The Republican revolt against democracy, explained in 13 charts
“The Trump years revealed a dark truth: The Republican Party is no longer committed to democracy. These charts tell the story.”
A great example:
Fascism
OHIO:
Wisconsin (When GOP controlled the court Vos stated there was no reason to recuse yourself when case involves a donor of yours – Situational Ethics)
Speaker Robin Vos keeps open option of impeaching newly elected Justice Janet Protasiewicz
Will Bunch NAILS IT:
Ben Rhodes: Trump is ‘making no effort to hide his fundamentally autocratic intentions’
“Former Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes reacts to reporting on plans by Donald Trump to remove any and all obstacles to his power in a potential second term”
The Four Freedoms, According to Republicans
What should we make of all this? In his 1941 State of the Union address, Franklin Roosevelt said there was “nothing mysterious about the foundations of a healthy and strong democracy” and that he, along with the nation, looked forward to “a world founded upon four essential human freedoms.” Famously, those freedoms were the “freedom of speech and expression,” the “freedom of every person to worship God in his own way,” the “freedom from want” and the “freedom from fear.” Those freedoms were the guiding lights of his New Deal, and they remained the guiding lights of his administration through the trials of World War II.”
“There are, I think, four freedoms we can glean from the Republican program.
There is the freedom to control — to restrict the bodily autonomy of women and repress the existence of anyone who does not conform to traditional gender roles.
There is the freedom to exploit — to allow the owners of business and capital to weaken labor and take advantage of workers as they see fit.
There is the freedom to censor — to suppress ideas that challenge and threaten the ideologies of the ruling class.
And there is the freedom to menace — to carry weapons wherever you please, to brandish them in public, to turn the right of self-defense into a right to threaten other people.
Roosevelt’s four freedoms were the building blocks of a humane society — a social democratic aspiration for egalitarians then and now. These Republican freedoms are also building blocks not of a humane society but of a rigid and hierarchical one, in which you can either dominate or be dominated.”
Republic vs. Democracy: What Is the Difference?
Tennessee has become a glaring example of this:
The Tennessee Expulsion Is a Glimpse of the Future
“Tennessee Republicans really went there. Despite the outcry, the GOP-controlled state legislature expelled two Democrats Thursday for engaging in a boisterous protest against gun violence.
But the key lesson out of Nashville is not what did or did not happen in the chamber; it’s another reminder of what it means for a legislature to gain a “supermajority” enabling it not only to dominate legislative matters, but to deploy overwhelming power more broadly, even over the other branches of government.”
Two Black Democrats expelled by Tennessee GOP over gun violence protests, while a white lawmaker survives
“Republican legislators in Tennessee voted Thursday to expel two Black Democrats from the state House over their protests on the chamber floor against gun violence last week, while a vote to expel a third, white Democratic representative fell short.
It’s the first time in state history that Tennessee House members have been expelled for alleged chamber rules violations.
In the first vote, Republicans expelled Rep. Justin Jones. The second vote, to kick out Rep. Gloria Johnson, failed. Republicans then voted to remove Rep. Justin Pearson.
Jones and Pearson are Black. Johnson is white.”
National Conservatism: A Statement Of Principles
“A world of independent nations is the only alternative to universalist ideologies seeking to impose a homogenizing, locality-destroying imperium over the entire globe.”
SAD!
Trump calls for the termination of the Constitution in Truth Social post
Trump’s call to suspend Constitution not a 2024 deal-breaker, leading House Republican says
Yeah!!!
One dirty word but so true:
MUST-WATCH!!!
Joe Biden explains it well:
Must-Read Twitter Thread:
Here is what David is talking about:
The Federalist removes all doubt!
Saying the quiet part out loud:
This SCOTUS decision could rank up there with Citizens United v FEC and Shelby County v Holder
Moore v. Harper, Explained
“The debunked “independent state legislature theory” is on the Supreme Court’s docket, with potentially disastrous consequences.”
Must-Read twitter thread:
Another Must-Read Twitter Thread:
1943:
Great example:
A great read:
The GOP’s American psychosis didn’t start with Trump. It won’t end with him, either.
“A line runs from the 1964 Republican National Convention to Trump’s Jan. 6 riot. It has zigged and zagged over the years. But there is a path.”
A Must-Read Twitter Thread:
This is BAD:
I stopped watching CNN when they fired Brian Stelter and John Harwood. John NAILS it here:
Semi-Fascists?
Ask this Republican about that:
Ousted Republican reflects on Trump, democracy and America: ‘The place has lost its mind’
“The ascent of election deniers across the board marks the final transformation of the Republican party in the state. Trump’s grip is now complete; the strain of constitutional conservatism epitomized by Bowers is in the wilderness.
“I think it’s a shame,” was his rueful reflection on that transition. “The suite of candidates that we now have representing what used to be a principled party is just like, wow … It’s like being the first colonizer on Jupiter.”
In February, a mega “election integrity” bill was introduced into the Arizona legislature that was the culmination of the anti-democratic drift of the party. House bill 2596 would have given the Republican-controlled legislature the power to reject any election result that the majority group didn’t like.
Bowers resoundingly killed off that bill by sending it to languish not in just one house committee, but in all 12 of them. “I was trying to send a definitive message: this is hogwash. Taking away the fundamental right to vote, the idea that the legislature could nullify your election, that’s not conservative. That’s fascist. And I’m not a fascist.”
Bowers said he remains optimistic that the party will one day find its way back on to the rails. He draws succor from the many people who have come up to him since his defeat telling him – quietly, so that nobody can hear – that they admire him and back him.
“It’s not like I’m alone in the wilderness. There’s a lot of people from all over the United States thanking me.”
But for now, he accepts that things are likely to get much worse before they get better. I ask him, at this moment, is the Republican party in Arizona lost?
“Yeah,” he said. “They’ve invented a new way. It’s a party that doesn’t have any thought. It’s all emotional, it’s all revenge. It’s all anger. That’s all it is.”
He held the thumb and digit finger of his right hand so close together that they were almost touching. “The veneer of civilization is this thin,” he said. “It still exists – I haven’t been hanged yet. But holy moly, this is just crazy. The place has lost its mind.””
Christian Nationalism is a HUGE Threat!
Must Watch TV from Australia:
When you hear them say “We are NOT a Democracy, we are a Republic”
Democracy isn’t on the GOP’s side. Why should they pretend to care about it?
“Yes, the U.S. political and judicial systems were designed to protect the minority from the majority — but not to entrench minority rule across the country.”
Sad!
Terrifying Stories:
With Tina Peters on the ballot, Colorado’s GOP Secretary of State primary paints stark differences over elections
Who is Tina Peters?
“Arguably the most well-known and polarizing of the candidates is Mesa County Clerk and Recorder Tina Peters who has garnered national attention for allegedly violating the security of her office in search of proof that the 2020 election was stolen from Donald Trump.”
UPDATE – She Lost:
Indicted county clerk Tina Peters loses GOP secretary of state primary in Colorado
This is bad:
In 2022 midterms, a new ‘Big Lie’ battleground: secretary of state elections
“That is one reason Nguyen decided to launch her own bid for Georgia’s chief election officer.
“If we do not elect secretaries of state who are unwilling to overturn the results of elections – no matter what those results are – we are in huge trouble,” she said.
In the 2022 midterms, secretaries of state contests are emerging as just as important as who controls governors’ mansions or Congress but with more direct ramifications for overseeing elections – including the 2024 presidential race.”
More than 100 GOP primary winners back Trump’s false fraud claims
“District by district, state by state, voters in places that cast ballots through the end of May have chosen at least 108 candidates for statewide office or Congress who have repeated Trump’s lies. The number jumps to at least 149 winning candidates — out of more than 170 races — when it includes those who have campaigned on a platform of tightening voting rules or more stringently enforcing those already on the books, despite the lack of evidence of widespread fraud.”
The Trump/GOP Plan:
Must-Watch VIDEOS:
Ryan and Davis Bell: Utahns must hold Mike Lee accountable
“To reelect a senator who was willing to overturn the results of a free and fair election would be a stain on Utah.”
‘Democracy isn’t the objective’: Republican U.S. senator draws Democrats’ ire
“WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Republican U.S. Senator Mike Lee came under fire from Democrats on Thursday for tweeting “democracy isn’t the objective” after the debate between Vice President Mike Pence and Democratic vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris.”
Opinion: The Republican blueprint to steal the 2024 election
Sad!
More John Avlon:
Every Day Is Jan. 6 Now
“Above all, we should stop underestimating the threat facing the country. Countless times over the past six years, up to and including the events of Jan. 6, Mr. Trump and his allies openly projected their intent to do something outrageous or illegal or destructive. Every time, the common response was that they weren’t serious or that they would never succeed. How many times will we have to be proved wrong before we take it seriously? The sooner we do, the sooner we might hope to salvage a democracy that is in grave danger.”
I Spent Insurrection Week Listening to Steve Bannon
“Where the Trump coup is real, spectacular, and ongoing.”
Pelosi: Republicans carrying out ‘legislative continuation’ of Jan. 6 with election laws
Trump Cancels Jan. 6 Press Conference After Fox News’ Laura Ingraham Signals It’s a Bad Idea
Republicans aim to sow outrage, Trump-style, with an eye on 2022 midterms
US could be under rightwing dictator by 2030, Canadian professor warns
How? Being in charge of COUNTING the votes:
Retired general warns the U.S. military could lead a coup after the 2024 election
‘Terrifying for American democracy’: is Trump planning for a 2024 coup?
“Republicans are vying for critical positions in many states – from which they could launch a far more effective power-grab than Trump’s 2020 effort”
Report shows the extent of Republican efforts to sabotage democracy
“Research identifies at least 262 bills were introduced in 41 states this year with the intent to hijack the election process
One of the key ways that Trump-inspired state lawmakers have tried to sabotage future elections is by changing the rules to give legislatures control over vote counts. In Pennsylvania, a bill passed in the wake of Trump’s defeat that sought to rewrite the state’s election law was vetoed by Democratic governor Tom Wolf.
Now hard-right lawmakers are trying to bypass Wolf’s veto power by proposing a constitutional amendment that would give the legislature the power to overrule the state’s chief elections officer and create a permanent audit of election counts subject to its own will.
In several states, nonpartisan election officials who for years have administered ballots impartially are being replaced by hyper-partisan conspiracy theorists and advocates of Trump’s false claims that the election was rigged. In Michigan, county Republican groups in eight of the 11 largest counties have systematically replaced professional administration officials with “stop the steal” extremists.
Several secretaries of state, the top election officials responsible for presidential election counts, are being challenged by extreme Republicans who participated in trying to overturn the 2020 result. Trump has endorsed for the role Mark Finchem in Arizona, Jody Hice in Georgia and Kristina Karamo in Michigan who have all claimed falsely that Trump won and should now be in his second term in the White House.”
An internet friend has a great twitter thread:
The clear and present danger of Trump’s enduring ‘Big Lie’
“Call it an insurrection or a coup attempt, it was fueled by what’s known as the “Big Lie”: the verifiably false assertion that Trump won. Joe Biden won 306 votes in the Electoral College, while Trump received 232. In the popular vote, Biden won by more than 7 million votes.
Many are warning that over the past year, that “big lie” of a stolen election has grown more entrenched and more dangerous.
“I’ve never been more scared about American democracy than I am right now, because of the metastasizing of the ‘big lie,’ ” says election law expert Rick Hasen, co-director of the Fair Elections and Free Speech Center at the University of California, Irvine.”
The Republican Axis Reversing the Rights Revolution
“We are witnessing a reordering of American life not seen in half a century.”
Leaked Video: Dark Money Group Brags About Writing GOP Voter Suppression Bills Across the Country
“We did it quickly and we did it quietly,” said the executive director of Heritage Action.”
They told us this was their plan in November of 2020,
This is scary!
Q&A: Jonathan Karl On ‘Betrayal’ And Why Campaign Reporters Face Their “Greatest Challenge” If Donald Trump Runs Again
A twitter thread:
A great example of the Death of Democracy:
Florida blocks professors from testifying against voting law pushed by DeSantis
What The?
UPDATE!
The GOP has decided that being in charge of COUNTING the votes is more effective than voter suppression.
That was the reason Trump created The Big Lie
The GOP has no desire to govern
Dear GOP, you condone what you allow,
