I haven't live-posted from here, but heck, why not? I'm at the University of Oregon Law School for an event for the Wayne Morse Center of Law and Politics - the title of the talk is Defending Democracy with Tim Alberta of The Atlantic. (This will be a thread 🧵.) #DefendingDemocracy
Alberta says he's going to cover three institutions that he thinks are under threat. "The first institution is one that Americans have taken for granted - the ballot box." #DefendingDemocracy#Democracy#WayneMorse
He talks about the 2016 Iowa Republican caucuses, which Senator Ted Cruz won - and after which Tr*mp called the chair of the Iowa caucuses and said that Cruz stole the caucus. #DefendingDemocracy#Democracy (4/ ? )
Alberta says hundreds of officials and volunteers in state elections boards have been replaced and/or run out by what he calls "committed partisans." #DefendingDemocracy#Democracy
"Do you know who's preparing for this [2024] onslaught of sophisticated demagoguery? Elections officials. Most have fled, but of those who have stayed, they're struggling to get poll workers and to do civic education in their communities." - Tim Alberta #DefendingDemocracy#Democracy
"It's really remarkable. Why was Kevin McCarthy ousted? ... he didn't do anything except help other people get elected." - Tim Alberta #DefendingDemocracy#democracy
"Kevin McCarthy fed a beast, just like Paul Ryan before him, just like John Boehner before him, just like Eric Cantor before him." - Tim Alberta #DefendingDemocracy#democracy
"We have a weird inverted structure that encourages grown men and women to be running around the building cosplaying characters in the House of Cards." - Tim Alberta #DefendingDemocracy#Democracy
Whooooole story about John Boehner being "betrayed" in a vote on tax policy in 2012 by Kevin McCarthy, & Boehner realizing that people getting elected to Congress (House esp) don't care at all about the institution - only their own power. Alberta says this is partly because of the Tea Party, a "revolution" that Boehner "helped organize." ( those of us who remember it all too clearly are nodding hard.) #DefendingDemocracy#Democracy
"A lot of people in Congress might've run on a good government, populist, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington campaign, and then they walk in the door of Congress, and they see it's a pretty good gig." Alberta says 90 percent of seats are safe for their own party, aside from threats to Rs from the right or Ds from the left. #Democracy#DefendingDemocracy
& Tim Alberta says that after 2020, GOP House members called their local elections officials, who were usually also in the same party because of gerrymandering etc., to double check if there was voter fraud, discovered nothing, and then chose to say nothing. #Democracy#DefendingDemocracy
"If the vote to impeach Tr*mp had been a secret ballot, I know for a fact that 65-70 House Republicans would have voted to impeach." Tim Alberta also says McCarthy "knew that vote would be a career-killer," and yes, 8 of the 10 Republicans who did vote to impeach are no longer in Congress. #Democracy#DefendingDemocracy
Alberta says he's running out of time to talk about his third institution. Sooooo what do we think it is? SCOTUS? The Senate? The presidency? The military? Hmmm. #DefendingDemocracy#Democracy
Tim Alberta: "When you believe in nothing, the only thing that matters is the relentless pursuit of power." (Personal note: This is the most super fun lecture I've been to in a long time. /*sarcasm)
Ten years of a crippled Voting Rights Act: how Republican led states make it harder to vote
In a 5-4 ruling in 2013, the supreme court weakened the Voting Rights Act, clearing the way for state legislatures to pass voter suppression laws #News#GOP#Politics#USA#Trump#MAGA#Republicans
The article about 2013 voter suppression is not a fun read, 😬
Remember the phone call Trump made to Georgia asking to "just fine 11,781 votes" well there was more on that tape. It was mentioned that making it more difficult for College students to vote. Like off campus.
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There is a "perfect storm" coming in 2024 November
Listen to Marc Elias about voter suppression on his #defendingdemocracy podcast