Voting Rights, Worker or Contractor, Pride Month, Unabomber, Presidential Field

Mike & Jay open the episode with their views on the Supreme Court’s ruling in Allen v Milligan, the big voting rights case that Trey & Ken discussed last week. They add to the conversation by focusing on the dissent, which Jay largely agrees with. Mike believes Justices Thomas and Alito make a reasonable, but unconvincing case in arguing that Alabama did not violate Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. Next, they turn to a recent National Labor Relations Board ruling that makes it more difficult for employers to claim workers are independent contractors as opposed to employees. Mike sees this as a return to the less-politicized view that the Trump-dominated NLRB changed in 2019. Jay doesn’t disagree with the recent decision but feels that it, like the Trump-era move, was also in part politically motivated. After that, they discuss Pride Month. Mike notes that aside from a 2019 tweet from President Trump, no Republican president has formally acknowledged Pride Month since its inception in 1999. Jay believes that’s because a not-insignificant percentage of the population sees homosexuality and non-cisgender identification as choices that are incompatible with their values or religious beliefs. Then it’s a look back at the legacy of Unabomber Ted Kaczynski, who recently committed suicide in federal prison. Mike argues that while Kaczynski’s methods were reprehensible and his balancing of the pros and cons of industrial society is incorrect, he makes some important points. Jay doesn’t entirely disagree but suggests that pulling the small amount of good from a far greater evil is counterproductive and that we can discuss the costs and benefits of industrial society without bringing domestic terrorists into the conversation. They close by considering the current presidential field, the likelihood that Donald Trump will be the GOP nominee, and the possibility of a viable No Labels ticket.   The Politics Guys on Facebook | Twitter Listener support helps make The Politics Guys possible. You can support us or change your level of support at patreon.com/politicsguys or politicsguys.com/support. On Venmo we’re @PoliticsGuys.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesThe Politics Guys on Facebook | XListener support helps make The Politics Guys possible. You can support us or change your level of support at patreon.com/politicsguys or politicsguys.com/support. On Venmo, we’re @PoliticsGuys.The Politics Guys is part of The Democracy Group, a network of podcasts that examines what's broken in our democracy and how we can work together to fix it.