Three stories caught my attention, all situated in the South, all raising deep and troubling questions about state overreach, the rejection of core principles of federalism, and the vicious targeting of vulnerable minorities. If this sounds familiar, these indeed bear echoes of the pre-Civil Rights era South of seventy years ago, and before that the actions of rebellious state governments during the long shadow of the Confederacy.
Two thoughts: 1) As much as I loved President Obama, he did scare the pants off Republicans, who suddenly realized that minorities could indeed grab power away from the white male 'majority.' Their greatest fear appears to be that once minorities are in charge, they (whites) will be treated as poorly as they've treated minorities throughout our history. White panic is a real thing. It's wrong, as Obama proved (not that the Rs were willing to see that), but it's real and we have it to thank for the sudden tightening of laws and political actions against minorities, immigrants and women.
2) My brother, like me, grew up in Texas. Unlike me, he is still there with his fully entrenched family (I luckily escaped in '78). He was a die-hard Reaganite and has always voted Republican - until Trump. In 2020, he voted a straight Democratic ticket for the first time in his life. He also loathes Abbot and I doubt he's alone in Texas. However, the state is so deeply gerrymandered that electing Democrats to statewide office is practically impossible. Abbot, like DeSantis, scares me, and I fear the federal government is going to have to take serious action to intervene in his deadly policies, which is definitely necessary, but could become a flashpoint. I doubt Abbot or DeSantis and their backers would go away quietly, just as Trump hasn't.
So, again, thank you, Jay, for keeping us informed and putting these terrible events into perspective. I'm sure they're as tough to write about as to read.
I live in Texas, too. I am horrified at the hate of the Republican leadership. Big controversy in Austin over DPS “helping” police. The gun fetish is real and dangerous. No good will come of this.
I'll tell you what I've been telling my brother and his wife regularly for the last couple of years: GET OUT! There's a whole world out there where you can breathe free air. I know Dems are hoping they can have a bigger influence and stay fto be able to cast those votes, but if Beto O'Rourke, one of the best Dem Senate candidate in years, couldn't beat that simpleton, Cruz, I don't have much hope for you. Sorry.
With all the gerrymandering that went on it is no wonder Mr creepy wheels got back in ! I also heard that millions of votes for Biden were thrown out ! How come that wasn't investigated??
Item #1 is so very true. That fear is probably behind a lot of the pushback that has happened since Obama. The story of your brother gives me some hope, but gerrymandering might keep the state trapped under Republican extremists for a long time.
Projection is a terrible thing, particularly when combined with Dunning-Kruger syndrome. Those prone to both can't even begin to conceive that anyone could act in a way that isn't in accord with their own deepest desires.
Underwater razor wire?!? Not only are they inflicting painful wounds, but the risk of terrible infections is so very high. How many bone infections (which require several WEEKS of IV antibiotics, blood infections (sepsis - one of the most common causes of death worldwide), and tetanus (lockjaw, where your muscles all tighten up with out the ability to relax, ultimately breaking bones and stealing one’s life) will these poor people suffer? 😭 So inhumane.
They get away with it when the representatives of the people refuse to stand up and say No! They get away with it when the people keep electing representatives who have no morals or courage. There is plenty of blame to go around, but responsibility? Not so much.
I am disgusted and repulsed by these people. We have apathy and the lack of accountability and consequences to blame. These Republicans do this shit because they can. Lawmakers bluster on social media, like that's enough to stop it. Then they hide behind arcane rules and traditions as excuses for getting absolutely nothing done about this. State's rights should not be an excuse for literal murder. Someone needs to put a stop to this madness. Unless and until every single one of these inhumane bullies are held accountable and put in prison, it will only get worse. Bullies thrive on no one stopping them. Add to that their cult members who are unhinged and armed, well....here we are. For all of our self promotion about being the greatest country on Earth, it isn't taking much to undo us.
I have-a very long time ago-realized that the USA is absolutely *not* the greatest country on Earth. Very very far from it, I'm sorry to say. "Love it or leave it." Well, let me tell ya, if I were in any position to leave this godforsaken shithole, I would've done so a long time ago. My dust from my heels would've settled, and I'd be an ex-pat with a future right now. However...
I'm looking at Germany. There's no 90-day visa maximum, and I have a friend there who said he could sponsor me. Good luck to you, and I hope you find peace. Surely it can't be found here. :(
Jay's column today is the bad news...the good news, however, is that the Chief Felon has attracted ANOTHER "target letter" from SC Smith, this concerning investigations into overturning the results of the 2020 election...whoa, the indictment tsunami is building and about to engulf the grotesque criminal and probably one or more of his co-conspirators!
Do include the quick and definitive response by the GA Supreme Court to a flailing petition by tRump's Kraken team to toss out the Fulton Count "special" GJ investigation of tRump's actions in GA following the 2020 election, and also to "disqualify"
Fani Willis from her prosecutor role vis-à-vis tRump and co-conspirators. Amid howls of laughter from the GA SC chambers, the justices unanimously quashed this latest and legally meritless attempt to run out the clock, and bade Ms Willis bonne chance in her pursuit of the people's justice v TFG.
The militia Desantis is raising up is being told they will “be a part of history”. That is an ominous warning to those of us looking on with horror at the fascist state Florida has become under this mini-Mussolini.
Running "out the clock ... tying the matter up in litigation long enough for the next midterms to happen under the old map" is becoming another common GOP trick. Unlike a broken clock, correct twice a day, this clock is NEVER right.
You have more faith in the goodness of people than I do. The current Republican party, esp. in the south but also in Iowa and other northern states, is tapping into some very ugly vein of fear that's surfaced in our country and been fanned by the Defendant-in-chief.
Due to some blip of an algorithm, I get daily emails from a gun business, (which says it is a Christian business!) stoking those fears to promote the worst sort of assault weapons. Not for sport but for "protection". Lots of family values written in to the language, as in, it's your god-given duty to protect your family, and so on.
And I know some MAGA types who really think immigrants are "ruining the country" and should be harshly treated at the border. One woman I know lives in a resort town which depends on their labor, but, she says, they are 'ruining our schools." So I guess they should be kept in camps while they do the scut work of the rich, and then sent back to their country of origin? Kids be damned?
I think the fear was planted when Reagan declared gov't to be the enemy and then he and Newt Gingrich and Grover Norquist etc. set about dismantling the social safety net, as Republicans today continue to do.
As people saw their lives stagnating in poverty, they grew fearful and angry. And they blamed everyone 'beneath' them -- the recent arrivals and the poor. The great accomplishment of the Repubs has been to convince those who are struggling to get a drop of water at the end of the hose that the ones next to them are the problem, not the guy(s) at the top who control the golden spigot.
I believe people are highly malleable. So it’s not so much that I have faith in them as it is that I have compassion for them, even when they are wicked, because I believe it is within human nature for any of us to be led down a very dark path. That is why we must strive to contain and correct the worst of their leaders and the sources of their misinformation.
I'm on board with that. And I think the advent of the 24 hour news cycle, meaning news as entertainment and lies as news, will be traced someday as the start of our decline. It is through Fox that the people most hurt by the lack of a govt' regulated playing field come to believe that the fault is those working their way up, or the gov't 'taking away their freedoms", and not the Kochs and Trumps and other robber barons limiting their opportunities.
So curbing the sources of misinformation is the big job we face. And it's a tough one, and why the Dominion law suit was a good start.
I purposely spent my life in Texas teaching the disenfranchised many brown and native children. I finished up my career in a government contracted vocational school where I taught the ones the public schools failed along with immigrants from all six continents. Please don’t give the bastards any new ideas of putting people in camps. Our Republicans are cruel enough to actually do it. Thank you to the many states from the north who at least gave us four more years to work on our problems. And if you look closely, many of the atrocious leaders are not even true Texans.
I think that they are determined to stand outside of it, with regards to Federal authority. I also am quickly coming to the realization that they are clearly and obviously acting as emboldened actor-agents with their inspiration being provided by and support being drawn from the hydra-headed movement lurking stealthily within Project 2025; there are too many seemingly apparent connections of timing, antics, and personalities for me to ignore, as I delve deeper and deeper into the matter.
I live in Florida and the people in the northwest area love DeSantis and Trump signs fly on golf carts! I'm pretty certain DeSantis is not a name you will find on the Mayflower manifest. Someone migrated at some time! Too bad they weren't shipped off! Personally, I'd be fine if those three awful, backwards states succeeded! Just give me a chance to get out of Floriduh! My 96 yr old mother is the only thing keeping me here.
I can’t leave Texas, and I won’t. Why should I leave Texas and give idiots control of the many resources? I am pretty sure that God didn’t create Texas as a Republican Empire.
It won't be the federal government that gets us out of this. There's not enough time in Biden's first term, and I'm not sure if the Dems have the political will, either. And help us all if Biden loses.
As you correctly pointed out, "the only way forward to continue to function as a democracy is to win elections...as the GOP pulls itself ever further away from mainstream voters, those who ultimately will decide elections." But in those three states in particular, are there enough sane voters, who will actually put America first, for that to happen? Let alone overcome intense and huge voter suppression efforts??
And PS: this isn't just name calling. Fascism at it's core can be defined as "might makes right." Those in power get to make the rules, and are free to disregard them or change them as they like, with no regard to any notions of justice or morality. Power - with the threat of violence - means no accountability to anyone. And deliberate cruelty is a tool to remind those under fascist rule of that unrestricted power.
Listen or watch David Pepper’s plan to Save Democracy. David Pepper lays out the precarious stage for American Democracy and how the pro-democracy coalition has to stay laser focused in every election cycle, in every state, (not just swing states) and not just during a presidential election year.
The South has always wanted to be its own country. Let them. Put a wall around the South and act towards them the same way they act against the migrants and see how they feel then.
I understand the sentiment. But that would wind up trapping millions of vulnerable people behind red lines. We must continue to do all we can to uplift them and liberate them, in my view.
I want to think I’m a student of history and the trend lines aren’t changing over the centuries. Every demographic chart I’ve ever seen shows the South at the bottom. Breaks my heart and I don’t know what I can do.
I've also said this many times - we should have let them secede when we had the chance. It's a knee-jerk reaction to their extremism and bigotry. But the reality would be far from a relief. We would have a very long border with a failed state where the suffering would be extreme. Worse, it would be possible for an enemy of what's left of the U.S. to step in to 'help' and take over. We were rightfully terrified of having nuclear weapons installed in Cuba by Russia back in the 60s so imagine what it would be like to have them on our border, along with Russian or Chinese military installations! It could easily happen. We really, really don't want to take that chance.
I’m grateful for the border agents who refused to push children back in the river. Thank god for small favors of humanity.
It boggles the mind that somebody somewhere ACTUALLY gave that order. How inhumane does someone have to be for that? This is insane.
Two thoughts: 1) As much as I loved President Obama, he did scare the pants off Republicans, who suddenly realized that minorities could indeed grab power away from the white male 'majority.' Their greatest fear appears to be that once minorities are in charge, they (whites) will be treated as poorly as they've treated minorities throughout our history. White panic is a real thing. It's wrong, as Obama proved (not that the Rs were willing to see that), but it's real and we have it to thank for the sudden tightening of laws and political actions against minorities, immigrants and women.
2) My brother, like me, grew up in Texas. Unlike me, he is still there with his fully entrenched family (I luckily escaped in '78). He was a die-hard Reaganite and has always voted Republican - until Trump. In 2020, he voted a straight Democratic ticket for the first time in his life. He also loathes Abbot and I doubt he's alone in Texas. However, the state is so deeply gerrymandered that electing Democrats to statewide office is practically impossible. Abbot, like DeSantis, scares me, and I fear the federal government is going to have to take serious action to intervene in his deadly policies, which is definitely necessary, but could become a flashpoint. I doubt Abbot or DeSantis and their backers would go away quietly, just as Trump hasn't.
So, again, thank you, Jay, for keeping us informed and putting these terrible events into perspective. I'm sure they're as tough to write about as to read.
I live in Texas, too. I am horrified at the hate of the Republican leadership. Big controversy in Austin over DPS “helping” police. The gun fetish is real and dangerous. No good will come of this.
I'll tell you what I've been telling my brother and his wife regularly for the last couple of years: GET OUT! There's a whole world out there where you can breathe free air. I know Dems are hoping they can have a bigger influence and stay fto be able to cast those votes, but if Beto O'Rourke, one of the best Dem Senate candidate in years, couldn't beat that simpleton, Cruz, I don't have much hope for you. Sorry.
Allred can beat Cruz. Beto made one fatal mistake-attacking guns head on. And there is some ingrained prejudice at work, too.
I'll keep my fingers crossed and hope Cruz and Abbot haven't done too much damage in the meanwhile.
With all the gerrymandering that went on it is no wonder Mr creepy wheels got back in ! I also heard that millions of votes for Biden were thrown out ! How come that wasn't investigated??
Item #1 is so very true. That fear is probably behind a lot of the pushback that has happened since Obama. The story of your brother gives me some hope, but gerrymandering might keep the state trapped under Republican extremists for a long time.
Most helpful perspective from a Native Son. Thank you.
Projection is a terrible thing, particularly when combined with Dunning-Kruger syndrome. Those prone to both can't even begin to conceive that anyone could act in a way that isn't in accord with their own deepest desires.
Have a dear friend in TX who is horrified by what is happening. Not all Texans are crazy.
Underwater razor wire?!? Not only are they inflicting painful wounds, but the risk of terrible infections is so very high. How many bone infections (which require several WEEKS of IV antibiotics, blood infections (sepsis - one of the most common causes of death worldwide), and tetanus (lockjaw, where your muscles all tighten up with out the ability to relax, ultimately breaking bones and stealing one’s life) will these poor people suffer? 😭 So inhumane.
I agree Danielle. This IS NOT the answer. Reading this made me sick. Where's the humanity? How can these people get away with this?
They get away with it when the representatives of the people refuse to stand up and say No! They get away with it when the people keep electing representatives who have no morals or courage. There is plenty of blame to go around, but responsibility? Not so much.
And the majority of the supporters of this despicable, inhumane policy call themselves "christian" . . . Grrrrrrrrr.
I am disgusted and repulsed by these people. We have apathy and the lack of accountability and consequences to blame. These Republicans do this shit because they can. Lawmakers bluster on social media, like that's enough to stop it. Then they hide behind arcane rules and traditions as excuses for getting absolutely nothing done about this. State's rights should not be an excuse for literal murder. Someone needs to put a stop to this madness. Unless and until every single one of these inhumane bullies are held accountable and put in prison, it will only get worse. Bullies thrive on no one stopping them. Add to that their cult members who are unhinged and armed, well....here we are. For all of our self promotion about being the greatest country on Earth, it isn't taking much to undo us.
"State's rights should not be an excuse for literal murder." And they call themselves pro-life. My arse.
I have-a very long time ago-realized that the USA is absolutely *not* the greatest country on Earth. Very very far from it, I'm sorry to say. "Love it or leave it." Well, let me tell ya, if I were in any position to leave this godforsaken shithole, I would've done so a long time ago. My dust from my heels would've settled, and I'd be an ex-pat with a future right now. However...
We're looking at Portugal and Spain.
I'm looking at Germany. There's no 90-day visa maximum, and I have a friend there who said he could sponsor me. Good luck to you, and I hope you find peace. Surely it can't be found here. :(
Jay's column today is the bad news...the good news, however, is that the Chief Felon has attracted ANOTHER "target letter" from SC Smith, this concerning investigations into overturning the results of the 2020 election...whoa, the indictment tsunami is building and about to engulf the grotesque criminal and probably one or more of his co-conspirators!
The subject of my piece tomorrow!
Do include the quick and definitive response by the GA Supreme Court to a flailing petition by tRump's Kraken team to toss out the Fulton Count "special" GJ investigation of tRump's actions in GA following the 2020 election, and also to "disqualify"
Fani Willis from her prosecutor role vis-à-vis tRump and co-conspirators. Amid howls of laughter from the GA SC chambers, the justices unanimously quashed this latest and legally meritless attempt to run out the clock, and bade Ms Willis bonne chance in her pursuit of the people's justice v TFG.
The militia Desantis is raising up is being told they will “be a part of history”. That is an ominous warning to those of us looking on with horror at the fascist state Florida has become under this mini-Mussolini.
note that their T-shirts are actually ....brown
How perfectly fitting😞
...probably not a "trim" fit. Husky, Big Boy more like it.
Camo-clad squadre d'azione, answerable to the low-rent but dangerous fascista DeSantis.
The epitomy of gravy seals, meal team sixers, and gi joe wannabes
I disagree. It’s no joke what is happening. These guys are very well trained. It’s kinda deceptive to talk of them as jokes. They’re dangerous.
Yet again, in TX and FL, we see affirmation of today's Republican Party ethos: CRUELTY IS THE POINT.
Don't forget Ohio. Can't imagine the horrors if migrants would try to cross Lake Erie.
Running "out the clock ... tying the matter up in litigation long enough for the next midterms to happen under the old map" is becoming another common GOP trick. Unlike a broken clock, correct twice a day, this clock is NEVER right.
You have more faith in the goodness of people than I do. The current Republican party, esp. in the south but also in Iowa and other northern states, is tapping into some very ugly vein of fear that's surfaced in our country and been fanned by the Defendant-in-chief.
Due to some blip of an algorithm, I get daily emails from a gun business, (which says it is a Christian business!) stoking those fears to promote the worst sort of assault weapons. Not for sport but for "protection". Lots of family values written in to the language, as in, it's your god-given duty to protect your family, and so on.
And I know some MAGA types who really think immigrants are "ruining the country" and should be harshly treated at the border. One woman I know lives in a resort town which depends on their labor, but, she says, they are 'ruining our schools." So I guess they should be kept in camps while they do the scut work of the rich, and then sent back to their country of origin? Kids be damned?
I think the fear was planted when Reagan declared gov't to be the enemy and then he and Newt Gingrich and Grover Norquist etc. set about dismantling the social safety net, as Republicans today continue to do.
As people saw their lives stagnating in poverty, they grew fearful and angry. And they blamed everyone 'beneath' them -- the recent arrivals and the poor. The great accomplishment of the Repubs has been to convince those who are struggling to get a drop of water at the end of the hose that the ones next to them are the problem, not the guy(s) at the top who control the golden spigot.
I believe people are highly malleable. So it’s not so much that I have faith in them as it is that I have compassion for them, even when they are wicked, because I believe it is within human nature for any of us to be led down a very dark path. That is why we must strive to contain and correct the worst of their leaders and the sources of their misinformation.
I'm on board with that. And I think the advent of the 24 hour news cycle, meaning news as entertainment and lies as news, will be traced someday as the start of our decline. It is through Fox that the people most hurt by the lack of a govt' regulated playing field come to believe that the fault is those working their way up, or the gov't 'taking away their freedoms", and not the Kochs and Trumps and other robber barons limiting their opportunities.
So curbing the sources of misinformation is the big job we face. And it's a tough one, and why the Dominion law suit was a good start.
I purposely spent my life in Texas teaching the disenfranchised many brown and native children. I finished up my career in a government contracted vocational school where I taught the ones the public schools failed along with immigrants from all six continents. Please don’t give the bastards any new ideas of putting people in camps. Our Republicans are cruel enough to actually do it. Thank you to the many states from the north who at least gave us four more years to work on our problems. And if you look closely, many of the atrocious leaders are not even true Texans.
I think that they are determined to stand outside of it, with regards to Federal authority. I also am quickly coming to the realization that they are clearly and obviously acting as emboldened actor-agents with their inspiration being provided by and support being drawn from the hydra-headed movement lurking stealthily within Project 2025; there are too many seemingly apparent connections of timing, antics, and personalities for me to ignore, as I delve deeper and deeper into the matter.
I live in Florida and the people in the northwest area love DeSantis and Trump signs fly on golf carts! I'm pretty certain DeSantis is not a name you will find on the Mayflower manifest. Someone migrated at some time! Too bad they weren't shipped off! Personally, I'd be fine if those three awful, backwards states succeeded! Just give me a chance to get out of Floriduh! My 96 yr old mother is the only thing keeping me here.
I can’t leave Texas, and I won’t. Why should I leave Texas and give idiots control of the many resources? I am pretty sure that God didn’t create Texas as a Republican Empire.
It won't be the federal government that gets us out of this. There's not enough time in Biden's first term, and I'm not sure if the Dems have the political will, either. And help us all if Biden loses.
As you correctly pointed out, "the only way forward to continue to function as a democracy is to win elections...as the GOP pulls itself ever further away from mainstream voters, those who ultimately will decide elections." But in those three states in particular, are there enough sane voters, who will actually put America first, for that to happen? Let alone overcome intense and huge voter suppression efforts??
I'm in Texas, it was blue when we moved here in 1979, we're fighting like hell to turn it around!
I’m in Georgia, and there are groups of us fighting like hell to beat down MAGA.
Fascists gonna fascist.
And PS: this isn't just name calling. Fascism at it's core can be defined as "might makes right." Those in power get to make the rules, and are free to disregard them or change them as they like, with no regard to any notions of justice or morality. Power - with the threat of violence - means no accountability to anyone. And deliberate cruelty is a tool to remind those under fascist rule of that unrestricted power.
Listen or watch David Pepper’s plan to Save Democracy. David Pepper lays out the precarious stage for American Democracy and how the pro-democracy coalition has to stay laser focused in every election cycle, in every state, (not just swing states) and not just during a presidential election year.
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bigtentusa/id1688494740?i=1000621070914
https://youtu.be/oCUayU1twlo
The South has always wanted to be its own country. Let them. Put a wall around the South and act towards them the same way they act against the migrants and see how they feel then.
I understand the sentiment. But that would wind up trapping millions of vulnerable people behind red lines. We must continue to do all we can to uplift them and liberate them, in my view.
I want to think I’m a student of history and the trend lines aren’t changing over the centuries. Every demographic chart I’ve ever seen shows the South at the bottom. Breaks my heart and I don’t know what I can do.
And stop paying blue state money to subsidize this. Let Texas pay for the south
I've also said this many times - we should have let them secede when we had the chance. It's a knee-jerk reaction to their extremism and bigotry. But the reality would be far from a relief. We would have a very long border with a failed state where the suffering would be extreme. Worse, it would be possible for an enemy of what's left of the U.S. to step in to 'help' and take over. We were rightfully terrified of having nuclear weapons installed in Cuba by Russia back in the 60s so imagine what it would be like to have them on our border, along with Russian or Chinese military installations! It could easily happen. We really, really don't want to take that chance.
Georgia did elect Joe Biden. Just sayin'
And, there's hope DA Fani Willis will avenge democracy by, finally, holding the Chief Seditionist fully accountable.
Watch for Louisiana to pull something too.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/retired-army-colonel-who-circulated-election-denying-powerpoint-speaks-louisiana-n1286063
And don’t forget about Mississippi