American Democracy
R.I.P. (1776-2026)
We had a good run, didn’t we? If only we had listened…
I always thought it was cute how the Democrats have said what they were going to do once they took back the House in 2026, and poor decisions by the Trump administration were putting the Senate into play. What they seem to forget, however, is that the Democrats have brought a butter knife to a gun fight.
While this quote has been misattributed to Benjamin Franklin, it certainly applies:
“Democracy is two wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for dinner.”
When Trump began pushing for Texas to gerrymander five Democratic seats, both parties began a push towards eliminating “swing” districts and spreading out minority party votes so that the wolves would be able to eat…and Democrats thought they’d gotten the better of the GOP when Virginia voted to eliminate 4 Republican seats.
On April 29th, the SCOTUS struck down a second black-majority district in Louisiana in Louisiana v. Callais, in which “non African-Americans” sued, saying the creation of that district was based on race, something explicitly outlawed by the Fourteenth Amendment. By a 6-3 vote, the Supreme Court agreed, and immediately the Louisiana governor suspended voting (which was taking place!) to create six districts in the state in which there will be NO black-majority voting blocs.
Wolves voting for dinner.
There are currently fourteen black majority districts through the South, and there will be none by 2028, and possibly before November’s elections. The Voting Rights Act is dead, and the tools used to kill it were laws and Amendments designed to protect the interests of the minorities.
What’s worse yet is that the majority opinion is completely based on false logic, as if that mattered.
Section One of the Voting Rights Act was wiped away in Shelby County v. Holder. In that decision Justice Alito wrote “things have changed dramatically” in the South “in the decades since the passage of the Voting Rights Act.” When it was enacted in 1965, Alito stated it was needed because of a century worth of “entrenched” voter discrimination.
But it was no longer needed, he continued, and he cited voter participation in the 2008 and 2012 elections.
Gee, I wonder why black voters showed up en masse to vote in those elections?
What is absolutely remarkable is that Alito cited the same data from 14-18 years ago to support erasing Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.
I wonder why he wouldn’t use more recent data?
Because it doesn’t support his argument.
Now that ALL black districts are about to get wiped out, it’s going to get worse. It’s also important to remember - in a 21st century autocracy, the executive doesn’t need to eliminate all opposition, just weight the scales enough to prevent ever losing an election again.
So where does this end up?
The GOP will win the midterms even though they will lose the popular vote by more than any party which controlled the House has ever done.
At that point, they will eliminate the filibuster.
Trump will begin making plans for 2028, whether it be him or a dynastical successor.
ABC will cave and Jimmy Kimmel will be canceled.
All major news media will be bought by Trump allies (Disney will break off ABC, Comcast will either be sold as a whole, or NBC will be sold as a separate entity.
I’m not sure what will happen after 2028.
Resources:
https://www.scotusblog.com/2026/04/in-major-voting-rights-act-case-supreme-court-strikes-down-redistricting-map-challenged-as-racia/
https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2017/08/voter-turnout.html
https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/growing-racial-disparities-voter-turnout-2008-2022
Wow, this is dark. Correct, but dark.