gerrymandering

Long before she was ever appointed DNC chair, Debbie Wasserman Schultz was widely considered one of the most dishonest and sleazy players in American politics. Watch, in the video above, how she extolled the virtues of debates... and then refused to answer a question from a reporter about why she is refusing to debate her primary opponent, Tim Canova. She's a reprehensible character who disgraces the entire concept of democratic government. (Please consider contributing to Canova's grassroots campaign to defeat her.

Isn't it time to end the anti-democratic practice of gerrymandering? No, it's actually past time-- way past time. In 2012, for example, 59,645,531 Americans (48.8%) voted for Democrats running for Congress and 58,228,253 (47.6%) voted for Republicans. In a mathematically perfect world, the Democrats would have 213 seats and the Republicans would have 207 seats. That would have been a reflection of the popular will.

John Kasich is really the only Republican presidential hopeful who has taken on Trumpf. There isn't much he can do against the billionaire bully but at least he's been making an effort. The ad above is his latest attempt to point out how jaw-droppingly unfit Trumpf is for the presidency. There's another one at the bottom of the post.

Daniel Webster has been in the news lately because he's "running" (not really) for House Speaker as the Freedom Caucus/Tea Party candidate. He isn't considered a serious candidate with an actual chance to ever become Speaker, just a pawn in the game between the extremists and the mainstream conservative Establishment. But ole "Taliban Dan" is probably happy he's in the news as a potential Speaker rather than as someone who's about to lose his congressional seat.

As we saw last month, Boehner is working, albeit covertly, with the Chamber of Commerce to rid his caucus of "uncooperative" Republicans-- libertarians like Amash and extremists like Cantor-killer Dave Brat. They want to send a message to the members of the Freedom Caucus that their careers are in jeopardy if they don't fall in line behind the GOP Establishment.

Donna Edwards, champion for democracy when we really need oneThursday was the 50th anniversary of LBJ signing the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Tuesday Ari Berman's new book, Give Us the Ballot: The Modern Struggle for Voting Rights in America, was published.

Looks like we lost Oren Jacobson as a candidate against Lipinski, at least for the this cycle, but we've gained a sharp and dedicated new correspondent from Chicagoland. Last week he shared his reflections after Obama's speech in Charleston. This evening his topic is reflections on the Declaration of Indpendence as it has evolved and continues to evolve.

"This state's Democratic Party is like the Mickey Mouse Club, only with less cohesion and direction." There may be a few states where that dollop of reality is just plain false. But the state Democratic Parties overall are a collection of pointless messes, run by self-serving men and women with small minds, pedestrian outlooks and ironically big egos. There are almost no state Democratic Parties that aren't pitifully dysfunctional.

Putative GOP 2016 hopeful/South Carolina closet queen Lindsey Graham told USAToday's "Capital Download" that his party will lose the 2016 presidential election because of their agenda towards minorities. “We’ll lose... I mean, we’ve got a big hole we’ve dug with Hispanics.

In 2010, Illinois Democrats found themselves in complete control of the state government again. Time to gerrymander the state? It certainly worked out well for Republican Aaron Schock.Aaron Schock was supposed to represent a new breed of Illinois Republicans-- suitably reactionary, if not crazy-fanatic, on the inside but superficially kind of like a normal person.