What will next Tuesday bring?

For starters, lawsuits. Republicans have already filed over 100 election-related suits regarding “mail-in voting, early voting, voter access, voting machines, voting registration, the counting of mismarked absentee ballots and access for partisan poll watchers.” Seditionist and professional liar Ronna McDaniel (Republican National Committee chair) pretends this is because her party is really, really concerned about “free, fair” elections. Only in the sense you hate them, Ms. McDaniel. Depressingly the mainstream media try to be balanced by presenting Republican “election was stolen” bullshit as a legitimate viewpoint. How will they handle Repub propaganda on Pennsylvania? I think Jennifer Rubin says it well: there’s no way to compromise with election deniers.

Election deniers can, however, mess up elections. And mess up elections.

Republicans are doing their best to make crime an issue,  shrieking on Twitter that Dems will unleash a flood of violent criminals. It’s a lie, but as noted at the link, the mainstream media often amplify right-wing lies. Oh, don’t forget, when Trump pardoned murderers, Repubs were fine with it. Oh, and pro-incel OAN host Kara McKinney says the crime rise is because the left is into paganism and witchcraft. And as Radley Balko points out, the Republicans engage in lots of cop-bashing.

Michigan’s Republican gubernatorial candidate, Tudor Dixon, is running on the classic argument that Democrats were the party of the slaveholders so they’re evil: “The country today is divided, and this was the plan. It’s been in the works for years … Why wouldn’t that come from the party that lost the Civil War? The party that wanted to own people because they viewed them as less than human?” Um, no. Your party has been running on white supremacy since at least the Nixon years. Dixon’s lie is as absurd as “Democrats are the real Nazis” when self-described Nazis identify as Republicans.

Don Bolduc, an NH Senate candidate, is just running on bullshit. Told that his claims schools are “putting litter boxes … Yet they let children lick themselves and then touch everything. And they’re starting to lick each other.” are untrue, he challenges the schools to prove it, otherwise he’s not backing down! Not backing down on bullshit doesn’t make it any less bullshit.

They’re also running on gay-hating. South Carolina’s governor says he’ll ban gay marriage if the Supreme Court overturns Obergefell. And a man in Florida has used the state’s Don’t Say Gay law to sue a school for allowing a pride flag in a classroom. Believe it or not, they’re also coming for asexuals (The Mary Sue has more). And Brian Kemp, in Georgia, is open to a contraception ban once the Supreme Court makes it possible. In Wisconsin, a gubernatorial candidate (Republican) says openly that if he wins, Democrats will never win another state election.

Mike Pence asserts that Americans do not have a right to freedom from religion, ignoring that this is essential for freedom of religion. Being free to worship in his own way requires that the Catholic Church, ISIS and liberal churches that support gay marriages not be able to make him worship their way. He’s free from their religion — but I suspect the trouble is, he doesn’t like the reverse, that they should be free of his religion.

Plus there’s the Qanon thing, with Tucker Carlson accusing pro-choice Democrats of being a child sacrifice cult.

And feminist bashing of course, with special snowflake Lauren Boebert proclaiming women are the weaker sex. If the misogynists of the religious right ever get the power over women they crave, I doubt they’ll respect her as an ally any more than Log Cabin Republicans will get a free pass.

Donald Trump, still the iconic Republican leader, has threatened journalists with prison rape if they don’t divulge the sources for leaks. He seems to be the kind of bully who thinks if he eggs tough guys on to violence, that makes him big and tough.

On the plus side, I don’t know if justice will win out, Tuesday or in the years to come. It’s still better to be just. As Jennifer Rubin says, “Refusals to act on principle, to call out one’s own side and to enforce a code of behavior for all public servants are now matters of tribal identity for Republicans. Defending Trump’s behavior — be it absconding with sensitive documents or instigating a would-be coup — is the only true requirement to succeed in today’s GOP … There simply is no equivalent on the Democratic side. When a tape of shamefully racist comments among members of the Los Angeles City Council came to light, President Biden demanded that the miscreants resign. One member did. California Gov. Gavin Newsom now calls for two others to do the same …

“Democrats should not envy their opponents’ shamelessness. It’s not a superpower but, rather, a fatal flaw in character and a threat to decent, honorable democratic governance. There might be short-term gain to be had by enabling morally pernicious conduct. But the success of democracy and the favorable judgment of history depend on a strong conscience and an adherence to standards necessary for decent self-governance.”