The most important political event yesterday happened in Pennsylvania: “A huge loss for the Republicans: the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has ordered a new congressional map in one of the country’s most gerrymandered states. It’s a state case, so [a Supreme Court] appeal is unlikely.”
Here’s why Democrats think it is important: “Democrats could have had a chance to win all three of these proposed seats — the hypothetical 6th, 11th, and 12th districts — in 2016, meaning Republican gerrymandering likely cost the party anywhere from one to four seats last year.”
What’s important is to keep a straight-face while saying such ridiculous things: “[Sen.] Ted Cruz [R-Tex.] Claims: ‘I Have Consistently Opposed Shutdowns.’” Except that one time.
Right-wing populists find it important to rewrite history and remake reality. “The most famous Polish dissident of the 20th century — Lech Walesa, the shipyard worker, Solidarity leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner — is being scrubbed from official memory by a popular political party that like others in Europe is refashioning the kind of democracy he helped build. The revolution led by Mr. Walesa in 1989 opened the way to uniting most of Europe under liberal democracy, globalization and the expanding European Union. The victory seemed so emphatic that optimists spoke of the end of history. Yet a battle for Europe’s soul is once more being fought in Poland.”
It’s important to show they are willing to fight. “Nearly every Democratic senator considering running for president in 2020 voted against reopening the government on Monday, as furious liberals accused Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) of selling out the base in the immigration fight. Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) — all voted against a spending measure to reopen the government. So did Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), who could also run for president.”
It is important to remember that the White House agrees with the message. “White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders faced an onslaught of questions today about that new Trump campaign ad that depicts Democrats as complicit with murderous illegal immigrants. This ad came out in response to the Democrat’s part in the gridlock that caused a government shutdown over this past weekend.”
This would be an important consequence of the mini-shutdown. “The defense budget has been tied up in the immigration debate and the DACA impasse that partially shuttered the government over the weekend. Senators said the breakthrough Monday could smooth the way for Congress to raise 2018 spending caps and pass an appropriations bill for the Pentagon.”