It is not enough to simplify elect democrats; we need to elect leaders who will fight to bring SCOTUS in line and make this country live up to its aspirations!
Have I missed something, or has there been no push back whatsoever from Democratic "leaders" in Congress, the DNC or any of the other expensive national Democratic organizations?
The Democrats need new leadership with spines and balls all around, so please elect as many women as you possibly can. Although there were several things I didn't see eye-to-eye on with Pelosi, she alone had more spine and balls than all of the current "leaders" combined.
Agreed. There is no democratic leadership to speak of from my perspective. There is a fascist party and an opposition party in name only. There are real fighters in the party, but they're constantly getting smothered by leaders trying to find a nonexistent middle.
Absolutely. The young people want a lot more push back and not a few of us oldies are tired of the plain vanilla bullshit. The few "moderate" Democrats there are can either switch over to the fascist side, or hold their noses and get with what is needed to get this country back on the correct track.
OK! WOW! So now we can absolutely say, without any questions of a doubt, here is REALITY! A tyrannical minority of Americans are anti Black racists and believe the only legitimate government in America is a White government. It's the MAGA rot in the whole system. Align that with Trump's reflexive, anti Black, anti immigrant racism and we can fully understand why Trump is the Avatar of racial hatred and the cult hero of racist Love.
His Truth Social tweets are just a love song we don't understand.
So what do we do about these rabid bigots who so infect our civic life?
Combined with the mindless consumer depression Trump is reigning down on America will this racism generate enough revulsion among the majority of Americans to crush the MAGA rot?
We need to see a whole lot of active push back between now and Nov.
Agentic, I don't think we will ever live up to our aspirations, but what truly makes America great is that, over time, we try to, despite the occasional slipping backwards.
The code of ethics that lower courts and those in government offices follow would do well to be implemented in the supreme court. There is no need to reinvent the wheel.
Clearly we need one or more Constitutional amendments. We need desperately to be rid of the Electoral College. We need codified non-partisan redistricting countrywide. We need to reverse Citizens United in a way the court cannot undo. We need to declare clearly that no one (specifically including the President of the United States) is above the law. We need to expand the House of Representatives. We need voting rights protection with some teeth (and maybe an open door for ranked choice voting in national offices). Maybe we even need to state explicitly in a way that cannot be misunderstood that the church and the state are separate entities.
All of these are currently impossible, so first we need to win elections even given the current rigged system. That means enormous turnout every time we have the opportunity to vote. All politics being local, that means we need to get involved in our local communities to ensure registration, a way to get to the polls, and fair counting of results. We have our jobs cut out for us. Let's get busy. November is a little more than 5 months away.
I cannot thank you enough, Ms. Rubin, for lifting my spirits! We all should take up Bette Midler's anthem, "All You Fascists Gonna Lose," and sing it loudly and proudly at every Democratic gathering and at every protest.
This isn't only about African American rights. It's also about the rights of any minority. If you aren't a White straight male with a gun and of European decent, or a Christian Dominion worshiper, or one of the ultra-wealthy corporate elite', your protected rights have ceased to exist in the MAGA Fascist states.
The alarming, yet accurate statement that “It protects Alito’s core constituency: aggrieved white Republican voters” highlights the sad fact that the Supreme Court is now a fully political body working to achieve fully partisan ends, rather than support the laws of the nation.
If we win in a trifecta in 2028 we need to fix the Supreme Court first. The present MAGA Supreme Court is willing to strike down laws that were voted on and signed by Congress. If Congress passes a new voting rights law, the Supreme Court can render unconstitutional and make strike them down. The 1st thing that needs to be done in when Democrats are is power is fix the Supreme Court and voting rights.
The focus for 2026 needs to be on channeling voter anger at Trump and Republicans to vote Republicans out and give the Democrats control of the House and Senate. There will be no reform of the Supreme Court before there is a new President and there is no point wasting energy on an effort that can't succeed. At the present time voters need to be reminded that Trump and Republicans lied to them about being for them and lowering the cost of living and that Democrats are the ones who will fight for them and do what they can to work to lower costs. Voters need to be constantly reminded that Trump's corruption is enriching he and his family along with all his Republican enablers and bootlickers at our expense. We are told that our suffering is going to a good cause that enriches them. The goal should be to turn the partisan gerrymandering of districts to favor Republicans into new Democrat districts. In most cases the district lines have only given Republicans a small advantage. With voters enraged at Trump and Republicans it is quite possible for Democrats to win in many of those new districts. Like Hungary, we need to swamp the Republicans with overwhelming turnout. Once the Democrats have control of Congress then the focus needs to be on investigation and accountability and laying the groundwork to ensure another overwhelming turnout n 2028 so that they have the political power and mandate to reform the government institutions and legislate ethics and the honor system to make what has been happening subject to criminal charges.
The National Day of Action kicks off in Montgomery Alabama on May 16th. There was already a protest on May 5th of last week in Montgomery when governor Kay Ivey decided to open with a special session after the Callais ruling. A number of speakers spoke at the event including students from our state HBCUs. Make no mistake, there will be people from all walks of life including black, Hispanic, Native American and mixed race people from across Alabama at the National Day of Action and women as well.
Great article Jennifer! Please provide us with specific ways that we as individuals can assist with encouraging huge voter turnout. Also, please invite some of the southern Democrats who are running and against this latest initiative to gerrymander & suppress voter turnout on your substack. Once people like me learn more about these candidates, we may be able to help promote their campaigns, even if we do not live in southern states. Thank you!
Your words of encouragement are sorely needed right now with the latest atrocity committed by SCOTUS in Callais and the rush to resurrect the Confederacy and destroy non-white representation in Congress, the VA SC striking down a vote of the people to redraw congressional districts and the blatantly illegal grifting and outright thievery of taxpayers money by the executive branch, his family and this billionaire cronies.
At this perilous time, we must remember the tenacity and courage of the UK during the Battle of Britain in WW2. We must remember the inspiring words of Winston Churchill that rallied public morale during the onslaught of daily bombings. This must be America's finest hour. We must never surrender. Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference.
I think there are a few imperatives for citizen activists. Number one, - don't give up hope. It is clear Republicans are not going to relinquish power without a fight. One of the necessities to try to counter Republicans refusal to respect the electoral process, is to work as hard as possible to ensure we have landslide turnout numbers. That means volunteering to work for Democratic campaigns (both federal and state). We cannot settle for just winning the House. If there's to be a Republican reckoning Democrats must also control the Senate. The good news is the Senate is not directly affected by gerrymandering. The bad news is it's still a mighty electoral hurdle. We need to support every Demcratic Senate campaign (long shot or not) even if it means holding our noses on some of those candidates.
We must be prepared to respond to the inevitable attempts to suppress voting that Republicans will throw at the elections. That too will require volunteers to help support and protect elections.
Finally, if we should be so fortunate to flip both the House and the Senate, we are going to need maintain our activism after the elections. Democrats will not take bold steps if us citizens go back to business as usual which typically happens after the midterms. Historically, that's been a problem. It's exhausting maintaining an activist movement without breaks. Republicans have been planning this demolition of democracy for generations. We are not going to restore it overnight. It will require a sustained resistance and a emboldened Democratic party willing to fundamentally shake things up.
The Red Court must be repaired and expanded to 13 Justices to match the 13 Federal circuits. The Citizens United decision must be reversed for starters. The work of a democratically controlled government should be to fix and strengthen the constitution and…and…and…frankly, there is so much to do.
I am curious. Has anyone except those elected ever really liked gerrymandering? Will people respond by their vote? Isn't this something worthwhile protesting? The whole idea seems so undemocratic. The whole idea of representation has become absurd because it has become racist by definition. I have always voted my conscience and for whomever I think will be best for the country based on character abd intelligence, and never on color or gender or religion.
It is not enough to simplify elect democrats; we need to elect leaders who will fight to bring SCOTUS in line and make this country live up to its aspirations!
A litmus test for Senators should be a firm commitment to replace Schumer as Majority Leader.
It's a solid place to start!
Have I missed something, or has there been no push back whatsoever from Democratic "leaders" in Congress, the DNC or any of the other expensive national Democratic organizations?
The Democrats need new leadership with spines and balls all around, so please elect as many women as you possibly can. Although there were several things I didn't see eye-to-eye on with Pelosi, she alone had more spine and balls than all of the current "leaders" combined.
Agreed. There is no democratic leadership to speak of from my perspective. There is a fascist party and an opposition party in name only. There are real fighters in the party, but they're constantly getting smothered by leaders trying to find a nonexistent middle.
Absolutely. The young people want a lot more push back and not a few of us oldies are tired of the plain vanilla bullshit. The few "moderate" Democrats there are can either switch over to the fascist side, or hold their noses and get with what is needed to get this country back on the correct track.
Agreed!
OK! WOW! So now we can absolutely say, without any questions of a doubt, here is REALITY! A tyrannical minority of Americans are anti Black racists and believe the only legitimate government in America is a White government. It's the MAGA rot in the whole system. Align that with Trump's reflexive, anti Black, anti immigrant racism and we can fully understand why Trump is the Avatar of racial hatred and the cult hero of racist Love.
His Truth Social tweets are just a love song we don't understand.
So what do we do about these rabid bigots who so infect our civic life?
Combined with the mindless consumer depression Trump is reigning down on America will this racism generate enough revulsion among the majority of Americans to crush the MAGA rot?
We need to see a whole lot of active push back between now and Nov.
Agentic, I don't think we will ever live up to our aspirations, but what truly makes America great is that, over time, we try to, despite the occasional slipping backwards.
"They will also have to consider reform of the Supreme Court itself."
For example: impeachment and term limits.
And expanding the Court and forcing the Court to implement and execute ethics rules.
The code of ethics that lower courts and those in government offices follow would do well to be implemented in the supreme court. There is no need to reinvent the wheel.
Clearly we need one or more Constitutional amendments. We need desperately to be rid of the Electoral College. We need codified non-partisan redistricting countrywide. We need to reverse Citizens United in a way the court cannot undo. We need to declare clearly that no one (specifically including the President of the United States) is above the law. We need to expand the House of Representatives. We need voting rights protection with some teeth (and maybe an open door for ranked choice voting in national offices). Maybe we even need to state explicitly in a way that cannot be misunderstood that the church and the state are separate entities.
All of these are currently impossible, so first we need to win elections even given the current rigged system. That means enormous turnout every time we have the opportunity to vote. All politics being local, that means we need to get involved in our local communities to ensure registration, a way to get to the polls, and fair counting of results. We have our jobs cut out for us. Let's get busy. November is a little more than 5 months away.
I cannot thank you enough, Ms. Rubin, for lifting my spirits! We all should take up Bette Midler's anthem, "All You Fascists Gonna Lose," and sing it loudly and proudly at every Democratic gathering and at every protest.
@Anca, that one is on our protest playlist along with my other favorite, "Heavy Foot."
Excellent.
This isn't only about African American rights. It's also about the rights of any minority. If you aren't a White straight male with a gun and of European decent, or a Christian Dominion worshiper, or one of the ultra-wealthy corporate elite', your protected rights have ceased to exist in the MAGA Fascist states.
As a white Democrat in gerrymandered Indiana (and Republicans want to gerrymander it further), I do not feel represented.
'Strait' is Hormuz, 'straight' are non-gay males. Otherwise, excellent points.
I stand corrected.
If you click on the three dots at the right, you can edit your comment.
Thanks.
No problem.
The alarming, yet accurate statement that “It protects Alito’s core constituency: aggrieved white Republican voters” highlights the sad fact that the Supreme Court is now a fully political body working to achieve fully partisan ends, rather than support the laws of the nation.
Yea, right.
You see anybody (other than our Contrarian dream team) doing anything about it?
I see a lot of cowards shivering in the shadows.
The media is especially bad. Their attention to the bottom line has put us where we are now, in an Autocratic Fascist state.
If we win in a trifecta in 2028 we need to fix the Supreme Court first. The present MAGA Supreme Court is willing to strike down laws that were voted on and signed by Congress. If Congress passes a new voting rights law, the Supreme Court can render unconstitutional and make strike them down. The 1st thing that needs to be done in when Democrats are is power is fix the Supreme Court and voting rights.
Democrats need to stop asking for permission. Texas didn't. Rick Wilson calls them the pillow fight democrats. Looks that way to me.
Ms. Rubin, welcome back! Many, many of us missed you.
The United States will always be evolving. It will always be a fight.
I take inspiration from Hungary and Ukraine. Who would have guessed?
The focus for 2026 needs to be on channeling voter anger at Trump and Republicans to vote Republicans out and give the Democrats control of the House and Senate. There will be no reform of the Supreme Court before there is a new President and there is no point wasting energy on an effort that can't succeed. At the present time voters need to be reminded that Trump and Republicans lied to them about being for them and lowering the cost of living and that Democrats are the ones who will fight for them and do what they can to work to lower costs. Voters need to be constantly reminded that Trump's corruption is enriching he and his family along with all his Republican enablers and bootlickers at our expense. We are told that our suffering is going to a good cause that enriches them. The goal should be to turn the partisan gerrymandering of districts to favor Republicans into new Democrat districts. In most cases the district lines have only given Republicans a small advantage. With voters enraged at Trump and Republicans it is quite possible for Democrats to win in many of those new districts. Like Hungary, we need to swamp the Republicans with overwhelming turnout. Once the Democrats have control of Congress then the focus needs to be on investigation and accountability and laying the groundwork to ensure another overwhelming turnout n 2028 so that they have the political power and mandate to reform the government institutions and legislate ethics and the honor system to make what has been happening subject to criminal charges.
The National Day of Action kicks off in Montgomery Alabama on May 16th. There was already a protest on May 5th of last week in Montgomery when governor Kay Ivey decided to open with a special session after the Callais ruling. A number of speakers spoke at the event including students from our state HBCUs. Make no mistake, there will be people from all walks of life including black, Hispanic, Native American and mixed race people from across Alabama at the National Day of Action and women as well.
Great article Jennifer! Please provide us with specific ways that we as individuals can assist with encouraging huge voter turnout. Also, please invite some of the southern Democrats who are running and against this latest initiative to gerrymander & suppress voter turnout on your substack. Once people like me learn more about these candidates, we may be able to help promote their campaigns, even if we do not live in southern states. Thank you!
Glad to have you back where you belong, Jen.
Your words of encouragement are sorely needed right now with the latest atrocity committed by SCOTUS in Callais and the rush to resurrect the Confederacy and destroy non-white representation in Congress, the VA SC striking down a vote of the people to redraw congressional districts and the blatantly illegal grifting and outright thievery of taxpayers money by the executive branch, his family and this billionaire cronies.
At this perilous time, we must remember the tenacity and courage of the UK during the Battle of Britain in WW2. We must remember the inspiring words of Winston Churchill that rallied public morale during the onslaught of daily bombings. This must be America's finest hour. We must never surrender. Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference.
On les aura!
Spot on Steven.
What we have here is the south trying to (again) "resurrect the Confederacy".
America's second CIVIL WAR??!!
I think there are a few imperatives for citizen activists. Number one, - don't give up hope. It is clear Republicans are not going to relinquish power without a fight. One of the necessities to try to counter Republicans refusal to respect the electoral process, is to work as hard as possible to ensure we have landslide turnout numbers. That means volunteering to work for Democratic campaigns (both federal and state). We cannot settle for just winning the House. If there's to be a Republican reckoning Democrats must also control the Senate. The good news is the Senate is not directly affected by gerrymandering. The bad news is it's still a mighty electoral hurdle. We need to support every Demcratic Senate campaign (long shot or not) even if it means holding our noses on some of those candidates.
We must be prepared to respond to the inevitable attempts to suppress voting that Republicans will throw at the elections. That too will require volunteers to help support and protect elections.
Finally, if we should be so fortunate to flip both the House and the Senate, we are going to need maintain our activism after the elections. Democrats will not take bold steps if us citizens go back to business as usual which typically happens after the midterms. Historically, that's been a problem. It's exhausting maintaining an activist movement without breaks. Republicans have been planning this demolition of democracy for generations. We are not going to restore it overnight. It will require a sustained resistance and a emboldened Democratic party willing to fundamentally shake things up.
The Red Court must be repaired and expanded to 13 Justices to match the 13 Federal circuits. The Citizens United decision must be reversed for starters. The work of a democratically controlled government should be to fix and strengthen the constitution and…and…and…frankly, there is so much to do.
I am curious. Has anyone except those elected ever really liked gerrymandering? Will people respond by their vote? Isn't this something worthwhile protesting? The whole idea seems so undemocratic. The whole idea of representation has become absurd because it has become racist by definition. I have always voted my conscience and for whomever I think will be best for the country based on character abd intelligence, and never on color or gender or religion.