State Legislatures

247th Anniversary Of American Independence, And Nation’s Democracy Is Endangered!

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Today is the 247th Anniversary of American Independence, and with only three years until the Semiquincentennial of our nation’s history, American democracy is in great danger!

The threat that Donald Trump might return to the White House and promote revenge and fascist demagoguery is horrifying, and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis also presents a “clear and present danger” to our nation, with his attacks on the rights of women, racial minorities, gays and transgender people, and his promotion of an extremist Christianity and authoritarianism that represents great harm!

The Supreme Court is the most extreme in a century, taking away basic human rights that were extended by earlier Supreme Courts, but now effectively robbing Americans of rights they have worked so hard to attain!

Many state legislatures are undermining the right to vote, and interfering with education, health care, and at the same time expanding gun rights leading to mass murders with no regulations of who can have what firearms in their possession!

Just as Abraham Lincoln was in the right place at the right time in the 1860s; and Franklin D. Roosevelt in the right place at the right time in the 1930s and early 1940s; so is Joe Biden today’s equivalent of what is needed to preserve democracy!

The efforts must be made to assure that Biden can continue his good deeds after two and a half years in office, and overcome the many crises the nation faces, the most dangerous since the 1960s, and in many ways on the level of the 1860s and 1930s-1940s!

Republicans On Suicide Watch: Promoting More Anti Abortion Legislation!

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The right wing extremist Republican Party clearly is on a “suicide watch”, as after losing so many elections on the issue of abortion in the 2022 Midterms, they are at it again, passing extremist bans on abortion in the House of Representatives!

There is ZERO chance of such disgraceful limits on women’s control of their own bodies being passed in the US Senate. In any case, any such legislation would be vetoed by President Joe Biden!

The right wingers and the Republican Party have not learned that it is a losing cause to put limits on abortion, no matter what is done by the US Supreme Court and by backward state legislatures in many Southern states and Midwestern states!

But let us hope they continue their craziness, as it will insure their defeat for the Congress in 2024, as well as the White House!

Women And Young People Are Registering To Vote In Record Numbers, Due To Abortion Issue!

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Women of all ages and backgrounds, and young people in general, are registering to vote in record numbers, and the main reason is the denial of abortion rights by the Supreme Court in June.

That, plus the danger to American democracy represented by the “MAGA” Republicans, who are Fascist in orientation and empower Donald Trump, no matter what is emerging about his treason and sedition, are motivating Americans to realize that the Midterm Elections of 2022 are crucial for the future.

While the Democrats have a major problem historically, with the reality that the party out of power gains in the midterm elections that follow, this time, more than ever before, it is absolutely essential that Democrats keep control of both houses of Congress and do better in state legislatures and governorships, as otherwise, the Consitution and rule of law will be in danger!

The Urgent Need For Beto O’Rourke And Charlie Crist To Win Governorships Of Texas And Florida!

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Texas and Florida are the second and third largest states in population, and have a massive influence on Congress and on state government policies beyond their own states.

These two states are strongly “Red”, Republican, in the past 25 years, and have had a deleterious effect on American politics!

Their US Senators and many of their House of Representatives members are horrendous examples of how evil politics has become, and their state legislatures are so one sided as to give a sense that both states are “lost” to any sense of sanity or common decency!

But as long as America is a democracy, which is under vicious attack now in the age of Donald Trump, one must not give up the fight to convince the growing Hispanic-Latino populations of both states to “see the light”, and participate in restoring decency and compassion to American politics, and setting an example for smaller, less populated states!

So therefore, the battle to defeat Greg Abbott of Texas and Ron DeSantis of Florida is in full motion, as defeating both of them would eliminate either as a potential Presidential nominee in 2024!

The Democrats have excellent candidates in Beto O’Rourke (former Congressman from El Paso, and giving Senator Ted Cruz a close race in 2018); and Charlie Crist (former Republican Governor of Florida 2007-2011, and Democratic Congressman since 2017).

Both would restore dignity and principle to the Governorships, that combined, represent 52 million Americans, approximately one of every six Americans!

March On Washington #2–1963, And Now 2021: Why Is This Necessary?

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On August 28, 1963, the March On Washington took place in Washington, DC, with the speech of Martin Luther King Jr. being the most memorable speech–“I have a dream” reverberating between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument.—an appeal for civil and economic rights, and the end of racism.

At least a quarter of a million people of all backgrounds were there for that memorable event, and it was covered live on television and radio.

In the next two years, we saw the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and other landmark legislation and actions, and we thought the issue was settled.

But now, half a century later, we have a right wing Supreme Court, Republicans in Congress, and many state legislatures negating all of the progress made in the 1960s and after.

So we are in a spiritual crisis where right wing Republican conservatism promoting racism and denial of civil rights has become the norm once again!

Today, there will be marches across the nation, not only in Washington, DC, that will call for the end of the loss of the right to vote, as is occurring in so many southern and western states, and the promotion of the restoration of the progress that was made six decades ago.

This is a struggle for peaceful restoration of basic human and civil rights, and the suppression of the ugliness of bigotry that has once again become endemic!

Rural America In Rapid Decline, But Having Ability To Prevent Change

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Rural America is in rapid decline, but has the ability to prevent change, due to gerrymandering, and the fact that the declining white population can cause grief in Congress and in many state legislatures.

60 million people live in rural areas, which contain 97 percent of the land area of the nation.

So 23 percent of the population have an impact, and are against progressive reform, and the advancement of the interests of urban America, and of people of color, and people of superior educational accomplishments.

Rural America is a drag on the progress of the nation in the 21st century, but they are able to wield great power politically, and they present a threat to the future stability of America, as many people in rural America seem willing to consider the concept of secession.

So one has to wonder if a future breakup of the nation is conceivable!

The Potential For More Women Senators And Governors After The 2018 Midterm Elections, Mostly Democrats

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More women than ever before are running for public office on the state legislative level, for the US House of Representatives, and for the state governorships and the US Senate.

Particularly in the Democratic Party, women will have a much greater role after the midterm elections, no matter who might lose.

2018 is the greatest year of women candidates for public office, surpassing 1992 and 2012, and the difference is that this round is a midterm election, while the other two were years of presidential elections.

So 53 women are running for the Senate and 476 running for the House of Representatives, while in 2012, the numbers were 36 for the Senate and 298 for the House, and in 1992, the numbers were 11 for the Senate, and 106 for the House.

There are presently 23 women Senators, and the numbers, depending on results in the midterm, could increase to 26, or if a number of women Senators lost their seat next week, the number could be as low as 16.

The Democrats have 17 women in the Senate, with the Republicans having six at the present time. Jacky Rosen in Nevada and Kyrsten Sinema in Arizona, along with Republican Marsha Blackburn in Tennessee, could raise the number up to 26, assuming all women running for reelection were to keep their seats.

12 women are running for governor, and there are six women governors at present. Stacey Abrams in Georgia, who is African American; Laura Kelly in Kansas; Gretchen Whitmer in Michigan; Molly Kelly in New Hampshire; Janet Mills in Maine; Christine Hallquist in Vermont; and Michelle Lujan Grisham in New Mexico, all Democrats, seem to have strong possibilities of being elected, joining two other Democratic women governors, and four Republican women governors at present.

What Is Needed In November: Blue Wave (Democrats), Pink Wave (Women), Orange Wave (Men And Gun Safety), Green Wave (Environment)

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With the midterm elections less than four weeks away, it is clear that what is needed is not one “wave”, but four “waves”.

A “Blue Wave” is needed, the gaining of, hopefully, control of both houses of Congress, and the majority of state governorships and state legislative majorities.

But a “Pink Wave’ is needed by a mass uprising by women of all backgrounds, races, sections of the nation, to make clear that misogyny and abuse of women by conservatives and Republicans will no longer be tolerated.

There is also a need for an “Orange Wave”, promoted by Fred Guttenberg, the father of Parkland victim Jaime Guttenberg, on the need for a serious movement toward gun control and regulation, as we are losing tens of thousands of victims, many of them in schools and universities, and also many through suicide. This must include serious promotion of mental health initiatives, so that we do not have the constant massacres of innocent human beings, because of the lack of concern by the gun industry, which is only interested in profits.

And finally, a “Green Wave” is needed by those who care about climate change and the environment, determined to fight to prevent the destruction of the environment by coal companies, oil companies, natural gas companies, and corporations in general, who all think only of the profit motive now, and not the long range effect of what their companies are doing. And the struggle against the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of the Interior leadership must be fought with vehemence, as the future of America and the entire globe are at stake.

The Survival Of America As We Know It Depends On A Massive “Blue Wave” This November!

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Donald Trump has thrown down the gauntlet, in informing Congressional Republicans that they should abandon any legislation on immigration until after the “Red Wave” he predicts is coming in the midterm elections of 2018 this November.

God forbid any such “Red Wave”, which would defy history, as the record shows the party in the White House always loses seats in the first midterm election after a President has been inaugurated, with the one major exception being FDR and the Democrats in 1934, but Donald Trump is no FDR!

If people stay home and do not vote, or if people continue to believe the lies of Donald Trump and the Republicans, then we as a nation, not those of us who care, but everyone else, will get what they deserve–a return to the 19th century Gilded Age before federal government played a role in the lives of the American people.

It will mean the end of Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, labor laws, environmental legislation, consumer protections. civil rights for minorities, women, gays and lesbians, and the disabled, and the loss of the Bill of Rights.

We will live in a nation controlled by the super wealthy in every sense, and we will be influenced by autocrats in Russia and other totalitarian dictatorships, and we will be threatened by the loss of our traditional foreign allies, and we will face dire poverty after a Great Depression that would make the 1930s depression look like a minor event.

Some reading this might think I am using hyperbole, but seriously, even if one thinks they have heard this before, the reality is as follows: There is no more crucial election for the long term future of our nation than this midterm election.

The Democrats are far from perfect but even many conservative commentators, such as Jennifer Rubin, George Will, David Frum, Bret Stephens, Steve Schmidt, among others, have repudiated the Republican Party and Donald Trump, and warn us of the need to kick the Republicans out of control of both houses of Congress, and many state governorships and legislatures.

Donald Trump is the most dangerous person in American history, and the process to start taking away his destructive influence is NOT to say it is hopeless, and why bother voting?

It is, rather, that if we do not fight for our future, then there is no future!

36 Legislative Seats In States Flipped From Republicans To Democrats Since Trump Election

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With a victory in a state legislative race in Florida last night of a Democrat in a Republican held seat, we can say that 36 legislative seats in states that Trump won in 2016 have now flipped, a sign of likely great results for Democrats in November 2018 for the US House of Representatives, US Senate, state legislative races, and state governors.

Many traditional Republican voters are clearly alienated from Donald Trump, and specific groups–suburbanites, women, and young people–are seen as likely flippers in large numbers, to the Democrats in the upcoming elections.

Several other races that have ended up with Republican wins have been by much closer margins than in the past.

Changing the state legislatures and making for more Democratic seats will be extremely important when it comes to reapportionment of seats in 2020 and after, and it is urgent that Democrats gain the edge, as that will affect politics for the entire decade of the 2020s.

So the urgency is to make sure voters come out in greater numbers than is traditional in midterm election years, and if people stay home and allow the Republicans to continue their control of state legislatures, governors, and the two houses of Congress, they will have no one to blame but themselves for the disastrous long term results of such apathy.