Things that happen to us – Page 2

Let’s Ask Arty About JD Vance’s Claim of Taxpayer-funded Healthcare for Illegal Immigrants

Let’s Ask Arty uses existing Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology to query LLMs about politics in these troubled times.

Query 1: Is Vice President JD Vance’s claim that democrats are demanding billions of dollars in taxpayer-funded healthcare for illegal immigrants true?

What the Vice President Said:

Vance stated that Democrats are “threatening to shut down the entire government because they want to give hundreds of billions of dollars of health care benefits to illegal aliens”.
He cited two Biden-era programs that he claims provided emergency healthcare and Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies to undocumented immigrants

What the Facts Show

Federal law prohibits undocumented immigrants from receiving federally funded healthcare programs like Medicare, Medicaid, and ACA subsidies.
The Democratic budget proposal aims to:
- Extend ACA subsidies for legal residents and citizens.
- Reverse Medicaid cuts from the Trump administration’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” that would affect lawfully present immigrants, such as refugees and those with Temporary Protected Status.

There is no provision in the Democratic proposal that offers free healthcare to undocumented immigrants.

What Democrats Say:

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries stated: “Federal law prohibits the expenditure of taxpayer dollars on providing healthcare to undocumented immigrants. Nowhere have Democrats suggested that we are interested in changing federal law”.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called the Republican claims “utter bull,” emphasizing that the dispute is about healthcare for American citizens, not undocumented immigrants

The claim that Democrats are shutting down the government to fund healthcare for illegal immigrants is FALSE. The dispute centers around extending healthcare subsidies for legal residents and reversing Medicaid cuts—not providing benefits to undocumented immigrants.

Here’s a detailed breakdown of how healthcare access works for different immigrant groups in the U.S., based on federal law and recent policy developments:

U.S. Citizens and Naturalized Citizens

Full access to federally funded healthcare programs like:
- Medicaid
- Medicare
- Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplace subsidies
Eligibility based on income, age, and other standard criteria.

This includes green card holders, refugees, asylees, and those with humanitarian parole or Temporary Protected Status (TPS).

Medicaid & CHIP (Children’s Health Insurance Prhogram):
- Eligible after a 5-year waiting period, unless exempt (e.g., refugees, asylees, veterans).
ACA Marketplace Subsidies:
- Eligible immediately if lawfully present.
State Variations:
- Some states offer Medicaid/CHIP to lawfully present children and pregnant women regardless of entry date.

🔵 DACA Recipients (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals)

Not eligible for Medicaid, CHIP, or ACA subsidies under federal law.
May access state-funded programs in select states.

Undocumented Immigrants

Not eligible for:
- Medicaid
- Medicare
- ACA marketplace coverage or subsidies
Emergency Medicaid:
- Covers urgent medical conditions (e.g., ER visits, childbirth) regardless of status.
Community Clinics & Safety-Net Providers:
- Often serve undocumented individuals, especially in mixed-status families.

⚪ Mixed-Status Families

Households with members of different immigration statuses (e.g., U.S.-citizen children and undocumented parents).
Citizen children may qualify for Medicaid or CHIP.
Parents may avoid seeking care due to fear, confusion, or legal uncertainty.

🏛️ Recent Policy Changes & Debates

The Trump administration’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” restricted Medicaid eligibility for many lawfully present immigrants.
Democrats are seeking to restore pre-2025 rules, allowing broader access for refugees, asylees, and parolees.

Query 2: What changes to ACA subsidies are in Republican’s Big Beautiful Bill and how will that affect healthcare costs for American citizens who get their health insurance from the ACA?

The Republican-backed One Big Beautiful Bill Act makes significant changes to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies, and the consequences for Americans relying on ACA marketplace insurance could be severe.

🧾 What Changed in the Bill

No extension of enhanced ACA subsidies: The bill omits renewal of the expanded premium tax credits that were introduced during the pandemic and extended through 2025.
Cuts to Medicaid and ACA eligibility:
- Stricter eligibility rules for Medicaid.
- ACA subsidies will no longer be available to many lawfully present immigrants, including refugees and asylum seekers.
Codifies Trump-era ACA rules: These rules increase cost-sharing and reduce affordability for middle-income enrollees.

Impact on Healthcare Costs

Premiums could double: Without the enhanced subsidies, average monthly premiums may rise from $888 to $1,904—a 114% increase.
Out-of-pocket costs will spike: Families could face $900 higher deductibles and $313 more in monthly premiums.
Millions may lose coverage:
- The Congressional Budget Office estimates 4.2 million people will lose ACA coverage by 2034 due to subsidy expiration.
- Another 3.1 million could lose coverage due to ACA marketplace changes in the bill.
Uninsured rate will rise: The U.S. uninsured population could grow by 16 million over the next decade.

🧠 Who’s Most Affected

Working- and middle-class Americans who don’t qualify for Medicaid but rely on ACA plans.
Residents of Republican-controlled states that haven’t expanded Medicaid.
Self-employed individuals and gig workers who buy insurance on the marketplace.

This policy shift is at the heart of the current government shutdown, as Democrats are refusing to pass a funding bill that doesn’t include a renewal of these subsidies

Query 3: Where do the savings from cuts to the ACA in the Big Beautiful Bill go? Who benefits from getting rid of ACA subsidies?

The savings from cuts to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act are largely redirected toward tax relief and deficit reduction, with the biggest beneficiaries being high-income earners, corporations, and defense spending priorities. Here’s how it breaks down:

💰 Where the Savings Go

Estimated $1.1 trillion in cuts to Medicaid and ACA subsidies over 10 years.
These savings are used to:
- Fund tax cuts for individuals and corporations.
- Offset increases in defense and border security spending.
- Reduce the federal deficit, though critics argue the impact is minimal compared to the human cost.

🏦 Who Benefits Most

Group	How They Benefit
High-income earners	Receive larger tax breaks due to reduced progressive taxation and capital gains reforms.
Corporations	Benefit from lower corporate tax rates and relaxed healthcare mandates for employees.
Defense contractors	Gain from increased military and border security allocations funded by healthcare cuts.
Private insurers	May profit from reduced competition and fewer subsidized plans on ACA marketplaces.

🚫 Who Loses Out

Middle-class and working Americans who rely on ACA subsidies to afford insurance.
Rural hospitals and clinics, which face reduced Medicaid reimbursements and may close.
Lawfully present immigrants, including refugees and asylum seekers, who lose access to subsidized coverage.

The bill’s supporters argue it reduces “wasteful spending,” but critics say it shifts costs from the wealthy to vulnerable populations and destabilizes the healthcare system

My Take

JD Vance was lying when he said, “Democrats are threatening to shut down the entire government because they want to give hundreds of billions of dollars of health care benefits to illegal aliens.”

The Republican Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, was lying when he said, “The Democrats said instead that they wanted to give healthcare to illegal aliens instead of keeping critical services provided for the American citizens.”

Both these men, along with the President and Republicans in Congress, want to feather the pockets of the wealthiest Americans and fill the coffers of corporations at the expense of the poor and middle class.

I hope Democrats stick to their guns in the Government funding debate and fight republican cuts to ACA subsidies, which will hurt middle-class Americans by doubling monthly healthcare premiums, increasing out-of-pocket costs for families, and resulting in a loss of healthcare coverage for millions of Americans.

If you haven’t had a chance yet, please check out my book, My Paper, My Words: Rantings from a Progressive Boomer and Peeved Parent, from Amazon. And if you feel moved to write a review of the book, on Amazon, or anywhere else, I’d be honored.

My Paper, My Words is a collection of essays, stories, and poems that reflect the challenges of a middle-class husband and father trying to navigate a rapidly changing political, religious, and technological landscape of post-911 America.

Let’s Ask Arty About President Trump’s UN Speech

Let’s Ask Arty uses existing Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology to query LLMs about politics in these troubled times.

Query: Can you please fact check the speech and statements that President Trump gave at the United Nations on 09/23/2025?

President Donald Trump’s speech to the United Nations General Assembly on September 23, 2025, included several claims that have been widely fact-checked and found to be misleading or false across multiple topics. Here’s a breakdown of the most notable inaccuracies:

🌍 Claims About Ending Wars

Trump stated:

“I ended seven wars… Cambodia and Thailand, Kosovo and Serbia, the Congo and Rwanda, Pakistan and India, Israel and Iran, Egypt and Ethiopia, and Armenia and Azerbaijan.”

Fact Check:

Cambodia and Thailand: A truce was reached, but it involved mediation from other leaders and was not solely brokered by Trump.
Kosovo and Serbia: No war was actively occurring; Trump’s administration previously brokered an economic agreement, not a peace treaty.
Congo and Rwanda: Fighting continues despite a peace agreement; rebel groups were not part of the deal.
Egypt and Ethiopia: No war existed—only a dispute over a dam project.
Pakistan and India: India denies Trump’s involvement in the May ceasefire.
Israel and Iran: A ceasefire followed U.S. airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, but the situation remains volatile.
Armenia and Azerbaijan: A peace declaration was signed, but its long-term impact is uncertain.

🌡️ Climate Change and Renewable Energy

Trump called climate change “the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world” and claimed renewable energy sources “don’t work” and are “too expensive.”

Fact Check:

In 2024, renewables and nuclear accounted for 40% of global electricity generation, with solar and wind surpassing coal in the U.S..
Over 90% of new renewable projects are now cheaper than fossil fuel alternatives.
Solar PV and onshore wind were 41% and 53% cheaper, respectively, than the lowest-cost fossil fuels.

📉 Economy and Poll Numbers

Trump claimed:

“I have the highest poll numbers I’ve ever had.”

Fact Check:

Public polling averages show his approval rating around 42–44%, down from 51–52% earlier in the year.
No public data supports the claim of record-high approval.

🛂 Immigration

Trump described U.S. immigration laws as “suicidal” and blamed them for economic and social decline.

Fact Check:

These statements are opinion-based and not supported by data presented in the speech. Experts widely dispute the characterization of immigration laws as inherently destructive.

🕊️ Criticism of the United Nations

Trump said:

“All they seem to do is write a really strongly worded letter and then never follow that letter up.”

Fact Check:

While the U.N. has been criticized for slow responses, it continues to play active roles in peacekeeping, humanitarian aid, and global coordination. Trump’s portrayal oversimplifies its functions

My Take

I’ve given up on President Trump ever speaking truthfully about anything. Whenever he opens his mouth, lies spill out. Lying is his default setting.

I can’t see how anyone with even an ounce of intelligence could watch that speech and not be embarrassed and ashamed of who we put in office.

We all knew the speech (like all of Donald Trump’s speeches) would be littered with lies and misinformation, so no surprise there. But the boorish and self-congratulatory tone was off the charts, even for Trump. If the delegations had any courage at all, they would have stood up and walked out.

The Aftermath of Our Bloodbath

“Hey Fascist, Catch”
has lit the match
and opened up the door
his hateful speech
had a long reach
see Charlie hit the floor

Kirk had a right
to spit his spite
and stir the grievance pot
but in the land of guns
for everyone
Tyler took his shot

Kirk was no saint
he lacked restraint
always punching down
crass and loud
he played the crowd
and hyped the orange clown

“Hey Fascist, Catch”
has lit the match
America is burning
In the aftermath
of our bloodbath
is anybody learning?

Now a nation mourns
with hate and scorn
temperatures are rising
no call for calm for the five-alarm
fire on our horizon

We ought to run
from martyrdom
not pin it to our chest
not canonize
the hateful guys
who scream
that they know best

With much at stake
it’s time we wake
and embrace our better angels
not reach for guns
and act like Huns
or rage like a deranged bull

“Hey Fascist, Catch”
has lit the match
America is burning
In the aftermath
of our bloodbath
is anybody learning?

Violence doesn’t solve anything, except….

I abhor violence, but the “violence doesn’t solve anything” lament rings hollow in a country that was born out of violent revolution and resistance, and a country that fought violently to prevent fascism from spreading across Europe and the world. Opposing tyranny and a love of freedom are part and parcel of the American experience. When an individual or government threatens our right to speak and live freely, we resist, protest, and, if necessary, we fight.

The American Revolution did not explode spontaneously into violence – it grew over time from protests, pamphlets, and reasoned arguments. When all of that failed, the only thing left was to either submit to tyranny or to fight.

We celebrate the success and ultimate sacrifice of the American Revolution every Fourth of July and Victory Day every second Monday in August. We pump our fists and fly flags to the rallying cries of “Live Free or Die,” “Give me liberty, or give me death,” and “Don’t Tread on Me.” The activities associated with these sentiments are rarely free of violence.

We humans haven’t evolved as much as we pretend. We struggle to sustain a lasting peaceful coexistence with one another; we’re unable to live-and-let-live, often because of the ginned-up fear around political, religious, and cultural differences, which keep us divided and fighting amongst one another. And make no mistake, leaders like Donald Trump understand that if we are fighting one another, we’re not fighting them.

America is marching towards fascism, and many Americans seem okay with the path we’re on. Maybe it doesn’t feel like fascism when you share the political, social, and religious ideology of your fascist government? Regardless, most Americans (across the political spectrum) do not want conflict, yet we find ourselves on a dangerous precipice of violence with one another, fueled by the assassinations of Melissa and Mark Hortman and Charlie Kirk.

And what makes our current situation even more perilous is that our President is not calling for calm or trying to defuse things.

Why do you think that is?

It’s because the President sees anyone who does not share his authoritarian views as the “enemy within.”

We shouldn’t kid ourselves about the character and nature of the individuals who sit at the highest levels of our government. Our government is awash in fascists and Christian nationalists who have no intention or desire to sit down with secularists, progressives, or even moderate democrats because they view them as a direct threat to their authoritarian designs on America.

If you cherish freedom for everyone, now is the time to speak loudly and to push aggressively (and peacefully) against a government that is trying to strip freedom away from your fellow citizens.

Charlie Kirk, Apathetic Farmer

Through his organization Turning Point USA (TPUSA), Charlie Kirk became a significant force in conservative youth politics by tapping into a feeling of cultural displacement among young white men—especially those outside elite institutions—by validating their frustrations and offering a political identity that felt empowering.

He successfully rebranded conservatism for youth by leaning into cultural grievances, opposing progressive ideas (like DEI, CRT, gender fluidity), which resonated with young men who felt blamed or sidelined in mainstream discourse.

In many ways, Charlie Kirk’s meteoric rise embodies the quintessential American success story, where money, power, and fame are all that matter and where kindness, empathy, and service to others are for suckers.

On the surface, some of what Charlie Kirk did and achieved seems almost noble. He reached out to a segment of society that felt politically voiceless and culturally alienated, and he gave them a voice. He recognized the underrepresentation and an utter lack of organized advocacy for non-college-educated white males in America and championed their needs.

The problem was how Charlie Kirk framed their economic disenfranchisement.

Kirk sold young white non-college-educated males on the simplistic notion that the source of their economic disenfranchisement were immigrants, women, minorities, and wokeism, when in reality, their alienation from mainstream American society and its institutions and their feeling of lost purpose and status stems from economic and social shifts that have eroded the traditional path of a stable, middle-class life for those without a bachelor’s degree.

When a large segment of the population feels economically useless and politically invisible, it creates fertile ground for resentment, polarization, and instability. Discontentment is low-hanging fruit for the opportunistic and power-hungry, and Trump and Kirk cultivated and harvested that low-hanging fruit with great success, while continuing to spread the seeds of grievance, misinformation, and lies across the fertile minds of disaffected American youth for fame, fortune, and power.

Charlie Kirk and Donald Trump are emblematic of the deep rot in America’s political system, where politicians and influencers exploit the disaffected for their own personal gain, indoctrinating followers with cultural hot-button issues and identity politics to the point where the cultivated group doesn’t even care that they’re not being helped.

Like Trump, Kirk was never interested in helping his followers; he was only interested in exploiting them. To Charlie Kirk, America’s disaffected youth were a cash crop.

Genuine solutions to political disempowerment and economic disenfranchisement are complicated, expensive, and require systemic intervention from empathetic, pragmatic, and intelligent leaders who are genuinely interested in helping others. Amplifying polarization, promoting misinformation, and framing politics as a zero-sum cultural war are not solutions; those actions ensure the status quo.

We must connect the disaffected to hope and aspiration, rather than hatred and anger. It’s one thing to say, I feel your pain, quite another to do the hard work of alleviating the pain – and as we see with Trump and saw with Charlie Kirk, it’s a lot easier and more lucrative to point a finger and say, “them, they, those people, they’re the reason you are not flourishing.“

Doing the hard work to bring the disaffected back into the fold means investing in government-sponsored programs, training, and empathy, and those things are a tough sell in today’s political environment.

Robber Barons and Bullies

Marble-toothed titans
with sneers caked in madness
greed-fed on blood bags
in sweatshops of sadness

Kingpins with linchpins
thick carrots and sticks
deft robber barons
are up to their tricks

The morally crippled
gerrymander in Texas
felonious punk-thugs
that hate and perplex us

Gun toting douchebags
in Home Depot lots
promoting a fascist
while twisting the knot

The clown at the helm
of this powerful nation
is steeped in decline
and reverse escalation

Whitewashing history
attacking the truth
a maniacal misfit
both rude and uncouth

He creates chaos
to hold onto power
commanding the guard
from his fake ivory tower

Targeting cities
that are mostly all blue
a pig who gropes kitties
and pays porn stars to screw

Visions of heaven
black heart full of hate
He’s never come close
to making us great

If you haven’t had a chance yet, please check out my first book, My Paper, My Words: Rantings from a Progressive Boomer and Peeved Parent, from Amazon. And if you feel moved to write a review of the book on Amazon or elsewhere, I’d be honored.

Paint It, Black

Read to the cadence of “Paint it, Black” by the Rolling Stones.

I see a brown wall
and I want it painted black
if you have brownish skin
I want to send you back

I see brown men walk by
dressed in their working clothes
I tell my ICE agents
It’s time to make them go

I see the Ukraine fry
in Russian drone attacks
the bombing raids and tanks
that turn their cities black

I see our democracy
begin to fade away
a thousand starving kids
in Palestine today

When I look inside myself
I see my heart is black
the orange spray-on tan
can’t cover up the fact

’till that day I fade away
you’re tied onto the track
I’ll make you suffer days
while turning this world black

I watch the climate change
from here to Timbuktu
I smile at the heat that’s
burning into you

If you look hard enough
into my soulless eyes
there’s only room enough
for all that I despise

I see a brown wall
and I want it painted black
just like my darkened heart
too hard to even frac

I see brown men walk by
dressed in their working clothes
I tell my ICE agents
It’s time to make them go

My feeble mind is tainted
tainted black
Black as night
Black as coal
I wanna see the hope
Blotted out from your eyes
I wanna see them painted, painted, painted
painted black, yeah

Book Number 2

Hi folks,

I’ve just published “Imagine There’s No Donald” on Amazon.com.

Imagine There’s No Donald is a lyrical collection that channels the melodic cadence of (mostly) Beatles songs to deliver searing poetic indictments of Donald Trump, the MAGA movement, and their corrosive impact on American democracy.

Each poem echoes the structure and emotional resonance of iconic musical tracks—think “Rocky Racoon” reimagined as the tale of Donald Trump’s destructive path to the presidency, or Terry Jacks’ “Seasons in the Sun” transformed into a lament on Republican cowardice and lost democratic norms.

Through this fusion of pop nostalgia and political critique, the collection:

🎶 Harnesses Familiar Rhythms: The song structures serve as scaffolding for verses that are both accessible and subversive, drawing readers in with rhythm before confronting them with truth.
🔥 Excoriates Authoritarianism: Trump and MAGA are portrayed not just as political figures but as symbols of a broader erosion of truth, decency, and constitutional integrity.
🕊️ Defends Democratic Ideals: The poems mourn the fragility of American institutions while fiercely advocating for civic engagement, accountability, and moral clarity.
🎤 Amplifies Dissent: With a voice that is at once satirical and sincere, the book invites readers to sing along in protest, turning melody into a megaphone for resistance.

Whether riffing on “She Came in Through the Bathroom Window” to expose the sycophantic rot of the Trump administration or twisting “When I Saw Her Standing There!” into an elegy against oligarchs and authoritarianism, this book is a poetic rebellion—an artistic act of defiance that refuses to be silent in the face of democratic decay.

Most free thinkers, poets, and essayists are but a thorn in the side of the authoritarian regime that is running roughshod over America’s democracy. Writing and speaking truth to power sometimes feels like screaming into the void. But with critical mass and momentum, art can influence public sentiment and mobilize opposition to repressive policies and tactics, making it a powerful adversary to regimes that rely on propaganda and control.

Verbal resistance alone won’t revive our democracy. If we’re going to right the ship in America, we’re going to have to do more than sing and complain. We’re going to have to take to the streets and, as the honorable Georgia Congressman John Lewis famously said, “get in good trouble, necessary trouble” by the millions.

Get your copy of Imagine There’s No Donald on Amazon. Please feel free to share the link with others on your social media or simply by giving the book to a loved one as a gift.

Peace (and FUDT).

Let’s Ask Arty About Gerrymandering

Let’s Ask Arty uses existing Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology to query LLMs about politics in these troubled times.

Query 1: What is gerrymandering?

Gerrymandering is the practice of manipulating the boundaries of electoral districts to favor a particular political party, group, or incumbent. It’s a way of shaping the political landscape—literally—by drawing district lines in a way that influences election outcomes.

Query 2: How does gerrymandering work?

There are two main tactics used in gerrymandering:

Cracking: Splitting up a group of voters (usually of the opposing party) across multiple districts so they don’t form a majority in any of them.
Packing: Concentrating a group of voters into one district to reduce their influence in other districts.

Query 3: Why is gerrymandering (which seems like cheating) allowed?

Great question—and you’re absolutely right to call it out as feeling like “cheating.”

So why is gerrymandering allowed?

Constitutional Loophole

The U.S. Constitution requires redistricting every 10 years after the census to reflect population changes, but it doesn’t specify how districts must be drawn.
That power is left to the states, and in most cases, state legislatures control the process—which means the party in power can draw maps to its advantage

Supreme Court Decisions

In Rucho v. Common Cause (2019), the Supreme Court ruled that partisan gerrymandering is a “political question” and not something federal courts can regulate. This gave states a green light to continue the practice without federal oversight.
Earlier rulings had chipped away at protections in the Voting Rights Act, making it harder to challenge racial gerrymandering as well.

Query 4: Why does gerrymandering persist even though the public views it as an unfair practice?

Gerrymandering persists due to:

Entrenched Interests: Politicians benefit from drawing safe districts, so there’s little incentive to change the system.
Lack of Transparency: Redistricting often happens behind closed doors, with minimal public input.

Single-Party Control: When one party controls both the legislature and the governor’s office, they can gerrymander with few checks.

Query 5: Have there been efforts to reform gerrymandering at the state and federal level?

Some states have adopted independent redistricting commissions to reduce bias, but these reforms are uneven across the country. Congress has tried to pass national legislation to ban gerrymandering, but those efforts have stalled due to partisan gridlock.

Query 6: Which political party gerrymanders more aggressively?

Although both major political parties in the U.S. have used gerrymandering to gain electoral advantage, recent data suggests that Republicans have been more aggressive and systematic in their use of the tactic, especially in key battleground states.

Query 7: Is it true that when put to a congressional vote to end gerrymandering, the vast majority of Democrats voted Yes, and all Republicans voted No?

Yes, in recent congressional efforts to ban gerrymandering—particularly through the Freedom to Vote Act and the earlier For the People Act—Democrats overwhelmingly voted in favor, while Republicans uniformly opposed the measures.

This stark divide reflects broader tensions over voting rights, election integrity, and partisan control of the redistricting process.

Query 8: In 2025, Did President Trump request that Governor Abbot of Texas to gerrymander districts in Texas?

Yes, according to multiple reports, former President Donald Trump has actively encouraged Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Republican lawmakers to redraw congressional districts in Texas to favor the Republican Party.

What Trump Requested

Trump reportedly asked Abbott to call a special legislative session to redraw Texas’s congressional map in a way that could flip up to five seats from Democrats to Republicans.
In a CNBC interview on August 5, 2025, Trump stated, “We are entitled to five more seats” in Texas, signaling his belief that redistricting should be used to secure partisan advantage.

Query 8a: What has been the political fallout of President Trump’s request to redraw districting maps in Texas?

Political fallout from Trump’s request includes the following:

Governor Abbott added redistricting to the special session agenda, citing a controversial memo from the U.S. Department of Justice that questioned the legality of certain districts based on racial composition.
Democratic lawmakers fled the state to prevent a quorum and block the vote, triggering a constitutional standoff and threats of arrest from Abbott.
The redistricting plan is widely seen as part of a broader strategy to entrench Republican control ahead of the 2026 midterms and potentially influence future presidential elections.

Critics argue this effort undermines democratic norms and disproportionately targets districts with large Black and Latino populations.

The term “Trumpmandering” has emerged to describe this aggressive form of partisan redistricting.

My Input

Gerrymandering is a form of cheating and should be illegal, regardless of which party practices it.

Suppose a political party can’t win an election based on the policies it champions and implements. In that case, they shouldn’t be allowed to rig the outcome in their favor with the stroke of a redistricting pen – that’s ludicrous and unethical.

Recent polling in Texas shows that most Texans oppose gerrymandering. Texans aren’t stupid. They understand Governor Abbot’s motivation. They see the unquestioning loyalty, knee-bending, and ring kissing as a blatantly partisan power-grab that serves Trump and Governor Abbot but does nothing for the citizens of Texas.

The backlash in Texas to a corrupt process where politicians pick their voters instead of the other way around has been swift and decisive, particularly among Democrats and independents.

The sentiments nationally are similar, with voters across party lines supporting independent redistricting commissions and opposing partisan manipulation of district maps. For example, a recent poll in Ohio showed 57% of voters supported a neutral redistricting commission when asked in unbiased language—even though the measure was ultimately defeated due to misleading ballot wording.

If Texas succeeds in its efforts to gerrymander districts, it will be another nail in the coffin of American democracy.

My Paper, My Words is a collection of essays, stories, and poems reflect the challenges of a middle-class husband and father trying to navigate a rapidly changing political, religious, and technological landscape of post-911 America.

America’s Political and Cultural Sepsis

The wreckage that Donald Trump is inflicting on American democracy is analogous to the widespread inflammation, leaky blood vessels, reduced blood flow to organs, and ultimately, organ failure caused by Sepsis in the human body.

Trumpism is a sepsis-like response to a massive infection of aggrieved, uneducated, bigoted, greedy, and hate-filled Americans – it engenders fear, anger, misinformation, and Christo fascist ideology that surges through the bloodstream of American politics and culture, poisoning democratic institutions, values, and traditions, stressing the entire body politic to the point of systemic failure.

The only chance of America surviving metaphoric organ failure and a complete collapse from political and cultural Sepsis is to prevent further infection — the best (and perhaps only) chance of doing that is a blue wave in the midterm elections (which Republicans are trying to gerrymander the fuck out of).

Suppose the Democrats don’t regain control of the House in 2026. In that case, we can pucker our collective lips, plant a fat kiss on the cold, colorless cheek of American democracy, and usher in an era of darkness, corruption, and repression unseen in our history.

Will voters see Trump for the lying, cheating, sociopathic thug he is and wake-the-fuck-up in 2026?