Sic Semper Tryannis

 Virginia lived up to its state motto this week. 

The state responded to efforts by Trump to have Republicans gerrymander enough U.S. House districts nationally to give the GOP an edge in the 2026 midterms.  Virginia voters had the opportunity to temporarily repeal a state constitutional provision requiring redistricting to be done in a bipartisan manner to allow the Democrats to gerrymander House districts and gain a greater advantage in mid-cycle redrawing of the congressional maps.  There are currently six Democrats and five Republicans in the Virginia's U.S. House delegation.

This week, the voters in the Old Dominion gave the state the authority to gerrymander the state in favor of the Democrats.  Trump's and the Republican Party's efforts to rig the system to keep the Republicans in control of the House in January 2027 and prevent congressional investigations into the administration can now be best described as . . . "failed." 

The temporary provision approved in Virginia is facing a legal challenge in the state Supreme Court.  But the odds are in the Democrats ' favor that the position will remain in force through the 2030 census.  

Thus be it always to tyrants.

One and Done

Okay, I was wrong.

Ohioans voted not to pass Issue One, which would have required the state's voters to pass an amendment to the state constitution by a 60 percent majority, rejecting it by a vote of 57 to 43 percent.  Of course  I was surprised.  After all, this was a Republican idea designed to keep Ohio Democrats from amending the state constitution to enshrine abortion rights in the law, and this is the state that hasn't elected a Democratic governor since 2006 and just recently sent the insufferable James David Vance to the Senate.

But it turns out that many Republicans were against this measure too.  Former Ohio Republican governors Bob Taft and John Kasich opposed it, calling it undemocratic - well aware that changes to the state constitution that are popular with Republicans could just as easily fail to pass if this measure were to become law.   

So, the measure enshrining abortion in the Ohio state constitution should pass in November.  And Republicans have vowed to repeal it if and when it passes.

I give up on Ohio.

Nice flag, though.