GOP – bendingtheneedle

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.

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 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.

War, Religion, and other Ramblings from an Atheist on a Sunday Morning

The majority of Muslims are peaceful.

We hear this whenever Muslim extremists go on a rampage.

And though I agree the majority of Muslims are peaceful, if the average Muslim had to choose between living with a peaceful atheist like me or a fanatical Islamist, I think they’d choose the latter, because with the latter they share a religion.

Religion holds people together, while also dividing us from one another.

It lumps people into like-minded groups, where each group believes their God, their beliefs, their scripture, and their golden ticket to the afterlife is the one and only. It fosters an “us versus them” mentality, and when religion controls the narrative of who we are, we lose sight of our shared humanity.

When infused with fanaticism, religion celebrates flying planes into buildings and forcing families from their bulldozed homes as righteous acts.

When we view people through the prism of religion, we don’t see them as individuals. Instead, we see Jews, Muslims, or Christians and the preconceived notions those labels have to us. Categorization leads to dehumanization and dehumanization softens up the conditions for war and hate.

Fanatical groups like Hamas, ISIS, al-Qaeda, MAGA Republicans, and the ultra-orthodox Jews living in the West Bank see religion and scripture as a final arbiter or cure-all to all their woes and view those who don’t adhere to their beliefs as “less than” themselves.

Religion doesn’t only affect the religious. For example, religious-borne fear affects the moral compass of the religiously-agnostic when it comes to the war in Gaza. The fear of religious extremism is why we give a wide berth to Israeli vengeance. Our fear of Hamas and what they represent runs so deep that we give the IDF leeway in terms of their tactics and rationalize civilian casualties.

Religious extremism never serves the greater good. Clearly, Gazans in Palestine would be better off if they could get out from under the thumb of Hamas.

I want Hamas to be swept into the dustbin of history.

But at what cost? I guess that’s the question.

At what cost?

Last week, I saw a video post on LinkedIn that showed ghastly footage of bloody Palestinian children writhing in pain on a hospital floor in Gaza. It was horrific and sickening (and has since been removed). Many of the comments to that post referenced Allah and retribution, which filled me with despair. Those comments reinforce my belief that humans are slaves to what they’re taught in churches, synagogues, and mosques.

Don’t get me wrong, I know that people find peace, comfort, and a sense of community in religion — I understand the positive aspects of religion.

But I also see the negative.

Religious people get agitated at atheists like me who rail against the dangers of religion. In contrast, we atheists get frustrated that religious people can’t seem to separate the bliss they achieve from religion individually from the negative shit that comes out of a religious group dynamic.

Freedom from religion – the right of a person to have no religion in their life, opens the door to humanistic identity.

I was raised a catholic. For years, growing up, I went to church and catechism every Sunday, where I was lectured to by priests and nuns. Thankfully, I lived in a country that supports freedom from religion and free thought — where, over time, I could compare (without fear of retribution) what the priest and nuns were telling me to what I saw and observed in the world and what I learned of my own volition. This led to a sense of self not based on religious dogma and doctrine but rather on my personal experience interacting with the world and the people in it.

If I had been born and raised in Iran or Iraq, my experience would have been radically different. I would have been forced to adhere to the religious rules of the state or suffer the consequences of disobedience.

As an atheist, I could walk the streets of Telavi freely without having to look over my shoulder in fear for my safety. I’m not sure I can say the same about walking streets controlled by Islamist fundamentalists – who, if I made an off-color remark about their prophet, would separate me from my head without batting an eye – and feel justified in doing so.

America’s greatest gift to its citizens is freedom from religion. But lately, I fear we’re in danger of losing that gift and becoming an authoritarian theocratic state ourselves.

Just look at the speech that Elise Stephanic gave when nominating Mike Johnson as Speaker of the House. That speech included multiple references to God and scripture. And Johnson himself has informed American’s the way to learn how he feels about any issue is to read the Bible. ‘That’s my worldview, that’s what I believe.‘

Since Mike Johnson’s nomination to the speakership, we’ve seen gross outward expressions of religiosity on the house floor – a clear slap in the face to the separation of church and state.

Imagine the outcry if a Muslim speaker or representative busted out a prayer rug on the house floor to pray.

The increase of religiosity in the Republican party should be a huge red flag to Americans who cherish living in a secular and pluralistic society.

The GOP’s embrace of Christianity as a national religion is a genuine threat to the American way of life.

I’m not naive. I know religion isn’t going anywhere, though I am heartened that among American adults, secular humanism and postmodernism are growing in influence in our culture.

Let’s judge religions by their ideas.

The notion that criticizing a religion is unacceptable because it might “offend people” is what allows dangerous movements within generally peaceful religions to spread and radicalize individuals.

We need to voice our objections loudly against any religion that promotes divisiveness, intolerance, or hate, because these are bad ideas for humanity.

I’m stepping down from my soap box now.

Clowns at the Shit-Show

Today’s GOP

creates farce out of folly

under the sway

of the Orange Svengali

Awake to the woke

in love with sedition

blind to the broke

with no sense of contrition

a party of grievance

feckless and loud

swearing allegiance

to the vain and the proud

Gaetz in the Doorway

he covets that gavel

winking at young girls

as Kevin unravels

A chamber of stooges

a congress of cowards

Mitt-less and witless

like Moe and Shemp Howard

No mouths were gaping

at Beetlejuice Bimbo

hand jobs and vaping

through a national window

Gym Jordan’s a fool

like we’ve never seen

until we lay eyes

on one Majorie Greene

Then there’s the likes

of Tuberville Tommy

fucks with Core

like a one-man tsunami

In today’s GOP

there’s never too far

they’re crossing the line

to lower the bar

The MAGA Chickens Have Come Home to Roost

What happens to the partnership between the Evangelical Church and the Republican party when compassionate conservatism gets replaced with MAGA mania?

How do Evangelical ministers square the teachings of Christ with their MAGA-infected flock?

What happens when ultra-MAGA Evangelicals sit fidgety in church pews and listen to sermons contradictory to the messages spewed by their political Messiah on the campaign trail?

It won’t be long before we see a sectarian split within the Evangelical church and radical versions of Evangelicalism start popping up across the country, like crack houses in the 80s.

These radical Evangelical churches will teach a MAGA-tinged Christianity, where Christ, a muscular blue-eyed-blond-messiah, wields his razor-edged cross to slice and dice woke liberals, immigrants, homosexuals, and atheists, to reestablish truth, order, and the American way.

Break-away Evangelical churches are how MAGA survives and (thrives). These churches will become radicalization factories in America like Wahhabi mosques in Saudi Arabia.

MAGA politicians are no different than any other. They understand religion is a tool for controlling and mobilizing masses – Churches plant seeds dipped in fear and bigotry to grow compliant human saplings so that future outcomes that align with religious ideology can take hold in society.

“The meek shall inherit the earth” will be replaced by a mite-is-right mentality—where the rationalization and justification of cruelty to achieve a particular end is the norm.

The transformation of the Evangelical church will correlate and coincide with criminal charges against former president Trump and his impending legal jeopardy.

Let’s keep our eyes peeled for an upstart-fire-brand Evangelical minister looking to make a name for himself by taking advantage of political chaos.

Donald Trump will be the new radical Evangelical church’s prophet of revenge and retribution.

I hope none of this comes to fruition, but I would not be surprised if it did.

Once Upon A Time, When The GOP Had Some Integrity

America has more than her fair share of fascists and white nationalists.

Some of them even serve in congress.

The vast majority, if not all, vote republican.

Donald Trump is a White Nationalist. That’s why White Nationalists supported his presidency.

When someone says they supported Trump’s policies but not his white nationalist and authoritarian views, its no less ludicrous than a German citizen in 1939 saying they support Hitler’s economic policies, not his views on the Jewish population.

In throwing your support behind a president, you have to look at the totality of the man – not just policy bits and pieces that you can align with and rationalize to yourself and your friends.

As we saw with President Trump, it’s the totality of the man (all of his views and values) that set the tone and attitude of his administration. Under Trump, the party’s platform was built on divisiveness, hate, mistrust, and anger, and that’s exactly what was reflected in most of Trump’s policies and actions.

It’s important to keep in mind that the anger, hate, and mistrust of government and institutions that Trump used to divide America and strengthen his position politically, are alive and well today. Those feelings and attitudes didn’t magically disappear when Trump was trounced in the 2020 election.

Many Americans who supported Trump are simply waiting for him, or the next Trump-wannabee to come along and validate those feelings, while cultivating and promoting policies that weaken our democracy and march us down the path to authoritarianism.

Colin Powel was a lifelong republican, military man, and honorable public servant who understood the danger of authoritarianism. When he saw fellow republicans refuse to stand against a dangerously authoritarian president, he called them out for their cowardice and left the party.

We need more republicans of stature to do what Colin Powell did – speak up and shine a light on the dangerous and dark influences taking hold of their party. And more importantly, we need strong and outspoken leaders in the GOP to provide a roadmap for getting the party back on track to decency, integrity, and basic American ideals. Without a roadmap, we’re going to see the GOP continue it’s downward spiral towards authoritarianism.

The four years of the Trump administration laid the groundwork for dismantling democracy in America. Colin Powel understood that and voiced his disdain for Trump and the political cowards who failed to stand up to him.

If democracy is to survive in America, we’ll need more voices like Colin Powel’s.

Donald Trump, Cousin Eddy, Josef Goebbels, and the GOP

Donald Trump saw masses of hateful and uneducated Americans as an untapped resource. He pandered to them from the very beginning of his campaign, all the way through his presidency. He adroitly tweaked their xenophobic fears and white nationalistic attitudes and transformed them into votes.

He effectively made them the foundation of today’s Republican party.

In the past, Republicans would have blanched at welcoming these types of people under their tent. But once invited, they’ve spread like invasive vegetation, choking out moderate republican and authentic conservative voices.

Today, a uniquely unqualified brood of jackals and jackasses like Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert, Matt Gaetz, “Gym” Jordan, and Devin Nunes has turned the GOP from a party of ideas to a demeaning cult of personality, with zero ideas.

We see them scrambling to prevent the release of phone records that will likely show collaboration with the President in his attempt to subvert the 2020 Presidential election.

When Donald Trump became President, the old guard Republicans lost control of their party. The GOP is now controlled by a bunch of cousin Eddies’ (from Vacation), except this version of Eddy doesn’t have an ounce of decency or kindness. In fact, he’s more like an Eddy / Josef Goebbels hybrid, and he’s parked that God-awful RV smack dab in the middle of the Republican party.

Instead of taking out the trash, Donald Trump opened the front door and dragged the garbage into the GOP. And now, decent/moderate Republicans find themselves between a rock and a hard place, where If they turn their back on the Cousin Eddy Goebbels of the GOP, they’re likely going to be out of a job.

So, they sit and watch the transformative ruin of their party.

Democrats should work with Republicans to help them get back control of their party for the country’s good. They should reach out to moderates and cut some deals in exchange for expelling the growing number of Eddy Goebbels from the party – it might be the only way we save our country.

Trumpocalypse

Trumpism is America’s Zombie Apocalypse.

It’s a growing and spreading mass of ravenous unthinking humans, driven by a blood-lust, unable to communicate ideas, moving forward in a dangerously backward and unproductive way, while the rest of humanity scrambles to stop the spread.

Fortunately, we know the cure. All that’s needed is for rational republicans to gather up some courage and speak the fuck up. Unfortunately, there are fewer and fewer rational republicans willing to do so. Instead, we’re witnessing a stunning comradery of cowardice.

The longer this goes on, the worse it gets, not only for the GOP, but for our country.

Trumpism is a metastasizing and cannibalistic political movement hell-bent on eating American democracy. The ousting of Liz Cheney and the failure of republicans to speak out against it, lends oxygen to this dangerous political movement and increases the likelihood that it will consume the Republican party.

This is not a movie. This is real.

A house divided

Republicans in congress want to remove Liz Cheney from a leadership position because she refuses to lie.

Let that sink in.

If she’s removed, how do GOP voters continue to support the party that removed her?

This isn’t about removing a republican who isn’t conservative enough. This isn’t about punishing a rogue politician for going against the platform or for shitting all over long-held republican beliefs. In fact, Liz Cheney embodies the conservative principles that for years defined the GOP.

The effort to remove Cheney stems from her audacity to speak the truth and contradict Donald Trump’s outrageous lie about a fraudulent election.
It’s as simple as that.

The GOP has devolved from a party of ideas, to a cult of personality. They’ve cut a deal with devil, to save themselves from a rabid, fact-denying, and hateful base of voters.

How will rational republicans react to what’s happening to their party? Will they fight, or will they just say “fuck it” and go along with a dangerous game of follow the liar?

Is there a strong and deep enough desire to return the GOP to a party of ideas, or will they bend to the will of conspiracy theorists, religious charlatans, and a crazed pillow salesman?

Anyone who rationalized their vote for Donald Trump on the basis of being loyal to the GOP, has some serious soul searching to do. Will republicans do the tough work that entails, or will they let someone as despicable as Donald Trump become the architect of the new republican party?