I was so naive when the Trumpers stormed the Capitol, so sadly naive....

[Lonestarblue]

8. I felt the same, especially after a few Republicans spoke out against the attack.

Most of them quickly changed their tune and decided that insurrection is a great way to overturn legal elections. The Big Lie became the talking point and the insurrectionists became regular tourists as Republicans began rewriting history to fit their lies.

State Republicans got busy writing laws to allow them to overturn elections in their states without the need for a violent mob. I think it is impossible to overestimate the depravity of the Republican Party and the despicable tactics they will use to win elections, even at the cost of our country.

As a Texas resident, I know that Democrats will not be able to hold off the voter nullification laws indefinitely. I will most likely not be affected because I’m the demographic Republicans favor, although I live in a Democratic city and voters in such cities will be the target for nullification. Republicans are more likely to target Harris County (Houston) and El Paso with more minority voters. One proposed part of the new law is to allow poll observers to challenge voters, no doubt hoping to intimidate them and to cause them to leave without voting. Current law allows poll observers to interact only with the elections workers. There are many more nasty things in the proposed law, such as the change from requiring a signature on a mail ballot to be matched to a signature that is six years old or less. The new law would allow the poll workers to choose which signature they use for matching, so they could choose a signature from 30 years ago that is no longer a perfect match since our signatures change as we age. Ballots have been tossed in the past for minor issues like this.

And with census data set to release soon (I think this month), Republicans will quickly gerrymander the state to gain more seats in the House. That’s why I just do not understand Democrats in the Senate. They know what will happen and they know the House will be lost unless they pass a law that does away with gerrymandering. Yet they delay and delay. It will soon be too late because once new districts are drawn, the courts are likely to allow their use in 2022, no matter how skewed they are, since Texas gained a seat for the House and the old districts would not account for that seat.

Perhaps it’s because I live in a red state with a bunch of wackos in charge, but I feel democracy and our future slipping away day by day.