The idea | Why is Trump so afraid of American voters?

A lot happened this week. “Democrats dominate first major election.” “Nancy Pelosi will retire.” “Operation in areas controlled by the Air Traffic Controller.” Here is one thing you should not miss. On Tuesday, California voted – “Prop 50.” “Prop. 50.” “Democrats think they’re going to get five more seats.” But let’s cover it in more detail there. What is truly remarkable is President Trump’s reaction to this vote. Before the voting even closed, the President was on fire when the election was postponed. That it was inconsistent with the Constitution. “Big scam.” “It’s absolutely true that there is fraud in California’s elections. It’s just the truth.” Spooner: There is no indication that any of these things are true. He went crazy when he saw the Democrats winning in Virginia, New Jersey and New York. “So Donald Trump, because I know you’re watching, turn up the volume.” And now the President is on fire. He wants to hold on to a majority in Congress by the middle of next year. So he’s calling on lawmakers to take steps to crack down on mail-in voting — voting, making Voter-ID laws more stringent, doing more Grymanders. And it’s not hard to see what else the President might consider doing. Sending troops to American cities around the election to intimidate voters or covering the country with ice agents has already killed nearly 200 Americans this year. If you think any of this is a long haul, let’s review a few other times in American history where our leaders have tried to deny voting rights. For black voters in the Jim Crower South, for women who didn’t vote before women’s suffrage and for Native Americans throughout the country’s history. And just by continuing to cast doubt on the American election, Trump is telling his followers to believe that losing the election means stealing. We know where that ended. “Stop stealing!” In a democracy, the president’s job should be as many eligible citizens as possible at the ballot box. This country has never done that perfectly, but we have made significant progress. If Trump has his way, large swaths of citizens would lose their demonization and American democracy itself would lose much, much more.