Yesterday, the news came down that Ohio will endure two more years of the current, gerrymandered Ohio congressional map.
That means at least four years where the people of Ohio will be represented in Washington by officials in districts that violate the state’s Constitution. And four years of outright defiance, by those in power, of the overwhelming will of the voters of Ohio (70% of whom voted for the constitutional reform/language now being violated).
And outside of a few articles yesterday and today, you would hardly know something so lawless—so undemocratic—was happening. Power simply being exercised illegally, and results of elections defied, year after year.
Although it’s coming dangerously close to this, we can never let this get normalized. We can never let it settle in as acceptable.
Think of it this way: If we saw this happen in other country, we’d see it as a clear affront to democracy and the rule of law. A meltdown of the most basic norms. We must see it just as clearly—and judge it just as harshly—in our own states and nation.
And as the whiteboard video above explains, this outright defiance and disrespect of democracy is playing out on multiple levels in Ohio. Specifically, those in power are 1) defying election results and court orders (Congress and statehouse gerrymanders), 2) meddling with elections as they are happening (the November amendment to protect reproductive freedom), 3) stripping power away from election winners they don’t like (state school board), and 4) even taking action amid the vote-counting process to nullify an impending result (state pension board).
As I explain in the video, each of these actions is happening separately in Ohio—not over years, but at the same time. And the consequences are all playing out right now.
And each time one of these tactics is used successfully, it becomes a model they build on in the future. Here and elsewhere. Look no further than Wisconsin, where the gerrymandered legislature there is currently using the Ohio playbook to defy the state Supreme Court result of only months ago, threatening to impeach the new Justice.
It’s all deeply disturbing. And even more disturbing would be if we ever come to accept it as normal. Or if we become so desensitized to it, we forget it’s even happening. That’s when lose something we might never get back.
Don’t let it happen.
Speak out….
Small example: the video above, which I made just to make clear that these maps remain illegal, ended up being quoted in The Washington Post when they covered this story later yesterday. Good! That’s one small victory in making sure people see the illegality of it all.
…And work for reform—gerrymandering reform to start with (that initiative moved forward this week, with another round of signature submitted), and far more over time
So, share this video so people see what’s happening. So it doesn’t get normalized:
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The Disturbing Pattern...Continues