Warning Signs

Getting somewhat lost in the shuffle of Trump’s racist tweets (which obviously require a response) is the breathtaking assault on fair elections that has even graver implications for civil rights. Slate’s Dahlia Lithwick has a good rundown on the recent Supreme Court decision that the federal courts cannot address grossly distorted electoral maps. As she notes:

To be sure both sides gerrymander for their own ends as these cases show, but Republicans have been able to do it better and more in recent years. In 2010, the Republicans took control of most swing states and took power in ways that they have been able to maintain through much of this decade. The decision to sit this one out so that the court can appear magisterial is a decision to help one party, just as eviscerating the Voting Rights Act and blessing voter ID laws have been.

Then we have the underreported detail of the Russians penetrating our voting systems in apparently all 50 states with the capacity to change votes. I mean, how much coverage did Hillary’s emails get compared to this? And now Mitch McConnell won’t fund a bipartisan election security bill. Don’t forget that the Trump administration has eliminated the position of Obama’s cybersecurity coordinator, who first noted that the Russians had targeted all 50 states. Good thing we have a conspiracy-spewing wackadoo nominated to take over national intelligence.