Slate: “For decades, Florida conservatives decried decisions by the Supreme Court of Florida striking down laws that violated the state constitution. Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis sounded this note in his January 2019 inaugural address, complaining that Florida “has seen judges expand their power beyond proper constitutional bounds” and promising to end “judicial activism.” DeSantis entered office…
Month: March 2021
“Warnock win unleashes flood of Black candidates”
Politico: “Raphael Warnock’s Senate victory in Georgia has opened the floodgates to a surge of African American Senate candidates, raising the prospect that the 2022 midterm elections could dramatically alter the face of a chamber that is currently 89 percent white. While it’s too early in the election cycle to know exactly how many Black candidates…
“Tracking North Carolina’s ‘blue shift'”
The McDowell News: “Democrats here have been inspired by Democrats in Georgia, which went for President Biden and elected two Democratic senators. Efforts have begun to replicate Georgia Democrats’ voter registration and turnout juggernaut. But North Carolina isn’t Georgia. We’re more rural. While both states have over 10 million people, Georgia’s rural population is about…
“Georgia voting rights activists pressure big corporations to oppose GOP-backed ballot restrictions”
CNBC: “Civil rights and activist groups are turning up the pressure on large Georgia companies like Coca-Cola and Delta Airlines to oppose sweeping voting restrictions proposed by Republican state legislators. “We’ve got the power of organized people. They’ve got the power of organized money. And between us and them, we could put pressure on these legislators or, worst case…
“‘The Consequences of Human Suffering’: Mississippi Clergy Organizing for Medicaid Expansion”
MS Free Press: “More than five decades later, 300 members of the Mississippi clergy invoked that tradition of solidarity and acknowledged the still-unfinished work when they hosted a press conference in conjunction with Working Together Mississippi to unveil a letter expressing their discontent with the Mississippi Legislature’s seven-year inaction regarding Medicaid expansion. The letter also endorses the Mississippi Cares plan,…
Reflections on Beth Moore’s Earth-Shaking Split from Southern Baptist Convention
The Dispatch: “It’s not often that a single person’s decision to leave a Christian denomination dominates the pages of Christianity Today, the Washington Post, and New York Times, but when that person is Beth Moore, one of America’s most popular Bible teachers, and she’s leaving the nation’s largest Protestant denomination, the Southern Baptist Convention, that attention is justified. …
“Texas GOP launches avalanche of bills to curtail voting”
NBC News: “Texas Republicans are rolling out a slew of restrictive election bills, taking particular aim at early voting after Democrats enthusiastically embraced the practice last year. More than two dozen GOP-sponsored elections bills are under consideration in the Legislature as lawmakers seek to tighten ID requirements and voter rolls, limit early voting and up the penalties for…
“A Political Hurricane Blew Through Georgia. Now It’s Bracing for More.”
NY Times: “People tend to speak of Georgia politics these days in the most dramatic of terms: A struggle is underway “for the soul of Georgia,” and the New South in general. Every week seems to bring a new “existential battle” over some defining issue. A “foundational tension” is playing out in the racial politics…
Sen. Rubio Says Amazon Workers Should Unionize Not to be Adverse to Management but to Wage Culture War
USA Today: “But the days of conservatives being taken for granted by the business community are over. Here’s my standard: When the conflict is between working Americans and a company whose leadership has decided to wage culture war against working-class values, the choice is easy — I support the workers. And that’s why I stand with those…
“A Texas Agency is Defending the Confederacy”
Texas Observer: “In response to this incident and other efforts to remove Confederate memorials across the state, the commission has strengthened protections for Texas historical markers and enacted a new rule requiring a majority vote of the 15-person commission before a state antiquities landmark can be “retired.”… The campaign to remove Confederate symbols and monuments…