This is such a dumb issue, and I don't understand why the Democrats want to be seen as the party against honest elections. I know commenters will say elections are fair so why do we need to do anything. But so what? I know Biden won, everyone here knows Biden won. But if Republicans are running on making elections more secure by requiring an ID or something really basic, just give it to them. The party machines can make sure all their voters have the required ID or whatever, governments can go door to door issuing them, etc. It really isn't that big an ask, and if someone is too uninterested to bother to get the ID, they're really not going to vote. The Democrats would do well to make this a bipartisan issue, issue really simple voting rules and move on rather than defend lax elections. Personally I think it's weird that I just walk up on Election Day and say my name and vote. I'd feel better if I had to at least do as much to vote as I do to read or buy something online.
"Both a Civil War and the most extreme forms of fascism would require a level of mobilization into armed units that the current Trumpist right has shown little capacity for."
And I would disagree - they already have the shock troops they need in the police, and the emotional preparation is there. They just want to jack control of the government and then use the usual groups to crackdown. That's the formula in most countries. Civil war by other means.
"The closest analogy would be the rise of Jim Crow in the late 19th century, where the same combination of legal manipulation and extra-legal violence achieved the effect of mass disenfranchisement along racial lines. Which is worrisome enough, even if it isn’t the worst case scenario. We’d all do well to take Madison Cawthorn very seriously indeed."
I do. It's people like that Ben Dreyfuss guy who think I'm insane, etcetera, etcetera, which is always nice to hear from people who know a lot less about this subject (along multiple dimensions) than I do. But hey! They told me that during the War on Terror too. So.
elm
one useful idiot, two useful idiot, three useful idiot, more
This is such a dumb issue, and I don't understand why the Democrats want to be seen as the party against honest elections. I know commenters will say elections are fair so why do we need to do anything. But so what? I know Biden won, everyone here knows Biden won. But if Republicans are running on making elections more secure by requiring an ID or something really basic, just give it to them. The party machines can make sure all their voters have the required ID or whatever, governments can go door to door issuing them, etc. It really isn't that big an ask, and if someone is too uninterested to bother to get the ID, they're really not going to vote. The Democrats would do well to make this a bipartisan issue, issue really simple voting rules and move on rather than defend lax elections. Personally I think it's weird that I just walk up on Election Day and say my name and vote. I'd feel better if I had to at least do as much to vote as I do to read or buy something online.
"Both a Civil War and the most extreme forms of fascism would require a level of mobilization into armed units that the current Trumpist right has shown little capacity for."
And I would disagree - they already have the shock troops they need in the police, and the emotional preparation is there. They just want to jack control of the government and then use the usual groups to crackdown. That's the formula in most countries. Civil war by other means.
"The closest analogy would be the rise of Jim Crow in the late 19th century, where the same combination of legal manipulation and extra-legal violence achieved the effect of mass disenfranchisement along racial lines. Which is worrisome enough, even if it isn’t the worst case scenario. We’d all do well to take Madison Cawthorn very seriously indeed."
I do. It's people like that Ben Dreyfuss guy who think I'm insane, etcetera, etcetera, which is always nice to hear from people who know a lot less about this subject (along multiple dimensions) than I do. But hey! They told me that during the War on Terror too. So.
elm
one useful idiot, two useful idiot, three useful idiot, more