Democracy, Electoral Reforms, Voting Rights (Also see Political Parties and Elections)

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Supreme Court rejected Trump’s census question — and after wanting to add it anyway he finally he gave up

July 19, 2019 GlenAnderson 0

I have been tracking the news of the deliberately racist, anti-immigrant, and highly partisan question about citizenship that Trump has been pushing hard to include in the 2020 census.  I have posted updates several times to my blog’s section on IMMIGRANTS (http://parallaxperspectives.org/category/immigrants-and-refugees).  See those previous posts for background on the controversy and why Trump’s citizenship question is such a horrible idea. Even after the U.S. Supreme Court explicitly rejected it and exposed the Trump regime’s blatant lies, Trump wanted to find some way to add it anyway, but he could not.  He even considered delaying the 2020 census (despite the […]

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We’re All in This Together

May 24, 2019 GlenAnderson 0

Oppressors like to use “divide-and-conquer” strategies to disempower the 99%. The Olympian published an op-ed I wrote in May 2019. Here is the article as a Word document: BOC — 2019.05.16 FINAL version — We’re All in This Together Here is the article as it appeared on the editorial page on May 23, 2019: https://www.theolympian.com/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/article230676584.html?     

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How We Got into Our Current Crisis

May 24, 2019 GlenAnderson 0

I wrote an insightful article in 2017, and it is still valid, so I updated it only a little and posted it here. I’ll write another proposing remedies for how to get out of this crisis.  Look for that within the next few weeks. How We Got into Our Current Crisis  

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Progress toward replacing the Electoral College with National Popular Vote

May 17, 2019 GlenAnderson 0

Previous posts on this blog have explained how the Electoral College frustrates honest democracy by over-weighting low-population states (which tend to produce Republican majorities) and under-weighting high-population states (which tend to produce Democratic majorities).  This partisan imbalance has caused several Republican presidents to get elected by Electoral College majorities, even though they lost the popular vote.  Trump is the latest example. Fortunately, a number of people and non-profit organizations have been pushing to replace the Electoral College with a National Popular Vote.  Changing the U.S. Constitution is a horrendously huge, slow process that is not likely because the Senate (which […]

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This article exposes Mitch McConnell’s cynical partisanship and rule-breaking. He thinks winning for partisanship is all that counts.

May 17, 2019 GlenAnderson 0

Sometimes each of the big political parties does things intended to serve their own partisan interests instead of the nation as a whole.  But in recent decades the Republican Party has become so extremely hyper-partisan that they have been violating the Constitution and constitutional principles in many ways (e.g., suppressing the voting rights of constituencies who favor Democrats and refusing to hold Senate hearings on Obama’s Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland). This article exposes Mitch McConnell’s cynical partisanship and rule-breaking. He thinks winning for partisanship is all that counts. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/apr/06/mitch-mcconnell-senate-republicans-donald-trump-judges            

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U.S.’s mainstream news media parrot Trump’s propaganda against Venezuela

May 11, 2019 GlenAnderson 0

For much of the U.S.’s long war in Vietnam the mainstream news media obediently reported the official propaganda that the war was necessary and going well.  Only when the truth became blatantly obvious did the news media start covering it more thoughtfully and accurately. Mainstream news media obediently promoted the propaganda that the older George H.W. Bush and the younger George W. Bush promoted in order to justify their wars against Iraq. The same pattern happens over and over, and this pattern is persisting in support of Trump’s utterly unjustifiable efforts to overthrow Venezuela’s democracy by severe economic disruption and/or […]

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Oppose Trump’s disruption and coup against Venezuela’s democracy.

May 11, 2019 GlenAnderson 0

In early May 2019 Trump is still pushing for a coup against Venezuela’s democracy. He and his top foreign policy appointees have explicitly said they want the oil of this oil-rich nation.   On May 6, 2019, World Beyond War (www.worldbeyondwar.org) sent this information: The United States is openly violating the U.N. Charter by threatening war on Venezuela. Read the latest report from activists who are protecting the Venezuelan Embassy in Washington. If you’re in the U.S. email Congress. I urge people to watch this very short video (only 1 minute, 14 seconds) from World Beyond War, calling upon people […]

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Political parties and serious problems

May 9, 2019 GlenAnderson 0

Both of the big political parties cause serious problems. Republican Party leaders deliberately and enthusiastically make problems worse. Republican Party members obediently follow along. Democratic Party members want to solve problems (Green New Deal, Medicare for All, Impeach Trump, promote diversity in the party, etc.) Democratic Party “leaders” refuse to solve those problems. Dem “leaders” rebuff their members – and wonder why Dems don’t win more elections.

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Let’s re-think what REAL “populism” is so we can achieve better democracy.

April 30, 2019 GlenAnderson 0

The term “populism” has been thrown around and given a grossly misleading meaning.  Various pundits have distorted it to seem supportive of racism and Trump’s pandering to his political base’s worst biases. Actually, the U.S. had a TRULY PROGRESSIVE historical era of “populism” more than a century ago.  We need to rediscover those values and build upon the TRULY DEMOCRATIC political instincts that people were organizing around at that time.   This political cartoon should inspire us and guide our truly populist organizing:  CLICK THIS LINK: CARTOON — The people don’t know their true power   “Populism” can be used […]

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Restore and protect felons’ right to vote

April 30, 2019 GlenAnderson 0

Elections would turn out MUCH BETTER if people were not denied their right to vote.  This pertains to people of color, poor people, students living outside of their home districts, and people who have been convicted of felonies.  Only Maine and Vermont allow imprisoned felons to vote, and some are allowing people to regain their voting rights after being released from prison.  Those reforms need to be strengthened and expanded to all states. Here are some items to help with that:   SIGN THIS PETITION:  On April 28, 2019, Democracy for America (www.democracyforamerica.com) sent this e-mail (edited here to reduce […]

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News updates about Trump’s anti-immigrant question on the 2020 Census.

April 29, 2019 GlenAnderson 0

I have posted information several times about Trump’s intention to list a question about citizenship on the 2020 census.  That is a horrible idea for several reasons that I have stated in previous blog posts. Now in late April 2019 there is more news about that.   BACKGROUND AND PREVIOUS INFORMATION: http://parallaxperspectives.org/more-federal-judges-overrule-trumps-census-question-about-citizenship AND http://parallaxperspectives.org/updates-protect-the-2020-census-from-trumps-anti-immigrant-bias   NEWS IN APRIL 2019 On April 17, 2019, the national ACLU provided this information, which they encourage people to share widely.  (I’ve edited it only slightly here): Watch the video at the link at the end of this message, and share it with other people. […]

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Yes, we can organize more effectively at the grassroots for many important issues.

April 26, 2019 GlenAnderson 0

Globally, nationally, and locally, we are confronted with very serious problems. Some people feel overwhelmed and disempowered, so they feel powerless to solve the problems.  But that only allows the horrible problems to get worse. I strongly support the opposite approach:  Recognize that WE CAN INDEED LEARN HOW TO ORGANIZE EFFECTIVELY at the grassroots level (“Think globally and act locally”) to solve the problems. Sometimes people and organizations merely vent or flail about with random activities without a clear strategy for how to make the political and social changes we want.  We can do better than that! Specifically, I seek […]

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U.S.’s “regime change” efforts have been disastrous.

April 26, 2019 GlenAnderson 0

The U.S. has OVERTHROWN many governments — including many democracies. Sometimes the U.S. claims we are protecting “human rights” or restoring “democracy.” But the truth is almost always the opposite. See examples at the “Peace” and “International Affairs” parts of this blog, www.parallaxperspectives.org   An April 22, 2019, article on www.commondreams.org exposed the U.S.’s horrible track record in the context of the Trump regime’s attempt to overthrow Venezuela’s elected president.  READ THE ARTICLE AT THIS LINK. In the article see this photo of a poster attached to Venezuela’s embassy in Washington DC: