Activism
OPINION: With Texas Redistricting, Trump Is Rigging Our Democracy
By Emil Guillermo
Donald Trump isn’t king.
But to rule with more monarchical authority and royal flair — he’d prefer a few extra red seats in Congress to keep up the appearance of a Democracy.
And the Republican-controlled Texas legislature is obliging.
So, Texas Democrats have fled the state to prevent a quorum to hold a vote.
Politicians have long rigged elections through good old-fashioned gerrymandering. Redrawing voting maps happens every ten years. But now Trump wants to do it before the next census.
Fortunately, the courts, that third branch of government, will get involved.
Unfortunately, though, Trump already has his ducks in a row — up to the Supreme Court.
If the plan works in Texas, expect the same scenario in other states.
Overkill? Not for Democracy’s budding king. Congress aligns with Trump on most policy issues. But there are some rogue Republicans who aren’t so loyal on matters like the Epstein files.
Trump needs his loyalists to keep buying into the idea of a one-man government rubber-stamped by Congress and the courts.
What can we do? Root for the spirit of Texas State Representative Jolanda Jones of Houston, who explained why she and her Democratic colleagues have stayed defiant to prevent Republicans from voting in new maps.
“We aren’t fleeing,” said Jones to reporters. “We’re fighting.”
When You Don’t Need Truth, Fire the Stats Person
Besides his call to rig Congress, Trump would like to rig job statistics, too.
When the jobs data came out last week and showed a slowdown in hiring, President Trump’s reaction was to fire the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Dr. Erika McEntarfer.
McEntarfer is a numbers nerd and so apolitical that the Senate confirmed her 86-8 in 2024.
But Trump doesn’t want the truth.
“In my opinion, today’s Jobs Numbers were RIGGED in order to make the Republicans, and ME, look bad,” Trump posted on his social media account.
But it’s impossible for the head of the BLS to manipulate the numbers. She only sees them on the Wednesday prior to the Friday release.
Firing the head of statistics is just Trump looking for an excuse for a bad economy, for which he is responsible.
Remember, it’s the reason why so many people voted for him.
Now, he’d just really like things rigged for him in the future: data, votes, elections, everything.
He also continues to distract.
Nuclear submarines to the edge of Russia, he says. Or former President Obama committed “treason” by interfering with the 2016 presidential election and or supporting sending subpoenas to all his political foes in the Epstein matter, including the Clintons.
All this is really intended to turn off the American public, so they get disgusted with their leaders and institutions/
However, that only enables Trump to do what he wants.
So, don’t get disgusted without a fight.
Instead of getting disgusted, laugh harder.
It’s one reason I continue to do my one-man show “Emil Amok, 69; Everything’s Flipped,” now touring at the Edmonton Fringe Festival.
And I’m coming home to the Bay Area in the fall.
About the Author
Emil Guillermo is a journalist, commentator, and comic monologist. See him on YouTube.com/@emilamok. He’s a board member of PEN Oakland.
