Truth is one of the many things that Trump and his minions have damaged, with the latest being their claim that the "war" with Iran ended before the statute-mandated 60 days without getting legislative approval passed. Or maybe that 60-day requirement is just suspended due to a cease fire... though it's a cease fire with plenty of firing and an on-going and legally dubious blockade of Iranian ports by the "good guys." Or there will be some other excuse.
Laws are made up of words and we know that words are malleable and sometimes language is used to obscure rather than illuminate. But most laws did undergo some scrutiny and argument over precise language and precise intent.
But we have some courts, particularly the Supreme Court, that is quite willing to twist and fold and mutilate common sense. We have an administration in Washington that depends upon educated people across the country grappling with meaning and investigating endless possible meanings and implications.
Yesterday's SCOTUS decision that basically argued that states discriminate against white people when they attempt to provide representation for their non-white citizens in drawing legislative boundaries. The boiled down to taking care that politicians looking to keep groups unlikely to support them from having a fair chance.
If you happen to be Black in Louisiana, for instance, you have received the clear message that your white neighbors are OK to draw boundaries that heavily favor one race over yours. The Supreme Court claimed that the Voting Rights Act succeeded and we no longer need such laws. That's the same basic logic as the court cited in ending Affirmative Action.
In the next few elections, we are likely to see entire states creating rules that lead to House members, at least, from just one political party. So, a clever partisan can almost certainly create all-Texas House delegations as well as all-Democrat delegations from California. I assume someone is already plotting to draw Colorado's districts to leave Republicans with one of the eight seats. We have so much sparsely populated rural land that creating a clean sweep would be impossible. But we can come close.
And here's the thing: we really need to go to an extreme like eliminating any minority representation from most states before we can take a chance on ending partisan gerrymandering and instituting non-partisan boards to create fair districts, perhaps growing from a federal law.
It's akin to how we will only deal with a budget deficit that has surpassed the entire gross national product for the first time since WWII when the crisis causes the entire financial system to crash. It's the same as knowing that Social Security and Medicare will soon have to be constricted due to sheer demographics, and no one in Congress is willing to suggest a plan.
Perhaps we can increase the number of House seats to 1,000 or more, thus shrinking the size of each legislative district and reducing the influence of national funding and the billionaire class. Perhaps that would give citizens some hope that they might be heard by their congressional representative.
Right now, if you happen to be a Democrat in, say Florida, you are looking at a new map that favors (though does not guarantee) a 24-4 Republican advantage despite at least 45 percent of the state voting for Harris in 2024.
Even my eyes are glazing over right now, and I'm writing this post. I would not be surprised by a reader abandoning this rant after a paragraph or two (and this being a post closer to a personal diary entry).
I read today that a recent survey reveals that over 50 percent of adults actively try to change the channel, scroll past, or skip to the next page of the paper... just to avoid any mention of Trump.
That intentional ignorance may be good for the mental health of each individual but it spells the end of democracy as we know it.
If it's any comfort, it's a virtual lock that any group that enjoys near-total power will eventually begin internal fighting. Most murders are bad guys killing bad guys, with lots of innocent bystanders, of course.
But people can just stay home and safe. Or things can deteriorate to the point where change of any kind is preferable to the suffering and injustice and pain of continuing to knucke under to the Billionaires.
