Today’s Edition: The “biggest power grab in U.S. history.”

June 21, 2021

          Among the most far-reaching provisions of the For the People Act, H.R.1, is a proposal to require non-partisan commissions to draw the boundaries of congressional districts. See Brennan Center for Justice, “Five Ways H.R. 1 Would Transform Redistricting.” In 33 states, those boundaries are drawn by state legislatures. In Senator Joe Manchin’s pared-down version of H.R.1, he included a provision to require non-partisan commissions to draw boundaries for congressional districts. Over the weekend, Senator Lindsey Graham said he opposed Senator Manchin’s stripped-down version of H.R.1, saying that it represented the “biggest power grab” in U.S. history. See Fox News, “Graham: Dems' voting bill is 'biggest power grab' in US history, will not support Manchin compromise.”

          Lindsey Graham is right. Non-partisan commissions to establish congressional voting boundaries would be the biggest power grab in U.S. history—but not in the way Lindsey Graham suggests.

          For more than a century, state legislatures have drawn voting districts to unfairly favor the election of their party’s congressional candidates. “On average, for each of the three elections from 2012 to 2016, 59 seats would have changed hands to the opposing party if the percentage of seats won matched the percentage of votes cast.” See Center for American Progress, “Voter-Determined Districts.” The essence of gerrymandering is that politicians pick the voters in their districts, not the other way around. For example, in North Carolina, “Democrats received 48 percent of the vote for the U.S. House of Representatives but won only 26 percent of the congressional seats.”

          Manchin’s proposed “lite” version of the H.R.1 included the non-partisan commission proposal. If that single provision became law, congressional delegations would more closely reflect the political make-up of their constituencies. So, yes, Lindsey Graham is right. Doing away with gerrymandering would be “the biggest power grab in history”—but it would be a power grab by the people, who would be wresting control of democracy from the politicians. It would be a “power grab” in the finest traditions of the American Revolution. Indeed, in the Declaration of Independence, the third ground for separation from Great Britain was the following conduct of King George III:

          He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

          By preserving gerrymandering, the GOP seeks to deny the “right of representation” to Democrats living in red states. Lindsey Graham and the GOP are afraid of a democracy in which citizens elect their leaders—the same fear that animated King George. The question Democrats face is whether they have the courage to rise to this moment—as the Founders did in theirs. Sadly, in this existential moment, Joe Manchin is their de facto leader. Manchin has maximum leverage in the Senate but is impotent. He has succeeded only in wasting the time of everyone involved—or worse. He may have deliberately abetted the cynical temporizing of Republicans. See Washington Post, “Joe Manchin, at the apex of his power, finds few allies in his quest for bipartisanship.”

          What now?

          Charles M. Blow has captured the frustration of many Democrats and offered a prescription in his op-ed in the NYTimes, “Stop Hoping the G.O.P. Will Play Ball.” As always, Blow’s essays are worth reviewing in full. He makes the point that Democrats want to play by the rules—to obtain a “moral advantage”—while Republicans play only to win. As Blow says, “Democrats are playing an honor game; Republicans are playing an endgame.” Blow offers the following prescription:

          I say dispense with the phony, wish-driven narrative Democrats are selling. Go down screaming and fighting. They need to go on the record and speak plainly: The Republican Party has given up on the idea of a true and full democracy.

          If we are honest with ourselves, Manchin and Sinema signed a pre-emptive declaration of surrender by opposing filibuster reform, removing all motivation for Republicans to participate in good faith efforts at bipartisanship. Given that reality, it is difficult to argue with Blow’s exhortation: Go down kicking and screaming. We have nothing to lose—and by “going down” kicking and screaming, we might just win. We won’t know until we try.

CNN forces release of bodycam footage of retired police officer attacking Capitol Police.

          Buried in the holiday weekend was a story of a retired NYPD police officer / former Marine who participated in the Capitol Insurrection. Bodycam footage shows the former police officer attacking Capitol Hill Officers using a “flagpole”—another name for a metal pipe. See CNN, “Justice Department releases harrowing new bodycam footage from January 6 attack.” The defendant tackles a Capitol Hill Officer and straddles him while brandishing the metal pipe. CNN obtained the videotape only after petitioning the judge to force the DOJ to release the evidence.

          A reader sent a note saying that the footage “needs to be on a continuous loop and used against every Republican running for office”—especially those who are promoting the lie that the assault on the Capitol was non-violent political speech. I agree with the reader’s sentiment. The majority of Republicans in Congress are minimizing what happened on January 6th. Displaying footage of the violent assault on Capitol Police alongside mealy-mouthed excuses by GOP candidates should be an effective campaign tactic. The GOP has become “anti-police” in its disgraceful apologies for the Capitol Hill Insurrectionists.

          The fact that CNN had to file a motion to release the body-cam footage points to the continued lackluster performance by Merrick Garland’s DOJ. The nation suffered an attack on Congress that very nearly prevented the constitutional transition of power. But Garland seems to be treating the assault as a series of unrelated trespass cases or beer-brawls after closing time at bars. These cases are NOT run-of-the-mill prosecutions and should not be treated as minor offenses. They represent an assault on democracy and the American public has a right to see the evidence now, not after the news media files motions to force disclosure of the information.

          I expect that defense attorneys and prosecutors are already composing emails to remind me of a defendant’s right to a fair trial. Fair point, but that right must be balanced against the fact that the entire Republican party is spreading disinformation about what happened on January 6th. American democracy has the right to defend itself against lies designed to undermine democracy itself. If Merrick Garland were interested in combatting that disinformation, he could authorize prosecutors to release bodycam footage of the type that CNN was forced to pry from the hands of reluctant prosecutors.

          Merrick Garland has misjudged the moment. He appears not to understand the ongoing nature of the threat posed by the January 6th Insurrection or by his failure to hold Trump accountable for crimes committed during his tenure. See Ryan Cooper in The Week¸ “The Biden administration is enabling a Trump comeback.” (“Democrats think enforcing the law on their opponents is somehow unfair.”)  As Cooper notes, Garland seems to be bending over backwards to avoid any hint of retaliating against a former president. In doing so, Garland is ignoring a basic precept of American democracy: No one is above the law, not even a former president. Cooper concludes:

          But it seems fecklessness runs so deep in the Democratic Party that not even basic self-preservation can motivate them to enforce the law against the rich and powerful. Garland should discover some principles, or he should resign.

Concluding Thoughts.

          Happy Father’s Day to all of the dads who are reading this newsletter. Among the many valuable lessons you can teach your children, one of the most important is that our democracy is worth fighting for—even to the point of “going down kicking and screaming.” I’ll wager that many of the dads out there engaged in their own version of “kicking and screaming,” from military service to Civil Rights Marches to anti-war protests. Teach your children well. Tell them your story.

          Talk to you tomorrow!