Our Choice on Nov. 4 Democracy or Putin-Light?
In a few short weeks California voters have the chance to show the rest of the country and the world how the power of democracy can defeat a deranged tyrant.
Proposition 50 – the Election Rigging Response Act – on the ballot in a special election this Nov. 4 – asks us to vote on a straightforward question:
Do we choose democracy, or do we acquiesce to Trump’s attempted dictatorship?
Over the last seven months we’ve been horror-struck by Trump’s three-level march toward despotism so he can “govern” like his BFF, Vladimir Putin. Like Dante’s circles of Hell, we’ve descended through:
Level 1 Authoritarianism: Destruction of public faith in – and control over – academia, science, math, medicine, mass media, museums, libraries, history, public institutions, the vote, the press, the truth.
Level 2 Totalitarianism: Militarization of American streets and communities, random checkpoints, gratuitously violent, masked kidnappings and disappearings, warrantless searches, no due process, no appeal, no rule of law, usurpation of civilian control over police. If Trump has his way, and the Texas congressional map gerrymander stands without a counterattack from California and other blue states, we’re headed straight to:
Level 3 Fascism: His control over everything – our language, literature, music, what we read, what we listen to, what we say – like Putin’s Russia today.
The Urgency of Now
If we don’t act now, no one but Trump Republicans would be allowed to hold political power in Congress – regardless of what most voters want. We’d say goodbye to Social Security, Medicare, food security, living wages, child labor laws, unions, our traditional post-World War II alliances.
We’d say goodbye to a federal government that does things for us, and welcome one that does things to us. We’d no longer be able to put a check on Trump’s reign of cruelty and lawlessness. He and his anti-democracy acolytes would rule – permanently. Think Putin’s version of Russia.
Today, our state and country aren’t the same as when we voted to adopt the California Citizens Redistricting Commission in 2008. We must recognize and adapt to the current threat. What options have we left but to fight gloves off, using the power of democracy against autocracy?
No purity test, please
This struggle for the survival of our democracy can’t afford above-the-fray sanctimony right now. I’d respectfully suggest to my purist friends torn between high-mindedness and the ugly necessity of Prop. 50: please think deeply about the consequences of passivity.
No one likes gerrymandering, except the people doing it to us. No one wants to do away with the Citizens Redistricting Commission. Which is why, under Prop. 50, the commission would go back to drawing legislative district maps in 2030.
This temporary, mid-decade amendment to the commission’s decennial mission is singularly necessary because Trump, his Texas toadies and their billionaire overlords are threatening the very fabric of American democracy as they push their dictatorial agenda ever closer to Level 3.
Stopping Trump
We should, and must, temper our distaste for gerrymandering with the practicality that Trump and his Republican sycophants must be stopped. Passage of Prop. 50 would do that – and by the way, the Congressional districts in SLO County won’t be affected.
Equivocation is submission. American democracy is worth fighting for. If we’re to avoid a Putin-lite hell beyond 2026, we must act decisively.
History will be our judge: Were we wise enough to use the power of democracy to stop America’s slide to Level 3 fascism? We’re certainly capable of meeting this moment with courage, conviction and compassion for our country. We can, and must, do this.
Voting by mail on Prop. 50 begins Oct. 6, less than six weeks from now. Please step up and vote YES – and urge your friends and neighbors to do the same!
Yours in defense of our resilient democracy,
Tom Fulks
Chair SLOCDP | chair@slocdp.org