“Red” States

A Truly Divided Nation With No Sign Of Compromise!

Ronald 61 Comments

As America votes in off year elections in just a few states, the recognition is that America is a truly divided nation with no sign of compromise, as we move toward the commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the American Republic, with every indication of Fascist authoritarianism being dominant under Donald Trump!

At present, there are 25 Trump states and 19 Anti Trump states, with only six states really competitive, both in support or opposition to Trump, and in percentages of seats in the House of Representatives.

In the 25 Trump states, 22 of them have Republican governors, and all of the state legislatures and Senate seats, as well.

Only six states really remain “competitive”—Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Nevada, a total of 77 Electoral College votes.

In Electoral Votes, the Democrats have 226 from the 19 Anti Trump states and the District of Columbia. The 25 Trump states have 235 electoral votes.

Also, Nebraska and Maine have divided electoral votes, with the Second District of Nebraska often having one electoral vote going to Democrats and the Second District of Maine often having one electoral vote going to Republicans, so they balance each other.

The states that have strongly gone Republican, while formerly competitive, are Texas, Florida, Ohio, and North Carolina.

With Texas and Florida still gaining population growth, the likelihood is that both states will have more electoral votes after reapportionment in 2032, which makes the Democrats facing a massive challenge in future elections.

And California, Illinois, and New York are likely to lose Electoral votes, necessitating the need for Democrats to win the six “swing states” that have been in play, but won recently by Republicans, as in 2024!

42 Million Americans Have Food Stamps (SNAP), Now On Hold As November Begins!

Ronald 9 Comments

Waking up on the first day of November, 42 million Americans are being denied basic federal assistance to insure they have food, a travesty caused by the Republican Party and President Donald Trump, on top of the escalation of premiums for the Affordable Care Act, which if not modified, will lead to millions of Americans without any health care coverage in 2026!

And the irony is that a majority of those who are going without food support and health care coverage are residents of “Red” states, but the Republican Party and Donald Trump have no concern for their own constituents.

SNAP primarily supports children, the elderly, and people with disabilities, and the highest percentage of people who receive these meager benefits are found in Louisiana, the home state of Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, and second ranking House Majority Leader Steve Scalise.

Also high in percentage of people covered by SNAP are the Republican states of Oklahoma and West Virginia,

SNAP households with children are 34 percent; with elderly individuals 33 percent; with nonelderly individuals with a disability 18 percent; and with adults ages 18-49 without either a disability or children with 17 percent. Of course, some households include multiple categories.

Nearly four out of five household in 2023 include a child, elderly individual, or nonelderly individual with a disability.

20 percent of the population in Louisiana, New Mexico, and the District of Columbia receive SNAP benefits, and overall, 12 percent of the American people receive SNAP benefits.

This disastrous situation needs to be resolved NOW! 🙁

Militarization Of Chicago And Baltimore Seems Next Trump Authoritarian Move!

Ronald 10 Comments

President Donald Trump is issuing threats of imminent militarization of Chicago and Baltimore by Natoinal Guard troops, adding to the present occupation of Washington DC, and the earlier such action in Los Angeles.

Trump is using excuse of accusations of growing crime in cities that are actually witnessing declines in crime.

The one common denominator is that all of these cities have African American mayors and are “Blue” cities in “Blue” states. This is pure racism, and racial profiling.

Meanwhile, there are higher crime cities in many “Red” states, particularly in Southern states, but there is no inclination for military intervention in such locations.

Instead, it is precisely these “Red” states that are voluntarily sending National Guard troops to operate in Washington DC, such states as South Carolina, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, and West Virginia, along with Ohio.

And the National Guard troops will be armed, creating a very dangerous, potentially confrontational, situation, that could lead to violence and tragedy in our nation’s capital.

We could face another Kent State University Massacre, which took place in Ohio during the Vietnam War Era in 1970!

The Evils Of Gerrymandering: Texas Plans To Create Congressional Districts That Could Insure Republican House Majority Despite Fewer Voters Supporting The Party!

Ronald 6 Comments

Gerrymandering has been a curse since it was first created in the early 1800s by Massachusetts Governor Elbridge Gerry, who was also Vice President under James Madison for less than two years before his death in 1814.

Both political parties, and earlier named parties, used the political tactic to promote redistricting to favor their party fortunes, but now Texas is seemingly ready to redistrict in the middle of a decade, rather than when new census figures come out at the beginning of a new decade.

Their purpose is to make the Republican Party keep control of the House of Representatives by creating more Republican House districts, from three to five more, which likely would insure Republican continued control of Congress, at a time when the margin is just a few votes.

Those few votes make all the difference in passage of legislation and of President Donald Trump’s agenda, so clearly, the Democratic Party is trying to resist it, and may, at the end, utilize the same tactic in California, and possibly in other “Blue States”, such as New York and Illinois, and possibly even elsewhere.

The Republican Stronghold, Rural America, To Be Disastrously Affected By Medicaid And Food Stamp Cuts In “Big And Beautiful” Trump Budget Bill!

Ronald 11 Comments

The Republican Party stronghold in rural America will be disastrously affected by the proposed Medicaid and SNAP (Food Stamp) Cuts in the “Big and Beautiful” Trump budget bill being promoted to become law by July 4!

Much of rural America is “red”, the strongest supporters of Donald Trump, but clearly, Trump and his Republican Party are more interested in promoting massive tax cuts for the wealthy one percent and corporations, and ignoring the reality that rural health care will be dramatically harmed by this legislation, with many rural hospitals shutting down, when Medicaid is cut.

And to cut nutrition for poor people is unseemly, and the bulk of people affected by these heartless cuts in Medicaid and SNAP (Food Stamps) are actually white working poor, disabled, elderly, and deprived children.

Most Trump supporters are not aware of what is happening, and a rude awakening is coming!

Ron DeSantis Denying Truth Of African American History: A Whitewash Of The American Past!

Ronald Leave a comment

It is absolutely infuriating beyond belief that Florida under Ron DeSantis is denying the truth of African American history, and American history at large, in setting a new curriculum that whitewashes the truth of slavery, Jim Crow segregation, lynchings, and horrendous race riots in that state and elsewhere, causing mass destruction and death over the centuries.

To tell students that slavery “benefited” slaves by teaching them “job skills”, and that race riots saw African Americans both being victimized but also being perpetrators of the riots, is a bald faced lie, making Florida look worse than 1960s Alabama and Mississippi!

In the past, the Confederate myth perpetuated lies and racism, and finally in the 1960s and moving forward, the truth was being taught.

As a professor who has taught for a half century, I refuse to teach lies and mistruths, but imagine those who teach at all levels who are in danger of losing their jobs and professions over political interference by a governor, who seems as if he is George Wallace on steroids!

And Florida is setting the stage for other “Red” states to impose the same censorship and manipulation of the truth on students, which will undermine the future of a multiracial society, as nothing can be done to overcome the reality that in 2045, the white population of America will be less than half the nation, and already, non white groups are a majority of young people in many parts of the nation.

This does not bode well for the future of interracial cooperation, and Ron DeSantis must be opposed legally in court to work against this poison he is promoting!

What does this say about the truth of the treatment of Jews, Latinos, Asian Americans, and native Americans, which also must be taught, and known by future generations!

The old saying is: “The Truth Shall Set You Free”!, and that must be the motto of all educators, and most specifically, American historians and journalists in this struggle against reality!

Gerrrymandered State Legislatures–Tennessee, North Carolina, Florida, Texas And Other Republican States!

Ronald 3 Comments

Gerrymandering of many state legislatures, particularly in “Red” states, has led to the movement to take away democracy.

This is particularly noted in Tennessee, North Carolina, Florida, and Texas, as those state legislatures take unprecedented action to strip voting rights, abortion rights, gay rights, and to reject any regulation of guns, despite consistent, every day, occurrences of gun massacres!

The “red” states are the centers of greater carnage than in “blue” states, which are totally the opposite of the “red” states on the major issues of civil rights.

Many state legislatures have become the center of autocratic leadership, such as Ron DeSantis in Florida and Greg Abbott in Texas, but also including many other states!

Marjorie Taylor Greene Promoting Secession Of “Red” From “Blue” States!

Ronald 2 Comments

Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, a true whacko, is promoting the idea of secession of “Red” states from “Blue” states.

She is clearly crazy, as she fails to realize that Blue areas are found in most states that are not rural–meaning urban and suburban areas–and so called “Blue’ States contribute much more to the national economic system than do so called “Red’ States.

The so called “Red” states are mostly rural, and in 2022, they are the poorest, most dependent on the redistribution of income primarily coming from wealthier, more urbanized and suburbanized “Blue” states.

The poorest states are almost completely “Red” states—West Virginia, New Mexico, Mississippi, Alabama, Alaska, Idaho, Louisiana, Maine, Wyoming, Montana–with only New Mexico and Maine being “Blue” states based on state government control.

What makes America the nation that it has become is the diversity of America–the industry, the universities, the culture of varying groups who live in cities and suburban areas—not the isolation of “Red” rural America, which lives, in many respects, in the 19th century, while “Blue” America represents the 21st century!

Abortion Rights A Winning Cause When Americans Vote On The Subject

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The right wing extremist majority on the US Supreme Court may have ended Roe V Wade in June 2022, and many states, “Red” states, have worked to destroy a woman’s right to control their own bodies.

It is all very disconcerting, the lack of respect for women, and men would not tolerate if they were told, for instance, they had to get a vasectomy, so that they could not make every woman pregnant without personal responsibility of the man involved!

But when one looks at Americans voting on the subject of abortion rights, we find that those opposed to abortion lost in many state and congressional races in 2022, and that the rights of women were upheld consistently.

And in six states in 2022, there were ballot measures which insured abortion rights:

California, Michigan, and Vermont voted to insure state constitutional rights to abortion.

Kansas and Kentucky voted to reject ballot measures to take away abortion rights, and both states are generally “Red”, although the Kansas Governor, Laura Kelly, is a Democrat.

Montana voted down The Born-Alive Infant Protection act, and is also seen as primarily “Red”, although Senator Jon Tester is a Democrat in his third term.

So it is clear that there is widespread support for abortion rights, so the battle must go on!

Crisis Of Teacher Shortage, But Solution Is NOT To Allow Veterans Without Four Year Degree To Teach!

Ronald Leave a comment

There is a growing crisis of teacher shortage in the nation, and particularly in some “Red” States, including Florida and Arizona among others.

So the suggestion is to put veterans without a four year degree into the classroom, an idea that is totally lunatic in nature!

Would one put a veteran without a four year degree into the field of medicine, law, accounting and other fields and think they could perform the responsibilities of the position competently?

The reasons for massive teacher shortages are clear!

Teachers are not paid and given benefits in respect of their expertise and role in educating children.

Teachers are being told they cannot deal with the reality of history and science, and also of sexuality in the classroom.

Teachers are being controlled by right wing religious doctrine, and by school boards that have unqualified men and women who want to control the classroom curriculums, despite many of them having no education or expertise to do so.

Republicans want to interfere with libraries as well as schools, and in such an atmosphere, why would any principled educator wish to teach with such economic, religious, and psychological pressures?

This blogger and educator, in today’s environment, could not imagine going into the teaching profession, particularly under the college level!

As a result, many talented, educated, brilliant potential educators are being lost for future generations of students, and the ignorance and bias being promoted only promote inferiority in education in the short run, and the long run!