The answer to those who are sabotaging democracy? Pass the voting rights bills

 The answer to those who are sabotaging democracy? Pass the danged voting rights bills. Here is why we need to pass voting reform legislation and to crack down on extreme domestic terrorists. The most vocal champions of voting rights have been African Americans, but all who care about democracy as a system of governance need to be equally passionate because there is so much at stake. What threats to kidnap and terrorize elected officials in Michigan, at the US Capitol on January 6, local school boards, and elected vote counting officials across America has illustrated is that if an extreme group can not win at the ballot box, then it resorts to terrorism. Over half of the GOP approves the use of force to protect their way of life and nearly half think going beyond the law is fine, too, per a June Monmouth poll. Most Republicans Say Force May Be Required to Save 'Traditional' America: Poll (businessinsider.com)" FYI: peaceful assemblies to redress grievances are protected by the Constitution. Violent actions are not. John Eastman, the Trumpist attorney who provided a blueprint to Trump for a strategy to overthrow the 2020 elecction is now proposing to arm sheriffs as militias. Claremont Institute’s descent into Trumpian extremism embodied in law-enforcement strategy (dailykos.com) If the last election did not turn out the way a group wanted, then they rig the system so that even if the group loses the popular vote this time, then the next time they will be able to control whose votes are counted and how and to restrict the opposition's access to the ballot box. They support and pass legislation so that they can control who certifies the election in order to ignore the popular vote. When election districts are defined by boundaries they, gerrymander them so fewer of the districts will exist that reflect the will of opponents. It may be clever politics, but it is dirty politics. rigging the system to install and keep a losing party in power. This country has spent years attempting to insure the will of all of the people can be expressed through fair elections. That has been our soul, but now for the GOP, their soul is to do whatever it takes and to manipulate and abuse once upon a time democratic and fair processes.

For a comprehensive analysis of how states have attempted to twist vote outcomes to keep the=r party in power, go to Voting Laws Roundup: October 2021 | Brennan Center for Justice

For the most recent report by the FBI on incidents of domestic terrorism, see U.S. Domestic Terrorism Investigations Have More Than Doubled -FBI Director | Top News | US News

Claremont Institute’s descent into Trumpian extremism embodied in law-enforcement strategy (dailykos.com)

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/04/gop-grave-threat-american-democracy/618693/

Jumping to conclusions in Toronto

A version of this was published in the Sky Hi News April 30-May 1,2, 2018

https://www.skyhinews.com/news/muftic-jumping-to-conclusions-in-toronto/


On  April 23, a 25  year old Canadian drove his van on the sidewalk for blocks in Toronto, killing  ten and injuring many more .Immediately people around the western world jumped to conclusions that this was another act of Islamic terrorism and the perpetrator had to be “one of those”.   However, days after Toronto, Canadian officials have not yet found a motive or discovered an Islamist connection, but they have found evidence in social media that the van driver identified with cultist movements that hated women and had a troubled past.

There seems to be a  knee jerk reaction to acts of mass killings to blame Islamic terrorists in all instances until proved otherwise by law enforcement officials.  That is easily assumed when the techniques used by none jihadists are the same used by those inspired and directed by radical clerics abroad. Non Islamic mass killers have taken a page from handbook of Islamic terrorists and used the same  techniques to kill many, from bomb making to using vehicles.

Like the Toronto attack, we have  witnessed some horrendous acts inspired by radical terrorists from abroad:   plowing a rental van into crowds of innocents , whether on the banks of London’s Parliament and lower Manhattan, or in a Christmas market in Berlin and  a crowd celebrating a national holiday in France, among others.

It is little comfort to many that most acts of terror and mass killings  in the United States have been perpetrated by those with domestic connections and non Islamist related motives.

In the US, most mass shootings have been conducted with assault type weapons geared to kill many quickly , easy to use without much skill,  and cheaply accessible. Gun rights proponents point to lack of mental health treatment as the cause. Gun control advocates want to ban assault rifles. Islamicphobia has swept the political right wing, demanding Muslim immigration bans.  Better mental health services and banning assault weapons have merit and are not by themselves the solution, but would certainly reduce the carnage. Religion based immigration bans are unconstitutional, but the Supreme Court is now deciding whether the greatly modified Trump administration  immigration bans are still unconstitutional.

Even with all of these steps, terrorism and mass killings will not be completely wiped out because other forces are at work. One of the worst cases of US domestic terrorism was committed by the Oklahoma City bombers who  destroyed a federal building, killing 168 people. They seeking revenge against federal government’s handling of Waco and Ruby Ridge.

So what is causing this wave of terrorist like attacks by both wannabe Jihadists, by some on the far out political right, or by some that seem just to be unhinged? One element is demographics.  White young males and Islamic motivated terrorists have something in common. They are mostly males of about the same age.

Citing evidence of  the past ten years of terrorist and mass shooters in the US , Business Insider found that these mass killers had some characteristics in common: “Men between 20 and 30 years old are overwhelmingly more likely to commit mass shootings, attacks, and acts of terrorism than any other gender or age group in the US, the evidence suggests. Psychiatrists and social scientists believe the trend can be explained by a mix of factors, including a lack of neurological development, the need for belonging, and an evolving trend of past attacks that make future ones seem less horrific to perpetrators, and perhaps even noble. “

http://www.businessinsider.com/why-most-terrorists-and-mass-shooters-are-millennial-men-2017-11   

https://www.snopes.com/news/2017/06/07/threat-extremists-more/

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/van-attack-victims-identified-1.4638102

http://abc7chicago.com/toronto-van-suspect-charged-had-cryptic-facebook-post/3385827/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oklahoma_City_bombing

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/john-bolton-chaired-anti-muslim-think-tank-n868

http://www.businessinsider.com/why-most-terrorists-and-mass-shooters-are-millennial-men-2017-11171

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/toronto-van-attack-1.4634692…

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/apr/25/toronto-van-attack-rightwing-islamist-terrorism-claims