We don’t need the votes

Mark Sumner of Daily Kos reported on a paper published in the Journal of American Medical Association that shows an enormous number of unnecessary deaths during the COVID pandemic. These deaths aren’t directly because of the nasty guy, but because of the actions by state governments.

As many as one-quarter of a million Americans died simply because their state governments refused to impose good public health standards. They died as appeasements to the twin gods of ignorance and politics.

I’ll let you read the details of how the analysis was done. The refusal to take proper precautions wasn’t about saving money. I’m sure the states lost money through medical expenses. It also has an estimate in the trillions on the value of lives lost (though I didn’t understand that part).

The sheer number of people who died because a group of red state governors chose to—not had to, but chose to—implement policies they could brag about at the next big Republican event is simply devastating. Those amoral governors may never answer for these lost lives in any meaningful way, but voters can make sure those who are still in office get their just desserts at the ballot box.

Alas, many of those governors were and are praised for the actions that caused these deaths and have already been voted back in. In an article from ten days ago Aldous Pennyfarthing of Kos discussed a new Florida bill that opens schools to additional counseling services for students from outside organizations. It is a way to get religious “chaplains” on the school campus. Though the volunteer chaplain can, but doesn’t have to, disclose their organization Gov. DeathSantis is clear that the intent is to insert Christianity into public education. Members of the Satanic Temple are ready to join the volunteer chaplains. Pennyfarthing wrote:

The temple is really more secular than satanic, and uses the dark threat of “Satan” to make a point about religious pluralism. Its leaders see the new law as an entree—not for satanism, per se, but for reason and fairness. Satanic Temple members are ready to bring the good news of Satan and all his fictional works—as well as the Founding Fathers’ very real work product—to Sunshine State schoolchildren from the Panhandle to the Keys. But this isn’t a joke or a prank. It’s a serious effort to wake America up to the theocratic cancer that’s currently metastasizing across the country. “You have theocrats pushing further and further, signing unconstitutional bills into law, and they realize there’s no consequence,” Lucien Graves, co-founder of The Satanic Temple, told The Guardian. “And they also realize that when people see these laws passed, and the outrage comes, they’re not even necessarily going to recognize or realize when those laws are later overturned by the courts. “They’re giving everybody the impression that these types of things are legal, this is just the environment we’re living in,” Graves said. “And in that way they’re really numbing people to when these things actually do take effect, or when they are upheld by a corrupt judge who’s just playing partisan politics.”

So when you vote, fill out the entire ballot. Not voting for the lower races means Republicans have a higher chance to slip in a theocrat at the state or local level. You started to vote, so finish the job. In a pundit roundup for Kos from last week Chitown Kev quoted David Litt of The Atlantic who discussed Biden’s proposed (at that time not yet released) reforms to the Supreme Court:

As the Court has become more politicized, its conservative judges have insisted that checks and balances ought not apply to the judicial branch. Chief Justice Roberts declined an invitation to appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee, citing separation of powers. Alito went further, arguing that Congress doesn’t have the ability to set rules and guidelines for the Court at all. Meanwhile, although no one has formally declared the change, it has become generally accepted that no justices will be confirmed while the Senate and the White House belong to opposite parties, and that justices will not retire while a president of the opposite party is in office. When you combine these two factors, the old method of checking the Court—winning elections and letting time take its toll—has been rendered unworkable. The Court is thus, to use a phrase popularized by Game of Thrones and embraced by Donald Trump and his movement, demanding that the American people bend the knee. It is asking them to accept that their country will continue to become more conservative for decades, maybe forever, no matter what they want or whom they vote for. In proposing checks on the Court, Biden is refusing to capitulate to this new arrangement. This is particularly notable given his former opposition to such changes. He is going beyond a single decision or appointment and taking on the structure of the Court itself.

Kos of Kos listed several reasons why the nasty guy had a bad weekend after having a bad week: The broader electorate is now paying attention to his fascism. Harris is motivating Democrats and independents. The more voters see her they more they like her. She is hauling in the cash and volunteers. Fox released a poll showing Harris ahead in four swing states (and ten points ahead in Michigan!). She’s not firing on all cylinders yet. Vance continues to demonstrate how bad he is and he’s been the butt of jokes. The nasty guy’s favorables went down – the assassination attempt and convention didn’t give him a bounce. He’s still campaigning against “sleepy Joe.” Democratic surrogates – Buttigieg, Walz, and Beshear – are hitting hard and effectively. Biden is and can continue tossing out policies that voters want but will only happen if Democrats control the White House and Congress. The description of the nasty guy/Vance as “weird” has taken hold (and is only better than “creepy”).

For Republicans, the problem is that it’s true. Their obsession with sex is weird. Their archaic notions about the role of women and autonomy over their bodies is weird. Their dalliances with white supremacists and Nazis are weird. Their love for Russian dictator Vladimir Putin is weird. Their hysteria over the Paris Olympics is weird. Much of what’s in Project 2025 is weird. Yes, they’re obviously dangerous, but weird captures the zeitgeist far better than any alarmist language (no matter how justified).

That bit about the hysteria over the Olympics: The opening ceremonies featured drag queens and a tableau many are claiming mocks Jesus and the disciples at the Last Supper. Weird they don’t complain about the headless Marie Antoinette. Kos concludes:

Guys, we don’t just have a chance to win, but we have a chance to win big. And winning big doesn’t mean just nipping any second Trump insurgency in the bud. It means lifting up all electoral boats—the Senate, the House, state governorships, and legislatures.

newusername of the Kos community posted a segment of Rachel Maddow and is wondering if Democrats have a plan for dealing with it. The six minute video is included in the post. I replayed parts of it to make sure I got the quotes right. This segment seems to be the end of Maddow discussing the many weird things about the Republican and nasty guy campaigns. Harris is running a traditional campaign. The nasty guy isn’t. In this part she started by saying the nasty guy had called on his supporters to vote “just this time.” Then they won’t have to do it again – as if voting is a burden would would be relieved to leave behind. But democracy is based on voting. And what the nasty guy said is exactly what one would think it is. He said that on Friday. The day before he said it a bit differently: His supporters don’t need to vote for him this November. He had said frequently “We don’t need the votes. We have so many votes.” Saying that is truly weird. Because it means, as Maddow said, “He doesn’t need to win the vote...to win the election. He doesn’t need to win the election in order to take power. He thinks something other than votes is going to determine whether he gets back in the White House.” Rolling stone reported they had identified at least 70 pro nasty guy election conspiracists and denialists working as county election officials in six swing states. Their purpose is to make sure November’s votes do not get certified. They are assuming if they don’t certify in several small counties, the statewide results cannot be certified. Maddow said, “They are not planning on the vote being counted as normal. They are not counting on the election results being tallied as normal. They are not counting on the vote, and in fact Trump is now repeatedly saying the vote will not matter. The Republicans are counting on the election results not being certified, thereby creating chaos in Washington around the results.” These 70 people are in place to make sure there won’t be official results. Maddow concluded: “Are [Democrats] prepared for this level of weirdness after the votes are cast? Are they ready for what’s coming?” I’m including a link to this post of LGBTQ literature not because of the book mentioned (the host took a break) but because the photo at the top is of Harris in a rainbow vest. She’s with us.