If there is one thing that the Trump era has shown is that norms without actual rules and laws backing them are toothless. If Democrats want to combat this degradation effectively, the next time they have a trifecta, they need to codify the norms. After all, this is how the first Jim Crow ended, with the VRA being made law.
If there one good thing, one silver lining about this awful situation, these awful rulings, is that this degradation of the norms and court orders backing them is that it motivates people to go out and vote, just like Mike has been advocating instead of fighting fire with fire, and that may bring things closer to effectively ending this degradation once and for all.
How does knowing that your vote will be nullified motivate you to go out and vote?
Its a serious question. The whole point of gerrymandering is to ensure that some votes do not matter just as the whole point of onerous ID requirements that most people cannot meet and poll taxes is to ensure that they never do vote. The same is true of state nullification tactics like those in Memphis where the Republican governor has taken control of local police or in Atlanta where they have tried to eliminate local courts. The entire point is to ensure that people do not have local representation and it stays in the hands of a limited class as John C. Calhoun envisioned.
We keep assuming that people will organize to a counter-force naturally but that logic ignores just how damned hard it was the first time around. We also ignore the fact that we are in a kinetic war already.
I agree that we do need to organize and to target set elections and so on but there is no silver lining in the fact that the forces of evil are winning.
I’ve spent my whole career as a Republican in California so you asked the right person.
You continue to do what’s right and speak out about what’s wrong regardless.
I have watched one party continue to eliminate, erode and marginalize another through gerrymandering, elimination of norms, carving up of city representation, changing election dates to benefit Democrats and no one says a word when it’s Democrats doing it.
So yes I know what it feels like. I’ve lived it my whole life and it’s wrong. It’s always been wrong.
But you have to keep fighting for what’s right - especially when it’s your own party doing wrong
Can't say I disagree. The problem now is the new SCOTUS ruling will make it all but impossible to respect norms. The race to the bottom really ramps up now.
And as much as the Court is at fault before this moment, they have further tarnished their reputation by making a blatantly political ruling intervening in ongoing primary elections in what is unquestionably 2026 midterm election interference. They should've waited till the normal decision period of late June. They should have followed the normal 30-day certification process. They should have clarified the ruling for after 2026. There needs to be investigations around this aspect of the Roberts Court among others if Democrats retake control of Congress.
Because this ruling smacks as nakedly partisan and political beyond the ethical norms of the Supreme Court.
Unlike lower courts, the Supreme Court has almost unlimited discretion to do stuff like this. It simply underscores the fact that Congress must exercise its power under the constitution to limit the Court's jurisdiction to operate unaccountably. Americans don't have a lot of civic knowledge, but everyone seems to remember and understand checks and balances. People are quite ready for Congress to do its job and check and balance the other two branches.
No kidding. I also think another suspicious aspect of this ruling was how Southern governors like Ron DeSantis and Tate Reeves were gearing up in the weeks and days prior for such a ruling to come down, and how the ruling came right after the Virginia referendum vote. Which in light of the shadow docket reporting raises the question of whether conservative justices and Republican officials illegally coordinated with each other in the case to fast track last minute gerrymandering.
Having said all that, at least on paper, the Purcell Principle and precedent set in Reynolds v. Sims (1964) by the court prohibits this type of last-minute election interference and shenanigans, which lower courts in the South may give more deference to at the very least. And they should because that is how the process usually works.
Correct. I can’t remember where I read it, but I read donors and other Republican insiders were discussing the fact the court was going to overturn the VRA and were making their plans. I am now going to call it the Supine Court instead of the Supreme Court.
What principle upholding democracy do the Republicans fight for when they answer a corrupt, lawless, unprincipled president's call to rig the system in order to ensure he continues his destruction of democracy unimpeded by Democrats who fight for the principle of checks and balances?
Democracy is not the standard in the current S.Ct. and Republican party. The only standard is just the raw application of power and the hubris to think they can crush the soul of the American people until they achieve some sort of totalitarian control. You would think as well educated at the Supine Court members are they would have taken a lesson on how well this will probably go in this country.
They believe in "Democracy" in the same way that John C. Calhoun believed in "freedom" and in the same way that Xi Jinping and the CCP do. "Freedom" and "Democracy" can exist, but only for the select few who must control the rest and then only if they put that faction first always.
Standards aren't the same as principles. I agree their standards are low, self-serving, and dangerous, but Madrid is right about believing people should stand -- and fight -- for their principles. I don't see that the Republicans have any principles they stand or fight for, only their goals of destroying democracy and the personal freedoms of anyone who disagrees with them, while they steal as much of the nation's wealth as they can get away with. Their solution is to rig elections in their favor. We can hope their extreme gerrymandering spreads the R votes too thin and Dems win anyway, but countering their rigging to maintain a level playing field flows from the principle of defending democracy. And, yes, when Dems take the House, Senate, and Presidency, they need to codify independent redistricting commissions.
We are on an inevitable road to the great transformation. For now we need to concentrate on electing fair-minded, selfless candidates to office who can envision a generational future, one that remakes our institutions to serve constituents over corporations.
@Mike Madrid SC voted against redistricting! Senate Majority Leader voted against. While I Breathe, I Hope. Is our state motto. Whooo Hooo! I get to keep Jim Clyburn as my representative
I would really value hearing your perspective with ideas of what the Dems should or could be doing vs feeling like the only options are lose or be part of the gerrymandering escalation. I hear your reasoning for being ANTI on “fighting fire with fire”, but do you believe those are the only 2 options? Because I personally hate how much dem leadership has been clinging to institutional norms for decades while the maga republicans seem to not care about most humans here and around the world to devastating outcomes
Mike: Quick change of subject, but I need your opinion on something. California governor’s race: I like Becarra, but I am not convinced that he will fight the fascists the way Newsom does. I know Newsom’s not your favorite person, but, as an old white woman living in a red, rural county, I feel Newsom is at least trying to protect me, my rights, and those of my neighbors, both Republican and Democrat. Does Becerra have that fight in him? For me, it’s between Becerra and Styer, because Styer is actually running on fighting the fascists. But I have to be careful that I don’t waste a vote on the wrong person, and Hilton becomes governor of the state of my birth. If you think there is a better candidate, please let us know. Love, Susan
This Supreme Court has shown it is a tool of the GOP by their obvious bias in ruling after ruling! Is they had stopped Texas gerrymandering that would have prevented the rest of the mess we are now in!
Reading this at the Little Round Top parking area at the Gettysburg Battlefield National Park. My faith in the bend of the arc of the Universe is all I have right now, along with the everyday beauty of family, and my love of my country.
Mike, do you see the Senate filibuster going away in the near future? I can't imagine the potential mess each time a new majority wants to undue laws passed by the previous majority.
Yes those are signs I point to as evidence. Perhaps they are, I just don’t know that we’d define them as traditional battlefields in the kinetic sense though I suppose they are
Well if we would consider the early brownshirt putches, or the fights between the Border Ruffians and the Jayhawks as kinetic then these definitely are.
Is there any future congress that would consider getting rid of the electoral college?
Mike, what would uncapping the House do? Wasn't the original intent to have one representative for a reasonable number of constituents? They are, after all, supposed to be representing the views of the few(er) not hundreds of thousands. It could give growing/changing counties like mine (Cherokee County, GA) a chance to find some common ground and force compromise. Wishful thinking I'm sure since nobody in power is going to voluntarily dilute their holdings.
The current situation leaves me feeling so demoralized. If I’m reading your post at all accurately, mr Madrid, you have both-sides the efforts to rectify institutionalized mis-representation using electoral processes. Yes? No? In this rubble, where do we scrounge up any semblance of fair and equitable representation of, by and for the people writ large? This feels more like unsocialized kids scrambling for the bulk of the treasure spilled out of the national piñata. 🪅
I’m weary of the bulldozers
I’m now understanding a bit better Allison Gil expressing bewilderment about all of this. WAJ, in their conversation , urged not giving up. Right that. But how do we go on from here?
As Martin Luther King taught us “There is never a wrong time to do the right thing”.
If you think a political party is always the right answer you’ve already given up on the idea of America.
Boldly and courageously stand up when either/both parties are wrong.
You’ll feel the answer to your question because it’s honest, true and has integrity. Right now you’re caught in a fight between red and blue and that leaves you feeling anxious, angry and scared because that’s the whole point.
Take bake your agency and stand on principle. That’s how the country wins. How democracy wins.
Right now- in general- I’m not liking either dems or republicans. We are stuck with binary choices though. I’m not making the connection b/w the quote you offered and the dilemma facing our country as tensions rise. I am just saying it’s hard to see the way forward. HCR in her podcast a couple days ago continued to urge local organizing, and holding faith in people to vote for the betterment of our future, rejecting the current malaise wrought by the DJT regime. Are you arguing for a different approach?
I don’t think it could be any clearer. Speak out against injustice wherever and whenever it occurs including when - especially when - your party is doing it.
No major religion teaches fighting fire with fire. None.
Mike - inclined to agree. "Really hard" isn't same as "complicated." The teachers you mention never said life would be easy. I got spoiled. Now I have to decide how hard I'm willing to work for what I believe.
Mike, don't you think that tRump would have brought the Voting Rights Act before the Supreme Court even without California and Virginia's voter decided redistricting?
It wasn’t Trumps decision it was theirs but there’s a bigger consideration: Why were Democrats fighting for working people as hard as they’re working to change the rules?
Had they done that none of this would have happened. None of it would have never happened ever - not in 2016 and not in 2024 - and they’re not doing it now.
Mike, a question. Do you think adding a viable 3rd party would help our democracy? I have heard others question a 2 party democracy… which right now seems quite broken… in all branches of government….
All well said except what do we do? Bend over and take the abuse of Democracy or do we fight fire with fire? Do we have any other choices? I don’t think the current court system is up for the FIGHT!
If there is one thing that the Trump era has shown is that norms without actual rules and laws backing them are toothless. If Democrats want to combat this degradation effectively, the next time they have a trifecta, they need to codify the norms. After all, this is how the first Jim Crow ended, with the VRA being made law.
If there one good thing, one silver lining about this awful situation, these awful rulings, is that this degradation of the norms and court orders backing them is that it motivates people to go out and vote, just like Mike has been advocating instead of fighting fire with fire, and that may bring things closer to effectively ending this degradation once and for all.
How does knowing that your vote will be nullified motivate you to go out and vote?
Its a serious question. The whole point of gerrymandering is to ensure that some votes do not matter just as the whole point of onerous ID requirements that most people cannot meet and poll taxes is to ensure that they never do vote. The same is true of state nullification tactics like those in Memphis where the Republican governor has taken control of local police or in Atlanta where they have tried to eliminate local courts. The entire point is to ensure that people do not have local representation and it stays in the hands of a limited class as John C. Calhoun envisioned.
We keep assuming that people will organize to a counter-force naturally but that logic ignores just how damned hard it was the first time around. We also ignore the fact that we are in a kinetic war already.
I agree that we do need to organize and to target set elections and so on but there is no silver lining in the fact that the forces of evil are winning.
I’ve spent my whole career as a Republican in California so you asked the right person.
You continue to do what’s right and speak out about what’s wrong regardless.
I have watched one party continue to eliminate, erode and marginalize another through gerrymandering, elimination of norms, carving up of city representation, changing election dates to benefit Democrats and no one says a word when it’s Democrats doing it.
So yes I know what it feels like. I’ve lived it my whole life and it’s wrong. It’s always been wrong.
But you have to keep fighting for what’s right - especially when it’s your own party doing wrong
Can't say I disagree. The problem now is the new SCOTUS ruling will make it all but impossible to respect norms. The race to the bottom really ramps up now.
And as much as the Court is at fault before this moment, they have further tarnished their reputation by making a blatantly political ruling intervening in ongoing primary elections in what is unquestionably 2026 midterm election interference. They should've waited till the normal decision period of late June. They should have followed the normal 30-day certification process. They should have clarified the ruling for after 2026. There needs to be investigations around this aspect of the Roberts Court among others if Democrats retake control of Congress.
Because this ruling smacks as nakedly partisan and political beyond the ethical norms of the Supreme Court.
Unlike lower courts, the Supreme Court has almost unlimited discretion to do stuff like this. It simply underscores the fact that Congress must exercise its power under the constitution to limit the Court's jurisdiction to operate unaccountably. Americans don't have a lot of civic knowledge, but everyone seems to remember and understand checks and balances. People are quite ready for Congress to do its job and check and balance the other two branches.
No kidding. I also think another suspicious aspect of this ruling was how Southern governors like Ron DeSantis and Tate Reeves were gearing up in the weeks and days prior for such a ruling to come down, and how the ruling came right after the Virginia referendum vote. Which in light of the shadow docket reporting raises the question of whether conservative justices and Republican officials illegally coordinated with each other in the case to fast track last minute gerrymandering.
Having said all that, at least on paper, the Purcell Principle and precedent set in Reynolds v. Sims (1964) by the court prohibits this type of last-minute election interference and shenanigans, which lower courts in the South may give more deference to at the very least. And they should because that is how the process usually works.
Correct. I can’t remember where I read it, but I read donors and other Republican insiders were discussing the fact the court was going to overturn the VRA and were making their plans. I am now going to call it the Supine Court instead of the Supreme Court.
What principle upholding democracy do the Republicans fight for when they answer a corrupt, lawless, unprincipled president's call to rig the system in order to ensure he continues his destruction of democracy unimpeded by Democrats who fight for the principle of checks and balances?
Democracy is not the standard in the current S.Ct. and Republican party. The only standard is just the raw application of power and the hubris to think they can crush the soul of the American people until they achieve some sort of totalitarian control. You would think as well educated at the Supine Court members are they would have taken a lesson on how well this will probably go in this country.
They believe in "Democracy" in the same way that John C. Calhoun believed in "freedom" and in the same way that Xi Jinping and the CCP do. "Freedom" and "Democracy" can exist, but only for the select few who must control the rest and then only if they put that faction first always.
Standards aren't the same as principles. I agree their standards are low, self-serving, and dangerous, but Madrid is right about believing people should stand -- and fight -- for their principles. I don't see that the Republicans have any principles they stand or fight for, only their goals of destroying democracy and the personal freedoms of anyone who disagrees with them, while they steal as much of the nation's wealth as they can get away with. Their solution is to rig elections in their favor. We can hope their extreme gerrymandering spreads the R votes too thin and Dems win anyway, but countering their rigging to maintain a level playing field flows from the principle of defending democracy. And, yes, when Dems take the House, Senate, and Presidency, they need to codify independent redistricting commissions.
We are on an inevitable road to the great transformation. For now we need to concentrate on electing fair-minded, selfless candidates to office who can envision a generational future, one that remakes our institutions to serve constituents over corporations.
@Mike Madrid SC voted against redistricting! Senate Majority Leader voted against. While I Breathe, I Hope. Is our state motto. Whooo Hooo! I get to keep Jim Clyburn as my representative
@Mike Madrid Here’s the article -
https://www.thestate.com/news/politics-government/article315722762.html?giftCode=f59d95425323739ea28000d1f1f33176885b8d70346c0d6424f2b24a736c8937
“Too Much Southern Blood in Me to Surrender”
as in South Carolinians don’t like being pushed around by the feds (it’s in the DNA).
I would really value hearing your perspective with ideas of what the Dems should or could be doing vs feeling like the only options are lose or be part of the gerrymandering escalation. I hear your reasoning for being ANTI on “fighting fire with fire”, but do you believe those are the only 2 options? Because I personally hate how much dem leadership has been clinging to institutional norms for decades while the maga republicans seem to not care about most humans here and around the world to devastating outcomes
Mike: Quick change of subject, but I need your opinion on something. California governor’s race: I like Becarra, but I am not convinced that he will fight the fascists the way Newsom does. I know Newsom’s not your favorite person, but, as an old white woman living in a red, rural county, I feel Newsom is at least trying to protect me, my rights, and those of my neighbors, both Republican and Democrat. Does Becerra have that fight in him? For me, it’s between Becerra and Styer, because Styer is actually running on fighting the fascists. But I have to be careful that I don’t waste a vote on the wrong person, and Hilton becomes governor of the state of my birth. If you think there is a better candidate, please let us know. Love, Susan
A Republican isn’t going to win. I think Democrats voting for Steyer is the same thing as Republicans voting for Trump.
A billionaire who made zillions in oil, fossil fuels, strip mining and private prisons? Really?
I honestly don’t know how that can be a serious option.
I couldn't agree with you more about democrats supporting Steyer. Mind boggling.
Thank you. I have the uncertainty as Susan. I value your input.
Time to go out and actually talk to voters. Get more people to the polls.
This Supreme Court has shown it is a tool of the GOP by their obvious bias in ruling after ruling! Is they had stopped Texas gerrymandering that would have prevented the rest of the mess we are now in!
Reading this at the Little Round Top parking area at the Gettysburg Battlefield National Park. My faith in the bend of the arc of the Universe is all I have right now, along with the everyday beauty of family, and my love of my country.
Mike, do you see the Senate filibuster going away in the near future? I can't imagine the potential mess each time a new majority wants to undue laws passed by the previous majority.
I agree witjh yopu that we are already in a civil war, but is it really the case that it is not kinetic? Or am I misreading you.
The masked ICE raids in minneapolis, the assault on January 6th, both are kinetic attacks, and one of them is done with the arm of the state.
Yes those are signs I point to as evidence. Perhaps they are, I just don’t know that we’d define them as traditional battlefields in the kinetic sense though I suppose they are
Well if we would consider the early brownshirt putches, or the fights between the Border Ruffians and the Jayhawks as kinetic then these definitely are.
Is there any future congress that would consider getting rid of the electoral college?
Mike, what would uncapping the House do? Wasn't the original intent to have one representative for a reasonable number of constituents? They are, after all, supposed to be representing the views of the few(er) not hundreds of thousands. It could give growing/changing counties like mine (Cherokee County, GA) a chance to find some common ground and force compromise. Wishful thinking I'm sure since nobody in power is going to voluntarily dilute their holdings.
I hope we don’t get rid of the electoral college. That would be the end of our Union. The end of the US Senate.
Yes I think the Congress could change representation I think the bigger hurdle will be convincing people the answer is more politicians
Thank you.
The current situation leaves me feeling so demoralized. If I’m reading your post at all accurately, mr Madrid, you have both-sides the efforts to rectify institutionalized mis-representation using electoral processes. Yes? No? In this rubble, where do we scrounge up any semblance of fair and equitable representation of, by and for the people writ large? This feels more like unsocialized kids scrambling for the bulk of the treasure spilled out of the national piñata. 🪅
I’m weary of the bulldozers
I’m now understanding a bit better Allison Gil expressing bewilderment about all of this. WAJ, in their conversation , urged not giving up. Right that. But how do we go on from here?
As Martin Luther King taught us “There is never a wrong time to do the right thing”.
If you think a political party is always the right answer you’ve already given up on the idea of America.
Boldly and courageously stand up when either/both parties are wrong.
You’ll feel the answer to your question because it’s honest, true and has integrity. Right now you’re caught in a fight between red and blue and that leaves you feeling anxious, angry and scared because that’s the whole point.
Take bake your agency and stand on principle. That’s how the country wins. How democracy wins.
Right now- in general- I’m not liking either dems or republicans. We are stuck with binary choices though. I’m not making the connection b/w the quote you offered and the dilemma facing our country as tensions rise. I am just saying it’s hard to see the way forward. HCR in her podcast a couple days ago continued to urge local organizing, and holding faith in people to vote for the betterment of our future, rejecting the current malaise wrought by the DJT regime. Are you arguing for a different approach?
I don’t think it could be any clearer. Speak out against injustice wherever and whenever it occurs including when - especially when - your party is doing it.
No major religion teaches fighting fire with fire. None.
MLK, Jesus, Gandhi all renounced that thinking.
None of this is complicated.
Mike - inclined to agree. "Really hard" isn't same as "complicated." The teachers you mention never said life would be easy. I got spoiled. Now I have to decide how hard I'm willing to work for what I believe.
Mike, don't you think that tRump would have brought the Voting Rights Act before the Supreme Court even without California and Virginia's voter decided redistricting?
It wasn’t Trumps decision it was theirs but there’s a bigger consideration: Why were Democrats fighting for working people as hard as they’re working to change the rules?
Had they done that none of this would have happened. None of it would have never happened ever - not in 2016 and not in 2024 - and they’re not doing it now.
That’s the real problem not this sideshow
Mike, a question. Do you think adding a viable 3rd party would help our democracy? I have heard others question a 2 party democracy… which right now seems quite broken… in all branches of government….
All well said except what do we do? Bend over and take the abuse of Democracy or do we fight fire with fire? Do we have any other choices? I don’t think the current court system is up for the FIGHT!
Yes…win elections. So sad that everyone’s so ready to destroy the rules when they should be focused on actual democracy.
We’re doomed.
Actual democracy only works when the system plays fair
Which is why being a bigger cheater isn’t the flex you think it is.
No, I don’t think that. I don’t know what to think except the “opposition” keeps changing the “rules”
We might very well be