#anti democratic

[lenbryant]

Scary Project 2025 and its authoritarian backers have marching orders ready for the next conservative President that gets elected (while probably losing the popular vote again as usual).

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

[The Daily Don]  :: [Jesse Duquette]

* * * * *

I wanted to close by reporting on an incident in Nikki Haley’s campaign that should give us hope going into 2024.

         Haley made a campaign stop in New Hampshire this week. She opened her speech by telling a trans-phobic “joke” directed at the short-lived campaign by Bud Light to use a trans spokesperson. The details of the joke don’t matter. The point is that when Nikki Haley attempted to make fun of a trans person while in New Hampshire, no one in the crowd laughed. Not one person. And the crowd included lots of Republicans. See The Daily Beast, 2024 GOP Presidential Candidate Nikki Haley's Anti-Trans Dylan Mulvaney Rhetoric Falls Flat in New Hampshire.

         Haley lives in a Republican bubble in the South where it is still acceptable to mock trans people. She wrongly assumed that everyone in America shared her crass and insensitive views about the acceptability of mocking trans people. She won’t make that mistake again—which is good for Haley and America. Just as Ron DeSantis stops talking about six-week abortion bans when he leaves Florida, Haley is learning that most Americans do not share the GOP hatred toward trans people that is endemic in the red southern states.

         The Republican “platform” for 2024 is based on hate, grievance, and fear. It sells in a narrow swath of gerrymandered Southern states—but not in most other places. The arrogance and hubris of Haley in assuming she could tell a trans-phobic joke in New Hampshire tell us that Republicans don’t understand how unpopular and narrow their platform is. It is already too late for them to switch courses.

         As always, we cannot rely on Republicans to defeat themselves. But Haley’s complete lack of awareness of the mood of voters outside of South Carolina is a sign of GOP weakness heading into 2024. We have every reason to be hopeful but no reason to be complacent!

[Robert B. Hubbell Newsletter]

[frankiethejoker]

The US is actually fucked at this point. If we do not have a serious revolution soon, we are doomed. As if Climate Change wasn’t a big enough issue, we are being legislated back to the dark ages.

[realbbanditomouz]

#Redistricting #Unlawful

[mysharona1987]

[read-marx-and-lenin]

[reasonsforhope]

"Georgia Republicans bundled over a dozen measures that targeted the state’s transgender residents into omnibus packages in a desperate attempt to get them passed. In a stunning defeat for the GOP, every single one of them failed.

Legislators gutted bills that had passed through committee and instead stuffed them full of their anti-LGBTQ+ wishlist items.

Bills that would ban transgender students from playing on teams aligned with their gender identity, ban transgender students from bathrooms aligned with their gender identity, opt parents into notification for every book a student checks out of the library, bar sex education before sixth grade, make all sex-ed classes opt-in and expand obscenity laws to make it easier to ban books with LGBTQ+ content all failed.

“MAGA politicians in Georgia tried it all in service to their anti-LGBTQ+ agenda,” said Human Rights Campaign Georgia State Director Bentley Hudgins, “including silencing debate and gutting unrelated, popular bills that had bipartisan support to ram through policies that would have put young LGBTQ+ Georgians in harm’s way. They failed.”

“It’s undeniable that the tides are shifting, both here in Georgia and across the nation,” Georgia Equality executive director Jeff Graham added. “Anti-LGBTQ actors are losing their political power, and more and more Georgians who know and love LGBTQ people are standing up against their baseless fear-mongering.”

In Florida recently, nearly two dozen anti-LGBTQ+ bills were defeated in the wake of Gov. Ron DeSantis‘s (R) presidential campaign implosion, dozens of measures in Virginia were tabled [Note: In the US, "tabled" means "shelved" or "taken out of consideration - the opposite of its meaning in the UK and other places], and Ohio’s governor backed off his attempt to restrict gender-affirming care access for transgender adults and minors. 

Meanwhile, in D.C., Democrats successfully excised 50 anti-LGBTQ+ provisions in the two budget bills passed and signed by President Joe Biden to fund the federal government.

Even Fox News has been forced to acknowledge transgender issues are among the lowest-priority concerns among voters."

-via LGBTQ Nation, April 1, 2024

[violottie]

Western imperialism and colonialism never ends.

Absolutely no humanitarian need for an American port. So why build one?

1) establish permanent military presence in Gaza

2) look good to get votes

3) access to gas reserves off coast of Gaza

4) advance ethnic cleansing. from Khaled Beydoun, 10/Mar/2024:

[kp777]

The state legislative push to restrict voting and undermine faith in elections has moved at a near-record pace this year, driven by a still-active election denier movement. At the same time, the pro-democracy movement has continued to press for legislation to boost voting access.

Thus far, more expansive laws have passed than restrictive and election interference laws. The geographical divide of previous years persists, with expansive legislation tending to pass in some states while restrictive legislation tends to pass in other states.

Just under a third of state legislatures are still in session this year. Between January 1 and May 29, 2023, the following voting legislation has passed:

At least 11 states enacted 13 restrictive laws. footnote1_gj5e00w 1  Two more restrictive bills in two states were passed by both chambers of the legislature and are awaiting the governors’ approval. footnote2_5wjnmt8 2  Legislation is categorized as restrictive if it contains one or more provisions that would make it harder for eligible Americans to register, stay on the voter rolls, or cast a ballot as compared to existing state law.

At least four states enacted five election interference laws. footnote3_zqajouc 3  An additional bill in Texas was passed by the legislature and is awaiting the governor’s signature. footnote4_1wcsal7 4  Legislation is categorized as election interference if it either threatens the people and processes that make elections work or increases opportunities for partisan interference in election administration or outcomes.

At least 13 states enacted 19 expansive laws. footnote5_dpwt617 5  An additional four bills in two states were passed by the legislature and are awaiting the governors’ approval. footnote6_bosjdlx 6  Legislation is categorized as expansive if it contains one or more provisions that would make it easier for eligible Americans to register, stay on the rolls, or cast a ballot as compared to existing state law.

One troubling development: lawmakers have begun to target direct democracy, aiming to limit ways that voters can pass ballot measures. Another notable trend in voting legislation this year is a continued push to criminalize election-related activities. And in Texas, the legislature has considered multiple bills that would hamper election administration in Harris County, a trend that is unusual in its targeting of one particular county.

Meanwhile, several states have taken steps to provide legal protections for election workers as they face increased threats to their safety.

See the laws that have been enacted to suppress the vote.

[lilithism1848]

[starryseas-tardisdreams]

Fuck you if you still plan to vote for Joe Biden. History will not remember you kindly.

[absurdlakefront]

"The truth is that one side of our two-party system is rejecting the rules of democracy and embracing absolute power."

[mysharona1987]