Election Reform: News Miner 93
Silverman interview, Thiry's election plan, call for book bans, anti-Semitism, civility, school boards, Tina Peters, Trump on the ballot, and more.
My Craig Silverman Interview: Silverman released his November 25 podcast episode (recorded the previous day), no. 183, with me about my book, Getting Over Jesus: Finding Meaning and Morals without God, and related matters. See my time stamps and show notes over at Self in Society.
Election Reform: Complete Colorado published my article, “Flaws need fixing in Kent Thiry’s election ballot measure.” Thiry wants truly open primaries that eliminate the current system of party favoritism. I’m all for this! However, I point out that a) we should use approval voting in this process to prevent potential victories of polarizing candidates, and b) we don’t even really need primaries if we use approval voting for the general. Although I agree with Thiry that we should not allow party elites to fill legislative vacancies, I don’t think we need special elections for this. Read the entire piece.
Call for Book Bans: 9News: “Colorado conservatives call for law enforcement action to ban books.” I can think of a more appropriate word than “conservative” to describe people who want to violently ban books! I’ll have more to say about this down the road.
Anti-Semitism I: “Democratic socialist” Rep. Elisabeth Epps accused Israel of “ethnic cleansing” (if she has condemned Hamas I haven’t seen it), earning a rebuke from the Anti-Defamation League, 9News reports.
Anti-Semitism II: Neo-Nazis, apparently from out of town, virtually took over a Wheat Ridge city council meeting to spew hatred against Jews and even to call for forcibly rounding up Jews. Reporters Kyle Clark and Marshall Zelinger talk briefly about deciding the story is newsworthy but choosing to limit the vile commentary they included. I applaud their approach. To again point out what should now be blindingly obvious . . . yes, we have to worry about the rise of fascism in America.
Polis and Cox Discuss Civility: 9News also published a lengthy (for TV) interview on civility in politics with Governors Jared Polis and Spencer Cox (of Utah). Polis and Cox are promoting a “Disagree Better Initiative.” Cox worries about uncivil, polarizing discourse leading to “a decay in institutions.” Polis urges people, “Be responsible for your conduct; be part of the civic dialogue.” Kyle Clark asks tough questions, such as how Polis and Cox expect to “disagree better” on abortion, about which they have strong disagreements. The governors talk about finding common ground around preventing unwanted pregnancies and holding men accountable for their actions. Clark asks Polis (who is Jewish) about the rise of anti-Semitism, including within the Democratic party. Clark asks Cox about calls for violence among some Republicans. Although Cox dodges a bit, he discusses the problem of some people ginning up “fear of the other.” Clark also asks the governors about Trump’s comments referring to his enemies as “vermin”; both strongly condemn those remarks.
Union School Boards: Sandra Fish and Erica Breunlin: “Union-backed candidates scored victories in 72% of their contests. Conservative candidates fared best in smaller districts and heavily Republican areas, including Colorado Springs 11 and Academy 20 in El Paso County and Woodland Park. But candidates backed by the CEA [Colorado Education Association] and local unions won in districts from Gunnison to Greeley 6 to Cherry Creek and Douglas County.” Some of us would prefer alternatives both to union stooges and to theocrats!
Tina Peters: Mario Nicolais: “Tina Peters’ attempt to avoid accountability by filing a federal lawsuit against prosecutors would be laughable if it were not so terrifying. Peters is just one example of the brazen gaslighting embraced by far-right extremists today.”
Homelessness: As Denver and other metro cities struggle with homelessness, Nicholas Kristof’s remarks about Houston’s successes are worth noting: “First, the city had strong political leaders who herded nonprofits so that they worked in unison rather than competing. Second, Houston’s lack of regulation makes it easy, quick and cheap to build new apartments: Building a small one-bedroom can cost less than $200,000, while Los Angeles spent as much as $837,000 per apartment for people who were homeless. Third, Houston focused less on general help, such as handing out jackets or providing counseling, and more on moving people into apartments and providing ongoing care to keep them housed.” YIMBY for the win.
Republican Crazy: Here is the start of Sara Wilson’s article: “The Colorado Republican Party is advising county canvass boards to not certify results from the Nov. 7 statewide election, alleging without evidence that the process is a ‘rigged system’ and promoting debunked conspiracy theories on election insecurity.” Do Republicans in Colorado ever want to win again?
Trump on the Ballot: Quentin Young: “[Judge Sarah B.] Wallace’s ruling . . . makes extraordinary, historic findings. She wrote that Jan. 6 was indeed an insurrection, Trump incited the insurrection, inciting an insurrection counts as having ‘engaged in insurrection’ under Section 3, and the final report of the U.S. House panel that investigated Jan. 6 is trustworthy. Wallace also determined that Trump long embraced political violence and intended the Jan. 6 mob to engage in violence, and that he knew his claim that the 2020 election was stolen from him—the essential grievance of the insurrection—was false. So Trump should be disqualified, right? No, Wallace said, because she concluded that Section 3 doesn’t apply to the presidency.” My read: Wallace did not want to be the one to throw Trump off the ballot—understandable, considering the viciousness and irrationality of many Trumpists—so she teed up the matter for the state Supreme Court to overrule her.
Anti-LGBTQ Evangelicalism: When Amber Cantorna-Wylde came as as gay, she faced extreme prejudice by her parents, who were enmeshed in Focus on the Family. Steve Rabey reviews part of her story.
Abortion: Lauren Boebert apparently wants the federal government to ban all abortions from the moment of conception. But, strictly speaking, declaring a just-conceived embryo a “person” (as Boebert wishes to do) should not be enough to outlaw abortions, because no person may rightly be forced to provide bodily sustenance for another. (However, it makes no sense to declare a fetus without the capacity for consciousness a “person.”) See my article. I think Boebert is in real trouble in her reelection, and I for one hope she loses.
Zoo Lights: Here’s a photo.