Over the past twelve or so years that I've spent exposing the "mainstream" American right's mask off "transformation" into an overtly (instead of covertly) fascist movement, I cannot tell you how many times reactionary apologists have attempted to counter my fact-based analysis by screeching that "you can't just call half of Americans nazis!" Despite the fact that this argument is entirely off topic and based in the realm of feelings, I always push back on it because the plain numerical truth is that it's certainly not "half" of the American population that supports fascism and the new American Nazi Party.
Say whatever you will about the reactionary nature of American thought and politics, and believe me I've said plenty, the objective reality is that support for the Republican Party in the United States isn't anywhere near fifty percent. In fact, most modern analysis of political positions in the U.S. electorate strongly indicates that if everyone, and in particular every non-white American, actually got to vote in U.S. elections, the GOP might not win another national election in my lifetime. Furthermore, I know that the fascists in American politics know this, which is why they've spent at least the past thirty years stacking the judiciary with unhinged reactionary judges dedicated to dismantling the Voting Rights Act by any means they are able to.
Given these realities, it shouldn't surprise you to learn that last week Republican-appointed members of the federal judiciary once again took steps to attack voting rights in the lead up to the 2024 U.S. Presidential election:
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2024/08/as-the-voting-rights-act-turns-59-supreme-court-trump/
As the Voting Rights Act Nears 60, Conservative Judges Are Gutting It From Every Angle
"On Thursday, the ultra-conservative 5th Circuit Court of Appeals overruled two previous court decisions and reinstated a county commissioners’ map in Galveston, Texas, that eliminated the only majority-minority district, ousting the lone Black and minority commissioner. In a 12-6 decision, with all of the Republican-appointed judges in the majority, the appeals court overturned its own precedent dating back to 1988, ruling that minority groups who form a combined majority, such as Black and Hispanic voters in the Galveston area, are not protected under the VRA. That will make it much tougher to secure representation for communities of color, since different minority groups often combine to form a majority in an increasingly diversifying country. “Today, the majority finally dismantled the effectiveness of the Voting Rights Act in this circuit,” Judge Dana Douglas wrote in a dissent."
Look, I'm not an electoralist, and I've told you all countless times that I don't believe you can actually vote out fascism in a country that has been embracing fascist ideology since before we even had a word for such, let alone the capitalist order that controls our politics and threatens all life on our shared biosphere. With that having been noted however, voting rights are foundational to what passes for our democracy and it sure does say a lot about the anti-democratic nature of a political party when that party's only path to victory and continued relevance depends on restricting the right to vote along demographic lines that objectively reflect the white supremacist inclinations of said party. Voting out Republicans is not a panacea for solving all of the problems we're facing in a capitalist country built on genocidal land theft and actual fucking chattel slavery, but I'm absolutely certain that our collective struggle for justice, equality, and sustainability in America would be easier if goddamn nazis in judge's robes weren't allowed to dictate who gets to have a say in politics in order to force minority rule by fascists on us all.
#USPol #VotingRights #GOP #Justice
