MIDTERM ELECTION THOUGHTS 23 DAYS OUT

 Sunday October 16, 2022.

We are roughly a little over three weeks from the 2022 midterm elections here in the United States. Things are up in the air as what many thought should have been an easy victory for the GOP was thrown asunder in June when the Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade, removing bodily autonomy from those who can get pregnant; making a little over half the u.s. population second-class citizens in the process.  While this has managed to energize Democrats giving them something they can appeal to independents and more moderate voters over it has left common political wisdom up in the air.

As for the Coupublicans, candidates highly endorsed by the Mad Fuhrer (Now Currently in Exile @) Mar-A-Lago seem to be edging further and further towards enabling fascism. A majority of GOP voters polled refused to accept that the Mad Fuhrer lost the election in 2020, claiming that voting machines and "illegal voters" stole the election from the former electoral vote winner. Conservative politicians are increasingly relying on culture war issues that target LGBTQ people as well as racial minorities as a way to keep their base angry rather than work with Democrats to try and improve the lives of their constituents.  Add to the sense that the more extreme of the GOP politicians would rather settle scores for their dear leader the work on the issues that affect our lives and you get a feeling that, if they win in November, this country could go down a dark and dire path.

In the meantime, the right-wing media as well as politicians gaslight the rest of us. They claim the overturn of Roe isn't that big of a deal even though we're already seeing scenarios a scary and deadly as those feminists warned us would happen if abortion  is outlawed while they claim that those who can't get pregnant can merely travel to a state where the procedure is legal they don't take into account the costs that could prohibit many from doing so. They also refuse to acknowledged they fully plan on trying to introduce a federal abortion ban if they get a chance. Add to this some pharmacist are refusing to sell people contraception and we're beginning to see a certain segment of one religion being imposed on us more and more.

As for the Supreme Court it appears they may be taking all the keys that could probably allow states to control how elections are conducted. While it seems harmless enough on the surface, States with GOP Governors and/or legislators are increasingly willing to consider not accepting election results don't fit the outcome they want. When mixed with voter suppression efforts and possible intimidation at the polls in November and we have a very scary mix that could bring the game against the will of the people.

And it's not just abortion rights either. Coupublicans have hinted that they want SCOTUS to overtun the ruling that legalized same sex marriage, with some politicians even calling for allowing states to imprison people for sodomy.  In addition, there are signs that the right wing wants to strip away the right os people to use contraception as well.  While Coupublican politicians and right wing pundits gaslight us by saying this can't happen, what we've seen coming from states that have re-criminalized the right of pregnant people to get an abortion where women almost have to practically die to get abortions needed to save a woman's life because doctors and hospitals don't know how to respond in a time where the hard right caught the car and allowed laws based on horrible theory to get passed a lot of us know to expect if the Coupublicans regain control of Congress.

As for the candidates themselves, some of the key races are really too close to call. This is true even if some of the candidates endorsed by the Mad Fuhrer seem to be embracing white supremacy, making christianity the national religion in spite of the First Amendment saying they can't, or just seem to be plain incompetent. Whether this is due to polarization, the fact most people don't how time to study politics deeply, or just blind faith it's hard to tell at this point (though it's likely a mixture of the three). Either way we're at a scary time right now.

It's easy at this point, especially if you live in a red state, to fall into despair and throw up your hands thinking you can't make a difference. However, well there's no guarantee what will happen at the polls in a few weeks, just giving up and letting them steamroll over your civil liberties is a guarantee that you can't make a difference.

A few people I know feel that SCOTUS overturning Roe was lighting a tinderbox, that into angered enough women to get out and vote out the GOP in a landslide this fall. While I want to believe this is correct I'm not so certain. I worried that some people who may not be extremely right wing on social issues they still vote for the GOP out of fear of rising taxes. In addition there are still a number women who would gladly vote against their own interests in the they'll never need what they're voting against ( thinking they'll never need an abortion for example or or if they did that there's will be the exception but other people who need it should be punished for it). Add to it the fact that a lot of people are kept too busy with their employment to study the issues and things really could go either way.

So what to do now? First up we all have to vote. While it's far from the only thing that can be done right now the first necessary step is for those of us that oppose the Coupublican agenda in all its forms the show up and overpower the right-wing assholes at the voting booth. The Coupublicans are going to do their damnedest to suppress the vote and tried to stay in power by any means necessary (note how the supposed "pro life" boaters suddenly don't care about GA Senate candidate Herschel Walker supposedly paying for several abortions despite wanting it completely outlawed as an example). Yes sometimes you're voting for least shitty of the bunch but on one side wants to get away with a coup or force an extremely narrow definition of christianity down our throats (like too many Coupublicans seem to want to) then we might have to suck it up and make sure the right wing loses.

In addition, we're going to have to take to the streets and make our voices heard to the best of our legal ability. The Republicans are not going to give up they're sick plan for a one-party system (Karl Rove had a vision for the GOP to be a permanent supermajority during the Dubya years and the party seems hell-bent on making that so) and seems willing to stop at nothing to get it. This has to be countered and fought every step of the way politically. It means calling both sides on the carpet when needed but knowing where the true danger really is right now.  This is far from a complete look at what's at stake but it's a relatively good capsulisation of how things stand and what needs to be done.

So who do I think is going to win in November? I don't know ( and I have little hope doubt the good white Christian folks in the red state Heartland are going to do the right thing on jack shit). However, I want to be proven wrong and I really do hope that the people predicting that the GOP will go down in flames politically like the Hindenburg are right.

Whether that happens or not is up to me and you, so vote. 

LIFE IN POST ROE MUR'KA: THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND WHERE THIS COULD LEAD

 As I type this it has been about a month and a half since the Supreme Court of the United States overturned Roe v Wade, thus taking away what was a constitutional right ( in this case, the right of those who can get pregnant to be able to have and access an abortion if a pregnancy is unwanted or if their life is in danger) on a federal level from over half the country's population. A number of states (almost all ran by Coupublicans) had trigger laws that automatically went into effect making the procedure illegal while other states pushed through abortion bans in as quick a time as possible, regardless of what the aftermath may be.  In the time since the situation women (as well as trans men and non binary people who can get pregnant) find themselves in when it comes to their health has become the shit show that reproductive freedom and reproductive justice advocates predicted it would with storied of women who end up in medically induced comas or, in one case dead, because their pregnancies either were ecotopic or they had a condition that would make carrying a fetus to term life threatening or fatal. There's also the case of a 10 year old girl in Ohio who was raped and had to cross state lines to get an abortion not being believed by the right wing media and the doctor being targeted by the same asshats when it was proven true.  It doesn't take a lot of searching online to see how the right wing's pro forced childbirth agenda is causing havoc and problems for actual people.  

While I had planned to write about these things I do see them covered fairly well elsewhere so I;m going to take a different tack on the subject. This was supposed to close out the new print issue but certain surprise events caused a shake up there so this is off to the blog.  With that in mind let's explore LIFE IN POST ROE MUR'KA: THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE UGLY, AND THE PLAIN SCARY.

THE GOOD
This goes to the state of Kansas, where voters turned out against a proposed amendment that would say people don't have a constitutional right to an abortion in said state, thus allowing legislators to push laws to make it illegal in Kansas too.  Written confusingly (in this case voting no was protecting the right to choose for those who can get pregnant) and planned for a vote not even in the midterms but during a primary election in a midterm election year those trying to force this upon people were counting on low voter turnout and confusing language to get their way.  If SCOTUS hadn't of jumped the gun by overturning Roe, they might have succeeded.

Instead, people were angry enough to get out to vote in numbers few expected otherwise.  Add to this (for full disclosure) the confusing manner in which the law was written (I think in hopes they could confused people into voting their rights away if they weren't paying attention) and this law was widely kicked to the curb across the political spectrum.  Yes, even a good chunk of GOP voters sent this down in flames.  

To tell the truth I was expecting this to go the other way in part due to voter suppression efforts on the GOP side, the confusing language of the bill, and primary election turnout expectations,  The fact that Kansas did the right thing is a sigh of relief and hopefully a blueprint for voters and the left to fight for and expand their rights in the upcoming elections.

THE BAD

This goes out to the bad faith arguments on the pro forced childbirth side given when challenged on certain things.  From heads of pro forced childbirth organizations claiming that street lights in DC are powered by aborted fetuses to claims that the treatment for ecotopic pregnancy isn't an abortion when the procedure is an abortion , there's a tendency top shift goal posts to deflect from the aftermath of their side getting what they want, even though the majority of Americans don't want this.  Add to this one politicians' attempt to claim abortion and infanticide are one in the same by trying to gotcha reproductive justice advocates over a question over whether babies can be terminated after they're born and when called on the question's stupidity and bad faith casing refusing to let up.  This last example is especially heinous since this guy knows there's a difference between the two  (anyone who understands basic pregnancy cycles and how the law works can see this) and is trying to gibe raw meat to his base as he faces re-election.  

Expect to see more of this bullshit in the next couple of years (abetted by the corporate owned mainstream media who often refuses to push back on arguments anyone who thinks about it for more than five minutes can see are made in bad faith) since in the blow back from this (and their plans for a national ban - we all know these asshats are planned for this now) along with the gaslighting that those in red states can simply travel to a state where abortion is legal despite knowing that i take resources and time to travel to another state and that some states are planning vigilante style laws to sue those helping someone who leaves a states for this procedure or wants to force their laws onto doctors in other states to stop residents from states where it's illegal from getting an abortion (this will effect poor to lower middle class people the most since everyone knows the upper middle class and the wealthy will likely be able to travel for this with little interference [especially if its a family member or a mistress of a pro forced childbirth right wing politician).

WHERE THIS COULD LEAD

 The ugly part here is that while the mainstream media is gaslighting people that are reminding the people that this is merely the start, people in the pro forced childbirth movement are already working on plans to make contraception illegal (even for married couples). Justice  Thomas even suggested doing so in his argument for overturning Roe.  Meanwhile,there are hints that same sex marriage and LGBTQIA rights will be under attack next and that more rights may be taken away regardless of the views of the American people. Hell, one or two people in Congress have even suggested that states should be able to outlaw interracial marriage as "states rights."  

The gaslighting is especially nauseating because people either try to claim that SCOTUS is just leaving this to the states (while ignoring that some of these pro forced childbirth states are trying to prevent those who can get pregnant (yes, the majority of people who get pregnant are women, but some trans men and non binary people can as well) form being able to travel to get it done. 

The fact that other rights may be in the cross-hairs as some sort of sick christian supremacist fantasy also pays no account to how this will affect gay couples in red states or interracial couples if it gets to that point.  Will their marriages be grandfathered and allowed but not new ones? Will they automatically be divorced by state decree? What if a couple can't afford to move?  The fact that those wanting to push this bullshit never give this any thought shows that being cruel is the feature here and that any claims from the right wing that all lives matters is bullshit. A fact made especially poignant when reports emerge of pro choice protests having trucks rammed through them or some asshat deciding to just scream at and physically assault protesters.

SO IS THIS THE END OF THE LINE

Of course not.  However, things are complicated now for obvious reasons.  Because of this we have to acknowledge that this upcoming election is important and we need to vote out any asshole that thinks overturning Roe was a good thing.  We also have to remember that politicians usually won't do anything unless there's pressure form the people to make them act. While it will seem like an uphill battle this is ture now more than evee.

WHAT SHOULD CONGRESS DO WHEN REPUBS IN THEIR RANKS WANT A COUP?

 Hey! As I mentioned in the last post, we're a week away from the electoral votes being counted in a joint session of the U.S. Congress. With that the 2020 Presidential election will be finalized and the final few weeks of the Mad Fuhrer of Mar-A-Lago's reign will begin. Normally a routing procedure most don't think about, this year has made this omnipresent in our minds over an election we're hoping to finally finish and move on from.  However, a few days before that the next session of Congress begins as all members of the House of Representatives and the Senate begins their new session. While this may seem unrelated most election cycles we're in a time where there's more linking them than one would think.

On December 10, 2020 126 Repub members of the U.S. House of Representatives filed a brief backing a lawsuit from Texas asking the Supreme Court of the US to overturn the 2020 Presidential election results in a handful of states where Joe Biden won the electoral vote, claiming there was some sort of fraud. Thankfully SCOTUS threw the case out (on the grounds that Texas had a "lack of standing:" and "has not demonstrated a judicially cognizable interest in the manner in which another State conducts its elections." refused to hear it on December 11 but, by filing that brief, the Repubs have shown that, after four years of telling those on the other side that they "lost the election" in 2016 and should "get over it," some in the GOP were willing to do what they could to overturn a major election if they didn't get their way. 

Keep in mind this lawsuit was filed after the electoral votes reached the December 8 "safe harbor" status and days before the states certified their votes showing former vice president Joe Biden won more than the 270 electoral votes to win the Presidential election (he actually won 306). One would think this would be enough and things would get back to normal. However this continued as Rep. Louie Gohmert (R, TX) and a handful of would be electors filed a lawsuit against co-electoral vote inner Mikey and the electoral college in hopes of overturning the election.  In addition several Repub congresspeople and Sen. Joshy (a.k.a.: MO junior senator Josh Hawley) has said they were going to contest the electoral count on the 6th. 

In other words the Repubs are still trying to use a mix of legal action and Congressional shenanigans as a way to try and overturn an election so they can win. When reports of some in their rank wanting the military to seize voting machines or asking the Mad Fuhrer to use the insurrection act and suspend the constitution as his term nears it s end and it's apparent tbat they may actually want to get rid of our democracy or constitutional republic or whatever you wish to call it via a coup and make the Mad Fuhrer of Mar-A-Lago the supreme leader.

Which leads to one question - WHAT SHOULD CONGRESS DO WHEN REPUBS IN THEIR RANKS APPARENTLY WANT A COUP?

The best thing that they should do is what Sen. Bill Pascrell (D, NJ) said in response and use the 14th Amendment forbidding members of Congress from engage in rebellion against the U.S. and refuse to seat them. However, while I know this would send a strong message I'm also aware that the establishment Democrats are most likely not going to do this out of some twisted idea of unity that seems to have the Dems doing all the work while Repubs continue to act in bad faith. However, if they do nothing it will continue to normalize said behavior form the Repubs, who will continue to break rules and twist the game to their advantage while refusing to let the country move forward. 

So, not seating them is most likely a non starter. I wish it wasn't but it probably won't happen. Still there has to be a way to hold these assholes accountable for trying to force an election result that the majority of the population doesn't want. Yes, ten or so of them aren't serving in the next session of Congress but what should be done with the wastes of sperm and eggs that are coming back. While I don't have the concrete answer there is one simple step.

TAKE AWAY THEIR COMMITTEE PLACEMENTS AND REMOVE THEM FROM ANYWHERE THEY COULD HAVE SOMETHING NEAR REAL POWER IN THE HOUSE AND THE SENATE.

Yes, it will be controversial. However, it is a way to send a clear message that may be very doable and limit the amount of whining that the Repubs will do about how they're persecuted and limit the complaints from the mainstream media that the Democrats aren't being civil. Also it would state that those who try and pull shit like this again will be moved to the back burner as soon as possible and kept there while those in the House and the Senate who want to get things done can actually do the work and try and make things better. 

It won't be easy. It will cause some drama in the media but it's an easy step and pushing these asshats, especially those who have been in office for a while, to the back burner would send a strong message and show the Democrats are capable of fighting a good fight. 

I'm not sure this will even happen.;I do hope that the House and the Senate make those trying to do a political coup responsible for their treacherous bullshit.

A COUP FOR THE NEW YEAR? THE MAD FUHRER OF MAR-A-LAGO AND HIS REPUB MINIONS STRIKE AGAIN

 Hey! so we';re about to enter 2021, which would be a typical changing of the year if it weren't for an election. Even for an election season this has been far from typical as machinations are afoot to try and force a change in the 2020 election result, eithe rby court decree or in the halls of Congress.

Yes, in the nearly two months since election day the Mad Fuhrer of Mar-A-Lago still has refused to concede the election and admit that former Vice President Joe Biden will get his job at noon on January 20, 2021. From trying to pressure legislators in states where Biden won to numerous court battles on both the state and federal level the Mad Fuhrer's minions are doing their damnedest to try and keep their power and, in same ver extreme cases, further play footsie with a weird turn of christian theocratic fascism that seems to hold democracy in contempt.  

So far it's been at best an extremely uphill battle as states, after facing some pressure, certified their electoral college votes in mid December and sent them to Washington, DC for the Senate to certify on January 6 (about a week from today).  In normal times this will be a mere formality as the loser of the lection would've conceded long ago and the transition ould be well underway.  However, since the last four years under the Mad Fuhrer of Mar-A-Lago haven;t been typical we probably shouldn't expect this last step to be quiet and/or non eventful.  

Already there are signs that a number of Repubs in the House of Representative plan to challenge the results and the electors' votes on the 6th. Several Senators have also implied that they may do so as well. The purpose of this is a way to force co-electoral vote winner Miikey to overturn the certification of the states that chose Biden and hand the election to electoral vote winner Donny , despite losing the popular vote by 10 million and the legal challenges in these states have almost always lost (there was one win in Pennsylvania and even that was unlikely to change the election result). Add to that a conservative legal group called the Thomas More Society joining with some of Donny's minions to sue co-electoral vote winner Mikey and the electoral college over this and things are truly reaching a level of the absurd.,  

As I said so far the legal challenges have been shot down almost instantly. I expect it's unlikely the Supreme Court will take up the latest filing from the Mad Fuhrer's legal team claiming alternate electors were officially chosen (in fact, when some people have claimed to be alternate electors they weren't officially chosen. In addition, some states were required to go with the popular vote winner and would be unable to do so). Like the previous filing with SCOTUS I have a feeling that this newest one will be refused more out of politicall savvy on the part of the new right wing justices Donny appointed rather than any integrity. Or, to quote Scott Soriano of Soriano's Comment, "They wouldn't willing fuck themselves."

This leaves us with the Congressional count on the 6th and the possibility of Repubs in either houses challening electors or the result. Odds are it's going to happen. However, so far it would have to be agreed on by both the House and the Senate to be taken seriously. Even though the Senat eis ontrolled (for now) by Repubs, the House is still controlled by Democrats and it's unlikely (though there may be conservative Dem who might try) they'd choose to overturn the will of the people. 

I left out the option of the military coup which may still have some very slight possibility as the Mad Fuhrer called for the military to seize voting machines just before Christmas. While his firing civilian leaders at the Pentagon is alarming and can be seen as planning for a coup, this step would've have to have been taken weeks ago. Also, there are reports that some in the Pentagon are meeting in secret for contingencies in case of violence in January over the election. Whether that's in case there's a call for a coup or to have to remove Donny from office come inauguration day is uncertain. However, military leaders have said they won't interfere in elections in this country. So, I won't say we shouldn't be worried but a close friend of mine who's a military history buff thought it was unlikely citing the military's dislike for the Mad Fuhrer among other things. 

So where does that leave us? We have one more step before the 2020 election is officially over. Odds are good that Biden will be declared the winner (Senate Majority leader Addison the Turtle has reportedly warned Senators against acting otherwise) though it's prudent to be aware and prepared for anything at this point.

In a truly just world those Repub Congresspersons who signed onto support that last SCOTUS request to overturn the election wouldn't be seated on ground that they supported a coup of sorts against a leader who, while not their guy, was democratically elected. Sadly, establishment Democrats in the House have probably been warned in advance against doing so by wealthy donors who care more about their tax cuts than you or I. Still, there needs to be some accountability for those who already tried to overturn this election as well as those who might try on the 6th. 

The last thing this country needs is a coup for the New Year>