Minority rule in America

[Nevilledog]

Link to tweet

https://www.vox.com/21448334/republicans-supreme-court-ginsburg-democracy

On a blustery November day, I found myself on the Boston Common with what turned out to be a very small group of protesters. Our view was that Al Gore, who had clearly gotten more votes than his opponent, should be seated as the next president of the United States.

It didn’t happen, and in fact, the line of argument we pursued — that democratic legitimacy ought to count for something — wasn’t even taken up by the Gore campaign or Democrats. They instead pursued a legalistic argument that was denied by a 5-4 majority of conservative Supreme Court justices. Two decades later, we’re staring down the barrel of exactly what I worried about that November: not an old Constitution with some funny quirks, but a self-reinforcing spiral of minority rule.

It’s time to start doing something about it.

Hardball on a tilted playing field

When Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia died in February 2016, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell declared it was too close to the date of a presidential election to hold hearings on the confirmation of a successor.

When Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died in September 2020, McConnell clarified that the rule only applied to situations in which the Senate majority and the president are of opposite parties, and that naturally, a replacement for her should be confirmed as quickly as possible.

*snip*

[CaptYossarian]

1. Minority Rule plus Black lives that don't matter equals Apartheid.

We've been brushing up against it for more than 4 centuries, but it may become official on November 4th--right after P.W. Trump awakens his Adderall-addled mind.

[Maven]

2. YES. It's way past time to start talking about this and taking action on it.

It is at the root of all the problems we are seeing. It's why Democrats lose even when they win and people don't bother to vote because the will of the majority isn't respected in the least. If we are so lucky as to regain control of the Presidency and Senate we MUST take aggressive action to reform the structure of our system. To level the playing field.

It also needs to be said, repeatedly, that there is zero democratic legitimacy to anything that Trump and McConnell and their packed courts are doing.

[CrispyQ]

3. It's wroth the read to understand just how much of an underdog our side is.

[Solly Mack]

4. The tyranny of the minority wrapped in the cloak of the majority.

[pecosbob]

5. For some reason World Party's 'Ship of Fools' comes to mind

It is tomorrow and we are paying...