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Ben Wikler @benwikler
, 10 tweets, 3 min read Read on Twitter
Super bad, under the radar thing: Tom Brunell, a Republican political scientist who literally wrote a book titled "Redistricting and Representation: Why competitive elections are bad for America," might be appointed to oversee the census—which shapes redistricting—THIS MONTH.
"Brunell makes the case for a radical departure from traditional approaches to redistricting – arguing that we need to "pack" districts with as many like-minded partisans as possible, maximizing the number of winning voters, not losers."
smile.amazon.com/Redistricting-…
Call your Senators & reps and tell them to call/write Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross (who oversees the census) and tell him not to appoint Thomas Brunell. Ross doesn't care what you think, but he's funded by Congress.
202-224-3121

"I'm NAME, a constituent. I'm concerned abt reports that Tom Brunell, a partisan who has testified in favor of gerrymandering, might be appointed to oversee the census count. I'm calling to urge Senator __ to call on Commerce Secretary Ross to reject Tom Brunell."
Brunell would be appointed DEPUTY director of the Census rather than outright director, specifically to avoid a Senate confirmation process. But pressure now could still make a difference. Read an earlier report here: politico.com/story/2017/11/…
Understand. The census doesn’t just shape redistricting, which shapes the future balance of power and thus all future laws. It also determines funding levels for lifesaving social programs. GOP partisans advocate changes that would undercount people of color. Stakes massive.
Biasing & undermining the Census is one of the most insidious long-term strategies of the right to undermine democracy and entrench GOP power. Critical to fight when & where we have the chance.
You—everyone—should read this piece on Brunell by @AriBerman, the top journalist on the voting-rights beat. motherjones.com/politics/2018/…
... and you should watch this from @maddow. msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-…
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Folks in DC (for starters). If Trump goes full autocrat tomorrow and declares an emergency to make the military perform civilian functions in defiance of the Congress and the constitution, be ready to protest.
A protest to end the shutdown is already planned for tomorrow at noon at the AFL-CIO, right by the White House. Furloughed? Lunch break? Go. Everyone else, spread the word.
facebook.com/events/2162568…
Wherever you are, call your senators: tell Dems to hold strong; tell Republicans to join Dems to reopen the government with no wall. 202-224-3121. And ask what they plan to do if Trump declares an emergency.
Read 4 tweets
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At the Tony Evers/Mandela Barnes inaugural ball in Wisconsin, Tammy Baldwin takes the stage to open up the program. For six years, she kept the light of progressivism alive here. Tonight, every constitutional officer in the state is a Democrat.
Lt Governor Mandela Barnes compliments Senator Tammy Baldwin’s inaugural garb: “I love those coattails!”
(Get it? Like, political coattails helping downballot candidates get elected? It’s an excellent joke, people.)
Read 6 tweets
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"May we be willing to do what’s best for the next generation, rather than the next election." – @Tony4WI
Wisconsin's newly elected Democratic governor, Tony Evers, just concluded his inaugural address this way: "Let's polka tonight, and get to work tomorrow!"

(He really does polka, and will do so at the inaugural ball tonight)
madison.com/ct/entertainme…
Sarah Godlewski took her oath of office today as State Treasurer of Wisconsin—after successfully leading the fight against the GOP effort to eliminate the office. She's dynamite. Keep an eye on her.

madison.com/ct/opinion/col…
Read 9 tweets

Related threads

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So, there’s a 300 page opinion by a 3 judge panel regarding NC’s partisan gerrymandering. Guess I know what I’m doing after dinner tonight. #ncpol #ncga redistricting.lls.edu/files/NC%20cc%…
OK, so here we go…tweet storm forthcoming regarding the 300+ opinion that still holds NC partisan gerrymandering as illegal, and that this time, the plaintiff’s have met the Gill burden of having standing as being in a district that is in question:
With standing, the issue of the partisan gerrymandering by NC Republicans is in violation of the U.S. Constitution’s Article I, the 1st Amendment, and the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment:
Read 87 tweets
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1. This is the story of how the U.S. & other nuclear-armed nations try and fail to keep nuclear weapons out of the hands of weak nations that need them — including ones vulnerable to attack by the U.S.
2. In Quentin Tarantino’s film, “Inglourious Basterds,” a German SS officer arrives without warning at a French family’s modest dairy farm. The year is 1940, the first year of the Nazi occupation.
2. The officer is accompanied by several heavily-armed men and is exceedingly polite. He asks the French farmer if he can come inside. The farmer, with his young daughters hovering nearby, allows him to enter.
Read 79 tweets
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Foreign policy expert @JohnKerry rips Trump’s 'disgraceful’ NATO speech nyp.st/2Jdf5Je via @nypost
John Kerry ends his long career in politics the same way he began it: disgracefully. nationalreview.com/2016/12/john-k…
Trashing Israel on the way out the door was the perfect capstone to an ignoble career
Read 41 tweets
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Who's ready for a trash fire? #HellMother
Autism Uncensored is a pretty ironic name when you consider what I'm likely to say about this heap.

Though I'd like to take a moment to shout out to whatever drunken baboon formatted this thing. It looks like ass on my kindle. #HellMother
Also I want to make it clear that this ENTIRE THREAD carries with it a trigger warning, big time. Feel free to blacklist the hashtag #HellMother if you don't want this coming across your TL.

With that said, let's get started.
Read 81 tweets
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One of the momentous things in dot-com history we are, uhh, "privileged" to witness in real time is Facebook's shift from Schumpeterian monopoly to Ricardian monopoly. In ten years, business school cases will be written about this stuff...
This isn't the first of course. Microsoft maneuvered itself into the same position ca. 1999, and the verdict back then was MS is irrelevant now that it missed the whole internet thing and is just flailing around, but MS never stopped being a hugely profitable key player.
There's others, but the key lesson learned should be: you can coast on cruise control for quite some time, 20 years plus apparently, when you can milk Ricardian rents. And that's a problem.
Read 29 tweets
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(THREAD) MAJOR BREAKING NEWS: Mike Flynn will plead guilty to Making False Statements at 10:30 AM EST today (Friday). This is the biggest development in the Russia probe so far. This thread explains what it all means, and will be updated throughout the day. Please read and share.
1/ First, it's important to understand that Mueller has entered into a plea deal with Flynn in which Flynn pleads guilty to far less than the available evidence suggests he could be charged with. This indicates that he has cut a deal with Mueller to cooperate in the Russia probe.
2/ We've already seen Mueller do this once before in the probe, with George Papadopoulos—who was charged with the same crime as Flynn, Making False Statements, to secure his cooperation with the Russia probe. The Papadopoulos plea affidavit emphasized facts were being left out.
Read 137 tweets

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