Slate - "Trickle Down. The Republican corruption in Washington has rolled down to the states"

[NRaleighLiberal]

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/02/the-republican-corruption-in-washington-has-trickled-down-to-the-states.html

Much of the history of the modern Republican Party in Washington, from the “Gingrich Revolution” to President Trump, consists of repeated, successful attacks on the norms of American governance. That ethos has trickled down to Republicans across the country, who have taken the always fraught and divisive world of politics and made it a war by other means.

Take Wisconsin. Under Gov. Scott Walker, Republicans have worked hard to insulate themselves from electoral accountability, with aggressive redistricting to protect incumbent Republican lawmakers, an attack on the state’s independent ethics and elections agency, and a draconian voter identification law that depressed black turnout in the 2016 election and helped Donald Trump win the state—and the presidency with it.

snip

Even more egregious is the situation in Pennsylvania. In January, the state Supreme Court struck down the Pennsylvania congressional map, calling it an impermissible gerrymander that “clearly, plainly and palpably“ violates the state’s Constitution. The Court then ordered the legislature to draw a new map for Pennsylvania’s 18 House districts, which had previously been gerrymandered to produce an overwhelming Republican advantage in a state that regularly breaks for Democrats. On Monday, the United States Supreme Court affirmed the state court’s decision. But rather than face this reality, Pennsylvania Republicans have proposed an all-out war on the state judiciary. “The five Justices who signed this order that blatantly and clearly contradicts the plain language of the Pennsylvania Constitution, engaged in misbehavior in office,” reads a memo from state Rep. Cris Dush. “Each is guilty of an impeachable offense warranting removal from office and disqualification to hold any office or trust or profit under this Commonwealth.”

snip

Rather than live with these court decisions and end their attacks on fair elections, North Carolina Republicans have opted to change the courts themselves, instituting partisan judicial elections to hinder liberal jurists running in rural areas, eliminating judicial primaries to insulate incumbent conservatives who can rely on name recognition to win, and redrawing boundaries for judicial districts in a way that may reduce the number of black judges and increase GOP representation on the bench. Republicans have even reduced the size of the state Court of Appeals in order to keep Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, from replacing Republican appointed judges.



one last sentence

American democracy is resilient. But it’s not unbreakable.

snip

[dsc]

1. As much as I would love to blame Trump for our situation in NC

the radical behavior the GOP here has engaged in predates him by a huge amount.

[NRaleighLiberal]

3. yup!

[world wide wally]

2. And who votes these assholes in?

Face it, folks.
We have what is probably the stupidest population in the world.

[ananda]

4. No, we have a system of fraud and voter suppression ...

... that has been allowed to flourish unchecked!

[whathehell]

5. Even with Russian meddling, Trump lost the Popular Vote by 10 Million

so maybe, when you consider our population ALSO voted for
Barack Obama to two terms, the reasons for our current political situation are more complicated than "stupidity' -- Just a thought.