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The jury acquittal of self-appointed vigilante Kyle Rittenhouse left far-right militias and Republican Trumpers chortling. Seemingly, this win was a trifecta. It vindicates the strategy of enacting self-defense, open-carry, and stand-your-ground laws. It makes a hero of Rittenhouse. It intensifies the racist maneuver of leaving Blacks at the mercy of rogue cops and private militiamen, making it harder for Biden to keep faith with African American demands for justice without scaring off whites.

The right has gone to town with its dog-whistle messages caricaturing AP English classes that assign Toni Morrison as anti-parent; contending that the Democrat Party favors defunding the police; and claiming that the abstruse body of Critical Race Theory is being used to brainwash public school students. Now the Rittenhouse verdict seemingly adds another arrow to the quiver.

When Biden tried to walk the racial tightrope after the Rittenhouse verdict, he issued a tepid statement that seemed to emphasize the importance at keeping protest peaceful more than outrage at the verdict. It began:While the verdict in Kenosha will leave many Americans feeling angry and concerned, myself included, we must acknowledge that the jury has spoken. I ran on a promise to bring Americans together, because I believe that what unites us is far greater than what divides us. This mild criticism only further enflamed many Blacks without weakening Republican strategy.

But think a little harder. Most Americans do not feel safer with 17-year-old trigger-happy vigilantes patrolling their communities with AR-15s. If Kyle Rittenhouse is the new face of the Republican Party, thats a win for Democrats.

Most of the white American public is less racist than Republicans would like to believe. The murder convictions in the fatal shooting of Ahmaud Arbery demonstrate that even in the deep south vigilantes are not invariably given impunity.After the police murder of George Floyd, two-thirds of Americans approved of the Movement for Black Lives. That approval has declined some, but has stabilized at around 55 percent. After former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was convicted of Floyds murder in May 2021, three-quarters of Americans approved of the verdict.

Early polls show that a majority of Americans were uneasy about the Ritttenhouse acquittal. A YouGov pollfoundthat a large majority of Democrats and a plurality of independents felt Rittenhouse was guilty of murder.

A Morning Consult pollfoundthat 71 percent of Republicans but only 43 percent of all those polled approved of the verdict. A plurality also said the verdict gave them less confidence in the criminal justice system.

The strategy of lionizing vigilantes like Rittenhouse may deepen Republican support in hard-core Trump country. It will be a gift to Democrats in suburban swing districts where the 2022 midterms will be decided.

November 24, 2021

3:00 PM

Link:
The Rittenhouse Verdict Will Backfire on Republicans - The American Prospect

Election Day was Nov. 2, but if you lived in Bucks County, Pa., and you thought you would know the winners by the end of the week, you were in for a disappointment. One week after the fact, the county was still trying to figure out which ballots to count and who won. Not surprisingly, some people sending mail-in ballots were unable to follow simple instructions. Also not surprisingly, the election board was still debating what to count even in the case of unsigned ballots, which are clearly illegal under Pennsylvania law (eventually, these ballots were rejected).

But Bucks County is not the only place where delays and debates occur. Election workers not following instructions, machines jamming, false registrations and voting in the wrong precinct are just some of the various mistakes that occur regularly. Individually, each problem is minor and not likely to result in a change, but the collective weight of mistakes and regularity of occurrence are grating, to say the least.

Worse, tracking who is and who is not eligible to vote is far from assured. When a person dies, their county election department is one of the places that is supposed to get a copy of the death certificate at which point they are removed from the rolls. How efficiently do you think thats working? Not very well in Michigan, where up to 25,000 deceased people are still on the voter rolls.

The same problem exists for changes of address, where your new county election department is tasked to inform the county of your previous residence that you have moved, which takes your name off the rolls. That process is not going too well either, with over 7 million voters registered in more than one jurisdiction and virtually unchanged since 2014, so the problem is not getting better.

None of this proves fraud or vindicates Donald TrumpDonald TrumpFive reasons for Biden, GOP to be thankful this season Giving thanks for Thanksgiving itself Immigration provision in Democrats' reconciliation bill makes no sense MOREs allegations of a stolen election.

If anything, the fact that Trump and his legal team could not find a single vote to overturn in the midst of all these voting roll problems makes his crew so incompetent they dont even qualify to serve as Keystone Kops.

But it does show that the opportunity exists and where there is both opportunity and motive, somebody, somewhere will take advantage.

The problem is not in high-profile, well-funded races, where a combination of media and partisan scrutiny pairs with the resources for poll watchers and lawyers. No, the problem is in low-profile local races where candidates dont have the resources for lawyers and investigators.

Whats the motive? Not only do local governments have their own patronage, contracts, public authorities and finance, but they make land use and permitting decisions that are worth millions. Consider a municipality in an off-year with low turnout, but dozens or even hundreds of non-existent voters on the rolls. With no media coverage, limited partisan interest and low funds, it would be quite tempting for an unscrupulous land developer to nudge the vote in one direction and who would know? Or care to investigate?

We know that elections have been stolen or been subject to fraud: local elections, state elections and national elections; Robert Caro essentially proves Lyndon Johnson stole his 1948 U.S. Senate primary and may have stolen Texas for President Kennedy in 1960. But the scattering of proven stolen elections likely hides many more. After all, why register thousands of fraudulent voters, if you dont intend to use them at some point?

Election fraud has three possible outcomes: 1) You steal enough votes to win, 2) You steal votes, but not enough to win, and 3) You steal votes, but you would have won anyway. In the latter two cases, the election fraud does not change who won. If a candidate wins in a landslide, there is little impetus to investigate. The same holds for a candidate who wins despite an attempt to steal the election. Why dont we hear much about election fraud? Simply because examples #2 and #3 are not investigated. Should criminals be let off the hook just because they are bad at their chosen profession?

Voter fraud and election security is proving to be a potent issue beyond just Republican voters. Lost in all the handwringing over Trumps sore-loser whining and the media hyperventilating over GOP voters acquiescence is that independents are also listening. According to YouGov, 39 percent of independents think President BidenJoe BidenUS lawmakers arrive in Taiwan to meet with local officials Biden meets with Coast Guard on Thanksgiving Five reasons for Biden, GOP to be thankful this season MORE was not legitimately elected even 5 percent of Democrats agree.

When it comes to being a sore loser, Trump has company among Republican and Democratic voters. Only 26 percent of voters think the correct person won each of the last two Presidential elections, according to Rassmussen, with 52 percent of Democrats not thinking Trump legitimately won in 2016 (20 percent of independents) and 66 percent of Republicans thinking likewise about Biden (25 percent Independents). YouGov puts the number of Republicans who think Trump beat Biden at 76 percent. And plenty of Republicans remember Terry McAuliffeTerry McAuliffeFive reasons for Biden, GOP to be thankful this season BBB threatens the role of parents in raising and educating children Virginia's urgent lesson: Democrats' down-ballot enthusiasm gap MORE refusing to accept the results of the 2000 presidential election.

Put together, GOP demands for better election accountability, post-election audits, voter ID and general transparency will prove to be powerful issues going forward. There is surprising public agreement on a series of election integrity questions.

According to Pew Research, 76 percent of voters support requiring a photo ID to vote (61 percent of Democrats, 93 percent of Republicans), 82 percent want a paper backup to electronic voting, and 78 percent support early in-person voting (63 percent of Republicans, 91 percent of Democrats).

Removing people from the voter rolls is less popular (purging the rolls), with just 46 percent support. But that is when the question asks about removing people who have not recently voted. In the past, a voter purge was for those who have not voted in 4-5 years (an automatic purge would remove dead people and duplicate voters). I think it is quite likely if the question included a 5-year time frame, it would garner significant support. Regardless, Republican support for the purge has gone up in three years from 53 percent to 68 percent, and even Democratic support has edged up from 23 percent to 27 percent.

Voting should not be a medieval gauntlet, but it should have appropriate safeguards. Deciding who should run our various governments is a critical act with far-reaching consequences. The priority should be to educate the public and ensure the integrity of the process, not to make it as easy as ordering a pizza.

Keith Naughton, Ph.D., is co-founder of Silent Majority Strategies, a public and regulatory affairs consulting firm. Naughton is a former Pennsylvania political campaign consultant. Follow him on Twitter@KNaughton711.

Read this article:
Election 'irregularities' an issue that concerns more than just Republicans | TheHill - The Hill

Despite opposition from most of our Kansas congressional delegation, new federal dollars are coming to Kansas to expand broadband access.

President Joe Biden recently signed a $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill, fulfilling a 2020 campaign promise. The bill had moderate bipartisan support, though every Republican in Congress from Kansas opposed it. The only Kansan to support it was Democratic Representative Sharice Davids.

Kansas will receive about $4 billion from the bill, including about $100 million to expand broadband infrastructure and money to help 669,000 working class Kansans get discounted internet through the Affordable Connectivity Benefit.

Broadband means high speed internet access, specifically a minimum of 25 megabits per second download speed. However, many tech experts argue that this definition is outdated, and suggest a 100 Mbps standard.

Broadband is an economic necessity. Businesses without it struggle to grow. Doctors without it struggle to serve patients. Kansans without it struggle through basic online tasks using unreliable and slow connections.

According to BroadbandNow, which tracks internet provider data, 173,000 Kansans lack home broadband service and 307,000 dont have access to connections capable of broadband speed.

Rural communities generally struggle more to get broadband access. Basic capitalism explains why: Its expensive and not necessarily profitable for businesses to build broadband infrastructure in smaller rural communities with lower population densities and often shrinking populations.

BroadbandNow data shows this divide in Kansas. For example, in urban Shawnee County, 95% of residents have access to 25 Mbps speed and 93% have 100 Mbps. Next door in rural Wabaunsee County, those figures are 65% and 55% respectively. In rural Doniphan County, thats 89% and 12%.

The infrastructure bill has odd politics considering that several provisions like broadband disproportionately help Republican-leaning rural communities. Why would our elected Republicans oppose it?

Story continues

Broadband got engulfed in the theater of Beltway partisan politics. In 2016, former President Donald Trump promised a $1 trillion infrastructure bill. Trump didnt keep that promise. He then attacked the Biden bill and acted offended at Republicans who supported it.

Even if our Republican lawmakers secretly supported the infrastructure bill and broadband money for Kansas, politics prevented them from being open about it. Maybe they feared ending their political careers in a primary. But rural Kansans getting internet via dial-up or a slow mobile hotspot with limited data probably dont care which presidents signature helps bring them broadband.

Some of our Kansas Republican lawmakers criticized the cost of the infrastructure bill and its impact on debt. Maybe they forgot that Trumps infrastructure plan cost about the same as Bidens, or that Trumps presidency added $7.8 trillion in national debt, per Federal Reserve data. Politics not money seems the real issue.

Some politicians claim they support broadband but oppose the infrastructure bill. Okay. Words wont fix this problem. What legislation have they sponsored to fund broadband separately? And do they support the House Republican CONNECT Act in this Congress that would ban local governments from creating broadband networks to serve their local citizens?

Of all the parts of the infrastructure bill, broadband seems worth the cost, especially if it helps our struggling rural communities integrate into the modern economy and stop population loss. Its unfortunate that Beltway politics kept average Kansans from getting the greater bipartisan support that they deserved here.

Patrick R. Miller is an associate professor of political science at the University of Kansas.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansans will get broadband access despite beltway politics from GOP

See original here:
Beltway politics kept Kansas Republicans in Congress from backing broadband access for rural towns - Yahoo News

The Wyoming Republican party will no longer recognize Liz Cheney as a member of the GOP in a rebuke over her vote to impeach Donald Trump over his role in the 6 January insurrection.

The vote by the state party central committee followed votes by local GOP officials in about one-third of Wyomings 23 counties to no longer recognize Cheney as a Republican.

The vote is the groups second formal rebuke for her criticism of Trump. In February, the Wyoming GOP central committee voted overwhelmingly to censure Cheney, Wyomings lone US representative.

Cheney has described her vote to impeach Trump as an act of conscience in defense of the constitution. Trump incited the mob and lit the flame of that days events, Cheney said after the attack.

It was laughable for anybody to suggest Cheney isnt a conservative Republican, said Cheneys spokesperson, Jeremy Adler, on Monday.

She is bound by her oath to the constitution. Sadly, a portion of the Wyoming GOP leadership has abandoned that fundamental principle and instead allowed themselves to be held hostage to the lies of a dangerous and irrational man, Adler added.

Cheney is now facing at least four Republican opponents in the 2022 primary, including the Cheyenne attorney Harriet Hageman, whom Trump has endorsed. Hageman in a statement called the latest state GOP central committee vote fitting, the Casper Star-Tribune reported.

Liz Cheney stopped recognizing what Wyomingites care about a long time ago. When she launched her war against President Trump, she completely broke with where we are as a state, Hageman said.

In May, Republicans in Washington DC removed Cheney from a top congressional GOP leadership position after she continued to criticize Trumps false claims that voter fraud cost him re-election.

Cheney had survived an earlier attempt to remove her as chairwoman of the House Republican conference, a role that shapes GOP messaging in the chamber.

Read more here:
Wyoming Republican party stops recognizing Liz Cheney as member - The Guardian

There arent a lot of things you can count on in this life, but one thing on which you definitely, 100% always can is Republicans rallying around the absolute worst members of society. Whether its an unsympathetic teen who killed two people, a colleague who proudly harasses school shooting survivors, or a Supreme Court justice accused of attempted rape, the GOP just loves to go to bat for these people. So naturally, their new pet cause is Steve Bannon, the indicted former Trump adviser who is literally still trying to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

In the wake of the Friday news that a grand jury had charged Bannon for refusing to appear for a deposition with January 6 investigators and refusing to turn over requested documentsneither of which is in dispute!Republican lawmakers have flown to the mans defense, claiming, amazingly, that hes a victim of a zealous Department of Justice and vowing to get revenge against the people who have wronged him.

Now that Democrats have started these politically-motivated indictments for Contempt of Congress, I look forward to seeing their reactions when we keep that same energy as we take back the House next year! Rep. Lauren Boebert tweeted on Saturday, as though theres a single, solitary thing that Republicans do thats not politically motivated. For years, Democrats baselessly accused President Trump of weaponizing the DOJ. In reality, it is the Left that has been weaponizing the DOJ the ENTIRE TIME - from the false Russia Hoax to the Soviet-style prosecution of political opponents, Rep. Elise Stefanikclaimed, apparently forgetting that Donald Trump desperately tried to get the DOJ to prosecute, among others, Hillary Clinton, James Comey, Barack Obama, and Joe Biden. Matt Gaetz, who knows a little something about potential indictments, tweeted the hashtag #TeamBannon alongside a photo of the two of them on a tarmac near Air Force One.

Meanwhile, Rep. Jim Jordan suggested that Republicans will seek retribution for Bannon if they take over the House in 2022, claiming that Biden aides can expect to receive an avalanche of frivolous subpoenas. Joe Biden has evicerated [sic] Executive Privilege, Jordan wrote on Twitter. There are a lot of Republicans eager to hear testimony from Ron Klain and Jake Sullivan when we take back the House. Obviously, Jordan did not mention that Klain and Sullivan do not have information concerning the violent attack on the Capitol that took place last January, nor did he note that Congress is strictly interested in what Bannon might have discussed with Trump in regard to the insurrection, and not legitimate government business. Bannonis viewed as a key witness for the January 6 select committee because he reportedly had conversations with Trump in the weeks leading up to the Capitol attack, was present in the war room of Trump allies as the insurrection went down, andtoldpodcast listeners on January 5, All hell is going to break loose tomorrow. In September, Bannonsaidthat hetoldTrump before the insurrection that he needed to kill [the Biden] administration in the crib early on. In short, the House committee said in itsreportputting forward a contempt resolution against him, Mr. Bannon appears to have played a multi-faceted role in the events of January 6th, and the American people are entitled to hear his first-hand testimony regarding his actions.

For his part, Trump released a characteristically insane, historically inaccurate statement on Sunday, saying, This Country has perhaps never done to anyone what they have done to Steve Bannon and they are looking to do it to others, also. (The people imprisoned in Japanese internment camps would probably like a word. And enslaved people too. Oh, and the ones who died while someone was publicly claiming COVID-19 was no big deal.)

Read the rest here:
Unhinged Republicans Threaten Retribution Over Bannon Indictment - Vanity Fair