This is the point that I think people miss. Everyone looks at Trump as if he was the beginning, but this shit all started with SCOTUS stealing Florida from Gore. Then came the incremental steps by the Bush admin to strip away small freedoms under the guise of national security. Since then, Republican presidents have seated five justices - the only holdover being Clarence "my wife is a bit of a seditionist herself" Thomas. This has all been decades in the making; Trump was just the last leap into the abyss.
The ongoing coup
Re: The ongoing coup
This case, Moore v. Harper (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moore_v._Harper) seems to concern some trivial shit but Moore, the side representing the North Carolina Legislature, has centered their argument on the claim that the unrecognised constitutional theory of Independent State Legislature Doctrine (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independe ... e_Doctrine) is legitimate and should be American law. If the majority pro-Trump SCOTUS rules in favor of Moore (who is the pro-Trump side of the case), then ISLD will become US law.
Consequences of ISLD:
State legislatures are allowed to throw out electoral college electors in federal presidential elections and replace them with whoever they like, overriding the public and giving every vote in their state to their preferred candidate
State legislatures are allowed to destroy ballots for any reason they like in federal elections
State legislatures are allowed to crate new ballots for any candidate they like in federal elections (ballot stuffing)
Civil war at the next election
Consequences of ISLD:
State legislatures are allowed to throw out electoral college electors in federal presidential elections and replace them with whoever they like, overriding the public and giving every vote in their state to their preferred candidate
State legislatures are allowed to destroy ballots for any reason they like in federal elections
State legislatures are allowed to crate new ballots for any candidate they like in federal elections (ballot stuffing)
Civil war at the next election
Under the Independent State Legislature Doctrine:
When it comes to federal elections, legislators would be free to violate the state constitution and state courts couldn’t stop them.
Extreme versions of the theory would block legislatures from delegating their authority to officials like governors, secretaries of state, or election commissioners, who currently play important roles in administering elections.
The theory is absolutely bonkers. It would write a blank check for republican state legislators to literally violate state constitutions with impunity. So when they do all those things - which again, I cannot stress this enough, are literally unconstitutional things - the courts cannot correct.
When it comes to federal elections, legislators would be free to violate the state constitution and state courts couldn’t stop them.
Extreme versions of the theory would block legislatures from delegating their authority to officials like governors, secretaries of state, or election commissioners, who currently play important roles in administering elections.
The theory is absolutely bonkers. It would write a blank check for republican state legislators to literally violate state constitutions with impunity. So when they do all those things - which again, I cannot stress this enough, are literally unconstitutional things - the courts cannot correct.
Re: The ongoing coup
It's a coup. That's not hyperbole, we're witnessing a coup of the American government.
Conservative coup blueprint years in the making:
Gerrymander states so much that they lock in control of a majority of state governments.
Neutralize the federal congress - this is achieved 1) with our senate system, which grants massive advantage to rural, conservative, hyper-low population states, and refusing to grant new statehood to places like DC and Puerto Rico, 2) with the artificial cap on House seats, which is relatively new to American government, and prevents high population states from gaining electoral advantage proportional to their population growth.
Similar rules to the artificial cap on house seats also prevent high population states from gaining proportional advantage in the electoral college, meaning republicans also get a built in advantage in presidential elections. This is why republicans are consistently losing the popular vote yet are still able to win presidential elections, which in turn lets them appoint Supreme Court justices.
With control of the Supreme Court, conservative justices rule that courts aren't allowed to halt partisan gerrymandering, further enabling conservatives to lock in control of a majority of state governments.
The end result: a minority of conservative Americans control our government and laws through the Supreme Court and state governments, and all other government authorities are rendered irrelevant. The Supreme Court says that laws liberal states enact are unconstitutional, and say that laws conservative states enact are constitutional. In this way, the conservative Supreme Court is partnering with conservative states to force conservative policies on the entire country, all without any checks and balances and only having the support of a minority of Americans.
Millions more Americans are going to start waking up to the fact that a coup has just been performed with each day that goes by now.
Edit: For more clarity on the artificial cap on House seats and rules governing presidential electors that I mentioned:
https://www.thegreenpapers.com/Census10/FedRep.phtml
Wyoming receives one House representative for every 568,000 residents.
California receives one House representative for every 704,000 residents.
Wyoming receives one presidential elector for every 189,000 residents.
California receives one presidential elector for every 678,000 residents.
The artificial caps in place prevent big population states from gaining full electoral advantages when their populations increase. These rules, along with the 2 senator per state system, give all of the proportional advantages to the lowest population states, which tend to be rural and conservative.
Conservative coup blueprint years in the making:
Gerrymander states so much that they lock in control of a majority of state governments.
Neutralize the federal congress - this is achieved 1) with our senate system, which grants massive advantage to rural, conservative, hyper-low population states, and refusing to grant new statehood to places like DC and Puerto Rico, 2) with the artificial cap on House seats, which is relatively new to American government, and prevents high population states from gaining electoral advantage proportional to their population growth.
Similar rules to the artificial cap on house seats also prevent high population states from gaining proportional advantage in the electoral college, meaning republicans also get a built in advantage in presidential elections. This is why republicans are consistently losing the popular vote yet are still able to win presidential elections, which in turn lets them appoint Supreme Court justices.
With control of the Supreme Court, conservative justices rule that courts aren't allowed to halt partisan gerrymandering, further enabling conservatives to lock in control of a majority of state governments.
The end result: a minority of conservative Americans control our government and laws through the Supreme Court and state governments, and all other government authorities are rendered irrelevant. The Supreme Court says that laws liberal states enact are unconstitutional, and say that laws conservative states enact are constitutional. In this way, the conservative Supreme Court is partnering with conservative states to force conservative policies on the entire country, all without any checks and balances and only having the support of a minority of Americans.
Millions more Americans are going to start waking up to the fact that a coup has just been performed with each day that goes by now.
Edit: For more clarity on the artificial cap on House seats and rules governing presidential electors that I mentioned:
https://www.thegreenpapers.com/Census10/FedRep.phtml
Wyoming receives one House representative for every 568,000 residents.
California receives one House representative for every 704,000 residents.
Wyoming receives one presidential elector for every 189,000 residents.
California receives one presidential elector for every 678,000 residents.
The artificial caps in place prevent big population states from gaining full electoral advantages when their populations increase. These rules, along with the 2 senator per state system, give all of the proportional advantages to the lowest population states, which tend to be rural and conservative.
Re: The ongoing coup
The 1929 Permanent Apportionment Act:
In 1929 the House was fixed at 435 Members . A change to this legislation to adjust the number of Members to the same per capita as 1929 would mean that Wyoming would go from 1 House rep to 2 (and therefore from 3 electoral college votes to 4) while California would go from 53 House members to 141 (and therefore 55 electoral college votes to 143).
In 1929 the House was fixed at 435 Members . A change to this legislation to adjust the number of Members to the same per capita as 1929 would mean that Wyoming would go from 1 House rep to 2 (and therefore from 3 electoral college votes to 4) while California would go from 53 House members to 141 (and therefore 55 electoral college votes to 143).