Warning, democracy in peril, scholars join national call for federal action to protect elections

Generally, never.

Show me a Progressive who hangs out with Right voters - and I'll show you a fictional being.

 

What results? Sources, please.

You really need to stop making vacuous claims.

 

After the big steal and countless incidents that prove mail in voting is flawed, I’d have to say I agree with the thread title and elections are in danger and need to be protected……………………….from democrats

 

Which is why I didn't say 'illegal'.

I can't speak for republicans, but when their leader says 'and SOME, are good people' and 'we need to stop ALL Muslims' and 'no more immigration' and let's permanently separate kids from mom and dad for a class B misdemeanor, etc etc., republicans might want to choose a leader who isn't as big of an immigrant hater as Trump.

I don't answer ill premised rhetorical questions.

Well, if the truth is ridiculous to you, not much I can do about that.

FYI, I'm 70.

Your patronizing tone aside, I can source many scholarly treatises from which I garnered my position. The advent of neoliberalism of the 20th century (and beyond, and it's subsequent decline under Biden ) which is a predominant position in a number of academic circles. No one is saying world wide events do not influence things, that isn't the point. But, the underlying thing is an world wide economic philosophy called neoliberalism that all republican presidents, including one democratic president, since Reagan, have embraced, not to mention other leaders in other countries.

A cursory search and I found these, I'm sure a more thorough search would produce much more.

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/t...lass-our-economy-and-our-democracy-2019-05-13
https://www.cambridge.org/core/jour...iberal-order/8A1A9D4E2E1ABBB04D39055D35F9AA51
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/apr/15/neoliberalism-ideology-problem-george-monbiot
https://www.amazon.com/America-Age-Neoliberalism-Decline-Superpower/dp/149052522X
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/jun/28/age-of-neoliberalism-biden-trump
https://newrepublic.com/article/155970/collapse-neoliberalism

The virus and Trump's piss poor handling of it, had a lot to do with supply chain issues, and even if he had done a better job, the virus has reeked havoc on America.

It's not rocket science, and 'lame'? Asserting it is lame, is, itself, lame.

Yes, an authoritarian politician whose name is Trump.

Schiff, Pelosi, Schumer, not paragons of perfection by any means, are honorable persons. I'd say the same about McCain, Romney, Cheney, and a few others.

And yes, those of you who are cynics will sneer at that assertion. I'm not a cynic, sorry.

 

I replied to:
"Gaining power is not an end in itself, it's a means to an end."

Results show otherwise. I will be happy to give several examples. Power is gained under the guise of concern for the goose, when the golden eggs is what they're after. Where shall we start? How about public health. Do you know the leading causes of disease and death in the US?

 

UHC is not 'fascism' not by any definition of the term. Sanders' policy was to replace premiums with a lesser tax (for most of us).

 

I didn't leave it out, my observations and conclusions were different, to wit:

The rest of the comment you are correct, but you miss the fact that many are not apply for shitpay jobs, as the working class has gotten the message finally that they can refuse work if the pay is too low. When I was 60, I was about to be trained to be a truck driver, but when they told me my first year I'd only make $500 per week, which is not enough to live on in San Diego, I declined. See, all they have to do is pay people more, at least enough to live on, it's not rocket science. The shortage in the Trucking industry is for one reason and one reason only, the pay is not enough to justify the job.

 

Yet other countries manage to harvest their produce without 'migrant' labour. Where I am for example, a lot of that work is done by middle class white Europeans on working holidays (which makes them tourists, not migrants). The migrants in this country won't do that kind of manual labour unless it's their own business.

For every one who declines that $500pw trucking job, there is another who will happily do it. It's not the employer's business to decide what you can live on.

 

When was voting ever easier than it is today? And elections are NOT federal matters, they are CLEARLY under the Constitution state and local matters and the Federal government ie the Congress cannot simply usurp that authority from them.

 

But you did leave it out.

 

I have brunch with one nearly every Sunday.

 

I made or meant to make, a distinction between farming jobs and the rest of the job market.

 

I rendered an opinion on the rest of it. You're implying I overlooked it entirely. That is not true. To wit: to quote myself:

The rest of the comment you are correct, but you miss the fact that many are not apply for shitpay jobs, as the working class has gotten the message finally that they can refuse work if the pay is too low.

 

The statement that there is a labor shortage is not correct. They are in fact refusing to work for what their labors are worth. If their labor was worth more, the employers would be willing to pay it. You are asking the employers to take a loss just so they can hire someone who does not have the skills or motivation to earn the pay they think they deserve.

 

Oh, I've been hearing of the demise of the two parties for what, some 50 or so years, now?

I won't be holding my breath, sorry.

 

I agree, they're not going anywhere because they have all the power and control our electoral system. A monopoly. But that doesn't stop people from leaving both having become very dissatisfied with both.

From FDR until Reagan the Democrats average 45% of the electorate which identified themselves as democrats. The Republicans roughly 27% during that same time period. From Reagan to Obama, the democrats dropped to 35% average while the GOP averaged out at 30%.

https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/interactives/party-id-trend/

Now both major parties according to Gallup have 29% each of the total electorate. But you're absolutely correct, neither are going anywhere. They write our election laws and those laws are written to protect both major parties, to ensure as written into law that neither will be replaced, that no other party will ever be able to challenge them. As I said, it doesn't matter if they make up 80% of the electorate or 60% or if each major party drops down to 10%, the power and control over our electoral system will always remain with them. They will go to any length to protect their monopoly.

 

Never mind Trump. You don't realize it yet, Trump doesn't realize it, and neither do some Republicans. It is this: Trump is a political has-been. Only 40% of Republicans support him, and that means that, at most, 15% of the electorate. He's history whether he knows it or not, or the Republicans, or you. Stop obsessing over the man. Trump isn't the issue.

The rest of your reply says that you refuse to take the lead on securing our elections, even though Democrats are the majority party. You don't realize it, but that position is the problem, not Trump. It is that stance that will perpetuate the perception that your party wants to cheat, uses its power to cheat, and does cheat.

This should not be a R vs D issue. Making sure that our elections are legit is an American issue.

 

There is no distinction. A job is a job. Part of the reason that so many American's won't take those farming jobs is because they're spoiled brats that thanks to things like gender studies classes think that they are worth more than they are in the job market. Another is that the Democratic party allows them to stay on welfare for months and even years on end paying for practically everything that it takes to live a comfortable life. How about we force them to get off the government dole and start taking those jobs if they want to live so comfortably?

Don't get me wrong. I support welfare. For those who need it. How about a proposal? Its already mandatory that a person search for a job when receiving food stamps unless there are mitigating circumstances (such as a disability). Make it to where if they don't get a job with in a certain time frame then they are kicked off. If they do get a job then they must hold onto it. If they get fired or "let go" from a job 3 times in one year then they are kicked off. Additionally any job that their caseworker gets for them then they MUST take if they don't already have a job.

Apply this to ALL forms of welfare.

 

Calling for "federal action" with Wray and Garland in charge is like trusting a doctor like Fauci who enjoys watching caged dogs get eaten by insects...

 

Our elections ARE legit. The laws the Red States are passing will give their legislatures the ability to override their resident's votes and swing the outcome how the like. In which case it won't matter how little support tRump (or someone else) has, they could be handed the election in spite of losing.

 

Could you please post a source for all these, especially the one high lighted.

 

And if they are "kicked off", what happens to them and their families?

Do we just stand by and let them starve and freeze to death? Fellow Americans, human beings.

Obviously, you don't understand farm work. If tomorrow you could wave a magic wand; send all foreign farm labor back to where they came from, and put unemployed Americans in their place. What would happen is a lot of produce would be ruined, machinery destroyed and infrastructure rendered useless. The mistake non-ag people make is assuming farm work is unskilled, IT IS NOT.

It IS hard back breaking work. The pay isn't what it should be. AND you have to know what the hell you're doing. You can't just pluck someone out of the city and expected them to do the job of somebody that grew up doing it.

 

Like the Democrats did before?

Superdelegates, also known as automatic delegates, are unpledged delegates to the Democratic National Convention who are free to support the presidential candidate of their choosing. They include members of the Democratic National Committee, Democratic members of Congress and governors, and distinguished party leaders, including former presidents and vice presidents.[1]

Following disagreement over the role of superdelegates at the 2016 Democratic National Convention, a Unity Reform Commission was formed to revise the Democratic nominating process and reduce the power of superdelegates.[2][3][4]

At the conclusion of the party's national convention on August 25, 2018, officials adopted a measure banning superdelegates from voting on the first ballot at a contested national convention.
Superdelegates and the 2020 Democratic National Convention - Ballotpedia

 

FWIW, I'm an Independent, not a Republican, so I don't defend things Republicans do if they're wrong. But they are not passing the laws you describe. There was an effort in Arizona by one legislator to do that which failed. I'll give you a link that summarizes what happened there and in some other states.

https://www.politifact.com/article/2021/jul/14/are-state-legislators-really-seeking-power-overrul/

Republicans and Democrats ought to work in good faith with each other to examine our election procedures and fix any weaknesses that can be used by either side to cheat. If they do that, the whole belief that elections are not legit goes away. But if reasonable, good faith actions are resisted, then you just feed the suspicion. And that is not good for America.

 

With millions of jobs available there is no reason for a normal healthy person to not be working. None. Maybe their families should find someone that isn't lazy. Otherwise, yeah...Darwin.

I've worked on plenty of farms in my life. I understand how they work just fine. Picking berries is not complicated. Picking oranges is not complicated. Wrapping trees is not complicated. Picking weeds is not complicated (yes, that was done on a tree farm that I worked at, with a spoon). Farm work is not complicated and any learning that needs to be done can be done on the job. Any complicated work can be done by those that regularly have the job. Hell, the very first time I worked on a tree farm I was made assistant supervisor in less than 2 weeks.

Now if you're thinking farm animals that does require a bit more experience. But it is still able to be learned on the job. Like any other job you learn from the bottom and move up as you get more experienced.

Anyone can do farm work. No, they can't do the more advanced stuff right off the bat. But none of it is rocket science. And slopping feed or crap requires no experience. Just a willingness to work.