Do Senate Republicans Believe In The Constitution And The Rule Of Law (Or Not)?

There is no use in walking anywhere to preach if your walking isn’t your preaching.
—    St. Francis of Assisi
[I’m predicting they (the Republicans) talk about “free and fair” elections, but they don’t really believe in them OR support them – especially when a Republican President is willing to use a riot to overturn an election he’s lost.   —    KMAB]
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On This Day In:
2020	Morally Treasonable
2019	Lost Again Or Still?
2018	Why #LazyDonald Starts Work At 11AM
2017	At Least Most Of The Time
2016	But Doctor, I Never Learned How To Read
2015	Punch The Keys, For God’s Sake!
2014	Ouch!
2013	Revelations
2012	Movies And Juicing
	Brady Gets #4 (Prediction)
	Happy To Get Up
2011	What About Good Blogs?
2010	Slowly, Slowly…

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Democrats Talking To Republicans

Before you tell the “truth” to the patient, be sure you know the “truth,” and that the patient wants to hear it.
—   Richard Clarke Cabot
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On This Day In:
2020	You Are Not Late (Yet)
2019	Too Difficult To Try
2018	Hold Fast
2017	The Only Real Security
2016	Time Said
2015	If Only Common Sense Were More Common
2014	PTI
2013	What Now, Then?
2012	Big C, Little B
	Duty, Honor, Country

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Elections Have Consequences

My mother’s menu consisted of two choices: Take it or leave it.
—    Buddy Hackett
[Well, Republicans…  Do you believe in the people’s vote or don’t you?  —  KMAB]
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On This Day In:
2020	Fearless Security
2019	I Prefer A Neat Single Malt
2018	Seeking Finer Fruits
2017	Something That Is Absolute
2016	Animate And Encourage
	Out Of Time
2015	In Time
2014	Robust Interconnectivity
2013	What Have We Here?
2012	Tributaries And Eddies
	An Honest Politician
2011	Penultimate

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I Wish Republicans Valued Democracy As Much As They Say They Value Freedom

A cynic is one who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.
—   Oscar Wilde
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On This Day In:
2019	Something Very Different
2018	For Most Of Us
2017	Stories We Need On Life’s Edge
2016	Heart Trouble
2015	From The Inside Out
2014	Alone And Free
2013	Superstition Is Your Way
2012	Escape Hatches
2011	Sing Like No One Is Listening

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My Fear: A Second More Tyrannous Term

O, it is excellent to have a giant’s strength, but it is tyrannous to use it like a giant.
—    Shakespeare
[Are we better off today than we were four years ago?  I’m not just talking about 185,000 dead.  I’m not just talking about a crashed economy.  If there were no virus and we were still tooling along at 4% unemployment, were you REALLY better off?  Almost half of ALL Americans were living pay-check to paycheck.  Many are / were working two minimum wage jobs and are / were barely getting by.  Almost 2/3rd of working Americans have almost no savings for a “sudden” $400 emergency, let alone for retirement.  President  Trump (and the Republicans) want to destroy Social Security by de-funding it and promising it will be “paid for” from increased tax revenue from the future “booming” economy.  The truth is the SSA actuarial office has said if SSA taxes are eliminated, the SSA will run out of funds COMPLETELY in 2023!!!  President Trump lies multiple times EVERY day.  He is not being casual with the facts.  He is NOT just kidding.  He is LYING!  And, he is lying to constantly try to stoke fear.  Four years ago, it was the raping and murdering Mexicans invading across the border.  Now, it’s the liberals (i.e. “Democrats”) who are already here.  IF crime, rioting and violence are out of control, why hasn’t he done anything about the root causes of the problems.  The Republican controlled Senate is still dithering about a much needed economic relief package.  Now, when I say “Republican” controlled, what I mean is TRUMP controlled Senate as it’s his Cabinet level team which is doing the negotiations with the Democrats and whatever is agreed will pass both sides of Congress.  Senator McConnell is simply a figurehead manipulating the rules to the Republican advantage.  He is not the player / negotiator in the room with the Dems.  There is no relief because Trump wants to blame the Democrats (Pelosi and Shumer) in the lead up to the election.  So, I ask two questions:  Do you really believe President Trump is acting in your interests?  And, are you better off than you were four years ago?  —  KMAB]
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On This Day In:
2019	Reality And Imperfection
	Day 8: One Stone
2018	Pity The Nation (Part 1)
	Day 41: Hiccup Or End Of Days?
2017	Sharp-Edged Beauty
2016	Start, Keep, Finish
2015	Lifetime Friends
2014	Acknowledgement
2013	Longevity, Tenacity and Diversity
2012	What Reagan Really Cared About
2011	Seeming Sane (Or Not)

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And Integrity For Today’s Elected Republicans

Money often costs too much.
—    Ralph Waldo Emerson
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On This Day In:
2018	A Faulty Start, Too
	Honorable Resignation And Syria
2017	Beneath The Tree Of Wisdom
	The Republican Rape Of The American Middle Class
2016	Something Authentic Happened
2015	Back On The Bricks
	On, Rocinante!!
2014	Changing Frequently
2013	Trifles
2012	Simple, Ordinary And Wonderous
2011	Humane Writers

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Will John Bolton Testify?

Our problem is not to find better values but to be faithful to those we profess.
—    John W. Gardner
[John Bolton is a Republican conservative.  I can honestly say I have no recollection of EVER agreeing with any of his opinions or policies.  Having said this, I have always believed that while I detest his policies, Bolton loves our country and would never participate in allowing Russian interference in our government.  We are rapidly approaching the point where his values and his love of country will be severely tested.  I remain convinced (and predict) that even if Bolton honestly testifies against President Trump viz-a-viz the Ukraine and political crimes (bribery, extortion, abuse of power), it will not change a single vote for impeachment conviction in the Senate.  Still, history will be Bolton’s judge.  I fear Bolton, like the Republicans in the House and Senate, will lack the courage to stand up for America, the Constitution, and the rule of law.  I would LOVE it if Bolton turns out to have been the whistle-blower all along.  Now, THAT would make a great book / movie!!  Nah.  No one would ever believe it…   —   KMAB]
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On This Day In:
2018	Just Maybe
2017	Police In My Review Mirror
2016	Full And Rich
2015	Go Deeper
2014	Intentional Mapping
2013	The Sweet Path
2012	Living Free And Abolition
	Morning Wood
2011	I Resemble That Remark

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Looking For A Republican With A Profile In Courage

The hardest thing of all is to find a black cat in a dark room, especially if there is no cat.
―    Confucius
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On This Day In:
2018	Hammers, Bells And Songs
2017	My Friends
2016	In Need Of Some Work
2015	Elections Have Consequences
2014	An Ear Of Happy Accidents
2013	Powerful Substitute
2012	Heroes Restored
2011	As You Should

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Or In This Case – What’s Wrong

Never let your sense of morals prevent you from doing what is right.
—    Isaac Asimov
[I hope I am incorrect, but I honestly do not believe a single Republican in either the House or the Senate will vote to impeach or convict #DonTheCon.  We are rapidly approaching a sadder day for the GOP than his nomination or election.  We are approaching the day when the GOP abandons all moral authority to lead the country and surrenders the Constitution and the rule of law to a criminal running the government as a cult of personality.   Assuming he continues to vote his conscience, history will show only Justin Amash of Michigan, (a lifelong Republican who last July 2019 switched to Independent) was the only Republican who had the courage to defend the Constitution.  I could almost (ALMOST) understand if the Republican defense was “What the President did was against the law and wrong, but we don’t feel it rises to the level of an impeachable crime.”  But, they (Republicans) won’t even go that far because it would then require them to censure the President in an election year.  The GOP will be confirming they are a party of liars and cowards.   —    KMAB]
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On This Day In:
2018	Just Passing Through
2017	True Torture
	Happy Thanksgiving – 2017 !!
2016	Overtaken
2015	Alone Praying
2014	A Full Man
2013	Off Defending The Universe
	Taking Precautions
2012	Never, Never, Never
2011	Testing 1, 2, 3

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Show Righteousness, Not Fear

On June 21, the writer E. Jean Carroll came forward with a vivid and disturbing claim that Donald Trump raped her in a department store in the 1990s.  She is the 22nd woman to allege that Trump committed acts of sexual misconduct.  These claims are more extensive and more corroborated than the accusations against Bill Clinton.
It’s worth contrasting Trump, who denied Carroll’s claim (as well as his other accusers’), with Clinton because his scandals helped spur the Southern Baptist Convention in 1998 to issue its seminal “Resolution on Moral Character of Public Officials.”  That document’s key statement was ominous and unequivocal: “Tolerance of serious wrong by leaders sears the conscience of the culture, spawns unrestrained immorality and lawlessness in the society, and surely results in God’s judgment.”
The relentless drumbeat of claims against Trump – combined with the clear moral declarations of the past – have caused millions of Americans to look at their evangelical fellow citizens and ask, simply: Why?  Why have you abandoned your previous commitment to political character to embrace Donald Trump?
Part of the explanation is undeniably basic partisanship and ambition.  White evangelicals are largely Republican, and they’re generally going to vote for Republicans.  And proximity to power has always had its attractions for religious charlatans of all stripes.  But I’d suggest the real reason for the breadth and depth of evangelical support is deeper and – perversely – even more destructive to its religious witness.
That reason is fear.
Talk to engaged evangelicals, and fear is all too often a dominant theme of their political life.  The church is under siege from a hostile culture.  Religious institutions are under legal attack from progressives.  The left wants nuns to facilitate access to abortifacients and contraceptives, it wants Christian adoption agencies to compromise their conscience or close, and it even casts into doubt the tax exemptions of religious education institutions if they adhere to traditional Christian sexual ethics.
These issues are legally important, and there are reasons for evangelicals to be concerned.  But there is no reason for evangelicals to abandon long-held principles to behave like any other political-interest group.
Instead, the evangelical church is called to be a source of light in a darkening world.  It is not given the luxury of fear-based decisionmaking.  Indeed, of all the groups in American life who believe they have the least to fear from American politics, Christians should top the list.  The faithful should reject fear.
This is made plain to young Christians from the early days of Sunday school.  There, many millions of young believers are taught the biblical verse: “For God gave us not a spirit of fear but of power and love and self-control.”
But in 2016, something snapped.  I saw Christian men and women whom I’ve known and respected for years respond with raw fear at the very idea of a Hillary Clinton presidency.  They believed she was going to place the church in mortal danger.  The Christian writer Eric Metaxas wrote that if Hillary won, America’s chance to have a “Supreme Court that values the Constitution” will be “gone.”  “Not for four years, not for eight,” he said, “but forever.”
That wasn’t faith speaking.  They were the words of fearful men grasping at fading influence by clinging to a man whose daily life mocks the very values that Christians seek to advance.
But why?  The American evangelical church isn’t so weak that it needs Trump’s version of secular salvation.  The early persecuted church would be stunned at the modern American church’s immense political strength.  It has become so strong that it exercises veto power over the political prospects of any Republican nominee.
Yet the church is acting as if it needs Trump to protect it.  That’s not courageous.  It’s repulsive.  And so long as this fear continues, expect the church’s witness to degrade further.  In seeking protection from its perceived enemies, the church has lost its way.
It’s time for evangelicals to exercise their political veto power.  America’s conservative people of faith should seek a primary challenger to Trump and send a message to the GOP that it will not compromise any longer.  And it should do so from a position of confidence – and faith.
—  David French
From his opinion / editorial: “The Evangelical Republic of Fear“
Appearing in Time Magazine, dtd: 8 July 2019
Also, found online at: https://time.com/5615617/why-evangelicals-support-trump/
[I make no claim to ownership of this editorial.  It belongs to either Time or to the author.  I normally only present excerpts from articles / editorials because I am trying to exercise “fair use”  while giving full credit to the owner and / or original source.  In this (rare) case, the editorial is presented in its entirety because the whole is FAR greater than any of its parts.  As always, I encourage readers to visit the original source.  I subscribe to the “hard-copy” version of Time.   —    KMAB]
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On This Day In:
2018	Sounds Like Politics, Too
2017	Resist More
	Conservatives Are Not The Enemy
2016	Two Weeks To Go…
2015	Remembering
2014	The Creeping Death Of Civilization
	Orange October (X) – A Blue Morning Turns Into An Orange Evening
2013	License Problem
2012	Giants Win Game 2 Of The 2012 World Series 2 To 0!!!
	Adage, n.
	Questions Women Should Ask Before Voting…
2011	What Are You Looking At?

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Destroying The Republic

…As I stood on the parade field at Fort Bragg, one retired four-star general, grabbed my arm, shook me and shouted, “I don’t like the Democrats, but Trump is destroying the Republic!”
Those words echoed with me throughout the week.  It is easy to destroy an organization if you have no appreciation for what makes that organization great.  We are not the most powerful nation in the world because of our aircraft carriers, our economy, or our seat at the United Nations Security Council.  We are the most powerful nation in the world because we try to be the good guys.  We are the most powerful nation in the world because our ideals of universal freedom and equality have been backed up by our belief that we were champions of justice, the protectors of the less fortunate.
But, if we don’t care about our values, if we don’t care about duty and honor, if we don’t help the weak and stand up against oppression and injustice — what will happen to the Kurds, the Iraqis, the Afghans, the Syrians, the Rohingyas, the South Sudanese and the millions of people under the boot of tyranny or left abandoned by their failing states?
If our promises are meaningless, how will our allies ever trust us?  If we can’t have faith in our nation’s principles, why would the men and women of this nation join the military?  And if they don’t join, who will protect us?  If we are not the champions of the good and the right, then who will follow us?  And if no one follows us — where will the world end up?
President Trump seems to believe that these qualities are unimportant or show weakness.  He is wrong.  These are the virtues that have sustained this nation for the past 243 years.  If we hope to continue to lead the world and inspire a new generation of young men and women to our cause, then we must embrace these values now more than ever.
And if this president doesn’t understand their importance, if this president doesn’t demonstrate the leadership that America needs, both domestically and abroad, then it is time for a new person in the Oval Office — Republican, Democrat or independent — the sooner, the better.  The fate of our Republic depends upon it.
—  William H. McRaven
Retired Navy Admiral
Former commander of the United States Special Operations Command and former chancellor of the University of Texas system.
Excerpt from his opinion / editorial:  “Our Republic Is Under Attack From the President“
Found on the web site for The New York Times:  https://wwww.nytimes.com
The link to the on-line version is:  https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/17/opinion/trump-mcraven-syria-military.html
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On This Day In:
2018	Maps For Those Difficult Times
2017	A True American Hero
	Or Desserts
2016	What #AmnestyDon Is Really Afraid Of
2015	What Are You Doing?
2014	The Ideal Man
2013	Daring Ripples
2012	Evermore
2011	Unpredictable Opportunity
2010	Giants Fall In Game 2 (1 to 6) – Leave PA With 1-1 Split !!

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He Wasn’t “Just Kidding The Press”

Any excuse will serve a tyrant.
—    Aesop
In war, truth is the first casualty.
—    Aeschylus
[President Trump is at war with “the truth”, “the Press”, and with every decent “value” America has tried to “stand for” for almost 250 years.  He will do anything (legal or not) and say anything (lying or even a rare truth) to get re-elected.  Senator Mark Rubio (Florida) and Representative Jim Jordan (Ohio) are “defending” President Trump’s publicly asking China to “investigate” the Biden family as a “joke” and an attempt to “chide” and “outrage” the press and liberals.  Let’s make NO mistake about this…   #TrumpIsACriminal was not “just kidding” when he was dangling a favorable trade negotiation / tariff deal with China in exchange for an “investigation”.  The President was OPENLY soliciting aid for his own re-election from a foreign power —  which is against the law   —  because he did NOT want his offer to be misunderstood (by ANY foreign power)…  We have absolutely no reason to believe the President is lying when he says he is willing to commit a Federal crime – when it is in his personal interest to do so – and EVERY reason to believe he is being honest in his criminal offer.  ANY Republican who purports to be supporting / defending the President with this blatantly specious excuse (“he’s kidding”) is being equally treasonous in condoning this Federal crime.  I won’t say they are “accessories” to the crime, but they are getting very close to it (being an accessory).  Senator Rubio should be ashamed of himself for initiating this “defense” because he knows first-hand how unfit for office this President is.    —    KMAB]
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On This Day In:
2018	Thinking About My Hil
	Remember Your Duty In November
2017	Play Well With Others
2016	Surviving And Challenging
2015	On Destroying Historic / Archaeological Sites
2014	Magical Power
2013	How Awesome Would That Be
2012	Two Views
2011	Still Looking For Examples
2010	Giants Win Away 3 – 2!!

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Chained To #45

It is hard to free fools from chains they revere.
—  Voltaire
[What every happened to the “good old days” when Republicans could be intelligent AND conservative; who you could respect even if you disagreed with their policies?   I guess those folks have either died or left the GOP.  —  KMAB]
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On This Day In:
2018	Some Men Make Their Office As Small As Themselves
2017	Too Many
2016	Not Yet, Anyway
2015	On Pornography
2014	Nudge, Nudge
2013	The Journey Will Be Joy
2012	Hopeful Flights
2011	Irrationally Predictable
	Lawful Restraint

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#ContinueToResist

To sin by silence when they should protest, makes cowards of human beings.
—    Abraham Lincoln
[It is vitally important to continue resisting the programs of President Trump and the Republican Senate.  It is equally important to support the Democratic control of the House of Representatives.  Remember, if there is no clear election in the Electoral College in 2020, the decision of who will be the next President will fall to the House of Representatives.  I believe this is what the Republicans were actually hoping for when the “Anyone but Trump” Republican movement went silent.  They didn’t have to get Trump elected President in the popular vote.  The Republicans only had to tie up the Electoral College.  In which case, Paul Ryan most probably would have been “elected” President.  One: he was the Republican VP nominee in the prior election (2012).  Normally, when the ticket fails, the VP choice is the next one in line to be put forward.  And, two: Ryan was the Speaker of the House, which means he was already the “prime” person to be elevated from the House to the Oval Office.  When (in 2016) Florida went to the Republicans and the House was retained by the Republicans, they only needed one of the Rust Belt states and South Carolina to stop Clinton, irrespective of her national popular vote count.  The same conditions will be true in 2020, if the Republicans can somehow flip the House back to their control.
Added to that (final control of the Presidential election), the House also has primary responsibility for seat reapportionment after the 2020 census.  If Republicans flip control back (to themselves) they will use even more gerrymandering to reduce the value of the popular vote.  (Of course, this presumes the Republicans retain control of the majority of the State Houses, too.  Since they control 32 States to the Dems 14, it seems likely they will.)  Don’t misinterpret me.  The Democratic Party will also gerrymander, but they “generally” do so to increase the value of the popular vote.  They (the Democrats) “only” do this because the demographics of the future favor the the Democratic Party.  Basically, older (mostly white male) voters are dying and the younger voters (across all genders, ethnic breakdown, income and education levels) replacing them on the voting roles are trending to the Democratic Party.  And without newer ideas, the Conservative / Republican Party will continue to wither away.  IMHO: It is only “Dark Money” and the Citizens United decision which have propped the Republican Party up this far.
A word to the wise should suffice…   Stay engaged locally.   #Resist   —    KMAB]
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On This Day In:
2018	More Executive Time For #DumbDonald
2017	Watched The Inauguration
	Two Geniuses
2016	Come Dance And Laugh With Me
2015	Looks Good To Me
2014	Desire For The Sea
2013	The Fierce Urgency Of NOW
	Happy Inauguration Day!
2012	One Path
	Sorrow And Joy
	The Seven Year View
2011	Emergent Practicality

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#IncompetentDonald: On The Road To Ruin

My mechanic told me “I couldn’t fix your brakes, so I made your horn louder.”
—  Steven Wright
[Without any significant accomplishments (which the majority of Americans actually supported) during his first two years as President, #IncompetentDonald chose to use the mid-term elections campaign to spread hate and fear.  The results were a (not surprising) repudiation of the President where the number of Americans voting against Republicans increased from three million votes (Trump vs. Hilary popular vote loss count) to over six million (nationwide total – see image below) in the House and twelve million (nationwide total) in the Senate.  It is only the fact that Republicans outnumber Democrats in States with smaller populations which has allowed them to retain control of the Senate.  In the United States, each State gets two Senators irrespective of the State’s population.  The House, on the other hand, gets Districts assigned based on populations with a minimum of one.  Some of the States with smaller populations (Alaska, Delaware, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont and Wyoming) only have one Representative (called “at large”) with their “District” being the entire State.  The Senate is “inherently” less “democratic” for the nation by design.  Additionally, by only having one-third of its members up for re-election in any given election, it is also “inherently” more moderating (i.e. “conservative”) in representing the overall population of both the State and the nation.  (The Senate is the “brake” in this metaphor.)  Because the entire House of Representatives is up for re-election each election period, the House tends to reflect the political swings in the electorate more quickly and more radically – direction and degree – when the country is shouting “Stop” or “Speed-up”.  (The House is the “horn”.)
Democratic nationwide vote difference in 2018
Of course, the comparison of vote totals above – numbers for President, House and Senate – are comparing apples to oranges to bananas.  And / but, they also do NOT take into account the significant gerrymandering done as of the 2010 census, which heavily tilted the House Districts in favor of the Republicans.  This makes the wins by the Democrats even MORE impressive!  It remains to be seen if those changes will remain when we go back into a Presidential turnout.  It also highlights the importance of Democrats working at the State level to regain control of as many State governorships and legislatures as possible heading into the next (2020) census and subsequent House redistricting.  The number of seats is controlled at the Federal level, but the actual redrawing of the Districts is done by the individual States.
This last part, the census and the redistricting is why it is vitally important for the electorate (the voters) to stay active during the run-up to 2020 (the census) and then immediately after through 2022, when the redistricting will normally occur.  In other words, you (voters seeking to make a progressive difference) can’t go to sleep between now and 2022 or the Republicans can continue and increase their relative positions through 2032.   By the way, the gerrymander is not (by any means) unique to the Republicans.  The Democrats have also used it to protect their seats.  The difference is the modern day use of computers to track voters and then specifically target the isolation of opposition voters to maximize their count while minimizing their effect.  For example, one State (Pennsylvania) had 51% of the vote (Democrats), but seated 5 out of 18 Districts (28% of the House seats) in 2012 because Republicans controlled the State legislature.  So, a word to the wise…  If you want to keep the house after 2020, stay awake and stay active!
Finally, for an excellent explanation of Gerrymandering, please read the linked article:  “This is the best explanation of gerrymandering you will ever see“, which appeared in the Washington Post a few years back.  I re-read it every year to remind myself of what is at stake.   —    KMAB]
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On This Day In:
2017	He Says, It Says
2016	Marriage Advice
2015	To James (and ‘Tasha)
2014	Ssshhush, You Are Not Alone
2013	So I Chose Living…
2012	For However Short A Time…
2011	Take A Deep Breath And Continue (Or Not)
2010	Tootsie-Roll Day

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