support the “stolen election” myth is automatically a RINO. In other words, NOT a Republican according to the GOP itself. I believe even Mitt’s niece has called Mitt a RINO & therefore not a “real” Republican?
Assuming 70% – a BIG majority – is accurate who believe Trump won & even if that is a justification of convenience to undermine a legitimate administration, I find it difficult, no inconceivable how anyone can still call themselves Republican when their Part is complicit in destroying our tradition of peaceful turnover of administrations after every election. That is a bit more than 30% of the voters!
And what of the so-called Independents? The Silent Ones who “lean” Republican?
This is their belief in American democracy? If not, what exactly are they doing about it other than that milquetoast statement like Barr’s and others saying that they know Trump is lying about delegitimizing elections and peaceful turnovers but that they’d vote for Trump again should he run!
WTF does that say about their commitment to America, democracy, the Constitution and our history?
Nothing good. Squishy commitment to America and our democracy and the Constitution is the best and nicest term I can think of. Like Trump has stated many times, “It all depends” on whether he wins, then it’s legitimate, if not it is not. In other words, it has zero to do with facts and belief in democracy. It’s only about winning, regardless of how.
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[link=https://www.poynter.org/fact-checking/2022/70-percent-republicans-falsely-believe-stolen-election-trump/]https://www.poynter.org/f…stolen-election-trump/[/link]
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Quote from Frumious
I don’t consider Killer’s posts serious or genuine in any manner.
So I see the question and you, dergon, have answered it very well. Considering that poll after poll has over 70% of Republicans responding that they actually believe Trump won the election and that Biden is illegitimate is part, a primary part of the answer. The other parts have to do with the state of Misery’s candidate who posted his candidacy as a RINO hunt, “No bag limits.” Then there is the Texas GOP deciding that Biden’s administration is illegitimate.
(please, please, please, all Republican Texas Federal employees immediately resign in protest of Biden’s “illegitimate” government starting with Senators and House Representatives, then go down to Federal employees in the state. That will show us all their true commitment to their stated belief short of actual seceding.)
And any so-called Republican who does not support the “stolen election” myth is automatically a RINO. In other words, NOT a Republican according to the GOP itself. I believe even Mitt’s niece has called Mitt a RINO & therefore not a “real” Republican?
Assuming 70% – a BIG majority – is accurate who believe Trump won & even if that is a justification of convenience to undermine a legitimate administration, I find it difficult, no inconceivable how anyone can still call themselves Republican when their Part is complicit in destroying our tradition of peaceful turnover of administrations after every election. That is a bit more than 30% of the voters!
And what of the so-called Independents? The Silent Ones who “lean” Republican?
This is their belief in American democracy? If not, what exactly are they doing about it other than that milquetoast statement like Barr’s and others saying that they know Trump is lying about delegitimizing elections and peaceful turnovers but that they’d vote for Trump again should he run!
WTF does that say about their commitment to America, democracy, the Constitution and our history?
Nothing good. Squishy commitment to America and our democracy and the Constitution is the best and nicest term I can think of. Like Trump has stated many times, “It all depends” on whether he wins, then it’s legitimate, if not it is not. In other words, it has zero to do with facts and belief in democracy. It’s only about winning, regardless of how.
WOW. You could have stopped at the first sentence because I was afraid thats what you meant. I wanted to hear it in your own words.
nothing good about someone who leans right and publicly or silently despises Trump. Well its that group that saved our democracy when it was mostly silent and its that group that is going to continue to save it as it becomes less and less fearful of Trump, watching his political capitol dwindle.
This is it folks. Frumi does not trust anyone who is to the right of him and isnt a democrat. Even if it someone like me that was a Republican, immediately quit the Party when he was elected, and voted for Biden to do my best to kick Trump out.
What about me is disingenuous Frumi? Because I challenge the way you go about your political pontificating and hatred?-
Hey Tucker.
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Where? Id love to throw him a Frumi insult. Biggest ***hole I know and Ive had good friends say it to his face.
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establishment clause anybody?
This is another as bad as it gets ruling. Saw snipets of the opinions and they include seemingly lies.
[link=https://www.politico.com/news/2022/06/27/supreme-court-sides-with-high-school-coach-over-50-yard-line-prayers-00042543]https://www.politico.com/…-line-prayers-00042543[/link] -
Curious to know if the Court would be as supportive had the coach been some other religion, say dressed in Hasidic style praying. Or better, Muslim. Having Muslim students joining in.
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Quote from Frumious
Curious to know if the Court would be as supportive had the coach been some other religion, say dressed in Hasidic style praying. Or better, Muslim. Having Muslim students joining in.
Clear what your innuendo is. I imagine we will find out. Would be a telling ruling for sure.
Although it will be interesting to see if a public school somewhere will make the choice to fire the coach/teacher that chooses to do that. Hopefully we are all more tolerant of religious expression, whatever form. -
A person’s religion is their own. If one privately wants to pray to their god about something as trivial as winning a football game, that’s their business. I’m sure their god is completely invested in the game, that’s what religion is all about , important things like winning a game.
But why do it so publicly? To show everyone you are sooo moral?
Humble Christians they are not.
Matthew 6:1 Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.
Matthew 6:5-6 And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”
Matthew 23:5 Everything they do is done for people to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long.
Luke 18:10-14 Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and [link=https://biblereasons.com/tax-collectors/]the other a tax collector[/link]. The Pharisee stood by [link=https://biblereasons.com/bible-prayers/]himself and prayed[/link]: God, I thank you that I am not like other people[link=https://biblereasons.com/robbery/]robbers[/link], evildoers, adulterersor even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get. But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, God, have mercy on me, a sinner. I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted. -
Quote from DICOM_Dan
establishment clause anybody?
This is another as bad as it gets ruling. Saw snipets of the opinions and they include seemingly lies.
[link=https://www.politico.com/news/2022/06/27/supreme-court-sides-with-high-school-coach-over-50-yard-line-prayers-00042543]https://www.politico.com/…-line-prayers-00042543[/link]
Should have prayed to the BLM god and it would have been a-ok.
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Should have prayed to the BLM god and it would have been a-ok.
Do you think uncle Clarence would have voted the same?
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Quote from Chirorad84
Should have prayed to the BLM god and it would have been a-ok.
Do you think uncle Clarence would have voted the same?
No doubt.
Truth is hes really a BLM mole who will reveal himself when the time comes. Hes fooled everyone.
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And from the Monkey House, an alternate view of reality, January 6 and Judge Luttig.
[link=https://spectator.org/judge-j-michael-luttig-election-ignorance/]https://spectator.org/jud…ig-election-ignorance/[/link] -
[h1]America Is Growing Apart, Possibly for Good[/h1] [b]The great convergence of the mid-20th century may have been an anomaly.
[/b][link=https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2022/06/red-and-blue-state-divide-is-growing-michael-podhorzer-newsletter/661377/]Ron Brownstein[/link]:
Podhorzer isnt predicting another civil war, exactly. But hes warning that the pressure on the countrys fundamental cohesion is likely to continue ratcheting up in the 2020s. [link=https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/07/democracy-could-die-2024/619390/]Like other analysts who study democracy[/link], he views the Trump faction that now dominates the Republican Partywhat he terms the MAGA movementas the U.S. equivalent to the authoritarian parties in places such as Hungary and Venezuela. It is a multipronged, fundamentally antidemocratic movement that has built a solidifying base of institutional support through conservative media networks, evangelical churches, wealthy Republican donors, GOP elected officials, paramilitary white-nationalist groups, and a mass public following. And it is determined to impose its policy and social vision on the entire countrywith or without majority support. The structural attacks on our institutions that paved the way for Trumps candidacy will continue to progress, Podhorzer argues, with or without him at the helm.
…All of this is fueling [link=https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2021/12/republican-states-rights-restrictions/621101/]what Ive called the great divergence[/link] now under way between red and blue states. This divergence itself creates enormous strain on the countrys cohesion, but more and more even that looks like only a way station. Whats becoming clearer over time is that the Trump-era GOP is hoping to use its electoral dominance of the red states, the small-state bias in the Electoral College and the Senate, and the GOP-appointed majority on the Supreme Court to impose its economic and social model on the entire nationwith or without majority public support. As measured on fronts including the January 6 insurrection, the procession of Republican 2020 election deniers running for offices that would provide them with control over the 2024 electoral machinery, and the systematic advance of a Republican agenda by the Supreme Court, the underlying political question of the 2020s remains whether majority ruleand democracy as weve known itcan survive this offensive.
…
It seems unlikely that the Trump-era Republicans installing the policy priorities of their preponderantly white and Christian coalition across the red states will be satisfied just setting the rules in the places now under their control. Podhorzer, like Mason and Grumbach, believes that the MAGA movements long-term goal is to tilt the electoral rules in enough states to make winning Congress or the White House almost impossible for Democrats. Then, with support from the GOP-appointed majority on the Supreme Court, Republicans could impose red-state values and programs nationwide, even if most Americans oppose them. The MAGA movement is not stopping at the borders of the states it already controls, Podhorzer writes. It seeks to conquer as much territory as possible by any means possible.The Trump model, in other words, is more the South in 1850 than the South in 1950, more John Calhoun than Richard Russell. (Some red-state Republicans are even distantly echoing Calhoun [link=https://twitter.com/KariLake/status/1539430174739120129?s=20&t=9YjGfqhmtl3smX8Y0kfHhQ]in promising to nullify[/link]that is, defyfederal laws with which they disagree.) That doesnt mean that Americans are condemned to fight one another again as they did after the 1850s. But it does mean that the 2020s [link=https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/10/biden-2020-trump-election/616912/]may bring the greatest threats to the countrys basic stability[/link] since those dark and tumultuous years.
[/QUOTE]
When I’m Governor, Arizona will not recognize unconstitutional Gun Laws in our state. We just won’t do it.
What are the Feds going to do? Fly down here and arrest a sitting Governor? Call my bluff.
— Kari Lake (@KariLake) June 22, 2022
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Quote from Frumious
A person’s religion is their own. If one privately wants to pray to their god about something as trivial as winning a football game, that’s their business. I’m sure their god is completely invested in the game, that’s what religion is all about , important things like winning a game.
[b]But why do it so publicly? To show everyone you are sooo moral?[/b]
[b]Humble Christians they are not.[/b]
Matthew 6:1 Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.
Matthew 6:5-6 And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”
Matthew 23:5 Everything they do is done for people to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long.
Luke 18:10-14 Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and [link=https://biblereasons.com/tax-collectors/]the other a tax collector[/link]. The Pharisee stood by [link=https://biblereasons.com/bible-prayers/]himself and prayed[/link]: God, I thank you that I am not like other people[link=https://biblereasons.com/robbery/]robbers[/link], evildoers, adulterersor even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get. But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, God, have mercy on me, a sinner. I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.
No doubt. I don’t like the display much either. It’s one of the reasons I strongly support my right to join private institutions that can limit such displays. In fact as a recovering Catholic who despises much of the current church, I do not enjoy seeing any public display of religious faith. The lack of awareness for true Christian values is laughable.
However, I try to be tolerant and I don’t support people using positions of power to stifle it. I want to believe SCOTUS would support the right to vocalize other religious values at the same level as Christianity. I too have my doubts. I do think it will be a good indicator if a case is brought before them. Maybe one more thing that will shift the political landscape?
I think it was dergon that posted earlier the high percentage of voters that say they don’t believe in god. It still boggles my mind that most realize a U.S. President is unlikely to be elected if they state that fact about themselves.
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[link=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/05/opinion/dobbs-christian-nationalism.html]https://www.nytimes.com/2…stian-nationalism.html[/link]
Christian Nationalists Are Excited About What Comes Next
[b]The shape of the Christian nationalist movement in the post-Roe future is coming into view, and it should terrify anyone concerned for the future of constitutional democracy.[/b]
The Supreme Courts decision to rescind the reproductive rights that American women have enjoyed over the past half-century will not lead Americas homegrown religious authoritarians to retire from the culture wars and enjoy a sweet moment of triumph. On the contrary, movement leaders are already preparing for a new and more brutal phase of their assault on individual rights and democratic self-governance.[b] Breaking American democracy isnt an unintended side effect of Christian nationalism. It is the point of the project.[/b]
…It is also a mistake to imagine that Christian nationalism is a social movement arising from the grassroots and aiming to satisfy the real needs of its base. It isnt. This is a leader-driven movement. The leaders set the agenda, and their main goals are power and access to public money. They arent serving the interests of their base; they are exploiting their base as a means of exploiting the rest of us.
…Christian nationalism isnt a route to the future. Its purpose is to hollow out democracy until nothing is left but a thin cover for rule by a supposedly right-thinking elite, bubble-wrapped in sanctimony and insulated from any real democratic check on its power.
[/QUOTE]
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I’ve posted articles about Christian nationalism before. They were mostly showing how true Christians were highly aware of their danger and were discussing ways to counteract the threat.
Thankfully they remain a small minority. It is scary how the minority has been used “right thinking elites” to win elections. This was mostly because “the left” had no idea it was coming. I’m confident we will get back to majority rule. As long as the correct people stay motivated and come out to vote.-
Thankfully they remain a small minority. It is scary how the minority has been used “right thinking elites” to win elections.
I absolutely disagree
This is not a small minority of the republicans
In a lot of rural areas especially this the majority
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Quote from Chirorad84
Thankfully they remain a small minority. It is scary how the minority has been used “right thinking elites” to win elections.
I absolutely disagree
[b]This is not a small minority of the republicans[/b]
In a lot of rural areas especially this the majority
I love how you “absolutely disagree” and then use your definitions to prove how I am wrong. I intentionally did not indicate it was a “small minority” of the Rebublicans. Christian nationalists are a small minority of the electorate. The Dems were outsmarted by the “right thinking elites” using some of their talking points. Doesn’t it make you angry!?-
Read what you wrote again
It sure reads like you are saying the Christian nationalists are a small minority
Read it again
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Quote from Chirorad84
Read what you wrote again
It sure reads like you are saying the Christian nationalists are a small minority
Read it again
You stalking me now also? Going to win an argument of grammar? Of course it reads that way. They are a small minority, of the electorate.
You are the one who’s statement reads “They are not a small minority of the republicans”. This is your writing and I do not challenge the premise. The point of my posting here is that I shared some stories in the evangelicals thread about how Christian organizations are also bothered and threatened by CNs. There are plenty of voters that can counteract their influence now that the Dems realize how badly they were schooled by the “right thinking elites”.
It absolutely cracks me up that you think you should fight with me when we have the same goal here.
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Your not making any any sense
Perhaps that is why you feel misunderstood
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[b]Plan to Foil a 2024 Coup Attempt Quietly Advances[/b][/h1]
It may seem improbable, given adamant Republican opposition to legislation protecting voting rights, but a bipartisan group of senators is close to agreement on a separate, crucial way to protect our democracy: reforming the Electoral Count Act of 1887, [link=https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/07/18/trump-2024-coup-electoral-count-act-reform/]Greg Sargent[/link] reports.
That arcane law governs how Congress counts presidential electors. If senators resolve last-minute differences, a stolen 2024 election might become substantially less likely.
A serious threat to our democracy [link=https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/01/26/trump-2024-electoral-count-act-reform/?itid=lk_inline_manual_5]is this scenario[/link]: A state legislature or governor appoints a slate of presidential electors in defiance of the states popular vote, and one chamber of Congress, controlled by the same party, counts those electors. Under current law, those electors would stand, potentially tipping a close election. -
[h1][b]Opinion: Reform the Electoral Count Act[/b][/h1]
[link=https://www.wsj.com/articles/reform-the-electoral-count-act-donald-trump-joe-manchin-susan-collins-january-6-presidential-election-transfer-vice-president-11658094296?mod=djemalertNEWS]Jimmy Carter and James Baker[/link]: The act is an antiquated, muddled and potentially unconstitutional law that allows uncertainty during a critical step in the peaceful transfer of power. The act became law 10 years after several states submitted competing slates of electoral votes during the disputed Reconstruction-era election of 1876. It spawned no controversy for the next 30 presidential elections.
Weaknesses in the law started to become apparent after the 2000 election. On Jan. 6, 2001, as well as in 2005 and 2017, some members of the losing candidates political party objected to electoral slates from some states. In 2021, the ambiguities of that law helped lead to the violent assault on the U.S. Capitol as efforts were being made to toss out several states slates of electoral votes.
Fortunately, those efforts failed, and the rightful winners took office. But the threat of confusion remains. Left unclosed, loopholes in the act could allow a repeat of the same destructive path that occurred in 2021.
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I remember when I was pushing for ECA reform.
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[link=https://www.democracydocket.com/news/a-constitutional-crisis-is-brewing-in-pennsylvania/]https://www.democracydock…ewing-in-pennsylvania/[/link]
(worth the full read-in)
[b]A Constitutional Crisis Is Brewing in Pennsylvania[/b][/h1]
Despite rulings from both federal and state courts and no active election dispute, two months after the election, three Republican-controlled counties Berks, Fayette and Lancaster continue to refuse to include the valid, undated mail-in ballots in their final 2022 primary election certification totals. Last week, Pennsylvania finally [link=https://www.democracydocket.com/alerts/pennsylvania-counties-sued-over-failure-to-certify-undated-mail-in-ballots/]sued[/link] to force these counties to perform this simple, but vitally important, ministerial act.
This is not the first time this year we have witnessed local officials refusing to certify election results. It is an unfortunate [link=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/county-election-boards-pick-new-fights-states-voter-fraud-claims-rcna37424]trend[/link] that threatens to upend our election process. But this situation in Pennsylvania is far more disturbing than those we have seen elsewhere.
First, this is not a case of a one-off rural county gone amok. The three counties in Pennsylvania have a [link=https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/fayettecountypennsylvania,lancastercountypennsylvania,berkscountypennsylvania/PST045221]combined population[/link] of over one million people. Second, the issue causing the counties to submit incomplete results has been fully litigated in both federal and state courts. In the state case, the defiant counties were parties and lost.
Most importantly, these counties did not refuse to submit any election results at all. Worse, they submitted results that intentionally exclude lawful votes. Our decentralized method of running elections relies on precinct workers and county officials acting in good faith to ensure every lawful ballot is counted and included in accurately tabulated vote totals. When a county fails to submit results, it is easily detected. But, when a county presents incomplete results as complete, the risk of undetected election subversion increases.
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This is how Republicans are planning to steal elections in the future. By refusing to count lawful votes and then certifying incomplete and inaccurate results, Republicans hope to create a veneer of legitimacy around an illegitimate outcome. Our system is ill equipped to address this looming crisis.
Sometime soon, the remaining three counties in Pennsylvania will at last certify their election results for the 2022 primary. But [b]the current stalemate is a warning siren of what is to come. Pennsylvania is in a constitutional crisis right now as three counties continue to delay the accurate results of a primary election held nearly six weeks ago. While this may be a low-stakes crisis given the dispute is over a now uncontested primary election, it is still a crisis nonetheless. We must learn from this and take steps to address it before November, when the stakes will be much higher.[/b]
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[h3][link=https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2022-07-25/election-2024-trump-is-plotting-to-blow-up-the-constitution?srnd=premium-canada]Trump Is Plotting to Blow Up the Constitution[/link][/h3] Contempt for the rule of law appears to be emerging as the main qualification for a job in a second Trump administration.
as the hearings of the House Select Committee investigating the attack on the US Capitol of Jan. 6, 2021 have [link=https://www.wgbh.org/news/politics/2022/07/21/top-takeaways-from-the-jan-6-select-committee-hearings]demonstrated[/link], practically no one from the Trump campaign, nor anyone in the administration who knew anything about elections, believed Trumps lies, which is why he wound up bringing in outsiders to make his case. That means that anyone eligible for a future Trump administration job is either a sycophant willing to pretend to believe dangerous nonsense, or a fool who believes dangerous nonsense after its been revealed that those who propagated it didnt even believe it.
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Unfortunately, most of what Trump and his allies appear to be preparing for is a fight against the law and the constitutional order. Trump has never understood that presidents are not dictators, and he appeared to take it personally whenever anyone in the political system resisted his preferences not realizing that pushback from the executive branch, the judiciary and Congress was not personally directed at him, but was part of how diverse legitimate interests are represented within a democratic government. Therefore, what Trump and his allies are attempting to do is likely to end either with the kinds of fiascos and failures that wound up with Trump impeached twice or with his victory over the republic and the end of Constitutional government.
And even if Trump does not regain the White House, his allies those who meet one or more of the overlapping criteria have become the mainstream of the party, with all the radicalism and lawlessness that goes with that. Personnel is policy, and it should come as no surprise that the pro-democracy faction within the party has [link=https://www.npr.org/2022/02/04/1078316505/rnc-censure-liz-cheney-adam-kinzinger-jan-6-committee-capitol]increasingly[/link] been [link=https://www.12news.com/article/news/politics/arizona-republicans-censure-house-speaker-rusty-bowers/75-66991122-dda0-4df7-9155-8efc31404a75]marginalized[/link], if not purged. The party leaders who chose not to fight hard against Trump in 2016 have plenty to answer for.[/QUOTE]
