This started it's life as a Twitter thread ---
It's 4:30 AM.
I've been awake for the past 2 hours.
Follow along if you want to know what's been roiling around in my head.
Surprise! It's about the election.
It seems to me that there are two rock-solid, nothing-else-matters reasons to vote a straight D ticket on November 8.
This is one of the reasons.
The other reason is pretty straightforward, also.
For some reason, it seems that a lot of people don't see things the way I do. Recent polls have shown it more and more likely that Republicans will re-take the House, and possibly the Senate as well.
And I'm lying awake thinking: What the hell?
I know Fox News and it's even more #Fascist kin have been filling peoples' heads with lies.
But really? THAT many people are THAT deluded?
Democrats won the House by a nearly 9-point margin in 2018. What happened in the past 4 years to give the GOP the edge?
Most likely, it's two things:
- Donald Trump isn't president any more, so people incorrectly believe politics is back to what it was in 2014.
- Inflation.
We'll get to politics in a second, but let's discuss inflation.
Yep, inflation is bad. Historically bad.
But this isn't a problem *just* in the U.S. Inflation is spiking all over the world.
To be fair, yes, Biden and the Democrats probably *DID* overspend on COVID stimulus. But there are other factors.
COVID also sent a shock through the supply chain.
Russia invaded Ukraine.
There are no easy solutions --- and FWIW, Republicans have offered no solutions AT ALL.
Voting Republican might make you feel like you're doing something, but it isn't going to fix inflation.
Two things will bring inflation down: Fed interest rate hikes, and the Inflation Reduction Act. And inflation will come down when it comes down, no matter who controls Congress.
(And even the Wall Street Journal agrees the IRA will work).
So --- inflation is NOT a reason to vote Republican.
Let's return to the political side. Do you really think the GOP today is the same as they were 8 years ago?
If so, you are badly mistaken.
Remember --- Trump and his thugs tried to overthrow the government 2 years ago.
And --- so far as we know --- no GOP members of Congress participated in the insurrection.
But they don't seem especially upset about it, either.
They have systematically opposed, condemned, and undermined all attempts to investigate and punish those responsible.
They delayed the creation of the @January6thCmte for months, and then when it finally got up and running, the two GOP members of the committee were condemned as RINOs (Republicans In Name Only).
They said that *LIZ CHENEY* was not a real Republican.
Only 10 GOP members of Congress (out of more than 200) voted to impeach Trump for the insurrection.
Instead, thugs, bullies and probably criminals like Matt Gaetz, Jim Jordan, and Marjorie Taylor-Greene are considered rising stars in today's GOP.
Gaetz and Jordan asked Trump for 'pre-emptive' pardons before Trump left office.
There is no question Trump led the insurrection.
There is no question Trump was behind false slates of electors in SIX STATES.
There is no question Trump stole hundreds of classified documents, putting our national security at risk.
And the GOP is still united behind him.
And maybe you think "I'll worry about Trump when he's on the ballot again in 2 years".
Except that by then it might be too late.
GOP lies about the 2020 election are having serious impact on the infrastructure of democracy *TODAY*.
Thanks to Trump acolytes like Charlie Kirk and Dinesh D'Souza, there are thousands of MAGA bullies convinced that vote fraud is happening.
So we see 'election watchers' like these, who intimidate people at best --- and get someone killed, at worst.
But the worst is that a relentless campaign of right-wing threats and intimidation have driven hard-working, ethical election officials out of office nationwide --- which will cause chaos in 2 weeks.
Nevada is certainly just the start.
The only difference between Republicans in Congress and outright thugs like the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers is that members of Congress have to keep a veneer of respectability, because they can't hide in anonymity.
But they're one in the same.
If you vote for a Republican, you are quite literally voting for this. You're telling the fascists that you're okay with mob rule. I'm pretty sure that you're not, really.
There are, of course, a lot of other reasons to vote for Democrats.
Senate Republicans filibustered a lot of good legislation which Democrats can pass, if they hold the House and Senate, and pick up at least 2 more Senate seats, so they can override the filibuster.
Legislation like Build Back Better, which is similar to the Inflation Reduction Act, but bigger and better.
Legislation like The Equality Act, which would protect LGBTQ+ people from discrimination --- like, in particular, the discrimination they face from Ron DeSantis' odious "Don't Say Gay" bill.
You might think: "A bill about hair? Who cares?"
And the answer is: For some reason, Republicans do. OF COURSE we shouldn't discriminate against people of color due to their hair.
But Republicans disagree.
So that we're less likely to face bully-driven electoral chaos like the GOP has successfully created in Nevada.
And so the GOP can't suppress the vote in predominantly left-leaning/minority areas.
Legislation like Women's Health Protection Act.
Which would make abortion on demand the law of the land.
Which is the only thing that's going to stop this from happening.
And yes --- scenes very much like this ACTUALLY ARE happening today.
Why ANYONE --- other than thugs like Trump's paramilitary goons who invaded the Capitol --- would do anything OTHER THAN vote a straight Democrat ticket is beyond me.
And the consequences for failing to do so are likely to be dire.
