Clarence Thomas goes full QAnon (and other stories)
Ron Johnson, too
Welcome to a Tuesday evening edition of Progressives Everywhere!
Though I’m still in my early thirties, I woke up this morning with an incredibly and inexplicably sore and out-of-whack lower back, which I think officially qualifies me as middle-aged. I should have seen this coming — I’ve been binge-watching Mad About You over the last month or so and really appreciating its wry, humorous take on marriage and NYC.
I love Mad About You.
Anyway! To the news!
Important News You Need to Know
Voting Rights
A number of additional Republican-held states are pushing new voter restrictions as Georgia legislators continue their assault on voting… but first, a supremely scary opinion from the hijacked high court.
Supreme Court: By a 6-3 vote, the Supreme Court decided not to hear an appeal of a ruling it issued in October pertaining to absentee voting in Pennsylvania. The decision this time was that the case was rendered moot by the results of the election. The bad news? It should have been a 9-0 decision, and one made on much more sound legal ground.
In short: After COVID-19 throwing the voting process into chaos, the Pennsylvania Secretary of State, a Democrat, decided to extend the absentee voting window, allowing ballots to come in up to three days after Election Day. Republicans sued, going originalist and claiming that only the legislature could make changes to election law like that, but SoS’s decision was upheld by the state Supreme Court. The case reached the federal Supreme Court in October, and in a 4-4 tie that went to the defendant, SCOTUS rejected the case.
This time around, six justices (including Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett) ruled that the case was moot because there were only 10,000 ballots delivered after Election Day and Biden won Pennsylvania by nearly 90,000 votes. This allowed them to dodge the questions that Clarence Thomas, Neal Gorsuch, and Samuel Alito seem desperate to tackle.
There are two issues at play: First, can non-legislative entities (ie the Secretary of State and courts) contribute to election-related policymaking? And second, should the federal Supreme Court be able to overrule a state Supreme Court?
Conservatives have insisted for years that federalism renders state Supreme Courts untouchable by SCOTUS, but at this point, their own precedent is fully fungible should it get in the way of their desired policy outcomes. Alito, Gorsuch, and Thomas are clearly willing to disregard their supposed principles to make it harder for people to vote. Thomas even went so far as to use some Big Lie talking points about voting by mail in his dissent to justify his vote.
That should come as no surprise — Thomas’s wife, Ginni Thomas, is an avowed “Stop the Steal” MAGA-head who went off the deep end after Trump won last fall. Theirs is not a household built on respect for the law or reality itself.
What’s going to happen when a case can’t be ruled moot? SCOTUS will have to rule on this kind of issue at some point, and I’m not anticipating a very favorable decision. Remember, expanding the Supreme Court is still very much an option. Lower courts, too.
Pennsylvania: Speaking of Pennsylvania, Republicans in the state are trying to ensure that they never have to sue over elections again by pushing some brand new suppression bills. So far, they’ve submitted 14 bills that would restrict people’s ability to vote. Thankfully, Gov. Tom Wolf will be able to veto them.
Wisconsin: Having already gerrymandered the state legislature out of ever being competitive despite Democrats winning more votes statewide over the last two cycles, Republicans in Wisconsin are now moving to install their own regime of voter suppression, as well.
A new bill introduced on Monday seeks to choke out absentee voting, based on the infuriating premise that people don’t trust the election system (gee, I wonder why some voters may have some trepidation!):
The effort, being led by Sen. Duey Stroebel of Saukville, would require absentee voters to provide an ID for every election, limit who can automatically receive absentee ballots for every election and create more paperwork for those who vote early in clerk's offices.
The proposals would also put new limits on when voters are considered indefinitely confined because of age or disability. Under a long-standing law, confined voters do not have to show ID to receive absentee ballots and do not have to regularly reapply for ballots.
As in Pennsylvania, Gov. Tony Evers is likely to veto all of it, but it’s certainly a warning shot.
Iowa: Another Midwestern state where Republicans are aiming their sights on voting rights! The state Senate in Iowa just passed a bill that would cut the early voting window by a whopping nine days, close polls early each night, and put county auditors (who run local elections) at risk of arrest if they do ultra-sketchy stuff like send people absentee ballot applications or open satellite voting offices without explicit permission (which they’ll never receive unless they’re GOP counties, of course).
Unfortunately, Republicans have complete control of Iowa right now and the House is expected to approve the bill tomorrow.
This exchange says it all:
Sen. Jim Carlin, R-Sioux City, who recently announced he's running for U.S. Senate, listed several results from the election that he believes show there was fraud. There is no evidence of widespread fraud in the 2020 election, despite claims to the contrary from many prominent Republicans, including former President Donald Trump.
"Most of us in my caucus and the Republican caucus believe the election was stolen," Carlin said.
Sen. Joe Bolkcom, D-Iowa City, said Republicans have encouraged people to doubt the results of the election.
"Give me a break," he said. "The reason some people have lost faith or are losing faith in our elections. It’s that Republicans have manufactured, fostered and encouraged (it) through silence and conspiracy theories and cult behavior."
Georgia: The beat goes on in the Peach State, where Republicans are setting up an arduous gauntlet that will make it tough for anyone without a personal assistant or a ridiculous amount of free time to vote. The state Senate passed its first suppression bill today, which brings the state one step closer to requiring voter ID (either a photocopy of a state ID or the special number on the back of a card) to vote via absentee ballot.
It also introduced a big new omnibus bill that’s jam-packed some of the worst policy proposals, including ending at-will absentee voting and limiting drop boxes. The Souls to the Polls ban isn’t in here, since that’s in a House bill, but that could get passed soon as well.
Also noteworthy: Kelly Loeffler is starting her own voter suppression group, which has already been dubbed “Unfair Fight” by smart people. I can’t wait to see Stacey Abrams wipe the floor with her. By the way, here’s Fair Fight’s new spot about those voter suppression laws:
I’ll be doing an interview about the new proposals tomorrow and should have some of it in the Thursday premium newsletter. Stay tuned!
Sick Stuff (in a good way)
This is a new section where I list some cool news that should lift your spirits (or make you less depressed):
Florida: Last week, odious Trump wannabe and Covid super-spreader Ron DeSantis, who won a narrow election in 2018 using blatant racism and has governed with the same kind of cruelty, delivered a slap in the face to all the women, minorities, and LGBTQ+ people in Florida with his order to lower state flags to half-mast in recognition of the life and death of Rush Limbaugh.
This was no principled conservativism. Limbaugh helped birth the modern far-right movement in the United States, using AM radio to warp the minds of likely hundreds of millions of Americans over the course of more than 30 years of broadcasting. DeSantis was clearly a product of Limbaugh’s reign, and deciding to use official state mechanisms to honor the dishonorable radio host was a move right out of the right-wing troll playbook that he perfected.
With the GOP’s tightening grip on Florida, no one has really dared to speak out about it… except for Florida’s lone statewide elected Democrat, Secretary of Agriculture Nikki Fried, who issued a blistering statement today announcing that she wouldn’t be honoring DeSantis’s orders.
“Lowering to half-staff the flag of the United States of America is a sacred honor that pays respect to fallen heroes and patriots. It is not a partisan political tool. Therefore, I will notify all state offices under my direction to disregard the Governor’s forthcoming order to lower flags for Mr. Limbaugh – because we will not celebrate hate speech, bigotry, and division. Lowering the flag should always reflect unity, not division, and raising our standards, not lowering them. Our flags will remain flying high to celebrate the American values of diversity, inclusion, and respect for all.”
Speaking of budding Democratic stars, state Rep. Anna Eskamani just announced her own new voter registration organization, which she’s building out as a direct result of the pitiful, somewhat corrupt state of the Florida Democratic Party:
I’m speaking with Anna about the plan on Thursday, likely for this Sunday’s newsletter. If you weren’t a member this past November, check out this blistering interview I did with Anna after the election.
New Jersey: They did it! They officially legalized weed! Finally, people in New Jersey will get to try marijuana!
Sick Stuff (in a bad way)
This is a new section where I list some bad news that should enrage you (or make you more depressed).
Tennessee: Republican lawmakers in this bedrock of freedom, who have vowed to protect individual liberty and freedom of speech, are pushing university leaders to ban their student-athletes from protesting. This follows the Eastern Tennessee State University basketball team kneeling during the National Anthem before a game last week. I’m glad that this is what those unhinged lunatics are focused on.
Arizona: Sen. Kyrsten Sinema continues to openly and joyously defy the many progressive (and just regular ol’ Democratic) groups that have asked her to consider dropping the filibuster:
I hope she’s having fun now because if she keeps this up, she’ll be out of a job come 2025. Without killing the filibuster, Democrats won’t be able to pass new voting rights protections, enabling the Arizona GOP to enact its large slate of voter suppression laws. Between that and a disappointed Democratic base that will absolutely not bother to support her with any particular vigor (remember, it’s the unions and Latino political organizations that transformed the state over the past decade), Sinema will be doomed in her run for re-election.
Wisconsin: This morning, at a hearing held by the Senate Homeland Security Committee, Johnson trotted out some more insane conspiracy theories about the Capitol Insurrection on January 6th. In short, despite all evidence to the contrary, Johnson put on his tinfoil hat and insisted that conservatives and Republicans had nothing to do with the worst attack on the Capitol since the War of 1812.
Instead, he blamed it on “fake Trump protestors” and leftists. Conservatives, he said, were “jovial, friendly, and earnest” at the “Stop the Steal” rally and march. Ridiculous and disgusting, right? Five people died in that attack, many were injured, and thousands have been dealing with terrible PTSD from the assaults. Many of his colleagues in Congress and the Senate were nearly killed by these Confederate flag-carrying, Parler-using lunatics. And yet Johnson is up there spreading propaganda from a Federalist article that was written by a right-wing maniac.
On the bright side, this gives even more fuel to Tom Nelson, the Democratic Senate candidate that I’m helping in Wisconsin. He is now in a race for the nomination, as very wealthy offspring Alex Lasry just declared for the race (eek). Lasry can self-fund as much money as he’d like. Tom, not so much. Check out this new spot we just dropped today — it’s getting a lot of good buzz and media attention:
If you’re inspired, any help would be great:
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