Are You Really A “Winner” If You Have to Rig the Rules to Win?

If you want to learn how to play the game, boys and girls, forget all that old-fashioned stuff like “do your best,” “be a good sport,” and “respect the game.”

No, no, that’s loser talk. Today, the name of the game is winning. You’re Number One, or you’re nothing, so forget fair play and do whatever it takes to WIN! Of course, the gold medal champion of gaming the system is Trump, and to see the master in action, look at his current electoral manipulation in Texas.

With only a slim majority in the US House, and with his job-approval rating plummeting, Trump recently realized he’s in danger of losing his iron grip on Congress in next year’s mid-term elections. Gosh, what to do? Simple – rig the election! And no place is better at that than Texas.

So, Lord Donald ordered Greg Abbott, the right-wing partisan hack who is governor of this once-proud Lone Star State, to convene a special legislative session to redraw our congressional districts. Never mind that the districts had already been gerrymandered by Abbott only four years ago, Trump is demanding that voters be herded like cattle into even more convoluted districts. The goal is to oust five Texas Democrats from the House, thus stacking the Congressional deck with more Republicans so he can keep ruling the place. It’s political game-playing at its worst, disrespecting voters and the very idea of a House of Representatives.

Of course, there is an honorable way for the GOP to elect more of its own without engaging in political perversion: Stop trying to push far-right-wing nonsense that the great majority of voters don’t want. Instead, put up decent candidates who don’t need a Trump script to know what they stand for… and don’t need a Trump map to find the district that they supposedly “represent.”

Do something!

To stay on top of all-things-progressive in Texas, we can’t recommend Michelle H. Davis’ Substack enough: Lone Star Left. Here are a couple of her recent posts:

Jim Hightower's Lowdown is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jimhightower.substack.com/subscribe