I just returned from voting in Virginia in the special election on the Democratic gerrymandered districts. It was fast and easy. Polling place workers said that they had a couple of hundred voters in just the last few hours. I hope that you will participate if you live in the state.
I have long opposed gerrymandering by both parties.
Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger captures the hypocrisy of politicians attempting to justify these power grabs. Even before this vote, she was widely criticized for running as a moderate but then veering to the far left as soon as she was elected. Her polling numbers reflect a “stunning” drop in support due to the bait-and-switch.
No issue is more glaring than her vocal opposition to gerrymandering in any form before she ran for governor. In 2019, when the Supreme Court halted redistricting, Spanbergger declared:
“This is good news for Virginia and the country. Gerrymandering is detrimental to our democracy and it weakens the individual voices that form our electorates. Opposing gerrymandering should be a bipartisan priority.”
However, now that Democrats control the legislature, Spanberger changed her position and is pushing the most extreme gerrymandered map in the nation — a move that would take an almost evenly divided delegation and wipe out all but one Republican district. In a state considered purple and divided down the middle, the Democrats would seize 10 of 11 absurdly crafted districts, including one called “the lobster” for its contorted shape.
The Democrats are insisting that they are merely responding to Texas, but this is far more extreme than in other states. Moreover, this is a purple state where Democrats are not even trying a modest accommodation for roughly half of the voters. It is a simple muscle play to suspend the state constitution despite a prior commitment to bar gerrymandering.
Spanberger believes in fighting gerrymandering unless it works to her party’s advantage. Others have shown greater integrity. For example, Republicans in Indiana control the legislature but have refused to gerrymander the state, even “temporarily.”
The radical proposal is only possible because Virginia was once widely cited as a model of fairness in voting. Spanberger and the Democrats have now shattered that model.
Not only are the Democrats wiping out the representation of roughly half of the state (in the name of protecting Democracy), but polls show that the voters are sharply divided. A slight majority is polling in favor of the move. Yet, that division is not reflected in the measure itself, which lacks any moderation or restraint. Democrats are simply wiping out almost every Republican district because they can.
The fact that Democrats are ignoring the unfairness to half of their neighbors shows how rage politics has taken hold of the country.
It is a quick vote on a single-issue ballot, but Virginians could send a powerful message of principle by defeating this measure and standing by their long-standing opposition to gerrymandering.
Justice Clarence Thomas: Progressivism, Declaration of Independence Cannot ‘Coexist Forever’
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas used a speech at the University of Texas at Austin School of Law on Thursday to contend that progressivism has increasingly conflicted with the principles of the Declaration of Independence, telling students that the movement cannot permanently coexist with the founding ideals of natural rights and limited government.
Thomas said progressivism had “made many inroads into our system of government and our way of life” since Wilson’s presidency and asserted that it stood in opposition to the Declaration.
“It has coexisted uneasily with the principles of the Declaration because it is opposed to those principles,” Thomas stated. “It is not possible for the two to coexist forever.”
Thomas maintained that Wilson and other progressive thinkers believed that “America needed to leave behind the principles of the founding and catch up with the more advanced and sophisticated system of relatively unimpeded state power, nearly perfect, perfected.”
“Progressivism seeks to replace the basic premises of the Declaration of Independence and hence our form of government,” Thomas explained. “It holds that our rights and our dignities come not from God, but from government.”
Quoting Coolidge, Thomas said: “If all men are created equal, that is final. If they are endowed with unalienable rights, that is final. If governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed, that is final.”
Thomas contended that those ideas produced disastrous consequences in the 20th century. “The century of progressivism did not go well,” Thomas said. “The European system that Wilson and the progressives scolded Americans for not adopting, which he called nearly perfect, led to the governments that caused the most awful century that the world has ever seen.” Thomas pointed to the regimes of Joseph Stalin, Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, and Mao Zedong, saying they were intertwined with the rise of progressivism and opposed to natural rights.
Of course Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger wants to eliminate Republicans that stand for freedom and liberty. It’s progressivism/ liberalism in action.
Jonathan, I see your ballot, and it appears that you have voted in some Asian election given the languages on your ballot. I believe you may have been duped.
Next time you vote, ask them how the stored ballots are guarded at the hundreds of locations over the 6 weeks voting season. I saw a dollar padlock on a plastic garbage pale, some kind of sarcastic symbolism?
Virginia is for LOVERS – of Communism! Enjoy Comrades!
Times have changed: in these days we need SCOTUS to decide if infltrating primaries to defraud elections is part of freedom of free speach included in First amendment.
On, 6/27/19 SCOTUS decided 5-4 (Kagan, Ginsburg, Breyer and Sotomayor dissenting) that partisan gerrymandering claims are political questions that federal courts cannot resolve (https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/18pdf/18-422_9ol1.pdf)-
D.C. metropolitan aera residents from Alexandria and Arlington/Fairfax/Loudoun/Prince William Counties choose make a very good living working for public institutions and their proxies? Redistricting amendment is a shoo-in!
I’m with Musk, I just want to hang onto civilization. I guess we’re not so lucky. Rap lasted a couple of years in a time long ago. It died out quickly. Seems to be big here along with accordions.
Stay safe
I voted NO last Saturday, but I know the referendum will almost certainly pass. Most people vote pure partisanship, and the residents of Northern VA are maximally energized to vote against Trump. Remember, most of the FedGov and NGO employees who lost their jobs from DOGE live in NoVA – particularly the highest paid ones (most of the lower paid Black Women live in MD). 500K really angry affluent people (which includes their spouses and dependents) are an electoral force we cannot overcome. I thought about putting up a year sign (they were giving them out at the NO able at the FFX Govt Cntr last Saturday), but then decided against it, because I don’t want to remind all the Democrats in the neighborhood that there is an election going on. Right now there are no signs at all on my street.
The current Republican Party has a fatal flaw that will continue to destroy the Party of Abraham Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, Eisenhower and Ronald Reagan.
The current Republican Party leaders support a foreign model of government “Unconstitutional-Authoritarianism” and Republicans make a promise to GOD to follow and uphold the U.S. Constitution as a condition of obtaining and keeping governing authority.
Maybe, like Republican leaders, you hate the U.S. Constitution and have no religious integrity (promises to GOD are meaningless to you) – this is the highest form of disloyalty to the United States. You promised GOD (Oath of Office) to provide checks & balances on foreign style wanna-be dictators and uphold the U.S. Constitution.
So how could many (likely most) local police-chiefs nationwide support a president convicted of 34 felonies? Weren’t police-chiefs supposed to respect and follow laws?
How could America’s top TV Christian preachers support the most anti-Christian president in American history, but bear false witness against lifelong Baptist Barack Obama?
This fatal flaw of Republican leaders is “Unconstitutional-Authoritarianism”. Many (likely most) police-chiefs and TV preachers also support the foreign model of “Unconstitutional-Authoritarianism” – in this foreign model the U.S. Constitution is optimal-when-convenient instead of the “supreme law of the United States” [Article VI of the U.S. Constitution]. In this foreign model presidents, police-chiefs and TV preachers don’t follow laws – they perceive themselves as the law. Written laws are meaningless in MAGA’s foreign model of government.
What Republican voters may have forgotten is that 2nd Amendment gun rights, 5th Amendment Eminent Domain property rights and 10th Amendment state’s rights only survive in the American model of government. No Constitution – no gun rights and no property rights. These rights don’t survive in MAGA’s foreign model of government.
In 2025, Trump attempted to illegally amend the 14th Amendment through Executive Order (skipping the constitutional amendment process). If Trump can do that, a future president could take away gun rights, property rights, women’s rights and religious right in 1 Day using the Trump precedent.
The current 2026 U.S. Constitution was constructed and amended over 200 years ago. Each amendment was deeply debated publicly over 235 years by the majority of voters. The Framers of the Constitution created the constitutional-amendment process so it was extremely difficult to amend the Constitution, but could be changed if the “voters” (not presidents) wanted to amend the supreme law of the United States.
Presidents have virtually no authority to amend the U.S. Constitution. Trump may be experienced in business but has insufficient experience in American government. He then fired the real experts on governing because they told him inconvenient truths!
Unconstitutional-Authoritarianism??? Sounds like the DEM party!!! “has insufficient experience in American government” ALREADY President 1 term- YOU BOZO
One of the most brain-dead posts ever by one of the Anonymouses (not sure which one. I wish Mr. Turley would require his posters to have unique monikers so we could appropriately ridicule them…). Just mindless regurgitation of mindless Democrat talking points.
MAGA Republicans – led by Trump – started all of this. MAGAs had a nationwide strategy to gerrymander states like Texas to give Republicans unfair advantage nationwide.
Democrats were forced to respond to MAGAs nationwide gaming of elections.
Everyone on this site should check out the documentary “Deep in the Pockets of Texas” – even Republican voters in states like Texas actually have little representation in Texas. Only 4 billionaires largely control Texas elections, not Texas voters.
These 4 Texas billionaires that control Texas elections largely support and cherry-pick the Old Testament Bible laws (Jewish part of the King James Bible pre-Christianity).
Real Christians like the late great Jimmy Carter reminded Christians that Jesus never denounced homosexuals. Jesus supported “turning the other cheek” (forgiveness), not the Islamic “eye-for-an-eye” belief. Jesus opposed optional wars of choice like Bush’s Iraq war and Trump’s Iran war bypassing Congress.
There are no words written by Jesus himself where he denounced homosexuals, the poor and other outcasts. Pete Hedgseth might want to brush up on that.
In Virginia, the Democrats did a great job in tv ads explaining why they responded to MAGA, by doing what MAGA started. Virginia Democrats also advertised it was “temporary”. If MAGA Republicans stop cheating nationwide in other states, so will Virginia.
DEMS already gerrymandered many states– Republicans are just catching up! It was OK for DEMS to do it- but illegal for the GOP?? Riddle me that BOZO ANON
The most gerrymandered states ARE Democrat-run: California, Illinois, Maryland, New York. This Anonymous’ argument is disingenuous tripe at best…
Virginia’s former Lt Governor, Justin Fairfax (Democrat), murdered his wife early this morning in the basement of their residence, then killed himself in their upstairs bedroom, while their 2 children were in the home. It is impossible to describe the tragedy and devastating consequences for the children. This from Democrats of Virginia who now control the state legislature and governor’s mansion, passed sweeping anti-gun legislation, and disenfranchise Virginia voters with manipulated, purposely fraudulent ballot verbiage to force gerrymandering. Worse is the following info on Justin Fairfax
Former Va. Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax Called Gun Violence a ‘National Health Crisis Emergency’ 3 Years Before Shooting Wife
In private practice, Fairfax represented the families of gun violence victims in lawsuits against Virginia’s state government and municipalities
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/former-va-lt-gov-justin-192607581.html
Justin Fairfax talked the talked, but gave in to wrath, losing all self-control. A dead wife and orphaned children are in Justin’s wake of rage….for what purpose other than caving in to lack of self-control.
We are a country of no self-restraint, no introspection, just full throttled vices. Witness the comments section of this forum, largely sputterings by the same <5 people who hide behind Anonymous with the same copy/paste day in, day out. Evolutionary forces can not work fast enough to rid society of such toxic forces.
Freedom….it comes at a price of self-regulation.
What do you think of the popes comments, Estovir?
Who cares? He is a former official. No balance of power is altered.
Yes, but he was anti gun. Yet used a gun.
Districts aren’t needed. County, and city maps elect by direct vote. State is direct vote. House and Senate direct vote for reps. BFD. Electors are taken from number in congress for president. What are you doing?
^^^ It’s not an all or nothing take on electoral and the Independents are now the largest party.
Top vote getters are on everyone’s ballot regardless of party affiliation.
🤪
New political term to be used in future elections: getting Spanbergered!
“Pope Leo XIV has delivered striking remarks condemning global leaders who, he said, are ‘ravaging the world’ by spending billions on war.”
– NPR
_________
Big surprise! The pope and the catholic church want to rule the world and take all of its money.
You don’t say!
~$90 Billion – Global Revenue of the Catholic Church
___________________________________________________________
“If you want a single best, all-in number—including both reported revenue and what can reasonably be imputed across the system—here is the cleanest, defensible estimate:
≈ $90 billion per year (global, all Catholic entities combined).”
– ChatGPT
Tithing? Wall Street?
What will he do with the moslems and China? Conversion?
^^^ Pope wants the western hemisphere. Don’t give them your tax money. They’re stuck in pre-enlightenment and Islam is ancient.
PT, it’s all category bizarre.