Republicans are always about bait and switch. They campaign one way and legislate in a way to line their own pockets and increase their personal power and influence. They do not run to make the lives of ordinary people better.
I live in NC, and we currently have a supermajority Republican legislature because one self serving deceitful legislator changed her party. NC voted in a Democratic governor, lt. governor, AG, and Secretary of State. We narrowly won the state Supreme Court race. That Republican is fighting tooth and nail to overturn that election.
The Republican legislature is feverishly working to strip the governor of power. NC is gerrymandered with surgical precision. The state is purple, but the congressional delegation is red because of gerrymandering. I despise these wicked people.
Fellow Tar Heel here. I’m in the western end of the state where 3 state representatives recently voted against the bogus “hurricane relief” bill - the bill that did nothing to help residents of the region who were impacted by Helene, but was actually the vehicle for taking more power from duly elected Democrats and shifting it to Republican controlled state offices.
These 3 received some deserved recognition & thanks for apparently standing up for their constituents. Ah, but then when the vote was taken to override Gov. Cooper’s veto of the bill, all 3 of these dishonest, showboating asshats voted to override his veto.
They are far beyond merely worthless. They are vile, partisan hacks who don’t really give a single 💩 about the people they supposedly represent. I would wager that I despise them as much as you do.
This too is a sick time-honored tradition. Teeing up cases where they can vote one way so they can point to it when they are campaigning but knowing that it does not matter.
Probably not for long. I’m guessing the campaign will soon expand beyond the communist or socialist trope into an anti-Christian one, which is silly but will be believed.
Humans are easily duped.
I remember in my readings, that in Europe, going back centuries, being called a Free Thinker was enough to get one imprisoned or killed. It sounds like conservative states are practicing inquisition-lite which is evolving into less lite, all with the blessing of the voters.
And there was Proposition B (the Puppy Mill act passed by Missouri voters in 2010) that fought against cruelty in puppy mills. Among other things, it was to limit dog breeders to only FIFTY dogs and required them to feed the dogs daily. Months later Governor Jay Nixon and his cronies watered it down. Constituent opinions mean nothing to Missouri "leaders."
Yet they crack down on legitimate rescues for having an odd sized kennel that was just 1/2" out of spec, just ask Livingston County. Or they charge cash strapped rescues $100 anytime they can dig up a paperwork snafu. Ask Field of Dreams Rescue in Kirksville about that. I'm all for maintaining proper licensing and health & welfare requirements for rescues, but they let puppy and cat mills run rampant and play by different rules.
Sounds like it goes beyond undercutting constituents. MO leaders seem to have an ethics problem, and that kind of thing runs deep. But it also sounds like a lot of folks are on to them. And that kind of thing runs deep too, if you can get enough of the rest of the folks to cotton on. The thread of democracy runs through states like Missouri: we need you. So you got my support, and while I don't know yet what I can do to help from my little corner in the NE, I'll find something. My state has problems too, but we have a history of overcoming them. If Missouri can pull off getting power pulled back to the people, that can have a huge impact nationwide. You guys are awesome.
"Where love rules, there is no will to power; and where power predominates, there love is lacking. The one is the shadow of the other." — Carl Jung #chooselove
Every time this happens I want to pack up and leave! I just can’t wrap my head around people voting against themselves year after year. Maybe when the results of their votes start to hit home they will wake the hell up?? I do so appreciate you and you always give me hope. How do we actually fight this now??
If you do leave don’t move to Indiana. It’s a crimson red state full of people who willingly vote against themselves. Why? Because they will happily do without just so all those “others” do without. My mother and stepfather were perfect examples of this behavior. Both were white supremacists and members of an End Times religious cult who took great pride in voting Republican because “they’ll keep all those damn ________ from getting any ________ (social services, healthcare, etc)”. Indiana is fueled by hate. Hate, racism, bigotry, misogyny, evilangelicalicalism - all crops grown here in far more abundance than sweet corn. (A great example of all that rolled into one person - Todd Rokita, the state AG.)
The main thing many people here (in the small town where I live) vote against that they are unaware hurts them and their families is the ACA. They don’t realize, even in 2024, that Obamacare is the ACA. They’ll spit out the word ‘Obamacare’ as they vent their hatred against it and then praise the ACA, thankful for whoever created it so they don’t have to subject themselves to “that pinko commie socialist Obamacare”.
Against all those “others” and they’re willing to take it on themselves in order to accomplish it. It says a lot about our society that so many people are like this.
There are good people and bad people everywhere. I think Jess has shown that there are allies everywhere, and if you live a place, it’s worthwhile to stay and fight.
That sounds good in principle Edgar and I admire Jess for doing so. But, it does depend on the place and people.
I have a neighbor who asked me “don’t you just love trump?” in 2018. When I politely replied “I do not” she said “then you no longer deserve to exist” and walked off. I have zero doubt she meant that exactly as she said it. She’s a gun nut, a member of the NRA and even more of a trump cultist in 2024. People here fly black no-quarter flags, among others with violent slogans. (A black no quarter flag is military in origin and means “give no quarter” or take no prisoners/kill them all.) While I am a veteran, familiar with firearms and would have no problem defending myself I should not have to live around such hatred and threats, wondering when trump will declare it open season on all non-cultists. I have been saving to move and will do so as soon as I can.
Don't blame you. Indiana has a long history of just plain meanness. What the people who fly the black no-quarter flags don't get is that what it really means is high casualities for them, and probably losing altogether, because when you go all out against people, they are going to fight all the harder- and get allies in the process. Sounds like Indiana has a shortage of people who understand what history really is, and what leadership really is.
Exactly. Those here who know I’m not a trump cultist automatically think “weak ass whiny liberal snowflake” (which I have been called). 🙄
These are the same people who seem to have forgotten I served for ten years, am an excellent markswoman, have leadership skills and cannot abide when people pick on and harm others - people, children, animals. They automatically assume liberal and tolerant = pushover and doormat. Guess again.
Even so, I will feel like I can freely breathe again once I move. Living here feels like being steeped in hate every single day no matter how strong your armor and mental health.
No one votes against themselves unless they want to hurt themselves to fill another need. So, determine their priorities and help them rate their priorities better.
Thomas Franks important book What’s the Matter with Kansas, illuminates the self-abnegating behavior well, still a good read, but the title could be expanded way beyond Kansas.
The republicans are always dependent on contrived socio-cultural red meat as their defining wedge issue; not many would actually support more tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy and deregulative environmental and financial services laws, among just a few examples, not many are for dirtier air and water, or less protection from predatory conglomerates. When you hear trans or LGBT+ or immigration rhetoric, that’s designed to anger and look the other way while they slip the unsaid into legislative bills.
Jess, your writing here reveals two things to me that are front and center with this and a lot of other issues, not only in Missouri but across America in red states. There are a lot of issues at play but education and MSM or lack thereof are paramount and your recounting of a conversation with a rural female voter bears out my observation. The old adage, "cutting off your nose despite your face."
Your efforts here are more than commendable, but what a hill to climb. One foot in front of the other one.
Jess, I have just now subscribed to your substack. I am very impressed that you are able to give us such great insights into rural thinking. For 20 years I lived in northwest Montana and experienced a “Purple” state turning “Red.” I now live in a small very “Blue” town, Silver City, in a rural county in the sparsely populated “Blue” state of New Mexico. We have plenty of Republicans here but so far the unofficial town motto is “We all get along.”
My own personal belief is that the Political and Economic system that was very progressive for its time, the 1770s, is now too outdated to be functional in modern times. I am very excited and motivated to promote an “out of the box” future oriented system called "Economic Democracy” and the “Progressive Utilization Theory.” There is a substack dedicated to this very progressive approach called “Crisis and Transition.” https://crisistransition.substack.com/ . This substack is a collection of essays by several writers that convincingly presents this new approach to economics and governance.
P.S. I have visited Willow Springs MO. several times and even attended a Rotary meeting there. I enjoyed the warmth of the people and their down to earth practical outlook. However, that was back in the 80’s. I would hope that this characteristic has not changed.
Jess, all this underscores the importance of public education! Before one forms an opinion, they must know the issue at hand!!! The general public is so influenced by disinformation, misinformation & produced that the real truth doesn’t penetrate their minds! Sorry to be so cynical, but as people say today,” It is what it is!”
They spent millions on clean Missouri just to have it overturned because of a lack of education. But it wasn’t because the voters were stupid. They were literally tricked.
Anthony, did you read what Jess wrote? I quote: "But it wasn’t because the voters were stupid. They were literally tricked." The people voted in some progressive stuff. The cabal in control literally wrote a misleading ballot to trick them into thinking they were voting in support of the stuff they'd already voted for, but in fact overturned it. That is not stupidity. I read what the ballot said. I am not stupid and I am educated and trained in critical thinking AND I COULD NOT TELL WHAT THE BALLOT WAS ACTUALLY SAYING until Jess explained the background.
Jess is one smart lady, and frankly, I think she has a lot more insight than Mitt Romney. I'm way too familiar with that dynamic. Mitt obeyed way in advance because he was smart enough to see what was coming and stepped away from the fan.
Yes, I read it! The manipulation by officials misrepresented the facts & they were, indeed, misled! Jess is really on top of the real issues! I do, however, believe that the Democrats misread the mood of the voters during the campaign. The Republicans took advantage of that! Thanks for your honesty!
At least you got to vote on the issue. In Arkansas, with more than enough signatures, it was thrown out because one form was turned in earlier than the rest and wasn’t stapled to another form. Huckabee Sanders also sent out her people to try to stop people from gathering signatures. It would have passed even in this state if it had been on the ballot.
In an otherwise somber column, your term Belly of the Beast made me laugh out loud. I too live in the belly of the beast. However I'm not as strong or intelligent as you are, and I tend to shy away from the people directly in my area who post "No to Amendment 3" signs. It just makes me sad to know that my own neighbors, who seem otherwise pleasant on the surface, don't want me to make my own medical decisions. Thank you for what you do! I'm 65 and I had hoped my vote would help the younger women and any woman who does not want to have her medical decisions determined by the State. What's next? Women can't have mastectomies because their bodies were intended to be used to nurture?
Magas are already going after trans-people and gay people, as well as tightening down on other 'non-life-threatening" medical problems, using the same "judgement" process that has been used to delay medical treatment until they are sure the mother is so sick she may not survive- and often doesn't (not just in Texas).
I have a trans-grandson in late transition., and grateful he lives in the Pacific NW. The Maga foundation pretty much disintegrated there. They still exist, but the Republicans appear to be distancing themselves from the fools. Thanks to some outspoken Dems and a few brave Republicans who stood tall while remaining committed to true conservatism (not the same thing as Maga, which is estremism).
Oregon went through a similar process as Missouri decades ago when the Tea Party literally took over the Republican party, systematically undermined some solid R office holders and candidates until they had enough people to take over, sold a bill of goods to the people, and as a result, Oregon dismantled many of the programs that made Oregon one of the most livable in the country. Watching it strip itself was painful (by that time I was living in another state).
But shifting demographics meant both a shift in voting dynamics and a major redistricting in 2021. The right wing extremists did everything they could to shut down both the redistricting process and the legislature, but in the end the state Supreme Court approved the redistricting for 2 very rational reasons: 1) It was done in strict accordance with Oregon's constitution, and 2) It was actually representative of Oregon's demographics. The right wing republicans had been used to having more power than they should have because the districts were unbalanced, and couldn't grasp that they were losing because they no longer representing even those districts. I was covering the state at the time, and knew the background, so got a lot of details that outside reporters didn't.
An interesting aside: a couple of R's on the House redistricting committee just couldn't understand why the eastern Oregon Congressional district, which is sparsely populated and thus covers a lot of territory-almost half the state- couldn't just be cut in half to make two districts- "because it is so big". One got it when it was explained that land doesn't vote, people vote. The other clung to that notion right up until the end, and voted against the redistricting. She's still in the legislature, having been soundly trounced in her bid for state office.
It might take time, you guys, but it seems to me that you have some of the same underlying dynamics simmering in MO. Keep feeding it. Keep making it a national issue, because it is.
Republicans are always about bait and switch. They campaign one way and legislate in a way to line their own pockets and increase their personal power and influence. They do not run to make the lives of ordinary people better.
I live in NC, and we currently have a supermajority Republican legislature because one self serving deceitful legislator changed her party. NC voted in a Democratic governor, lt. governor, AG, and Secretary of State. We narrowly won the state Supreme Court race. That Republican is fighting tooth and nail to overturn that election.
The Republican legislature is feverishly working to strip the governor of power. NC is gerrymandered with surgical precision. The state is purple, but the congressional delegation is red because of gerrymandering. I despise these wicked people.
Don’t forget the sore loser bill that just passed, over the democratic governor’s veto. Republicans are such thieves.
I've been watching that with horror, Jenn. I've got a friend in Wilmington who is just disgusted with what's going on.
Fellow Tar Heel here. I’m in the western end of the state where 3 state representatives recently voted against the bogus “hurricane relief” bill - the bill that did nothing to help residents of the region who were impacted by Helene, but was actually the vehicle for taking more power from duly elected Democrats and shifting it to Republican controlled state offices.
These 3 received some deserved recognition & thanks for apparently standing up for their constituents. Ah, but then when the vote was taken to override Gov. Cooper’s veto of the bill, all 3 of these dishonest, showboating asshats voted to override his veto.
They are far beyond merely worthless. They are vile, partisan hacks who don’t really give a single 💩 about the people they supposedly represent. I would wager that I despise them as much as you do.
This too is a sick time-honored tradition. Teeing up cases where they can vote one way so they can point to it when they are campaigning but knowing that it does not matter.
It just makes my blood boil that this can happen. That’s what happened to the expansion of Medicaid, right!
Yes, they refused to fund it until we forced their hand. We do have expanded Medicaid at this point.
Probably not for long. I’m guessing the campaign will soon expand beyond the communist or socialist trope into an anti-Christian one, which is silly but will be believed.
Humans are easily duped.
I remember in my readings, that in Europe, going back centuries, being called a Free Thinker was enough to get one imprisoned or killed. It sounds like conservative states are practicing inquisition-lite which is evolving into less lite, all with the blessing of the voters.
I use the word blessing on purpose.
Keep up the good work Jess! We have to believe that with people like you educating voters, there still is hope for a brighter future.
Thank you for the work you do. It can feel so hopeless .
And there was Proposition B (the Puppy Mill act passed by Missouri voters in 2010) that fought against cruelty in puppy mills. Among other things, it was to limit dog breeders to only FIFTY dogs and required them to feed the dogs daily. Months later Governor Jay Nixon and his cronies watered it down. Constituent opinions mean nothing to Missouri "leaders."
I’m still so mad at what they did with the puppy mill bill. We are consistently ranked in the top 10 for horrible animal rights violations.
Yet they crack down on legitimate rescues for having an odd sized kennel that was just 1/2" out of spec, just ask Livingston County. Or they charge cash strapped rescues $100 anytime they can dig up a paperwork snafu. Ask Field of Dreams Rescue in Kirksville about that. I'm all for maintaining proper licensing and health & welfare requirements for rescues, but they let puppy and cat mills run rampant and play by different rules.
Because puppy mill operators pay to play and rescues compete with them but can't afford to buy any legislators.
Like requirements for public schools versus private schools in Arkansas
Hmmmm. No restriction on puppy mills and no restrictions on people mills. Gotta keep those babies coming.
Sounds like it goes beyond undercutting constituents. MO leaders seem to have an ethics problem, and that kind of thing runs deep. But it also sounds like a lot of folks are on to them. And that kind of thing runs deep too, if you can get enough of the rest of the folks to cotton on. The thread of democracy runs through states like Missouri: we need you. So you got my support, and while I don't know yet what I can do to help from my little corner in the NE, I'll find something. My state has problems too, but we have a history of overcoming them. If Missouri can pull off getting power pulled back to the people, that can have a huge impact nationwide. You guys are awesome.
Grrrr!
Yes, the struggle is real.
There’s only one way to avoid this “Groundhog Day” scenario.
Vote. Them. Out.
That has to be our long game.
Over and over I have said: bastards will always be bastards.
I reposted it to Bluesky. I am not a large account but doing what I can to help amplify voices fighting anti-democratic extremism
❤️
"Where love rules, there is no will to power; and where power predominates, there love is lacking. The one is the shadow of the other." — Carl Jung #chooselove
Every time this happens I want to pack up and leave! I just can’t wrap my head around people voting against themselves year after year. Maybe when the results of their votes start to hit home they will wake the hell up?? I do so appreciate you and you always give me hope. How do we actually fight this now??
If you do leave don’t move to Indiana. It’s a crimson red state full of people who willingly vote against themselves. Why? Because they will happily do without just so all those “others” do without. My mother and stepfather were perfect examples of this behavior. Both were white supremacists and members of an End Times religious cult who took great pride in voting Republican because “they’ll keep all those damn ________ from getting any ________ (social services, healthcare, etc)”. Indiana is fueled by hate. Hate, racism, bigotry, misogyny, evilangelicalicalism - all crops grown here in far more abundance than sweet corn. (A great example of all that rolled into one person - Todd Rokita, the state AG.)
The main thing many people here (in the small town where I live) vote against that they are unaware hurts them and their families is the ACA. They don’t realize, even in 2024, that Obamacare is the ACA. They’ll spit out the word ‘Obamacare’ as they vent their hatred against it and then praise the ACA, thankful for whoever created it so they don’t have to subject themselves to “that pinko commie socialist Obamacare”.
JVL, in Bulwark said "voters don't want progress, they want punishment "🙄😢
Against all those “others” and they’re willing to take it on themselves in order to accomplish it. It says a lot about our society that so many people are like this.
SC the same
There are good people and bad people everywhere. I think Jess has shown that there are allies everywhere, and if you live a place, it’s worthwhile to stay and fight.
That sounds good in principle Edgar and I admire Jess for doing so. But, it does depend on the place and people.
I have a neighbor who asked me “don’t you just love trump?” in 2018. When I politely replied “I do not” she said “then you no longer deserve to exist” and walked off. I have zero doubt she meant that exactly as she said it. She’s a gun nut, a member of the NRA and even more of a trump cultist in 2024. People here fly black no-quarter flags, among others with violent slogans. (A black no quarter flag is military in origin and means “give no quarter” or take no prisoners/kill them all.) While I am a veteran, familiar with firearms and would have no problem defending myself I should not have to live around such hatred and threats, wondering when trump will declare it open season on all non-cultists. I have been saving to move and will do so as soon as I can.
Don't blame you. Indiana has a long history of just plain meanness. What the people who fly the black no-quarter flags don't get is that what it really means is high casualities for them, and probably losing altogether, because when you go all out against people, they are going to fight all the harder- and get allies in the process. Sounds like Indiana has a shortage of people who understand what history really is, and what leadership really is.
Exactly. Those here who know I’m not a trump cultist automatically think “weak ass whiny liberal snowflake” (which I have been called). 🙄
These are the same people who seem to have forgotten I served for ten years, am an excellent markswoman, have leadership skills and cannot abide when people pick on and harm others - people, children, animals. They automatically assume liberal and tolerant = pushover and doormat. Guess again.
Even so, I will feel like I can freely breathe again once I move. Living here feels like being steeped in hate every single day no matter how strong your armor and mental health.
Holy cow. Sending love and light your way.
Sending light, love, strength, patience and more determination your way from Maine. Any way to help from here?
Not that I can think of at the moment but thank you for asking. I appreciate it.kindly
Appreciate both. Many thanks. Sending the same to you for caring. That means a lot.
No one votes against themselves unless they want to hurt themselves to fill another need. So, determine their priorities and help them rate their priorities better.
Thomas Franks important book What’s the Matter with Kansas, illuminates the self-abnegating behavior well, still a good read, but the title could be expanded way beyond Kansas.
The republicans are always dependent on contrived socio-cultural red meat as their defining wedge issue; not many would actually support more tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy and deregulative environmental and financial services laws, among just a few examples, not many are for dirtier air and water, or less protection from predatory conglomerates. When you hear trans or LGBT+ or immigration rhetoric, that’s designed to anger and look the other way while they slip the unsaid into legislative bills.
Magas tried the same damn thing in Ohio. Cost the taxpayers 1 million dollars to put forth their 60% approval bullshit.
We geared up and fought it and it went down. By the same percentage as the abortion initiative was passed.
A well informed public is the key. It worked here. Hopefully it will in Missouri.
Jess, your writing here reveals two things to me that are front and center with this and a lot of other issues, not only in Missouri but across America in red states. There are a lot of issues at play but education and MSM or lack thereof are paramount and your recounting of a conversation with a rural female voter bears out my observation. The old adage, "cutting off your nose despite your face."
Your efforts here are more than commendable, but what a hill to climb. One foot in front of the other one.
Onward!
Cutting off your nose to spite your face" is an idiom that means to cause yourself harm while trying to hurt someone else:
Jess, I have just now subscribed to your substack. I am very impressed that you are able to give us such great insights into rural thinking. For 20 years I lived in northwest Montana and experienced a “Purple” state turning “Red.” I now live in a small very “Blue” town, Silver City, in a rural county in the sparsely populated “Blue” state of New Mexico. We have plenty of Republicans here but so far the unofficial town motto is “We all get along.”
My own personal belief is that the Political and Economic system that was very progressive for its time, the 1770s, is now too outdated to be functional in modern times. I am very excited and motivated to promote an “out of the box” future oriented system called "Economic Democracy” and the “Progressive Utilization Theory.” There is a substack dedicated to this very progressive approach called “Crisis and Transition.” https://crisistransition.substack.com/ . This substack is a collection of essays by several writers that convincingly presents this new approach to economics and governance.
P.S. I have visited Willow Springs MO. several times and even attended a Rotary meeting there. I enjoyed the warmth of the people and their down to earth practical outlook. However, that was back in the 80’s. I would hope that this characteristic has not changed.
Solidarity!
Hope? Hmmmm. I can hear in my mind’s ear a song from many decades ago about wishin’ and hopin’ .
And dreaming
We love Silver city!
I love Silver City too, that’s why I moved here.
Jess, all this underscores the importance of public education! Before one forms an opinion, they must know the issue at hand!!! The general public is so influenced by disinformation, misinformation & produced that the real truth doesn’t penetrate their minds! Sorry to be so cynical, but as people say today,” It is what it is!”
They spent millions on clean Missouri just to have it overturned because of a lack of education. But it wasn’t because the voters were stupid. They were literally tricked.
Too much Fox News & other sources of disinformation! Please watch Jake Tapper’s interview today with Mitt Romney! Quite interesting!
Anthony, did you read what Jess wrote? I quote: "But it wasn’t because the voters were stupid. They were literally tricked." The people voted in some progressive stuff. The cabal in control literally wrote a misleading ballot to trick them into thinking they were voting in support of the stuff they'd already voted for, but in fact overturned it. That is not stupidity. I read what the ballot said. I am not stupid and I am educated and trained in critical thinking AND I COULD NOT TELL WHAT THE BALLOT WAS ACTUALLY SAYING until Jess explained the background.
Jess is one smart lady, and frankly, I think she has a lot more insight than Mitt Romney. I'm way too familiar with that dynamic. Mitt obeyed way in advance because he was smart enough to see what was coming and stepped away from the fan.
And, disingenuous state politicians!
Sneaky is as sneaky does…
Character Matters!
Propaganda, not & produced! Dern autocorrect or AI!
Let me know your thoughts on the Romney interview! I’d love to hear them!
We have similar issues in Georgia! MAGA smells blood!
Yes, I read it! The manipulation by officials misrepresented the facts & they were, indeed, misled! Jess is really on top of the real issues! I do, however, believe that the Democrats misread the mood of the voters during the campaign. The Republicans took advantage of that! Thanks for your honesty!
At least you got to vote on the issue. In Arkansas, with more than enough signatures, it was thrown out because one form was turned in earlier than the rest and wasn’t stapled to another form. Huckabee Sanders also sent out her people to try to stop people from gathering signatures. It would have passed even in this state if it had been on the ballot.
I was so angry that they took the amendment off the ballot in Arkansas.
In an otherwise somber column, your term Belly of the Beast made me laugh out loud. I too live in the belly of the beast. However I'm not as strong or intelligent as you are, and I tend to shy away from the people directly in my area who post "No to Amendment 3" signs. It just makes me sad to know that my own neighbors, who seem otherwise pleasant on the surface, don't want me to make my own medical decisions. Thank you for what you do! I'm 65 and I had hoped my vote would help the younger women and any woman who does not want to have her medical decisions determined by the State. What's next? Women can't have mastectomies because their bodies were intended to be used to nurture?
Magas are already going after trans-people and gay people, as well as tightening down on other 'non-life-threatening" medical problems, using the same "judgement" process that has been used to delay medical treatment until they are sure the mother is so sick she may not survive- and often doesn't (not just in Texas).
I have a trans-grandson in late transition., and grateful he lives in the Pacific NW. The Maga foundation pretty much disintegrated there. They still exist, but the Republicans appear to be distancing themselves from the fools. Thanks to some outspoken Dems and a few brave Republicans who stood tall while remaining committed to true conservatism (not the same thing as Maga, which is estremism).
Oregon went through a similar process as Missouri decades ago when the Tea Party literally took over the Republican party, systematically undermined some solid R office holders and candidates until they had enough people to take over, sold a bill of goods to the people, and as a result, Oregon dismantled many of the programs that made Oregon one of the most livable in the country. Watching it strip itself was painful (by that time I was living in another state).
But shifting demographics meant both a shift in voting dynamics and a major redistricting in 2021. The right wing extremists did everything they could to shut down both the redistricting process and the legislature, but in the end the state Supreme Court approved the redistricting for 2 very rational reasons: 1) It was done in strict accordance with Oregon's constitution, and 2) It was actually representative of Oregon's demographics. The right wing republicans had been used to having more power than they should have because the districts were unbalanced, and couldn't grasp that they were losing because they no longer representing even those districts. I was covering the state at the time, and knew the background, so got a lot of details that outside reporters didn't.
An interesting aside: a couple of R's on the House redistricting committee just couldn't understand why the eastern Oregon Congressional district, which is sparsely populated and thus covers a lot of territory-almost half the state- couldn't just be cut in half to make two districts- "because it is so big". One got it when it was explained that land doesn't vote, people vote. The other clung to that notion right up until the end, and voted against the redistricting. She's still in the legislature, having been soundly trounced in her bid for state office.
It might take time, you guys, but it seems to me that you have some of the same underlying dynamics simmering in MO. Keep feeding it. Keep making it a national issue, because it is.