A hopeful note:
Even with all the voter suppression shenanigans, Texas’ early voting totals are now higher than the entire 2016 election totals.
2016 was itself the high-water mark. This means a new voter participation record for Texas was set before the actual election.
My wife and I were discussing this incident regularly for the last 24 hours. We are both seriously concerned for the lives of Biden and Harris at this stage post election. We both worried for Obama during his 8 years; but things seem more extreme than ever before.
We haven’t seen an attempt since Reagan, I fear 2021 is going to bring another one.
I have a fair number of these folks in my family as well- intelligent and educated, but believing batshit right wing propaganda anti-reality. The best explanation I’ve seen for this is that they are coming to reasonable conclusions for people bathed in a completely alternate universe of false information. They consume only Facebook and Fox News, so every single thing they see, read, and hear is incorrect. They aren’t likely to ever leave that bubble because it’s comforting to their beliefs, and here we are. A few of them are in so deep that I can’t even talk to them anymore. I can’t even find common ground beyond the weather and the local hockey team. So we talk about that.
If they want to make it a “Red Kingdom”, Us vs Them thing, hey, that is workable.
States that self-identify as bastions of Trumpism can be boycotted as tourist destinations. We can stop doing business with corporations that are based in those states. We can lobby our Representatives in Congress not to back Federal projects in those states. Maybe if we decide to mothball military bases, those would be good states to consider first. If this is how they use their interstates, maybe they don’t need as much federal transportation funding.
That’s how Trump wanted to handle the pandemic. If he’s willing to let people in blue states die of covid for lack of federal support, maybe it is time to stop supporting red states in any way we can get away with. Money is the only thing the leadership of this filth really cares about. If they want to secede from the US politically, maybe they need to feel what it is like to do it economically.
This is coming from someone who lives in a red state, btw., I would be happy to see it happen. Sometimes chickens need to come home to roost.
I empathize with the emotion in what you’re saying, and I can definitely relate. The problem is, “red states” are kind of a myth. If you look at higher resolution polling maps, such as by county or zip code, the country is majority blue. The only reason we have “red states” at all is because of gerrymandering, voter suppression, and broken election systems. This is not the fault of most of the people living in those places, and I wouldn’t want to punish anyone for that. If someone boycotted my business because of half the stupid things my state government does, I’d starve to death. The system has been broken by a powerful few, and that’s who we should be looking at (as well as the broken policies that enable their hacking of the election system).
one more instance of domestic terrorism at the call of trump.
From here:
The only states on that map that stand out as more red than purple are Wyoming, North Dakota, West Virginia, and Oklahoma. Will Trump win more electoral vootes than that? Almost certainly. But Texas looks a lot more purple than many.
you make some excellent points. my dad died in 2009 but he voted for obama in 2008 and he was scathing towards his favorite nephew because he voted for mccain. my dad figured my cousin went for mccain because both were vietnam vets, i kept trying to get my dad to understand my cousin was doing it for racist reasons. in a way, i’m almost glad dad didn’t live to see the 2012 election prove me right.
with some of my “fox-news” relatives even the weather is out-of-bounds because any cold snap in winter represents “proof” of the “climate change hoax.”
Did the yahoos in the trucks know that Biden and Harris weren’t there?
id love to see maps like that used on election reporting with bold lines around the borders indicating the winner per candidate. it would get across better how messed up the electoral college is
The possibility of Democrats winning the Presidency, and enough of a majority in both the House and Senate for a long enough time to change the things you list there is basically nil. I don’t mean just this election, I mean ever. There is no possibility of changing what is wrong with our system if only one party is working to do so.
The Trump phenomenon is all about identity. It’s about lack of moderation, an unwillingness to compromise fascist ideals in any way, up to and including what you list there to hold power. Now, they can proudly do even worse than those things, an example being the article we are commenting on. They ignore those of us in these states who differ because we have no voice.
The identity itself has to become a negative for these people. They have to say “Golly, if we proudly identify this state as a homeland for a fascist, racist, hateful ideology, people won’t want to visit here, or do business here.” There have to be repercussions for embracing this filth.
It will be no better for those of us who live in these states if this violence becomes widespread. I would prefer economic hardship over something more literally akin to Sherman’s march to the sea.
I’m hoping it has big ramifications down-ballot. (I might even consider moving back, one day.)
Just regular garden variety attempted murder, kidnapping, assault, attempted vehicular homicide, terrorism, conspiracy, and in Trump’s case aiding and abetting.
I wouldn’t be at all surprised if some of the terrorists involved in this thought/hoped Biden or Harris was on this bus and while IANAL, I’m pretty certain that could be considered an assassination attempt in the strictly legal sense.
I think that is a bit hyperbolic.
It certainly was intimidation, and if one article is correct, assault when there was a collision at one point with one of the staffer’s vehicles.
This reminds me of the 50s and 60s even more.
Oh, fuck those assholes for using Tech 9ine’s “Red Kingdom”. That’s our fucking song for the Chiefs.
Go get your own anthem. I’m sure some fascist punk band can hook you up.
Princess Di might disagree.
*Not implying that she was intentionally assassinated by a conspiracy or anything like that, just pointing out that being in a vehicle surrounded by a scrum of assholes in vehicles can get you killed
I’d agree it adds danger to driving. But assassination also requires intent. People driving like assholes - which I seem to encounter every time I get on the highway - are dangerous. But the intent of these Trump assholes and the Paparazzi with Di were to follow and harass. Not kill anyone.
Though I agree they create a dangerous situation that could cause a deadly accident.
On Twitter, Narvaiz wrote: “We sent the @JoeBiden @KamalaHarris bus out of Hays! Your kind aren’t welcome here!”
“We don’t want any of the values or policies that the Democratic Party is embracing,” she told the Tribune on Saturday. “We don’t want any of those in Texas.”
Y’all know there’s no fucking way you’re getting into Heaven, right?
As someone who lives in a very blue part of a red state, this is the case. Some of the touristy parts of GA (ATL) are most certainly very blue. I live in the bluest suburbs right now. But time and again, we all get painted with the same broad-ass brush. It’s really tedious, if you want to know.
This is true in EVERY state, red or blue. Fixing that takes hard work, not just abandoning large swaths of the country to sure fire oppression for many of us.
And yet people can and do change things all the time. Deciding that half the country isn’t worth saving and leaving those of us who aren’t fascist to our fate isn’t particularly helpful strategy.
I have not, yet live in a red state. Do I deserve those repercussions?
It already is. These groups are not confined to red states and they never have been. It’s a national problem that must be addressed in that way.
[ETA] Also, in case you need a reminder, here is a set of pictures that show the documentation of voter suppression and the campaign against it in my state:
THAT is how you change shit. Slow, steady, hard work, not abandoning half the fucking country because it’s just easier that way.
