You might have missed it, but July 1 was one of the darkest days in history. On that fateful Thursday, America endured an “affront to our democracy” and a “sustained attack on voting rights” that will usher in “a new generation of Jim Crow laws.”
I didn’t notice the apocalyptic event as it happened – I was vacationing in the Colorado Rockies – but was relieved to find life proceeding normally upon my return.
So, what horror was inflicted upon the United States that day? The Supreme Court upheld two Arizona voting laws in Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee in a 6–3 decision.
The two laws, similar to laws used in several other states, ban counting provisional ballots if they are cast in the wrong precinct and only permit certain persons to handle another person’s completed mail-in ballot.
No wonder normal people tune out politics
Not exactly Pearl Harbor 2.0, but that didn’t stop politicians from cranking up the hysteria.
“If you believe in open and fair democracy and the principle of one person, one vote,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said, “today is one of the darkest days in all of the Supreme Court’s history.”
Step aside, Dred Scott and Korematsu, Chuck needs fresh copy for his fundraising emails.
The significance of Schumer’s comment wasn’t the hyperbole but how common it is in our political environment. Whenever anything upsets a politician it must be labeled “the end of democracy,” “the death of the republic” or “our darkest day.”
I guess “you win some, you lose some” doesn’t generate internet hits, but equating every squabble with civilizational collapse is bound to make normal Americans tune out politics altogether.
If everything is a crisis, nothing is
If everything is a crisis, nothing is. We have a climate crisis vs. an energy crisis, a border crisis vs. a refugee crisis, a housing crisis vs. a homelessness crisis. And that’s just the tip of the crisis-berg; there are hundreds more emergencies just below the surface.
This is the hysterical style of American politics. Rational compromise and reasonable debate aren’t even considered, since no one in D.C. has an incentive to calm the waters. If you want high ratings and big fundraising numbers, stoking panic is the easiest play.
The public responds accordingly, if social media and comment sections are any guide. Every Democrat must be a commie, every Republican a fascist, and all are traitors.
If a moderate supports charter schools on Facebook, she’s likely to be called a right-wing, racist stooge bent on the annihilation of K-12 education. If she wants gas taxes raised a nickel to fix infrastructure, she’s a depraved socialist turning the America into Venezuela. (Oh, and both sides will call her ugly.)
‘Darkest day’? Hardly. You win some, you lose some
Let me translate those slurs into what they really mean: “I disagree.” But how many “likes” will that get?
I’m inured to the social media insult brigade since I expect people to disagree with me. When people spew profanities about my maternal lineage, I know that they’re merely registering dissent but can’t figure out how to say, “I disagree.” (Then, I mute them.)
Growing up in a family that ranged from far-left to far-right, I accept that most people want what’s best for the country though they differ on the means and ends. The person across from me at the dinner table isn’t a traitor for voting for one party instead of the other. Neither is the complete stranger using an anime character as a profile pic.
No, Senator Schumer, the Brnovich decision didn’t transform July 1 into a day that will live in infamy. To my mind, it was a welcome, commonsense ruling that will help secure Arizona’s vote. And the next decision I don’t like won’t cause the darkest day in history.
You win some, you lose some.
Jon Gabriel, a Mesa resident, is editor-in-chief of Ricochet.com and a contributor to The Republic and azcentral.com. On Twitter: @exjon.
OTTAWA – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the NDP is caving to political pressure from Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre when it comes to their stance on the consumer carbon price.
Trudeau says he believes Jagmeet Singh and the NDP care about the environment, but it’s “increasingly obvious” that they have “no idea” what to do about climate change.
On Thursday, Singh said the NDP is working on a plan that wouldn’t put the burden of fighting climate change on the backs of workers, but wouldn’t say if that plan would include a consumer carbon price.
Singh’s noncommittal position comes as the NDP tries to frame itself as a credible alternative to the Conservatives in the next federal election.
Poilievre responded to that by releasing a video, pointing out that the NDP has voted time and again in favour of the Liberals’ carbon price.
British Columbia Premier David Eby also changed his tune on Thursday, promising that a re-elected NDP government would scrap the long-standing carbon tax and shift the burden to “big polluters,” if the federal government dropped its requirements.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
Simon Jolin-Barrette, minister responsible for consumer protection, has tabled a bill to force merchants to calculate tips based on the price before tax.
That means on a restaurant bill of $100, suggested tips would be calculated based on $100, not on $114.98 after provincial and federal sales taxes are added.
The bill would also increase the rebate offered to consumers when the price of an item at the cash register is higher than the shelf price, to $15 from $10.
And it would force grocery stores offering a discounted price for several items to clearly list the unit price as well.
Businesses would also have to indicate whether taxes will be added to the price of food products.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
Quebec legislature member Youri Chassin has announced he’s leaving the Coalition Avenir Québec government to sit as an Independent.
He announced the decision shortly after writing an open letter criticizing Premier François Legault’s government for abandoning its principles of smaller government.
In the letter published in Le Journal de Montréal and Le Journal de Québec, Chassin accused the party of falling back on what he called the old formula of throwing money at problems instead of looking to do things differently.
Chassin says public services are more fragile than ever, despite rising spending that pushed the province to a record $11-billion deficit projected in the last budget.
He is the second CAQ member to leave the party in a little more than one week, after economy and energy minister Pierre Fitzgibbon announced Sept. 4 he would leave because he lost motivation to do his job.
Chassin says he has no intention of joining another party and will instead sit as an Independent until the end of his term.
He has represented the Saint-Jérôme riding since the CAQ rose to power in 2018, but has not served in cabinet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
