Mayor Pete speaks 9 languages, served in the United States Armed Forces, and is a fine, upstanding young leader. His experiences, his intelligence and his desire to do right by the American people makes him the perfect choice to represent the United States on the world stage.

In the midst of a global pandemic that dramatically increased the safety risks of physically going to the polls to vote, several states decided to suppress voter turnout by creating rules that effectively invalidate mail in ballots that arrive after Election Day even if they are postmarked by Election Day. To be precise, there are 28 states that do not allow postmarked ballots to arrive after Election Day. Simultaneously, the President of the United States has deliberately undermined the operations and sustainability of the United States Postal Service and impeded its capacity to process mail, including ballots, in a timely manner. Thus, regardless of the outcome of the 2020 general election, it is clear that we need stronger federal protections for American voters so that every vote counts and so that states cannot suppress votes in the aforementioned manner. In America, our hope is that we are better than this. Not counting votes is unacceptable. Ignoring votes is unacceptable. And voter disenfranchisement is unacceptable.

Despite the moniker as the oldest democracy in the world, the United States has an archaic Electoral College system, in which skates of electors representing a state vote for a presidential candidate to the Electoral College—with 270 electors needed to win. For over 100 years now, the electors with few exceptions represent the candidate who won the popular vote by state, and with a recent Supreme Court ruling, are even more tightly bound to do so. Nevertheless, this election, the Republican Party and Trump campaign are continuing their onslaught against our democratic norms and institutions. In an attempt to steal the election, the Republican Party and Trump campaign are suing states to stop the counting of valid ballots largely of minorities, younger people, and people from traditionally Democratic strongholds. Congress can stand up and end this chicanery by refusing to seat the Electoral College until all votes are counted! More nefariously, the Trump campaign and Republican State Parties are preparing a shadow campaign to appoint alternate slates of electors to the Electoral College in an attempt to sow chaos and throw the election to the House of Representatives. Congress can and must head this off by pledging to only seat slates of electors who represent the popular vote winner of that state. These actions can bring peace to the chaos of the post-election period and ensure the survival of our democracy with a smooth transition of power.

January 12th update (5:36PM EDT): Both the Eighth Circuit and the DC Circuit have issued stays of execution for Lisa. The Department of Justice is appealing both to the United States Supreme Court, and presumably they will rule on the stays tonight. The Bureau of Prison continues to prepare to execute Lisa today. Lisa's life is still in danger.

Revoking the right for LGBTQ+ marriages infringes the basic human right to love freely and is discriminatory as a nation.

A 12 year old girl was raped and pressed charges against her offender in 2017. After the trial was delayed three times over the course of three years, this young woman's offender has still not been brought to justice. It is time that we ensure victims are afforded the rights that they are guaranteed by law. This starts with providing victims with a designated contact in each office across Texas that will ensure that the victims' needs are met. More and more victims feel powerless when their trials are delayed for years at a time. Victims are voiceless when they are not granted time to speak in court and present their Victim Impact Statement. The Texas Juvenile Justice Department is a system that prioritizes the punishment of offenders before granting the victims' guaranteed rights. Please help bring justice to these victims by supporting the revision of the Texas Family Code § 57.003.

Republicans are trying to rewrite the rules and force through an unqualified, extremist candidate for a lifetime position to the Supreme Court. Prominent Democrats spoke our strongly against this move, up until the moment where someone could actually do something. That person is Senator Feinstein, and she did nothing. She made small talk. She asked about Amy Coney Barrett's family. She thanked Lindsey Graham and gave him a hug. If confirmed, Barrett would be in the position to invalidate some of our most hard-fought rights, like abortion access and the Affordable Care Act. Senator Feinstein is supposed to be fighting on our behalf to keep these rights intact, not thanking their opposition for their "fairness" during a patently unfair process. As a constituent, I'm calling on Senator Feinstein to step down from her leadership role on the Senate Judiciary Committee, and make room for someone who's willing to fight the hard fights. I ask that her colleagues on the committee join us in voicing their disapproval of her leadership.

Many are excluded from the voting process- whether they're too young, incarcerated or suppressed. Regardless, your vote impacts their future too. Vote4Me is amplifying the voice of those who can't vote because they deserve a say in their lives. Take a pledge to vote for those in your own life who can't vote, and encourage others to do the same! For those who can't vote, we're hear to support and amplify. Challenge those around you who can vote & say, "This is why you should vote 4 me."

We have always relied on overworked and underpaid state and local election officials to successfully oversee the electoral contests that keep our democracy ticking. Thousands of public servants across 50 states, 3,141 counties, and 14 sovereign territories have a long, proud history of doing their job to ensure our voices are heard. This year, they need our support. They need to know that the vast majority of Americans trust them to run smooth and secure elections, and that we all agree on a specific set of fundamental nonpartisan principles. The conspiracy theories about "voter fraud" and a "rigged election" are an insult to the people who keep our elections free and fair. Protect Our Election is working to repair the damage done by building a grassroots movement to support the dedicated election administrators who are working so hard this election season. We need to let these public servants know that we have their back - that Americans still believe in democracy and still trust them to do their jobs the way they always have. They need to know we outnumber the angry mob. Take action today by sending a message of support to your state election officials. Let them know you are doing your part as a citizen, that you appreciate how difficult their job is, and that you reject the idea that this election will be compromised.

The Trump administration is trying to end the 2020 Census count as soon as possible -- so that already vulnerable communities lose out on representation in Congress and vital funding for things like schools, fire trucks, and COVID-19 relief. This is just the administration’s latest attempt to intimidate, exclude, and erase immigrant families and young people out of the 2020 Census. And now, the Supreme Court has given Trump and his administration the go-ahead to halt the census count. Remember: rigging the census is part of a years-long effort by far-right political operatives to rig our system and silence millions of Americans. We’ve uncovered documents from the GOP’s top redistricting strategist, Thomas Hofeller, that outline this exact strategy -- and we took this fight to court. And despite this setback, we’re not done fighting. But we need to prepare for the worst: that the Administration might shut down the census immediately. We have one path to stop this -- put maximum pressure on the U.S. Senate to save the Census. We must go all out -- right here and right now -- to protect the 2020 Census from political manipulation. We must make sure senators know that their seats are on the line -- and the American people expect them to put the integrity of our democracy before Trump’s partisan schemes. We don’t have a moment to waste. There is bipartisan legislation right now that would save the U.S. Census -- and passing it just got far, far more urgent. If we can get it to the Senate floor, it has the support to pass. Demand that GOP senators add their support to the bipartisan 2020 Census Deadline Extensions Act (S. 4571) -- which would extend the census count through October 31st -- and insist Majority Leader Mitch McConnell holds a floor vote.

A president who has been impeached, whether convicted or not, has been found to have broken a law. Such a president cannot be trusted and has proven to be compromised in one way or another and should not be allowed to be re-elected for any government office, particularly president or vice president of the United States of America

History is fundamental to our understanding of the world around us. Through the study of history, we can discover why the world is as it presently exists: our world in its current state is a direct result of the developments and events of the past. Every action taken in the past, every idea and concept thought of and acted upon, every war and treaty, every great leader and villain has contributed to the collective sum of developments which have molded our world. History is the build-up of actions taken in the past, and as we go about our lives in the present we contribute to that accumulation. Our choices today will directly affect the future, just as the choices of the past directly affect our present. We are, right now, making the history of the future. Thus, history is an immensely important subject to study and understand. It provides the answers to why the world is like it is. An inaccurate understanding of the past, therefore, will present the incorrect answers as to why the world is like it is now. This is incredibly important: having the incorrect answer to why the world exists as it does presently means that the consequences of choices made in the past, or the reality of the development of the past, will be lost and unknown. This means that, as we move forward into the future, we will be unable to truly understand our own place in history and the nature of the changing world around us. Further, incorrect readings of the past can lend support to ideas or beliefs which don’t actually have a historical basis. Such misinformation about the past can provide people inaccurate assumptions about the world around them. It is lamentable, then, that history is so often either lost, deliberately misconstrued, misunderstood or misinterpreted, or entirely fictitious. Much of our understanding of history, and the stories presented to us, do not accurately describe actual events in the past. We therefore often cannot truly understand the nature of the world around us. Much of early recorded history is rife in inaccuracy, legend, and fable. This, of course, is a result of the nature of early human civilization: writing was uncommon and in its early stages of development, history was told through word of mouth and legend, and such a medium for the recording and telling of history easily allows for the true history to be changed, altered, and reinterpreted. Yet history has also been deliberately falsified to provide support or justification for various positions or beliefs. As with any other type of knowledge, history directly influences and shapes our perception of the world, our beliefs, and our ideas. Because of this, the telling of history can be a powerful tool to provide justification for some concepts or ideas, and rewriting history can discredit others. There are many examples of these inaccurate histories, and some of them are quite prolific and influential in the way various societies and civilizations perceived the world. These inaccurate stories of history range from legends and myths about the origins of civilizations and societies, such as the legendary founding of Rome by Romulus and Remus, sons of Mars, which gave the Romans a perception of their civilization as being divinely inspired and thus destined to greatness, to stories about great events in a countries past, such as Paul Revere’s supposed ride to warn the colonists that the British ‘were coming’ which, in reality, never happened but created patriotic fervor amongst American citizens. Further inaccurate histories can be seen across theology, as almost every system of religion claims to be the sole descendents and adherents of the one true god or gods. Not every religion can correctly claim to be the only true faith, and thus the histories that each present must somehow be falsified. As students and scholars of history, we must thus pick out what we discern to be the most reliable sources of history, and be skeptical towards all claims and stories which attempt to tell the past. History is an immensely important subject which contributes very heavily towards our understanding of the present, and as such it is vital that we understand it as correctly and completely as possible. The misconceptions and misinformation about the past which is prolific in modern times lends support to inaccurate understanding of our present world, but hopefully the diligent study of and reporting on accurate and correct accounts of the past will help us finally understand the true nature of our here and now. Cody Knipfer.