Written

Mail ballot envelope

The odds in the Congressional tallies are… curious.

By Justin Katz | November 10, 2022 |

In the long days since most Congressional districts in the United States managed to provide sufficient vote counts for victors to be named, Republicans have only needed approximately one-quarter of all remaining districts to claim a majority.  Thus far, the Democrats have beaten the odds, and the GOP is still eight seats away, which is…

A water drop and ripples

Just a thought for those who generally share my views…

By Justin Katz | November 9, 2022 |

Yeah, I know the election results are still in the air, so the coin hasn’t stopped spinning on the ground, yet, but let’s make this Day 1 of talking about how the world can be better, rather than how others are making it worse and, more importantly, start doing things to make it so. Sorry to…

A water drop and ripples

The red wave came up against the winds of mail ballots.

By Justin Katz | November 9, 2022 |

First a note to those who might be newly engaged in politics or have forgotten:  It isn’t at all unusually for the media narrative to switch after the votes are in.  Thus, whereas before, commentators would say that it might be such a big “red wave” that the Republicans would take the Senate, indicating that…

A businessman stands on a broken bridge

There’s a silver lining of RI being on the downward slope of the spiral.

By Justin Katz | November 8, 2022 |

Today’s election results remind us that figuring out where you stand can represent a step forward.

"I Voted" sticker in a pile of leaves

CD2 is putting the lie to a National Popular Vote talking point.

By Justin Katz | November 8, 2022 |

The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, which Rhode Island has ill-advisedly joined, requires that, whenever enough states have joined to control the Electoral College outcome for the President of the United States, all participating states must give their Electoral College votes to whichever candidate won the most individual votes nationally, no matter what their own…

A water drop and ripples

And in Georgia, too.

By Justin Katz | November 7, 2022 |

News out of Georgia adds to the impression that no society that treated the right to vote as sacred would allow no-reason early and mail-in voting: A Cobb County judge extended the deadline for 1,036 absentee ballots because Cobb Elections officials did not send them out to the recipients. The ballots have to be postmarked…

A water drop and ripples

What’s going on in Pennsylvania?

By Justin Katz | November 7, 2022 |

Am I crazy to think it’s just too coincidental that one of the key battleground states for control of Congress is having this sort of unbelievable electoral complication? Some of Pennsylvania’s largest counties were among those working Monday to help voters fix mail-in ballots that have fatal flaws such as incorrect dates or missing signatures…

Thomas Eakins Cowboys in the Badlands

A careful look at gun-control rhetoric shows where it’s going.

By Justin Katz | November 4, 2022 |

Here’s a noteworthy WPRI headline: “‘Speechless:’ 7-year-old child brings gun to Boston school.” Must be all those Republicans who control the city! Out of curiosity, I went in search of information about how strict Massachusetts’s gun-control laws are and found myself reminded of that old Weezer song about unraveling a sweater:  “If you want to…

Joe Biden's smile.

The damage Biden does with his self-congratulatory rhetoric is even more than it seems.

By Justin Katz | November 2, 2022 |

Many in Rhode Island are too steeped in the mainstream narrative to even consider such a thing, but Joe Biden is, in his way, nastier, more divisive, and more destructive of our civic norms than what Democrats claim of President Trump.  In fairness to Biden, however, his is just an exaggerated and less competently executed…

A water drop and ripples

Our political impressions of violence might be a lot like pockets of traffic.

By Justin Katz | October 31, 2022 |

I just saw a formerly conservative pundit agreeing with an always ridiculous advocate for rule by “experts” that the right is more prone toward and tolerant of violence. I honestly cannot understand how anybody could believe such a thing. I mean, we could maybe have an interesting conversation about tendencies toward what we might call…