The Journal of Unpopular Opinions (Chapter 4)

When a president, congressman, senator, governor, state legislator, or anyone else tells you that the only way they can ‘protect you from the other side’ or ‘continue serving you to the best of their abilities’ is to treat you as if you haven’t got an independent thought in your head, run screaming from the room.

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Off-cycle Congressional redistricting by Republicans, like that done (so far) in Texas, North Carolina, Ohio, and soon Indiana, which will tackle it starting Monday, has nothing to do with what voters want and everything to do with what the politicians want: to protect their longevity by caving to a president who clearly knows he is as unpopular as we the people believe he is.

I don't have a lot of sympathy for similar redistricting efforts by the Democrats, such as those under consideration in Maryland, Illinois, and New York (so far). Some consider these noble efforts, from a 'we can't let them rig the election' or whatever the logic is, but I disagree. It's a shameless attempt to grab power, to protect their longevity, and to cheat the system, which is exactly what the Ds claim the Rs are doing.  

California's goal is the same, but the process is different, so I dislike it slightly less than I do the blatant stuff being done elsewhere. The Golden State has an independent Citizens Redistricting Commission, so the legislature needs voter approval to bypass that group and institute its own maps - and I hope voters reject the Prop 50 ballot initiative. 

Why?  Because we should be demanding the right to choose our politicians, rather than letting them choose us. We should never give a politician our vote simply because we share a party affiliation. We should be making them work for every vote they want and earn every vote they get. 

And we should never stand for them giving in to the narcissistic, panicked demands and threats of the person at the top of their party, no matter how high the throne upon which that person sits.

For too long, we have acted as if the term ‘voting rights’ only applies to ensuring access to voting.  For years, we have sat by, watching the people who have been trusted to represent us:

• make it harder for us to vote by taking away options like early voting, mail-in ballots, and other changes, and by implementing ridiculous rules that directly and negatively impact women, the elderly, and economically disadvantaged voters, because 'those people' are more likely to vote against a certain party;

• constantly bang the drum about all kinds of voter fraud, ignoring years of evidence that there is negligible impact from the extremely limited fraud that occurs, and complaining that elections they don't are rigged, and threatening states, which have constitutional control over their voting rules, with all kinds of retribution if they don't change their ways to diminish or exclude certain voters;

• allow our voices to be overshadowed and overwhelmed by the tens of millions of dollars politicians of both parties receive from corporations, political parties, unions, lobbyists, PACs, and super-rich donors, in return for who knows what legislative promises; and

• blatantly look away from - heck, they run away from - our legitimate concerns about the direction of our country, their policies, and their ineffectiveness.

And here we are today, 

• letting them disrespect us even more by rearranging us into districts they assume will give them an advantage; 

• letting them assume we’re nothing but sheep that will vote for a party rather than for our issues and interests; and 

• letting them assume they no longer have to work for our votes.  

You know what they say about people who assume, right? That old line about 'making an ass...'?

Don’t let them get away with it.

• If your state asks you to vote for off-cycle redistricting, vote no.

• If your state just goes ahead and redistricts off-cycle, let the folks who represent you know that you’re unhappy about it, and that you’ll vote against them at the earliest opportunity. And then, do exactly that.

• And if they’re not talking about it, or have decided not to play the game, thank them – and remind them that they still have to work for – and earn – your vote, every single election.

It's time we fully use our voting rights - and there's no better time to start than this Tuesday, Election Day. 

Sunday School 11/13/22: Extra Credit

In this week's Sunday School lesson, we heard perspective on the 2022 midterms from five people - two senators, the House Speaker, a re-elected governor, and a newly elected governor.  

For today's Extra Credit, I go back into the classrooms for more perspective, starting again today with Dana Bash on CNN's SOTU; she spoke with outgoing Gov. Larry Hogan (R-MD). I've referred to him as 'my favorite Republican,' for his steadfast refusal to cave in to the whole extremist, cultist GOP and opposition to the Big Lie.

What did think of the election outcome?

the way I would interpret it, look, this was -- this should have been a huge red wave. It should have been one of the biggest red waves we have ever had, because President Biden's approval rating was so low, one of the lowest historically. More than 70% of people thought the country was going in the wrong direction. And yet we still didn't perform.

"Commonsense conservatives" who focused on the issues won; those who "tried to relitigate the 2020 election and focused on conspiracy theories and talked about things the voters didn't care about, they were almost universally rejected," he said.

And I think it's basically the third election in a row that Donald Trump has cost us the race. And it's like three strikes, you're out... Donald Trump kept saying, we're going to be winning so much, we will get tired of winning. I'm tired of losing. I mean, that's all he's done.

He suggested the Rs need to figure out how to "appeal to a broader group of voters" because they "turned off wide swaths of swing voters. And that's why we didn't perform."

And, on the threatened announcement from Trump about 2024? 

...I would just say that we're two years out from the next election, and we're just trying to -- the dust is settling from this one. I think it'd be a mistake. As I mentioned, Trump's cost us the last three elections. And I don't want to see it happen a fourth time.

Does he have presidential ambitions of his own?

 I have been saying since 2020 that we have to get back to a party that appeals to more people, that can win in tough places, like I have done in Maryland. And I think that lane is much wider now than it was a week ago.

Next up? George, on This Week, talking with Gov. Chris Sununu (R-NH), one of the people What's-his-name on MTP said was a "normal Republican." Sununu won re-election by 15 points, while the R running for Senate lost by nearly 10. What did he have to say about that?

Candidate quality matters. You know, there's a chance of extremism that I think a lot of Republicans were painted with, rightfully or not. You know, when you have a product, you can't let the other side define you, right? And that's what -- what campaigns are. It's a product of good ideas and what you want to bring to the table. And, ultimately, I think the Democrats did a very good job of defining a lot of these candidates before they even had a chance to introduce themselves...

He also mentioned the extremism that's out there, saying it "scared a lot of folks."

This was just a rejection of that extremism. I don't think anyone likes the policies out of D.C. No one likes paying, you know, six bucks for a gallon of heating oil, especially with winter coming. But what I think people said was, "Look, we can work on these policies later, but as Americans we've got to fix extremism right now." And I think that's exactly what you saw.

And it's not just Trump - "there's a whole stream of things out there that can be deemed extreme," and there are extremists in both parties, but that's not what the people want.

Let's go back to the 2020 election. Joe Biden was the most moderate of all the candidates running on the Democrat side. He was deemed the most moderate of both he and Donald Trump. So, America has been asking for more moderation for quite some time. There's just, you know, certain parts of the Republican Party that haven't listened so well. We've just got to get back to basics. It's not unfixable. We've just got to get back to basics.

Sununu also hammered the Dems for supporting MAGA extremists, including the Senate candidate in NH, saying "I think that's a complete manipulation of the process, to be sure... And they were successful." 

He has no regrets about not running for Senate, saying (as he has before) that being governor's better than being senator. He also said there's no circumstance that'd have him supporting Trump in 2024, and that he thinks "there's going to be a lot of great candidates out there," but Joe Biden won't be one of them. And Sununu might not be one of them either.

Well, maybe, I suppose. I don't know. You know, a lot of folks are talking about that, but, look, I've got a state to run, unlike Congress I don't get vacation. It’s a 24/7 job, 365. Unlike Congress, I have to balance a budget in the next couple of months. Unlike Congress, I just have a lot of demands on me and I love that. It’s a hard job but, man, it is so fulfilling when you get stuff done. 

And finally, we hear from author and Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR); he talked with Margaret Brennan on CBS' Face the Nation. What did he think of what Brennan called "this complete disappointment?" On the one hand, he saw strong GOP candidates win big - DeSantis, Kemp, Abbott, DeWine in gubernatorial races; Rubio and Scott and Johnson in Senate races. But then, there's the other hand.

I think the lessons in our victories can be applied to some places where we came up a little bit short. We need to focus on serious substantive accomplishments and issues like crime, like our wide-open border, like addressing runaway inflation. Even in places where we came up a little bit short, like Lee Zeldin's race for governor in New York, he performed very well compared to Republicans in recent elections, and he probably helped save the House of Representatives by bringing four new Republican Congressman-elect across the finish line...

On whether Trump should "remain the leader of the Republican Party," Cotton said the party out of power doesn't have a single leader.

The former president is obviously very popular with many of our voters. But we also have important other leaders as well, like some of those victors I just mentioned earlier... Last year, you had Glen Younkin have a great victory in a bluish democratic state like Virginia. I hope to remain a leader in the United States Senate as well, in addition to people like some of those I just mentioned who were reelected... So, when you're in opposition, you don't have a single leader. That won't be the case until we're through the '24- '24 nominating season, and we have a new nominee.

And tonight, of course, the former president shined the spotlight on himself, and announced his candidacy for '24. So here we go, again.

See you around campus. 

Sunday School 7/24/22: Extra Credit

For your Sunday School, we heard from Rep. Adam Kinzinger and from Dr. Ashish Jha, the White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator; they talked with Jon Karl in ABC's This Week classroom. 

Today, we listen in with Karl and outgoing Gov. Larry Hogan (R-MD), who I've often referred to as my favorite Republican. Here's Karl's first question; I thought it was kind of odd.

We hear that Donald Trump is upset that he doesn't see Republicans out on television responding to the hearings, defending him. Why – why is that Republican leaders have been essentially silent as these hearings have unfolded?

Um, maybe it's because they're finally coming to realize that there is no defending him, Jon?

Hogan said it was disappointing - referring to the silence, not the lack of defending Trump - even though this is "how they really felt right after it happened." And, Hogan said, while Trump was watching TV and doing nothing, he "was actually taking action." 

We had security team meetings. We called everybody together. It was, you know, mass chaos. We had the leaders of Congress begging for help. We were sending in the State Police riot team, which were one of the first to arrive after the Metropolitan Police, Maryland National Guard, the first to arrive after DC. We couldn't get approval from the secretary of defense. It was crazy.

He said the outtakes from Trump's messages were really the only thing that surprised him.

...it showed the real thinking... with those outtakes you could see the anger. You could see exactly what he was thinking. And that was the most moving part of the hearing for me.

Karl turned to the Maryland primary, in which Dan Cox, the gubernatorial candidate Hogan called a "QAnon whack job" was the winner; he asked Hogan what happened.

Well, it was, kind of, unprecedented collusion between the Democratic Governors Association and Donald Trump. And both of them were promoting a conspiracy theory believing kind of nut job. And DGA, I think, spent about $3 million. The guy only spent $100,000 on his campaign. So, it was a win for the Democrats. It's a big loss for the Republican Party. And we have no chance of saving that governor's seat. We actually had a chance if they hadn't gotten together and done that.

Karl played one of the DGA ads 'promoting' Cox, which ended saying he wasn't conservative enough for Maryland. He called it a "cynical effort, no question," and said that even so, "Republican voters...responded to it."

Hogan said that's not quite correct. 

So, first of all, only 20 percent of the people in Maryland are Republican, and 20 percent of them showed up to the polls. So about 2 percent of the people in Maryland voted for this guy. It's not going to be the same in November, I can tell you that. So, it's not a big win. It's really a loss. 

And, obviously, Hogan won't be supporting Cox.

I would not support the guy. I wouldn't let him in the governor's office, let alone vote for him for the governor's office.

Karl reflected on an April conversation, when Hogan said the upcoming Republican primaries "are going to determine what the Republican Party looks like." Karl pointed out that "we're through a lot of them" and hinted it wasn't looking good. Hogan's answer was straightforward.

-- in November of '20, right after the election, I spoke at the Reagan Institute here in DC, and I was the first person to say that this is going to be a fight for the heart and soul of the Republican Party and it was going to be a long, tough fight, but that it was -- "Time for Choosing" was the name of the speech that I gave. And we're not there yet. I mean, it's -- we're only a year into the battle.

We have two more -- more than, you know, two years until the next election. But it's not going to be easy. We're going to win some; we're going to lose some. But I think the final chapter, you know, on some of this, will be in November, when we lose some races. You know... Trump already cost us the White House, the Senate, the House. Now he's costing us governor seats and Senate seats.

And will Trump run in 2024, Karl asked? Hogan said he "can't really put himself into the mind of Donald Trump" but guessed it's 50/50 that Trump runs. 

His -- his ego probably, you know, can't take another loss. After all, he lost to Joe Biden, which is hard to do. But he likes to be the center of attention.

Hogan said the RGA has discussed the potential of an early Trump '24 announcement.

...I think most people are very concerned about the damage it does to the party if he announces now. And, you know, it may help in very red states or very red districts, but in competitive places and purple battlefields, it's going to cost us seats if he were to do that.

And, what about Hogan and his plans for '24, and how were they effected by Cox's victory?

Well, it makes me more determined than ever to continue the battle to win the -- you know, win over the Republican Party, and take us back to a bigger tent, more Reaganesque party. Our -- we've got our work cut out for us. But I'm certainly not giving up.

In my opinion, the more intelligent people there are fighting for the soul of the Republican Party, the better.

A final note: here's what Chris Christie had to say about the 187 minutes of inaction by Trump during the panel discussion.

 Look, and as I’ve been saying since January of '21, this is going to happen slowly and incrementally. And you’re not going to see it until after it’s already happened and it’s already over. And the reason for that is the same thing that happened in 2016, right? In 2016 it wasn't politically correct to say you were voting for Donald Trump. So, he performed much lower in the polls than he wound up doing.

Now, in Republican primary polling, it's not politically correct to say you’re against Donald Trump or you’re for someone else. I think his numbers are artificially high. And I think this is happening slowly but surely in the party. And, look, what happened this week and the replay of that 187 minutes of what he was doing, I think, will have long-term, not 2022 impact, but 2024 impact.

One can only hope.

See you around campus. 

Wondering on Wednesday 7/20/22

Ready... Set... Wonder! 

CBS News is among the media outlets reporting that Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers (R-I'm in a Boatload of Trouble) was censured by the state GOP for crimes against Trump, going along with liberals, a lack of forthrightness with Republicans, his dealings with "the liberal media," and more. 

Bowers, of course, was the guy who testified Trump tried to get him to violate his oath of office and faithfulness to the United States Constitution by offering up a fake set of electors, or some other such illegality as it the standard operating procedure in Trumpworld. 

I'm wondering tonight if Bowers thought saying he'd vote for Trump again, if he ran against Joe Biden, would be enough to save him from his own party? I'm also wondering if there's anything a wayward R can do to get back in his party's good graces?

News is also breaking that a bipartisan group of senators, including Sen. Susan Collins (R-I Think Perplexed is a Good Word to Use Next Time) and Sen. Joe Manchin (D-on't You Think I'd Make a Better Republican?), has dropped a bill that would prevent a conman like former president Donald Trump from throwing out presidential election results. In effect, what this bill will do, if passed, is stop the steal. I wonder why they didn't just name the bill that? 

Democratic senators are also pursuing similar legislation, and I wonder if that's necessary? Unless there's something significant missing from the bipartisan effort, let's get it done.

David Hogg was a student at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, FL when a hideous human being committed mass murder there on Valentine's Day, 2018. Since the shooting, Hogg has become a very vocal activist against politicians and their inaction on gun safety. He's good at it, we know, because he's frequently attacked by the right-wing pundits. 

He also frequently attacks Republican do-nothings, as he did today at a hearing on banning assault weapons, something that Rs do not want to do, under any circumstances. He posted a video of his comments, and his removal from the hearing. 

His point? Knock off the racist, anti-LGBTQ, anti-immigrant talking points; those are what mass shooters use to justify their behavior. And, by the way? The guns used in these things aren't coming from Mexico in some immigrant invasion. They're legally purchased here in the U S of A. 

What's the wondering, you might be wondering? Simply this: who on earth will these GOP folks listen to? Is it going to take one of their own children being shot and killed, or injured, before they will listen?

Speaking of listening, I can't help wondering who on earth the Dems are listening to, that they think the answer to winning elections this year is to prop up Trumpers in their GOP primaries? The most recent example comes from yesterday's gubernatorial primary in Maryland, where Trump-endorsed Dan Cox beat actual Republican Kelly Schulz, who was endorsed by her former boss, Gov. Larry Hogan. 

The Democratic Governors Association - a bunch of goofballs, it would seem - spent over a million bucks propping up Cox, thinking he'd be easier to beat in the general election. Here's who their website says they are: 

We are Democratic Governors.

We grow economies, expand health care, 

fully fund schools, fix the damn roads, and follow the science. 

And we’re ready to build back better.

You want to build back better? Maybe try building up your own candidates, instead of supporting right-wing nut jobs...

Perhaps the best thing to come out of Maryland was this quote from a Schulz aide:

The Maryland Republican Party got together and committed ritualized mass suicide. The only thing missing was Jim Jones and a cup of Kool-Aid.

Shame on the Dems for contributing to that mess. 

What's on your wondering minds tonight?

Sunday School 9/5/21: Extra Credit

For your Extra Credit this week, we're talking COVID. 

Why? As schools here in my neck of the woods prepare to open this week, schools in the early-opening states are already in the thick of the COVID quagmire, with at least 1,000 from 31 states reportedly having stopped in-person learning, and over 10,000 students and staff across 14 states exposed to the virus - and that was as of mid-August. School board meetings are becoming battlegrounds as parents fight mask mandates, vaccine requirements, and 'fascism' being perpetrated on them by their neighbors on the boards.

Here are some highlights from the Meet the Press classroom, where Mr. Both Sides Now, Chuck Todd, talked with governors Andy Beshear (D-KY) and Larry Hogan (R-MD). They've both got veto-proof legislatures - of the opposite party - in their states, which makes things interesting, to say the least.

Beshear said if he had the ability to do it, there'd be a mask mandate in his state, where they're setting case records and hospitalization records, but he's been limited by the legislature on that. What he has done, though, is send the National Guard to help hard-hit hospitals with logistics, and they've taken over testing in those hospitals, so staff can be freed up to do patient care. And, they've got FEMA teams, and are deploying nursing students to help with staffing.

We are hit very, very hard. But we are going to continue to fight. When you're at war, you don't get to cry about what you can or can't do. You've got to do your very best every day because this is a battle of life versus death.

Meanwhile, Maryland has one of the highest vaccine rates in the country, something Hogan is very proud of; 81% of all eligible folks, and 95% of seniors, are vaccinated. In response to Chuck playing the 'if yours was a red state, that wouldn't have happened' card, Hogan noted there have been "tremendous disinformation campaigns, and people are believing things that are simply not true,"

but it's not just in the red areas where we're having difficulties. We're one of the states with the highest percentage of minority populations. And in some of our urban areas, we have similar challenges. But we're doing really well. And I'm pleased with the results of where we are. It's convincing those last, you know, 19 percent of our people that they've got to take action. That's where we're focused on.

Chuck asked Beshear if there are just some people that won't listen to him, and if he's looking to get others involved in trying to convince folks to get the vaccine. Beshear pointed out that misinformation isn't a red or blue issue, it's a "fact versus fiction, or a sometimes sane versus insane issue."

We are well past, I think ... across America, the populations that are going to listen to a government official and take the vaccine because of it. We're probably past even the point where a local official, a pastor or others. Where I think we're at is where people are going to have to break that Thanksgiving dinner rule. They're going to have to call or go see that person they love and care about that is unvaccinated, and they're going to have to put their relationship with that person on the line because they've never been at greater risk. And I think it's that type of caring, and the person who is willing to do that and to make that sacrifice that will finally get through to those that are not vaccinated. That's what we're seeing here in Kentucky. And we need all Americans to do it. Yes, you might lose a friend because of that conversation.

Next, Chuck said that "it's clear the Biden administration can't speak to those folks that need to be spoken to," referring to supporters of Former Guy, and asked Hogan who should speak to them, and for his advice for the COVID task force on "how to talk to the Trump folks."  Hogan said he's been critical of both the Trump and Biden administrations when he "thought they were bad on messaging" and otherwise not being helpful. 

I mean, we're getting some mixed messaging out of the administration, out of the CDC, the FDA, and the White House. And, you know, we need clear guidance on these booster shots because it undermines, you know, the credibility of it. And so, they came out with -- I guess they slipped and pre-leaked an announcement about booster shots with all three vaccines and then had to backtrack it and say you can only use Pfizer. What about the people that took J&J? What about the people that took Moderna? They haven't messaged properly about how to take care of these breakthrough infections. Like, look, it does prevent hospitalizations and death, or greatly reduce it. But it's not stopping, you know, people from getting breakthrough infections. So, I think the messaging was not clear with either administration. And I think that's one of the ways we've been successful in our state is a clear, direct messaging that people can believe in and listen to. And that's been a problem all over the map.

No argument with Hogan from me on this - messaging has been an issue from the very beginning of the pandemic, both on the side of "let's minimize this so we don't crush the economy" side and on the "OH. EM. GEE. The sky is LITERALLY falling and it going to hit us in the head!" side. And on all the other sides of the pentacontagon. 

The final portion of the interview touched on the Texas abortion bill, which I covered in yesterday's Sunday School post, and on "the larger challenge of polarization," as Chuck described it. I should note that this was the part of the conversation Todd said he was "lifting up" and "going to play political analyst" for, both of which I thought were mildly amusing. 

Both of you have benefited when the other party went too far, right? I could argue that's why you're both governor today. Certainly why you may have a second term, Governor Hogan, and why, Governor Beshear, you're there. Is that the only way to cut through polarization, Governor Hogan? Is when the other party goes too far and then the voters create a check? Is that about it? Because it doesn't seem as if the middle ground gets represented unless one party goes too far.

Hogan said Todd had an "interesting idea, and that it was possible" that's what happened in Maryland. He referenced the 43 consecutive tax increases implemented by his Democratic predecessor), saying "even the Democrats go frustrated" about that.

...but I think right now in America, there are certainly people on both ends of the extremes, on the left and the right, who get all of the attention. The ones that are making the most noise. And that's what we hear about when we're watching television. But about 70% of the people actually just are somewhere in the middle. They're moderate or right of center, left of center. They really want their elected officials to try to figure out a way to do something about this toxic politics. And they want us to work together to come up with real bipartisan, common-sense solutions. Turns out that's the most popular thing in America with most voters.

Regular readers may recall that I've previously referred to Gov. Hogan as my favorite Republican. I don't always agree with him, but I never argue with his understanding of what us purple folks in the middle want: common sense, collaborative efforts from the people we elect. 

Is that where you are on this stuff? Or are you out there in the noisy wings? Let's talk.

See you around campus.