The Most Liberal County in Conservative States

By Andrea Vale/Stacker

Whether a state is considered red or blue is only one side of the story. In many states, despite majority leanings, there are neighborhoods, towns, or even entire counties that hold steadfast against their neighbors and vote for the party that holds an opposing ideology to a majority of the state's residents.

Whether or not this means those enclaves will see the results they want depends on their state's unique circumstances. In many states, liberal areas are still subject to hyper-conservative policies designed to apply to the state at large. In Florida, for instance, Gov. Ron DeSantis has restricted discussions of gender identity in schools and passed one of the nation's narrowest abortion restrictions—both of which affect residents of the comparatively progressive Miami and Fort Lauderdale. In Ohio, preemption laws bar cities from regulating certain state-mandated issues, meaning that liberal pockets in Columbus and Toledo are still beholden to the conservative-majority gun laws and environmental policies.

Stacker compiled voter turnout data from The New York Times and statewide political ideology data from Gallup to rank states by their share of self-identifying conservatives. Ties were broken by the corresponding percentage of liberals, as able. Voter data was then used to identify counties that voted against this statewide average ideology.

Some "battleground" states that split relatively evenly between conservative and liberal didn't make either list. Detailed county voter turnout data was unavailable for Virginia, Alaska, Louisiana, and Alabama. For Washington D.C., ideological insights came from a study by the Pew Research Institute, rather than the Gallup data.

When looking at why an island of liberalism may exist in an otherwise heavily conservative state, there are typically a few reliable tells. Many of the counties included in this list are home to colleges or universities; this means relatively young and well-educated populations, which almost always equates to liberal leanings. The same is true for dense urban centers, which are usually home to higher concentrations of communities of color and foreign-born migrants—groups that also lean blue.

Native American communities often vote Democrat and are also often isolated within Republican-majority states; unsurprisingly, this is the case for more than a few counties included here. Even ski towns tend to transform a county into a stronghold for liberalism in otherwise conservative areas by attracting mostly upper-class, well-educated transplants as residents.

Read on to discover where liberal strongholds exist in otherwise staunchly conservative states, and what accounts for the unexpected shift from red to blue. Travis County, Texas

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#19. Texas: 20% liberal, 38% conservative (tie)

- Most liberal county: Travis County
--- Democratic votes in 2020: 435,860 (71.4%)
--- Total votes cast: 610,349

Travis County—where the state capital of Austin can be found—represents a larger shift in many Texas counties towards the left, due in large part to a progressively younger population and incoming migration. As of 2022, just 10% of Travis County's population was 65 and older, and a full third of residents identified as Hispanic or Latino. Taos County, New Mexico

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#19. New Mexico: 20% liberal, 38% conservative (tie)

- Most liberal county: Taos County
--- Democratic votes in 2020: 13,121 (76.4%)
--- Total votes cast: 17,181

Taos County comprises several Hispanic and Native American communities, resulting in a staunch Democratic leaning. Additionally, the county is home to the University of New Mexico-Taos, providing a concentration of young, well-educated voters that typically results in liberal tendencies. Durham County, North Carolina

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#18. North Carolina: 21% liberal, 39% conservative

- Most liberal county: Durham County
--- Democratic votes in 2020: 144,364 (80.4%)
--- Total votes cast: 179,594

Durham County's more liberal leaning is possibly due to its large concentration of urban centers and universities. The county holds the cities of Durham and parts of Raleigh, as well as most of the state's most well-known institutes of higher education, including Duke University, North Carolina Central University, and Durham Technical Community College. Jefferson County, Kentucky

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#17. Kentucky: 20% liberal, 39% conservative

- Most liberal county: Jefferson County
--- Democratic votes in 2020: 228,272 (59.1%)
--- Total votes cast: 386,061

Jefferson County is the most heavily populated county in the state—it is home to more than 780,000 residents, while the next-largest, Fayette County, has less than half that count—and includes Louisville, the state's largest city. Besides a dense population, the county is also home to a heavy concentration of universities and colleges, with one college per 11 square miles. Clayton County, Georgia

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#16. Georgia: 19% liberal, 39% conservative

- Most liberal county: Clayton County
--- Democratic votes in 2020: 95,476 (85.0%)
--- Total votes cast: 112,344

Clayton County is a particularly diverse area, with 73.4% of its population self-identifying as Black and 13.5% as Hispanic or Latino. This accounts for its uniquely Democratic leaning; though previously a swing county, the increasing number of Black Americans and other people of color relocating to the county has shifted it to staunchly liberal. Douglas County, Kansas

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#13. Kansas: 18% liberal, 39% conservative (tie)

- Most liberal county: Douglas County
--- Democratic votes in 2020: 40,785 (68.6%)
--- Total votes cast: 59,495

Douglas County's blue dominance is owed in large part to encompassing the city of Lawrence, widely perceived as a liberal college town. Lawrence is home to the University of Kansas, which self-describes as "the state's flagship institution." Douglas County is particularly young and upper-middle-class: just 13.5% of the population is over 65, and the median household income is $62,594. Glacier County, Montana

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#13. Montana: 18% liberal, 39% conservative (tie)

- Most liberal county: Glacier County
--- Democratic votes in 2020: 3,610 (64.3%)
--- Total votes cast: 5,617

Home to the Blackfeet Indian Reservation, Glacier County residents are majority Native American, with 64.6% of the county's 13,681 residents self-identifying as American Indian or Alaska Native. Native American communities tend to lean more liberal than conservative, making this county a stronghold for Democrats, even while surrounded by red-voting counties. Sioux County, North Dakota

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#13. North Dakota: 18% liberal, 39% conservative (tie)

- Most liberal county: Sioux County
--- Democratic votes in 2020: 804 (67.8%)
--- Total votes cast: 1,186

Like Glacier County in Montana, Sioux County's large proportion of Native American residents accounts for its liberal skew. Though the tiny area only has 3,711 residents, 83.1% of them are American Indian or Alaska Native. Marion County, Indiana

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#12. Indiana: 17% liberal, 39% conservative

- Most liberal county: Marion County
--- Democratic votes in 2020: 247,772 (63.6%)
--- Total votes cast: 389,618

Marion County is home to the state's most populous city, Indianapolis, as well as several universities. This makes the region comparatively urban and young when measured against surrounding central Indiana counties. Additionally, the county is relatively more diverse than nearby majority-white areas, with a 29.6% Black population, compared to 10.2% in the state in general. Blaine County, Idaho

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#11. Idaho: 17% liberal, 40% conservative

- Most liberal county: Blaine County
--- Democratic votes in 2020: 8,919 (67.1%)
--- Total votes cast: 13,289

Though not home to the state's most populated cities, Blaine County does have one notable locale that is thought to largely account for its reputation as a Democratic stronghold: the Sun Valley ski resort. The county is subsequently home to a large number of out-of-staters who choose to live part-time or retire there, and who are usually upper-class, well-educated, and white. 94.4% of Blaine County residents are white, and the median household income is $71,749. St. Louis city, Missouri

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#10. Missouri: 20% liberal, 41% conservative

- Most liberal county: St. Louis
--- Democratic votes in 2020: 110,089 (82.3%)
--- Total votes cast: 133,793

Home to nearly 1 million residents, St. Louis County (not to be confused with the independent city of St. Louis, which belongs to no county) is diverse, well-educated, urban, and affluent compared to other parts of the state. Only 67.4% of the population is white alone; 25.1% is Black. The median household income is $72,562. Additionally, the county is home to a large concentration of institutes of higher education, including Washington University in St. Louis, Saint Louis University, and Maryville University. Allendale County, South Carolina

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#9. South Carolina: 16% liberal, 41% conservative

- Most liberal county: Allendale County
--- Democratic votes in 2020: 2,714 (75.7%)
--- Total votes cast: 3,585

Though Allendale is the smallest and among the most poor and rural counties in the state, it is also one of the most politically active. Though these superlatives would usually tilt a county towards conservatism, Allendale County is also majority (72.7%) Black, and the region's lack of dependable health care, employment, and transportation has led to widespread support for Democratic initiatives like Medicaid. Pulaski County, Arkansas

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#7. Arkansas: 15% liberal, 41% conservative (tie)

- Most liberal county: Pulaski County
--- Democratic votes in 2020: 101,947 (60.0%)
--- Total votes cast: 169,956

The most populous county in the state and home to the capital city of Little Rock, Pulaski County is relatively diverse and young. Only 50% of residents are white, while 37% are Black; the median age is around 38. Summit County, Utah

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#7. Utah: 15% liberal, 41% conservative (tie)

- Most liberal county: Summit County
--- Democratic votes in 2020: 15,244 (58.0%)
--- Total votes cast: 26,289

Summit County is the most liberal area in the state thanks mostly to the urban center of Park City, which makes up 8,576 of the county's 43,036 residents. While Park City is "staunchly liberal," other areas within the county itself lean more conservative. In the ski resort town of Park City, however, upper-class, well-educated residents have huge sway. With an average income of $91,470, Park City is the country's second-wealthiest small urban area. Cleveland County, Oklahoma

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#6. Oklahoma: 18% liberal, 43% conservative

- Most liberal county: Cleveland County
--- Democratic votes in 2020: 49,827 (41.6%)
--- Total votes cast: 119,778

Cleveland County's urban and educational hubs account for its ranking as the bluest county in the state. The county is part of the state's largest metro area (Oklahoma City) and the state's largest university (the University of Oklahoma). Additionally, the county is slightly more educated (34.98% of adults have bachelor's degrees or higher) and younger (the median age is 37.3) than surrounding areas, which both correlate with higher populations of liberals. Shelby County, Tennessee

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#5. Tennessee: 17% liberal, 43% conservative

- Most liberal county: Shelby County
--- Democratic votes in 2020: 246,105 (64.4%)
--- Total votes cast: 382,055

Shelby County has three standout qualities that place it squarely in the blue. First, it is home to a large urban center (Memphis, with a population of over 600,000). Secondly, its population is majority Black, accounting for 54.6% of residents. Finally, it contains a large concentration of colleges and universities, including the University of Memphis, Rhodes College, Remington College, and the University of Tennessee Health Sciences Center. Oglala Lakota County, South Dakota

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#4. South Dakota: 13% liberal, 44% conservative

- Most liberal county: Oglala Lakota County
--- Democratic votes in 2020: 2,829 (88.4%)
--- Total votes cast: 3,200

Like other areas that are predominantly populated by Native Americans, Oglala Lakota is a Democratic stronghold in a Republican state (much like Glacier County, Montana, and Sioux County, North Dakota). 92.3% of the population is American Indian or Native Alaskan, which is unsurprising considering the entire county sits within the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. Monongalia County, West Virginia

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#3. West Virginia: 17% liberal, 45% conservative

- Most liberal county: Monongalia County
--- Democratic votes in 2020: 20,282 (48.2%)
--- Total votes cast: 42,072

Monongalia County is home to Morgantown, a city that is growing starkly white-collar and well-educated compared to other areas of the state—and consequently, starkly liberal as well. Like many other college towns, Morgantown—home to West Virginia University—is generally younger, more affluent, and more Democratic than more rural areas. Teton County, Wyoming

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#2. Wyoming: 18% liberal, 46% conservative

- Most liberal county: Teton County
--- Democratic votes in 2020: 9,848 (67.1%)
--- Total votes cast: 14,677

While Wyoming writ large is rural and agricultural, Teton County—which contains the Jackson ski resort—is a "playground for the ultra-rich," largely accounting for its liberal leanings. Like Park City, Utah, and Blaine County, Idaho, ski towns come with wealth, and with wealth comes Democrats: the median income in Teton County is a whopping $94,498. Jefferson County, Mississippi

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#1. Mississippi: 12% liberal, 50% conservative

- Most liberal county: Jefferson County
--- Democratic votes in 2020: 3,327 (86.1%)
--- Total votes cast: 3,863

Though increasingly sparsely populated and mired in poverty, Jefferson County is also diverse. 84.9% of the population is Black, accounting for the region's liberal character.

Data reporting by Sam Larson. Story editing by Brian Budzynski. Copy editing by Tim Bruns.

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COMMENT below or email editors@thehustings.news

Q3 GDP Up 2.6%

Gross Domestic Product Swings Positive – After two negative GDP quarters in a row for the first half of 2022, GDP was on the rise again for the third quarter, up 2.6% according to the Commerce Department’s advanced estimate. This “primarily reflected increases in exports,” (bolstered by the strength of the U.S. dollar due to high inflation) “and consumer spending that were partially offset by a decrease in housing investment,” according to the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis.

Second-quarter GDP was off 0.6%.

•••

Big Early Voter Turnout -- As of October 26, georgiavoters.com has counted 1,123,329 early ballots for the November 8 midterm elections, compared with 743,772 at this same time in 2018, a 51% increase. According to The Washington Post mail-in ballots have “fallen off significantly,” per the Georgia Secretary of State’s office.

WaPo cites the Virginia Public Access Office that 411,000 voters have cast ballots early, more than the total number who voted there in 2018. But in North Carolina, the state’s 530,000 ballots cast is 60,000 fewer than this same point in 2018, while just 550,000 Texans have voted early, down from 695,000 by this time in ’18.

Elsewhere in Georgia: Ex-President Trump’s ultimate chief of staff, Mark Meadows (pictured), has been ordered by a South Carolina judge to travel to Atlanta to testify in Fulton County District Attorney Fani T. Willis’ investigation into election interference by Trump and his allies (per The New York Times). Meadows’ attorney James Bannister is said to be preparing an appeal on grounds the Fulton County grand jury behind the investigation does not have indictment authority.

--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

Relearning American Humanity

By Michelle Naranjo

In a small community on the steps of Pennsylvania coal country, there is a rumor being spread via social media that an empty decommissioned hospital slated for destruction due to the presence of asbestos and black mold is being kitted out with new beds and will soon become housing for immigrants making their way into the U.S.

The initial report of this came from someone who claims a cousin delivering the beds to said hospital enquired about the activity, and a worker allegedly told him of the plan. The comments on posts about this range from residents ranting about Biden "opening the border," to those who believe that the migrants will bring the "China virus" with them, to a few who find the less-than-kind reactions racist and cruel.

To be clear, migrants reaching the border tested for Covid-19 have a less than 6% positive rate. Legal residents in the border states, save California, are not faring as well. Texas is at 9%, New Mexico is at 8%, and Arizona is at 11%.

Sadly, rumors of this kind are in every state of the U.S. and are just a sign of the poor communication around the growing migration from Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador.

Meanwhile, Biden and senior staff members are gunfire-at-the-feet dancing to avoid referring to the surge of migrants at the border as a crisis, and Republican critics are taking the opportunity to use the rising numbers to slam the nascent administration as a failure. The administration isn't doing itself any favors by rallying around the narrative that the growing crisis is the previous administration's fault.

Democratic Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy, following a visit to the El Paso, Texas U.S. Customs and Border Protection processing center as part of a bipartisan congressional tour, has called on the Biden administration to be more transparent with Americans about what is happening at the border.

While there is much to be gained by being honest with the media and citizens, it would also be an opportune time for Biden et. al. to reiterate America's humanitarian tradition and take a giant step towards reviving it.

Biden has only been in office long enough for one month of border statistics to come to light, but setting the tone now is imperative. Allowing a humanitarian crisis to dissolve into disinformation and rumors amid the ongoing turmoil of over 500,000 deaths from COVID-19, a year of massive unemployment, and a timbre that is no longer keeping the racist undertones of the U.S. quiet.

Rescinding the policy of returning migrant children traveling alone encountered to the other side of the border was the right thing for Biden to do. So is sending assistance to the countries losing their citizens to migration because of strained economies, weather-related disasters, political corruption, and drug and gang-related violence. Biden needs to give the press and American citizens an ongoing and clear explanation of why it is in our best interest to protect migrants at risk since so many of us seem to have gone dark on what it means to have the U.S. act a leader in human rights.

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Email your comments to editors@thehustings.news

Dangerous Make-Believe

By Stephen Macaulay

It is absolutely appropriate that CPAC was held in Orlando, the city that has even surpassed Anaheim in its association with the Magical Kingdom. Walt Disney World is the most popular amusement park on earth, with some 58-million annual visitors. . .a number that collapsed as a result of COVID-19. However, given the reaction of an audible number of attendees who booed the announcement at CPAC that because they were in someone else’s facility they had to follow that host’s rules, and the rules included wearing masks to help mitigate the potential spread of the virus, they probably wouldn’t mind a ride on Splash Mountain, even if they were doused in foul water.

Mask-free or die.

It is all too easy to see the cartoonish golden statue of Donald Trump that was made — where else? — in Mexico, a statue that had CPAC attendees posing with just as they would with Mickey, in relation to a cautionary tale from Exodus 32: 1-6. The worship of an idol. Aaron had told the Israelites that the golden calf had delivered them from Egypt. It didn’t.

And Trump has delivered his people from what?

There are some 10.1-million people unemployed in the U.S. right now.

There are some 512,000 dead Americans — Americans — from COVID-19.

Did that Golden Idol cause the unemployment, cause the deaths?

Look at it this way: Both started under his watch. He claimed the former was going to “just disappear.” He made mask-wearing a political, not a medical, thing. He knew that a bad economy wasn’t going to be good for his brand, so despite advice to the contrary, he claimed COVID wasn’t a big deal, which led to more people getting sick, more people dying, and more businesses going out of business.

Chant though they might, it doesn’t change the facts. But facts are, as we’ll see, troublesome for some people.

///

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was born in New York City. She was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2018, representing the 14^th congressional district, which encompasses part of the Bronx, Queens and Rikers Island. She is a Democrat.

It is about 1,755 miles from the Bronx to Austin, Texas.

When the winter storm that set Texans back, way back on their collective boot heels, Ocasio-Cortez went to work and raised some $5-million for affected Texans.

Senator Ted Cruz, R-TX, went to Cancun.

So what did Ted Cruz do when he spoke at CPAC?

Among other things, made fun of Ocasio-Cortez, who had posted a powerful Instagram Live video predicated on her life experiences and what she experienced during the insurrection at the Capitol on January 6.

Ocasio-Cortez raises $5-million for people far away from her district.

Cruz goes on vacation while the people in his state struggle.

Regardless of what you think of the political points of view of either of these people, ask yourself one thing: Which of the two is a serious leader, someone who would have your back?

Ted Cruz, a man who ended up carrying water for the man who described his wife as being unattractive and who accused his father of participating in one of the biggest crimes of the 20^th century, is clearly not serious. Nor does he seem to care about anyone other than Rafael Edward Cruz.

///

The unacronymic name of CPAC is “Conservative Political Action Conference.” It is organized by the American Conservative Union.

Edmund Burke is the father of modern conservatism. Or maybe that should be real conservatism.

Consider this in light of what happened in Orlando:

“But what is liberty without wisdom and without virtue? It is the greatest of all possible evils; for it is folly, vice, and madness, without tuition or restraint. Those who know what virtuous liberty is, cannot bear to see it disgraced by incapable heads, on account of their having high-sounding words in their mouths.” ― Edmund Burke

Conservatism is about things like morality, good conduct, a free-market economy, and limited government. And these people are all juiced up about Donald Trump.

How do you square that circle?

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According to the website for the Missouri secretary of state, Missouri is known as the “Show Me” state for the following reason:

“The most widely known legend attributes the phrase to Missouri's U.S. Congressman Willard Duncan Vandiver, who served in the United States House of Representatives from 1897 to 1903. While a member of the U.S. House Committee on Naval Affairs, Vandiver attended an 1899 naval banquet in Philadelphia. In a speech there, he declared, ‘I come from a state that raises corn and cotton and cockleburs and Democrats, and frothy eloquence neither convinces nor satisfies me. I am from Missouri. You have got to show me.’”

One way of looking at this is that the people of Missouri believe in facts. That evidence matters more than what people claim.

“I stood up and I said, I said, we ought to have a debate about election integrity, said, it is the right of the people to be heard. And my constituents in Missouri want to be heard on this issue.”

That is what Sen. Josh Hawley, R-MO, said in his CPAC 2020 comments.

Since Trump lost the 2020 election there has been a whole lot of rhetoric about how the “election was stolen.”

Where’s the evidence?

Show me.

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Kristi Noem, governor of South Dakota, who is rumored to be a potential 2024 presidential candidate attacked Dr. Anthony Fauci at CPAC.

"As conservatives, we often forget that stories are much more powerful than facts and statistics," Noem said. "Our stories need to be told. It is the only way that we will inspire and motivate the American people to preserve this great country."

It is convenient that she’s not big on facts.

Few would argue that California has been an unfortunate hot spot for COVID-19.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, California has had 8,784 cases per 100,000 people. It has had 131 deaths per 100,000 people.

Of course, that’s a Blue State.

So how is South Dakota doing?

12,693 cases per 100,000 people.

213 deaths per 100,000 people.

Yes, Noem, facts and statistics ought to be avoided in favor of stories because they sure as hell are damning.

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Read the full list of CPAC’s presidential candidate straw poll — click on Forum.

Texas and California are Polar Opposites on Energy Regulation

By Todd Lassa

The Texas legislature has begun a comprehensive investigation on What Went Wrong, a week after a severe winter storm pushed its power grid within “minutes from failing” with three hearings by four state House and Senate committees.

More than 13 million state residents suffered no heat and electricity in sub-freezing temperatures as the Electric Reliability Council of Texas issued rolling blackouts to prevent a total collapse that experts say could have left the state without power for months.

Critics of Texas’ independent streak blame a policy that prevents the state from “borrowing” energy from neighboring states, in order to avoid federal regulations. Equipment at natural gas, coal and nuclear facilities became frozen and broke down, Time magazine reports, adding that after the last Texas freeze that caused blackouts, in 2011, federal regulators recommended the state weatherize energy equipment, including pipes, valves and other things necessary to keep the grid operating. When power in the state was back up again, many consumers were hit with energy bills of $10,000 and more, the result of unregulated price spikes by ERCOT for energy providers.

Perhaps trying to divert attention from the real problem that was affecting millions of Texans, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott blamed the state’s wind turbines that failed due to iced-up windmill parts and solar panels that collect no sunlight when it’s not sunny. (34 gigawatts were down in Texas on February 15, with wind representing just 4 gigawatts of that total.) Fox News’ prime time commentators directed blame to the “Green New Deal” proposal by U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-NY, to combat climate change, even though it remains only a proposal.

The energy crisis in Texas draws comparison with rolling blackouts in California last summer and fall, which were the result of extreme weather on the opposite end of the spectrum. California’s “first rolling blackouts in nearly 20 years,” according to the Los Angeles Times, affected less than half a million homes and businesses on August 14, for between 15 minutes and 2-1/2 hours at a time, with 321,000 more customers experiencing eight-minute to 90-minute blackouts the next evening.

Extreme heat and forest wildfires across the state caused the blackouts, and because neighboring states also suffered record high temperatures, California was not able to buy power from them.

California energy officials “didn’t line up the right sources and didn’t take climate change” causing the extreme temperatures “into account,” according to the LA Times.

As usual in politics, it comes down to following the money. Either state could proceed at considerable cost building out renewable energy sources with the hope the burgeoning industry will create new jobs, or continue to protect relatively cheap, relatively reliable fossil fuel sources and maintain that industry’s level of employment.

It raises the issue of regulation vs. de-regulation – and even the question of what regulation is for a public utility.

Fortunately, we have a left-column pundit from Texas, and a right-column pundit from California, to sort this all out.

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•Read Stephen Macaulay’s commentary on President Biden’s supply chain review — Click on Forum above.

•Email comments to editors@thehustings.news

Cracked Lens of the Shining Beacon

By Stephen Macaulay

At 3:44 am, January 7, 2021, Vice President Mike Pence, President of the Senate, took the gavel in hand and closed the joint session of Congress that certified the election of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris as the President and Vice President of the United States.

Was anyone surprised at the outcome?

***

“Schoolhouse Rock” Revisited

The process is one that most of us probably missed during “Schoolhouse Rock”: the procedure for certifying the presidential election. The Electoral College was established under Article II and Amendment 12 of the U.S. Constitution. States choose electors based on the results of the general election.

The electors create what are known as Certificates of Vote, which are sent to Congress, which then sits in joint session to certify the election.

There is a second place they are sent: The Office of the Federal Register (OFR), which is under the National Archives and Records Administration.

The OFR puts these electoral documents on public display for a year. Then they go to the Archives of the United States.

You might wonder why there is this tutorial.

Several reasons.

To point out to some people who were involved in Wednesday’s national embarrassment that there is a U.S. Constitution. That there is a careful process of certification. That this entire procedure is part and parcel of what has made the United States of America a special place for more than two centuries.

Maybe they skipped civics.

And to let some of these people know where they can spend their time now it is established that the man from whom they took their marching orders is no longer in office: Gazing at the documents that show that the people of the United States of America and their designated electors have made Joe Biden and Kamala Harris the President and Vice President, respectively.

***

That was written Wednesday before an angry mob, goaded on by the angry man who lost the election, attacked the United States of America. Extreme? Not if you see the photo of the law enforcement officials, guns in hand, behind the barricaded doors of the House of Representatives.

While I had thought about deleting that explanation, when Mike Lee, Republican Senator from Utah, took to the floor of the Senate last evening to make his remarks regarding the curious claims of Ted Cruz, Republican Senator from Texas, that there needed to be a commission that would run for 10 days looking into the security of the election, he cited Article II, Section 12.

In Lee’s words: “Our job is to open and then count. Open and then count. That’s it. That’s all there is.”

Lee had proffered a booklet containing the Constitution when he made those remarks. I wonder if there are any copies at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

***

The most-telling admission of the lack of seriousness of the results to overturn the election (let’s call it what it was) came from Kelly Loeffler, Republican Senator from Georgia, who had signed on with the Hawley/Cruz Putsch Planners. Realize that Loeffler, that very day, had been handed a pink slip by the voters of Georgia. Arguably, she would have nothing to lose politically were she to maintain her allegiance to something — or more accurately, someone -- other than the flag.

But Loeffler, who would undoubtedly be one of the many who’d have angry tweets written about her were it not that Donald Trump’s Twitter account had been given a time-out, appeared shaken to realize that words have consequences, and when those words are not true, when they are about fanciful conspiracies, then there can be things like angry mobs attacking the U.S. Capitol.

She saw the consequences. She withdrew her support of the efforts to, as she had it on the homepage of her website (probably to be taken down by now), “give President Trump and the American people the fair hearing they deserve and support the objection to the Electoral College certification process.”

She knew there was nothing there. And she probably knew that had the Senators not been escorted out of the chamber earlier in the day by armed police, the mob wouldn’t be discerning: she would have been in the same danger as Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. That would have been real.

***

A word about the rule of law.

Rudolph Giuliani is the former associate attorney general in the Reagan administration. He was the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, where he prosecuted the likes of Ivan Boesky and Michael Milken for financial fraud, organized crime figures, and other people who broke the law. He was lauded for his forthright efforts to uphold the rule of law. After the horrible events that occurred on September 11, 2001, Giuliani, then mayor of New York City, became “America’s mayor,” as he stood up to the forces that were attacking the core values of the United States.

Shortly before the Capitol was stormed, Giuliani, now Donald Trump’s personal attorney, told the crowd at the “Save America Rally,” “Let’s have trial by combat.”

The personal attorney of the President of the United States.

“Let’s have trial by combat.”

That’s not in the Constitution, either.

—–

Dawn or Dusk for Pennsylvania

By Michelle Naranjo

Consider me a reluctant Pennsylvania tourist who owns a home here in Lehigh County. It's okay. I know that I will never belong.

I moved to Pennsylvania with a sound understanding of risk. I moved for love. Sue me.

From being born in New Mexico into biracial parents -- let's just say that my family has been in what is now the U.S. since my great x17 grandfather -- I think it's cute when people tell me their great-grandfather came to this country. My parents were pretty sedentary but never accepted.

Flash forward: Parents are gone, and I own a house in rural Pennsylvania, and there are days when I drive for glue, or something odd, at one of the local Dollar General stores -- I live precisely three miles between two of the franchises -- and I catch a view of the "blue mountain."

They call everything Blue Mountain everywhere here. There is a road I can drive up and stop to look north or south and hope to see someone crossing as they trek the Appalachian Trail. I yearn to connect with another tourist.

Those hikers probably won’t stay long enough to see the darkness here that you can also find in England, Wales, Texas, Arizona, California, New Mexico, Connecticut, and Rhode Island. That may look like an odd list of places, but it is everywhere I have lived as a tourist.

As an outsider, here is what I see:

Between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, there is wealth. Those people have "green" properties, so pay one-third or less than the people who have homes on hillsides and cannot claim the same environmental tax write-offs. Farmers also get a similar tax benefit, even if they let their land go fallow because they can't sell corn or soy to China.

And there are more people here without any path to wealth. The current jobs are in the distribution warehouses popping up. Forty hours at $15 an hour is a promise that means two or even three jobs for people trying to have a family. Property taxes have disenfranchised homeownership. Landlords are making bank. The worse the school district is, the higher the taxes.

The best of the public schools between the big cities are impressive with sports and labs, but the lucky from them get to attend any one of the plethora of small, liberal-arts colleges, while poorer districts might get wrestlers into a state Pennsylvania school. Yay, team.

And these are proud people who do not leave where they grew up. Coal is dead. Fracking is dying. They can’t let go.

The 1970s and ‘80s efforts to diversify the workforce here ended in an elevated racist culture. Puerto Rican restaurants struggle to identify themselves as "Spanish" to appeal to the euro-centric Penn Dutch descendants. Imagine what it is like for anyone speaking Spanish at a warehouse. Or, for those who don’t?

Like several of my neighbors, I was too scared to put out my Biden signs. We live in a mix of manicured and aging neighborhoods where yard signs say, “Not a Gun Free Zone” all year long. Our homes are all sent The Epoch Times newspaper unsolicited. The latest issue was about the evils of marijuana and Hunter Biden.

All of that is to say that Pennsylvania may have been the deciding factor for our new president-elect, but we have a lot to heal here in the hinterlands. Or, as I learned in Welsh, y gwyll, meaning “the dusk.”

I say "we" like I might stay. There is work to do.

Naranjo is a freelance writer living in rural Pennsylvania.

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Red, White & Blue Golf Carts at The Villages

By Todd Lassa

By the time former Vice President Joe Biden became the Democratic nominee for president this year, political pundits were still looking at the electoral college map like it was 2016 all over again. Could President Trump maintain his popularity and turn Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin blue once again?

Florida has 29 electoral college votes, however, to Pennsylvania’s 20, Michigan’s 16 and Wisconsin’s 10. It is one of the more reliably red states in play according to the latest polls, along with North Carolina, Arizona and even Texas.

Biden holds a 1.2-point lead over Trump in RealClearPolitics’ Oct. 30 average of 11 polls for Florida, which happens to be the same percentage victory that Trump had over Hillary Clinton in 2016. Four years ago, Trump’s RealClearPoilitics poll average was 0.2 points above Clinton just before the election.

Key to Florida’s choice next Tuesday will be the vote from The Villages, with its 130,000-plus residents, most of them seniors over 55, and many of whom vote assiduously. Residents motor around The Villages largely in electric golf carts. (In 2005 The Villages entered The Guinness World Records with a parade of 3,321 golf carts.) These carts make a great political news story photo op, as many of their owners festoon them with campaign signs.

Before and after the ’16 presidential election, the vast majority of those carts in The Villages were plastered with pro-Trump signs, piloted by seniors wearing red MAGA hats. This time, national media have covered a large influx of Biden-blue golf carts. Is it real, or is it an anomaly, with a handful of outspoken Democrats infiltrating the deep-red retirement neighborhood? Our resident of The Villages and our former GOP official from California discuss, in the left and right columns, respectively.

Please address your comments to editors@thehustings.news

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Coal Miners are the Blue Collar Superdelegates that Still Support Trump

By Bryan Williams

How many years have we been hearing about “green jobs” that will employ blue-collar workers in obsolete smokestack industries, and how they will transform the American economy while curing the climate “emergency”?

Every election cycle, politicians say they will help foster more green jobs, which usually involves spending billions. This time, it’s $2 trillion if Democratic candidate Joe Biden gets to implement his plan. Four years ago, Hillary Clinton even went so far as to promise she would “destroy” the coal industry and then help the miners find training or new employment.

How did she expect this to play out in West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and other blue-collar job states, such as Michigan and Wisconsin? She practically handed that to Donald J. Trump, who shrewdly swooped in to rescue the coal miners.

There were about 90,000 coal miners in the US, according to The Guardian (U.K.), and about half that – about 45,000 – currently.

Why all the hubbub over so few workers? I think it comes down to this – coal miners are superdelegates for all blue-collar workers.

Since I started paying attention to politics in the early 2000s, I have heard politicians of all stripes make claims that we must transition our economy and provide training for workers in obsolete blue-collar jobs. Twenty years later, what have we got?

I’m sure there are success stories of coal miners who have transitioned to green jobs. But for nearly a generation, politicians have told these workers, “I have a plan for you. It will take away your job. There might be some money to retrain you and then you might get a new job after.” That rings pretty hollow and is disingenuous.

Along comes populist Trump in the 2016 presidential race, promising to save blue-collar jobs and revitalize American manufacturing. Since his inauguration he has done quite a few things that many other presidents and elected officials have not.

Has he been successful? Not in the case of the coal industry. The market has helped kill coal, but so have government policies. I have a cousin who used to work at a coal plant here in California. The company had invested millions in clean coal technology to burn the fuel with minimal pollutants. The plant’s officials tried for years to get Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and then Gov. Jerry Brown to take a tour and see how their stringent environmental policies weren’t necessary. Neither governor would even send a representative, and my cousin finally moved to Texas to find work. How many coal miner families can relocate? The political abandonment was felt – my cousin felt it deeply as well, I’m sure, by coal miners and their families in Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

Trump may not have been successful in bringing back those obsolete jobs, but what’s more important, I think, to those coal miners is they finally feel like someone powerful has their back.

They will vote for him again.

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