February 3, 2018
With the release of the Nunes memo, it is clear that we are in the midst of a slow motion coup. Nunes‘ four page, sloppily drafted hatchet job contains misstatements of fact and material omissions that were quickly debunked (Source: “Justice Department told court of source’s political influence, officials say,” by Ellen Nakashima, The Washington Post, 2/2/18).
For Trump’s purposes, of course, none of that matters. The memo succeeded in kicking up dust around Special Counsel Mueller’s investigation, as evidenced by the breathless stories that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein should fear for his job because he signed the authorization to renew surveillance on Carter Page (Source: “Under Pressure, Justice Dep’t. official faces criticism for handling of Russia probe,” by Sari Horwitz, The Washington Post, 2/2/18). Most people will simply scan the headlines while buying their Buffalo wings and beer and accept the Republicans’ fabulist tale of FBI partisanship.
By now, none of us can be surprised that the narcissistic bully in The White House is attacking the FBI doggedly investigating his possible involvement in Russian election meddling and money-laundering. Nor is it surprising that his dim witted stooge, Devin Nunes, is the author of the memo which purports to exonerate him. The fact, though, that John McCain is the lone elected Republican speaking out against these scurrilous attacks on law enforcement is confirmation that the current Republican Party is nothing more than a corrupt criminal enterprise, in thrall to oligarchs, foreign and domestic, dedicated to using their power to elevate white supremacy and raid the public treasury.
It is understandable to feel impotently despondent in the face of such stunning betrayal, but we cannot afford to watch slack jawed as they mount an autocratic takeover in plain sight. Our vote remains our voice and we have make sure every one of us has that right. In the last few weeks, there have been important developments that we may have overlooked while we were busy watching the Robert Ludlum thriller that is our national politics unfold in real time. In Pennsylvania, the state Supreme Court threw out the Republican drawn districts as violative of the state Constitution and ordered that they be changed immediately (“Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court just gave Democrats a big win on redistricting,” by Amber Phillips, The Washington Post, 1/22/18). Unfortunately, intransigent Pennsylvania Republicans have applied to the United States Supreme Court for a stay of the order, and in a possible setback, Justice Alito has indicated he might consider it.
Secondly, on Thursday, federal Judge Mark Walker invalidated Florida’s felon disenfranchisement scheme as being so haphazard that it violated ex-offenders’ First and Fourteenth Amendment rights. Florida, one of only four states that permanently disenfranchises ex-felons, has 1.5 million disenfranchised residents. The ruling represented a victory for Florida voting rights advocates, who recently garnered enough signatures for a ballot measure this year that would permanently restore the voting rights for those who have served their sentences (other than murderers and sex offenders). The measure needs a 60% yes vote in order to pass, but if it does, would radically alter the makeup of the Florida electorate (Source: “An Initiative to Give Ex-Felons Voting Rights Could Remake Florida’s Politics in 2020,” by Ed Kilgore, New York Magazine, 1/23/18).
Lastly, in late December, activists in Michigan succeeded in gathering enough signatures for a 2018 ballot measure that would eliminate partisan redistricting in favor of a nonpartisan commission comprised of four Republicans, four Democrats and five Independents (Source: “Michigan redistricting initiative likely headed for the ballot,” by Reid Wilson, The Hill.com, 12/19/17). The activists behind these ballot measures and the judges behind these decisions were not cowed into submission or silence by Republican anti-democratic skullduggery and we shouldn’t be either. Our ancestors worked too hard and sacrificed too much to get us here for us to throw up our hands and give up without a fight. The Trump administration and his Congressional enablers are pursuing an agenda that is racist, regressive and destructive. The truth of the matter is that the overwhelming majority of Americans know that. We just have to make sure they can vote.
#ACLU
#NAACPLDF
Thank God for lawyers!🙏🏿