# The Republican War on Voting Thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [March 11, 2021, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723 "2021-03-11T17:30:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 17
**Author:** ![John\_Bredin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@John\_Bredin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Bredin)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2021, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/321 "2021-06-01T15:07:06Z")
> [@flurb](#): > > Greg Abbott (building on a foundation laid by Rick Perry) has turned this dynamic on its head. He’s successfully seeded state agencies with loyalists willing to do his bidding. He’s directed agencies to submit rules to his office before they’re published, something he has no legal authority to require. He has enormously expanded his emergency powers, even pre-COVID. He’s expanded his line-item veto authority to allow him to essentially rewrite the budget. And he’s done all of this with nary a peep out of the Legislature. That sounds like a modern version of the list of “He has…” grievances in the [Declaration of Independence](https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/declaration-transcript). It would be interesting for someone to point that out to the broader public in Texas in a meme-y way, because > [@](#): > > a gubernatorial dictatorship with a sham legislature that’s only allowed to function if it stays in the governor’s good graces. SHOULD be just as offensive to Republicans with an ounce of foresight (if such exist) as it is to Democrats. The weapon turned on my enemies today could be turned on me tomorrow, and all that. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2021, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/322 "2021-06-01T15:12:43Z")
> [@John\_Bredin](#): > > The weapon turned on my enemies today could be turned on me tomorrow, and all that. Republicans are hoping for a situation not unlike North Korea, where there is absolutely no chance of any kind of opposition to complete authoritarian power. So in their minds, there will never be any chance of this being turned against them. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Bredin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@John\_Bredin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Bredin)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2021, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/323 "2021-06-01T15:37:01Z")
They may think that, but they forget that groups can fracture into factions. Eliminate the Democrats as a political force with any impact, and political warriors won’t retire to their farms like Thanos, they’ll keep fighting but now against “fellow” Republicans. Country-club types vs. populists. Business types (making $ off selling to a broad market, not wanting to piss off any part of that market _too much_) vs. culture-war types (for whom pissing off as many people who aren’t like them as possible is a feature). Goldbuggers who want a “hard” gold-based currency vs. business types who realize the deflationary impact of such a policy. Etcetera. And if they can’t “fight” these things out politically with compromise in the legislature because the fount of all power is the governor, any given Republican – who is surely on the wrong side of _some_ issue or conflict from the governor – has to suck that up (and suck up to the governor) to stay a politician. Even then, his power is circumscribed by how far he can vary from the governor’s position without attracting attention. They may think they’ll get North Korea, or Oceania with them in the Inner Party, but what they’d end up with is Putin’s Russia or Oceania with them in the Outer Party, where any nail that sticks up even slightly gets hammered down. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2021, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/324 "2021-06-01T15:40:33Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > So in their minds, there will never be any chance of this being turned against them. It’s even better than that. If the Dems _do_ find themselves at the controls of such a skewed pseudodemocracy, they won’t be so craven to use it as selfishly and destructively as the Pubbies would. And the Pubbies know this, and are therefore not afraid of it. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2021, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/325 "2021-06-01T16:33:25Z")
If you have no morals but you know your opponent does, that is a huge advantage for Republicans. Absolute power corrupts absolutely, which Republicans consider to be a feature and not a bug. I think democracy in the US is doomed because not enough people want it to succeed enough to accept election results that they don’t like. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2021, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/326 "2021-06-01T20:07:25Z")
It’s hard to have a lot of confidence in Democrats when they say stuff like [this](https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-texas-election-2020-campaign-2016-voting-02d2cf27a06de4767817bd0185308dc1): > [@](#): > > At the least, Democrats hope the walkout bought them some time. When they left the church, it was after midnight. > > “We may have won the war tonight but the battle is not over,” Democratic state Rep. Nicole Collier said. 🤔 🤨 That’s… not… how it works. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2021, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/327 "2021-06-01T23:22:35Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > We may have won the war tonight but the battle is not over Surprisingly a Google search for the inverse, “We may have won the battle tonight but the war is not over”, has zero hits. What is the original phrase? I seem to think it was something from WWII, like “we may have lost the battle, but not the war”? ~Max ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2021, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/328 "2021-06-01T23:32:38Z")
> [@Max\_S](#): > > I seem to think it was something from WWII, like “we may have lost the battle, but not the war”? Could be De Gaulle’s line — about how _France has lost a battle! But France has not lost the war!_ ---
**Author:** ![DeadTreasSecretaries](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/deadtreassecretaries/32/4817_2.png) [@DeadTreasSecretaries](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeadTreasSecretaries)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2021, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/329 "2021-06-02T00:00:33Z")
“One more victory like that and we’re finished!” -Pyrrhus ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2021, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/330 "2021-06-02T00:15:07Z")
If the war is over, there are no more battles. If the battle is over, the war might continue. She got the terms reversed when she spoke, is all. I just thought it was kind of funny. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2021, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/331 "2021-06-02T08:03:36Z")
It _was_ “after midnight” after a long trying day. I’d chalk it up to fatigue. ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2021, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/332 "2021-06-02T19:57:14Z")
> [@John\_Bredin](#): > > Country-club types vs. populists. Business types (making $ off selling to a broad market, not wanting to piss off any part of that market _too much_ ) vs. culture-war types (for whom pissing off as many people who aren’t like them as possible is a feature). Goldbuggers who want a “hard” gold-based currency vs. business types who realize the deflationary impact of such a policy. Etcetera. Those particular wars have already been fought and won by the populists and culture-war types. The country club types and business types had the choice of either joining the Democrats or becoming subservient to the loony tunes crowd, and they chose the latter. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2021, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/333 "2021-06-02T20:32:58Z")
> [@FlikTheBlue](#): > > … either joining the Democrats or becoming subservient to the loony tunes crowd, and they chose the latter. I _almost_ agree. I might refine this idea a smidgen about like this: The country club & business types have not chosen to be _subservient_ to the looney tunes. Instead they’ve chosen to ride the looney tunes tiger. They maintain the belief that they can still control it enough that they emerge as the real winners after a bit of youthful exuberance from the populists. And at the extreme, they believe they have enough of a “kill switch” in the form of serious donations they can redirect that they can stop the populists turning on them. If the Ds win in 2022 & 2024 those R folks’ beliefs might even turn out to be true, or at least true enough to carry them through. But if the looney tunes end up with the bit in their teeth and DeSantis or Trump Jr. or even Trump Sr. is elected Fuhrer in 2024, then they will, like almost everyone who rides a tiger, be eaten in their turn. Just 20-30 years after all the black and brown folks and progressives are fed to the grinder. So these fatcat-lite folks may live just long enough to profit handsomely then die before they are killed. Which really is pretty much the Big Biz / RW plan for AGW response: Max profit today, and I’ll be dead before the crash hits. Grifters. It’s grifters all the way down. ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2021, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/334 "2021-06-03T02:22:45Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Instead they’ve chosen to ride the looney tunes tiger. They maintain the belief that they can still control it enough that they emerge as the real winners after a bit of youthful exuberance from the populists. And at the extreme, they believe they have enough of a “kill switch” in the form of serious donations they can redirect that they can stop the populists turning on them. > > If the Ds win in 2022 & 2024 those R folks’ beliefs might even turn out to be true, or at least true enough to carry them through. > > But if the looney tunes end up with the bit in their teeth and DeSantis or Trump Jr. or even Trump Sr. is elected Fuhrer in 2024, then they will, like almost everyone who rides a tiger, be eaten in their turn. Just 20-30 years after all the black and brown folks and progressives are fed to the grinder. So these fatcat-lite folks may live just long enough to profit handsomely then die before they are killed. > > Which really is pretty much the Big Biz / RW plan for AGW response: Max profit today, and I’ll be dead before the crash hits. Grifters. It’s grifters all the way down. If they truly believe that, then not only are the grifters, they’re idiotic grifters. It’s clear they’ve already lost the war. The tiger already threw them off and is getting ready. to eat them, it’s just busy eating someone else first. If they don’t realize that, then they’re dumber than the true believers who think Trump actually won. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2021, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/335 "2021-06-03T03:25:46Z")
There’s a very good chance Republicans will control congress in 2023 - not because they won more votes, but because they can draw the districts and effectively choose their voters. I don’t see how this is stopped. They’ll have the gerrymander for the next 10 years, which is one of the reasons why I made such a fuss over the deliberate manipulation of the census forms and data collection. The Republicans have a very good chance at succeeding in the rigging of ‘democracy.’ Worse, a related problem is that this discourages Republicans with a ‘spine’ or ‘conscience’ from speaking out. If you know that the party can essentially make districts that shop for voters, then you know you’re not doing this in some districts - this is all districts. It’s a feedback loop, plain and simple. It’s the nazification of American politics, plain and simple. Call me a crank. I don’t care. I’m right. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2021, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/336 "2021-06-03T13:24:23Z")
> [@FlikTheBlue](#): > > The tiger already threw them off and is getting ready. to eat them, it’s just busy eating someone else first. If they don’t realize that, then they’re dumber than the true believers who think Trump actually won. They are not much different than the oligarchs under Putin, or any such system like that. They stand to benefit, as long as they stay in line. The ones who don’t realize this, and think they have a grip on the tiger’s horns, will be used as an example to the rest. > [@asahi](#): > > They’ll have the gerrymander for the next 10 years, which is one of the reasons why I made such a fuss over the deliberate manipulation of the census forms and data collection. I wonder if that means that democrats who live in red states, especially in red areas of a red state, should undercount themselves on the census. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2021, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/337 "2021-06-03T13:29:08Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > The ones who don’t realize this, and think they have a grip on **the tiger’s horns** , will be used as an example to the rest. That sounds like a pretty interesting tiger. Now tell us about these dogs you’re friends with… 😄 ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2021, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/338 "2021-06-03T13:43:33Z")
Well, that’s the whole point. A tiger doesn’t have horns. The grip they think that they have doesn’t exist. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2021, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/339 "2021-06-03T20:09:17Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > That sounds like a pretty interesting tiger. > > Now tell us about these dogs you’re friends with… Search the SDMB for recent mentions of “badger horns”. Same idea. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2021, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723/340 "2021-06-04T06:03:41Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > > [@k9bfriender](#): > > > > The ones who don’t realize this, and think they have a grip on **the tiger’s horns** , will be used as an example to the rest. > > That sounds like a pretty interesting tiger. > > Now tell us about these dogs you’re friends with… > > 😄 One of these: > **[Tiger head angry face with horn and three eyes vec vector image on VectorStock](https://www.vectorstock.com/royalty-free-vector/tiger-head-angry-face-with-horn-and-three-eyes-vec-vector-26190627)** > > TIGER HEAD ANGRY FACE WITH HORN AND THREE EYES VECTOR DETAIL WITH GRUNGE EFFECT EDITABLE LAYERS. Download a free preview or high-quality Adobe Illustrator (ai), EPS, PDF, SVG vectors and high-res JPEG and PNG images. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723.md?page=16) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-war-on-voting-thread/937723.md?page=18)