The Trump administration has pushed Republican leaders to redraw House district maps before the midterm elections next year. His party already holds 10 of North Carolina’s 14 congressional seats.
Makes it really critical for Democratic-leaning stated to counter the national gerrymandering effort by Republicans, both by passing Prop. 50 in California and launching similar measures in other states
I really can’t wrap my head around what it must be like to be a Republican.
At this point, their “logic” would have to be something like “All indications are that we’re so wildly unpopular that we’re going to get our asses kicked in the midterms, so we’re going to own the libs by cheating.”
That’s not just irrational - it’s pathetic.
People can rationalize anything.
The ones actually doing this shit can tell themselves that this is just how the game is played, that they are doing it for the right reasons, that it’s not wrong to seek a political advantage, that they earned the right to do this when they won an election, and so on. It’s bullshit, but they aren’t starting this particular conversation as idealistic believers in democracy and the rule of law. You only get to this point by either not giving a shit about democratic principles to begin with, or by accepting smaller lies along the way until you are living in a fantasy world of your own making.
For their supporters, it’s a lot easier. They’re all soaking in propaganda and have an entire media ecosystem that’s designed to make them feel justified in anything they support and outraged by anything they oppose. Escaping that trap means questioning things they have already accepted, seriously reconsidering ideas that they know to be abhorrent, actively seeking out sources they have long since dismissed as untrustworthy, and potentially facing the stark realization that the worldview they have cultivated is dishonest and destructive. It’s possible for people to see the disconnect between what they claim to stand for and what they actually support, but for that to work they have to actually be principled enough to put those ideals ahead of loyalty to their side and what they perceive to be their own interests. And they need to have the perspective to see the contradiction in the first place, which is tricky when all your info is coming from sources that only tell you how right you are.
It takes a lot of work to get out of that intellectual rut and ask yourself “are we the baddies?” Much easier to stay where you are and be angry at all those assholes that constantly lie and cheat because they hate everything you believe in.