District 6 News

By David Roberts@drvoxdavid@vox.com

Back before the 2016 election, it was easy to find so-called Never Trump Republicans (NTRs). They were thick on the ground, on every op-ed page and cable news show, raising dire warnings about the threat Donald Trump posed to American democracy. National Review devoted a whole issue to that threat.

Since Trump won, the number of NTRs has dwindled precipitously. (Turns out “never” meant “unless he wins.”) There are virtually no elected Republicans still in the ranks. What remains are mostly thinkers and pundits — Jennifer Rubin, David Frum, Ana Navarro, Bill Kristol — with no formal organization to call their own.

Nonetheless, they are still around, and they still need to figure out what to do with themselves. Who should NTRs vote for? What party should they ally with? How should they use their limited political power?

Last week, the Niskanen Center’s Jerry Taylor, a prominent NTR, wrote a somewhat plaintive piece drawing these questions together: Whither Never Trump?

I would like to propose an answer. And though I acknowledge the substantial social and psychological challenges it would entail, it seems to me, on a moral level at least, pretty obvious. To wit: NTRs should vote Democrat.

By NATASHA KORECKI and JOHN BRESNAHAN 03/19/2018 07:18 PM EDT Updated 03/19/2018 07:51 PM EDT

Illinois GOP Rep. Randy Hultgren has fired a top aide after the staffer was found in a car last fall with a 17-year-old boy and no shirt on, according to multiple sources and a police report.

Nick Provenzano, 56, was dismissed by Hultgren over the weekend, the sources said.

Provenzano later told the officer that he "did not want to admit to anything, but stated that contact between him and [the teenager] was consensual in nature, that nobody was forced or coerced each other to engage in any acts they did not want to, and that he believed [the teenager] was eighteen (18) years old."

…

The teenager later told police he had met Provenzano on the gay dating site Grindr.

Conor Lamb Wins Pennsylvania House Seat, Giving Democrats a Map for Trump Country

Conor Lamb, a Democrat and former Marine, scored a razor-thin but extraordinary upset in a special House election in southwestern Pennsylvania after a few thousand absentee ballots cemented a Democratic victory in the heart of President Trump’s Rust Belt base.

The Republican candidate, Rick Saccone, may still contest the outcome. But Mr. Lamb’s 627-vote lead Wednesday afternoon appeared insurmountable, given that the four counties in Pennsylvania’s 18th district have about 500 provisional, military and other absentee ballots left to count, election officials said.

That slim margin — out of almost 230,000 ballots cast in a district that Mr. Trump carried by nearly 20 percentage points in 2016 — nonetheless upended the political landscape ahead of November’s midterm elections. It also emboldened Democrats to run maverick campaigns even in deep-red areas where Republicans remain bedeviled by Mr. Trump’s unpopularity.

It’s time to thank all of those determined Democrats who stepped up to do what
they could to make sure everyone in the County could locate and access their
polling place for this primary election. This is despite the cutting back of 60 of the
polling locations.

A committee was formed last fall of thoughtful members who discussed the
issues before coming up with a plan.

Thanks to: Meg Ruelius, Linda Wallon, Nancy Glissman, Missy Funk, John Labaj, Nancy Zettler, Kathryn Potter, Mark Stevenson, Ruth Scifo, Cathy Johnson, Larry Spaeth, Cindy Spaeth, Jim May, Cece Drazek, Frank Wedig. Renee Hill, Nancy Zettler, Sue Reed, Buffy Brasile. (Drew Georgi provided ever changing consolidation data.)

We had quite a few workers at Pablo’s Mexican Restaurant one Friday night. We hooked rubber bands on 5000 door hangars all in one night!! Of course we enjoyed some of the great dishes and the margaritas. We also had a lot of laughs and conversation.

During a week of cool and pleasant February weather, 5000 doorhangars were hung in precincts that were hit hardest by the elimination of polling places!!!!

Thanks to all:
Lisa Arvanites, John Bartman, Nancy Glissman, Tom Glissman, Deb Grude, Linda Harlan, Renee Hill, Catie Hill, Rick Jezek, Cathy Johnson, Dan Johnson, John Labaj, Jim May, Michelle Mendoza, Sue Reed, Patty Rogalin, Ruth Scifo, Larry Spaeth, Helen Wiederkahr, Debs Wallner, Nancy Zettler, Cate Becker, Carlos Acosta, Cece, Carrie Schirmacher, Cecelia Carman, Peter Atterberg, Sue Labaj, Helen Torscher, Nan Kueller, Arne Waltmire, Cate Becker, Patricia Watson, Joe Scifo, Suzanne Ness, Kristina Zahorik, Sonya Sindbery, Loretta Pearson, Helen Torscher, Mitch Wisumierski, Heidi   Jackson, Kelli Wegener, Patrick Watson, and TJ (Matt Brolley’s Aide worked with us for at least two hours! )

We know that we are missing a few names. It took a lot of time and walking and people. Let us know if we missed you and we will add your name to the list.

In the developed world, these levels of gun violence are a uniquely American problem. Here’s why.

America is an exceptional country when it comes to guns. It’s one of the few countries in which the right to bear arms is constitutionally protected. But America’s relationship with guns is unique in another crucial way: Among developed nations, the US is far and away the most violent — in large part due to the easy access many Americans have to firearms. These charts and maps show what that violence looks like compared with the rest of the world, why it happens, and why it’s such a tough problem to fix.

Occasionally some truth is told on Fox (especially when Tucker Carlson shuts up).

This is long, but well worth the time to watch.

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