Hierarchy Supporters Fear Mail-In Ballots

Republicans are the party of hierarchies. They have been using gerrymandering and voter suppression to try to influence elections, as people on the top believe that the outcome in their favor is more important than the path to dominance. 

Donald Trump has called mail ballots "corrupt," despite previously voting absentee. Trump has expressed a preference for in-person voting and voter ID laws as a way to verify and authenticate those casting ballots. Without a way to check at the polls, Trump spreads the lie that mail-in voting would create widespread fraud, though there's no evidence of such in states that rely predominantly on mail ballots. 

Republicans have also warned about ballot harvesting (one of their made up problems) – the collection of mail ballots by volunteers – though the practice is illegal in some states. Trump tweeted Tuesday claiming that "the only way to get an honest count" is to ban ballot harvesting and ensure voter ID laws (another Republican voter suppression scheme).

More excuses by Republicans to try to influence elections their way, and get their hierarchy-supporting candidates elected.

Trump has also suggested that Republicans wouldn't be able to win elections with expanded mail-in voting. But historically, Republicans have voted at higher rates through mail, with Democrats only recently closing the gap, according to McDonald. He also points out that Republican lawmakers have been elected in states like Colorado and Utah since those places implemented such a voting system.

Donald Trump, Liar in Chief. Republicans, all in favor.

Some references to information:

https://www.usnews.com/news/elections/articles/2020-04-14/the-massive-obstacles-in-front-of-national-mail-in-voting

Masked Women Protest in Cars and on Bikes Restrictive Abortion Laws in Poland

Protesters in Poland used their vehicles to defy Poland's lockdown shouting slogans against a citizen's bill to tighten what are already some of the most restrictive abortion laws anywhere in Europe.

Holding black umbrellas - a symbol of Poland's abortion rights movement, wearing black, and face masks, some circled on bicycles.

Polish lawmakers debated draft legislation last week that would ban abortion in the case of fetal abnormalities, one of the few remaining circumstances in which the procedure is still allowed in the majority Catholic country.

Hierarchy keeping women down in the name of religion again.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/22/europe/poland-protest-abortion-lockdown-intl/index.html

Effect of the COVID-19 on Women

Alison Holder in US News, examines how the COVID-19 virus is specifically effecting women.

Women form 67% of the health workforce globally (more than 90% of health care workers in China's Hubei province alone are women) and are putting their health at risk on the front lines of dealing with the virus. Women across the world already shoulder the burden of unpaid and low-paid care work,  but caring responsibilities due to COVID-19 are falling even harder on women who are more likely to earn less, work part-time or be in more insecure work.

With women's rights at the center of our response to COVID-19 we can catalyze – not compromise – progress toward gender equality and a fairer world for all.

https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/articles/2020-04-06/commentary-coronavirus-pandemic-may-set-women-back-decades-on-equality

Whose Version of Freedom in this Pandemic?

In his column about anti-quarantine protesters, Max Boot states that they are not like Rosa Parks as they claim, but they are more like Typhoid Mary.

The same people who support our nation's hierarchies and believe that if they have privilege our country is doing great are out there showing their true self-centeredness.

"The same idealism – freedom, federalism, and free markets – that have enabled America's rise may bring us down if carried too far during a deadly pandemic."

Just depends on whose version of freedom prevails. All for one, or all for some.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/04/20/anti-quarantine-protesters-arent-rosa-parks-theyre-more-like-typhoid-mary/

Evangelicals Support Trump Because of Racism

In a piece for NBC News Think, Anthea Butler points out that liberals still tend to wonder why evangelicals still support Trump, even though many of his actions are not aligned with the stated values of those groups.

She states that modern evangelicals' support for this president cannot be separated from the history of evangelicals' participation in and support for racist structures in America.

Moral issues once drove white evangelical votes but, first when Obama was elected and then when the Supreme Court struck down the federal ban on same sex marriage in June of 2015, now what has moved them forward is their fear. Trump promised justices and a return to a time when they felt less fear, and he delivered, at least on the former. 

Evangelicals in America are not simply a religious group; they are a political group inexorably linked to the Republican Party.

"Trump delivered evangelicals from the shame of losing, and they will back him again in 2020 to avoid losing again. So perhaps we should take evangelicals at their word that they will support Trump come hell or high water, rather than twisting ourselves into knots trying to figure out why."

https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/white-evangelicals-love-trump-aren-t-confused-about-why-no-ncna1046826

Discrimination Against Asians from Coronavirus

Tom Spiggle in Forbes writes:

So, it might be pretty obvious that an employer can’t tell an Asian job applicant, “I hate Asians, so I’m not hiring you.” But what if the employer, in an attempt to keep the workplace free from coronavirus, tells a job applicant, “Look, Asian people make me nervous because they’re more likely to have the coronavirus, so I can’t hire you.” Is that legal?

No, it’s not. But the goal of what this employer is trying to do is not illegal, although the method of carrying out this objective is. Therefore, the employer must find other ways to reduce the chances of hiring someone with the coronavirus.

Discriminating Against the Coronavirus or Someone’s Race?

If an employer wants to avoid hiring someone with the coronavirus, that’s perfectly legal. This means the employer can legally:

• Screen job applicants for symptoms of the coronavirus.
• Ask a new hire to delay his or her start date because they have the coronavirus or are suspected of having it.
• Decide not to hire a job applicant because they are unable to start working as needed due to the job applicant having (or being suspected of having) the coronavirus.

But deciding that a person's race or ethnic background can be used to discriminate, obviously no.

forbes.com/sites/tomspiggle/2020/04/20/coronavirus-scapegoating-employment-discrimination-against-asian-americans/#584d453b4470

Time to Rethink Our Support of Hierarchies