Gerrymandering is not a political squabble between Democrats and Republicans; it’s part of Trump’s comprehensive plan to try to make sure he and MAGA can’t lose future elections. It’s the authoritarian Red America trying to invade and overthrow the more-democratic Blue America. If California adds seats after Texas does so, it’s not a tit-for-tat move, but a defense of all of our freedoms against permanent MAGA minority rule.
As Anat puts it in her latest messaging guide: “The only way to stop a bully is to face them and make clear: we draw the line. That’s why California voters are taking power back into our own hands to ensure that our elections allow the will of the people to prevail.”
Other key insights from our Substack Live chat this week include:
The difference between redistricting in California and Texas is the difference between democracy and autocracy. Californians get to vote on their change; Texans don’t. And if Texas gerrymanders and California doesn’t, the voters in Texas will have more of a say than the people of California about whether Los Angeles stays occupied by federal troops.
Why does Texas have 5 more seats to add in the first place? It’s not because Red State legislators were such good-government Boy Scouts before—it’s because earlier Republican gerrymandering created a MAGA incumbent protection racket.
When our only response to authoritarian power grabs is that they violate “the rule of law” or the Constitution, we’re left with no leg to stand on when the Roberts Court changes the interpretation of the Constitution or allows Trump to get away with breaking the law. We have to seize the moral high ground on fighting for justice and equality.
When Anat asked advocates from Venezuela, El Salvador, and Argentina what they’d do differently if they had a time machine, they all said words to the effect of: “I wish we had not lulled ourselves into the false sense that this could not happen here.”
The next steps for activists should include more things like Tesla Takedown—finding ways to make it much more costly for businesses to side with the Trump regime.
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