How can Trump ignore his plunging polls? In his ego-driven arrogance, he thinks he can control the outcome of the 2026 midterms and ignore popular sentiment. or even their vote count. Yesterday's Supreme Court decision is one of its many contributions to Trump's arrogance. (The others: Citizens United and presidential immunity from criminal prosecution) Plunging polls mean little to the officeholder who will not be a candidate in the next election...and Trump is a lame duck, free to feather his own nest while he can.
While piously claiming the decision that racial gerrymandering was a no-no, the Roberts court majority granted a victory to white southerners who objected to too much power being given to African Americans in drawing election districts. The current makeup results in 1/3 of the seats likely to vote for African American representatives, the same percentage of African Americans of the entire state, 30%. SCOTUS just okayed giving all seats except one to white-dominated voters, depriving the 30% of full representation in Congress. In short it was ok to give the white folks a disproportionate advantage, but not ok for the Black folks to get a fair share. ..if I understand the math ok. The effect of the decision couched in deceptive terms of fairness was to gut a main provision of a civil rights constitutional amendment, which would prevent racial gerrymandering resulting in racial discrimination in the first place. https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/scotus-smothers-voting-rights-act-greenlighting-racial-discrimination-and-a-rash-of-gop-gerrymanders/ It now opens the door to other white-dominated southern states to do the same now and in the future in order to limit a proportional representation of their population.
Trump has plans to overturn the anticipated losses in the midterms and the will of the majority of the people. He is using the tools of gerrymandering, like this on race, seizing control of states' voting lists to target and suppress anticipated voters, grabbing vote machinethat tabulate the ballots, and using ICE paramilitary dressed for war in Afghanistan to frighten off brown people from voting at polling places in person, while eliminating mail-in voting by executive order..(A fool's errand given the Constitution that gives states such control). The Supreme Court yesterday gave the green light for racial gerrymandering, undermining a major thrust of the civil rights movement and, in the long term, attempting to suppress African Americans' ability to elect representatives. who support their interests.
The Roberts Court's contribution to Trump's arrogance is now furthered, yesterday, adding to the past rulings, with a gift of immunity from criminal prosecution to Trump, and its Citizens United decision permitting dark money to be contributed to candidates, opening the floodgates to epic corruption to influence government policies favoring them, and candidate corruption by secret corporate donations. Yesterday's blow was one more nail in the coffin of voters' power to shape their destiny, the essence of a democracy.
Update May 16, 2026
From my May 16, 2026 posting on Facebook:
If the Democrats continue with their theme for November 2026 of attacking Trump for costs, chaos, and corruption, they have a good chance to hold onto the 60% who disapprove of Trump. How much of the other 40% who do not may even help break through the gerrymander strategy the COP has concocted to try to hold on to Congress.. The question becomes how much of that 40% could stay at home or come out swinging in loyalty to Trump. that does not care about costs, chaos, and corruption, but prioritizes something else. What is that something? Cultural, racial, partisan loyalty, fear of libs, business interests? One clue is the geographic distribution of the attempt to cancel out every African American congressperson as fast as the white state legislatures' majority can take advantage of the recent Supreme Court green-lighting the end of voting rights clauses that had forbidden racial gerrymandering. One black Louisiana legislator I heard comment said it most diplomatically: MAGA is the last gasp of the Confederacy.
No comments:
Post a Comment