We begin today’s roundup with Charles Blow and his piece in The New York Times on the Republican attacks on democracy:
Altering the structure of power in a state to limit the influence of an incoming executive of an opposing party wasn’t something I thought I’d ever see in America, but unfortunately this isn’t even the first time we’ve seen it. This is not the first time Republicans have done it. [...] Republican anti-democratic tendencies aren’t limited to the transfer of power. They extend to areas like the widespread efforts to enact voter suppression, from voter ID laws to voter roll purges to shortening early-voting windows to gerrymandering.
The editors at USA Today call out Republicans in Wisconsin, Michigan and North Carolina for failing to respect the will of voters:
These blatant power grabs show a palpable contempt for voters. For decades, even as the political debate has grown more caustic, lawmakers of both parties have shown an admirable reverence for popular sovereignty, democratic elections and graceful transitions of power. Now, that is very much in doubt.
Lame-duck sessions should be used to tie up loose ends or enact legislation with broad bipartisan support, not to ram through partisan measures that do not reflect the will of the voters.
Making matters worse, the majorities in Wisconsin, Michigan and North Carolina, as well as numerous other states, are built on grotesque gerrymandering inflicted like a cancer on the body politic after the 2010 election.
