Many of the Repukes are not worried about losing re-election

[edhopper]

the way Casinos are not worried about losing the money being gambled.

When you control the machinery, you keep it to your advantage.

No such thing as a level playing field in Las Vegas.

[Irish_Dem]

1. Voter suppression, gerrymandering, outright cheating.

Yep, it is in the bag for them.

[CousinIT]

15. For The People Act (HR1/SR1) - call reps and senators - DEMAND they

pass it - end the damn filibuster in the senate and PASS IT.

It does away with partisan gerrymandering
overturns Citizens United
Restores voting rights
and a lot of other good things to save Democracy.

[TwilightZone]

2. For some, it's not even that complicated.

Many of them are from states that clearly supported Trump in November and a lot still do. Their constituents wanted them to acquit.

I look at it this way - if it was politically expedient for them to convict Trump, they would have. This was never really about Trump. It was about keeping their jobs.

[Mr.Bill]

3. For that matter, for many of them

their perfect world has no more elections.

[DeminPennswoods]

4. That's true of the House members

in many instances, but not of the Senate.

[Mattgoetznolovefromm]

5. Not true (nt)

[DeminPennswoods]

7. Gerrymandering affects House seats, not Senators

since they run statewide.

There are states where Rs and Ds have little chance of being elected to the Senate, but that isn't a result of gerrymandering.

[Ace Rothstein]

9. But a number of states are R locks.

We have a very low chance to win a Senate seat in probably 15 states.

[edhopper]

21. Voter suppression does

ask Rick Scott.

[edhopper]

6. It is

when you use voter suppression in varied ways.

[sfstaxprep]

8. Which Is Why I've Given Up On America

My apologies, but I can't deal with this Shit.

When my parents pass away, I'm getting the fuck out of here.

[edhopper]

10. Where are you going?

[sfstaxprep]

12. Thinking About Denmark

I've also heard good things about New Zealand, but that might be a little too remote for my tastes. I want somewhere that has a good music scene and is on the touring schedule of most major acts.

My parents are in their 80's, and still healthy, so I don't know when I'll actually pursue it, but I'm looking into it already.

[edhopper]

17. Amsterdam or Brussels

are great.

[sfstaxprep]

18. Definitely Not Belgium

They fucked up on Covid even worse than we did.

That's a definite measuring stick for me. I can't go anywhere that ignored the pandemic and handled it poorly.

The pandemic is a significant reason I want to get out of America. We're a worldwide embarrassment.

[edhopper]

19. Well

good luck.

[TwilightZone]

13. There are plenty of places in the US to live that aren't red

Just about any large city and lots of suburbs.

Declaring the entire country shit based on limited experience is a bit short-sighted.

[sfstaxprep]

14. It's The Country That I Despise

I realize there are pockets of blue. I live in California.

The Blue states are still located in America. That's the problem.

I'm ASHAMED, EMBARRASSED and DISGUSTED with how the country acts, on a daily basis.

I have felt this way for awhile, it's not a sudden assessment of the situation. The last 4 years.....last 12 months.....last 1 month.....solidify my belief.

I'm waiting to hear otherwise that things are not as bleak as they seem. Hearing how things MIGHT turn around means shit to me at this point. I've been hearing that for decades, and I'm not an idiot. I see reality.

[TwilightZone]

16. It's not the entire country. It's a subset of the country and the people who represent them.

It's the same country that just elected Joe Biden and gave us the Senate so he can actually accomplish something. He did win by more than 7 million votes, after all.

"Hearing how things MIGHT turn around"

Well, they're clearly going to change. They're already changing. There's really no "might" about it. It depends on what you "things" you consider to be important, of course, but change is inevitable.

"I see reality"

No, you see what you're looking for, just like most people, and you choose to see the things that confirm your belief and ignore those that don't. Human nature. I don't think the entire country is to blame, but then I can acknowledge that my reality is different than yours.

[catbyte]

11. More states need to fight back as we have in Michigan. In 2018, fed-up citizens tired of GQP

gerrymandering successfully circulated petitions to get Prop 2 on the ballot, which passed by about a 2/3 majority of us Michiganders. It takes redistricting out of the hands of the legislature and tasks the Independent Redistricting Commission, comprised of 13 members--four Democrats, four GQP, and five unaffiliated citizens. We also passed Proposition 3 (again by about 2/3) that enshrines voting rights into the Michigan State Constitution. Needless to say, the MIGQP was not happy, lol.

We have to take our democracy back now that we know without any doubt whatsoever that the GQP will try to keep its grip on power by any means necessary.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Michigan redistricting commission could be model for other states, SOS says

Posted Jan 16, 2020
By Emily Lawler

The citizen-led redistricting commission Michigan is currently working to form could serve as a model for other states, Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson said Wednesday.

The new process means Michigan gets the opportunity to draw its districts in a new way, but “it’s also an opportunity for us to show the rest of the country that this is possible, that when citizens are given the pen and the paper and the technology and the power to draw districts, they take it, they embrace it, and they do it well and that fair and competitive districts are the result,” Benson said.

snip

https://www.mlive.com/news/2020/01/michigan-redistricting-commission-could-be-model-for-other-states-sos-says.html

[maxsolomon]

20. Iowa, Missouri, Oklahoma?

I wouldn't be that worried either