Good news Friday open thread!

Well, another week in the Age of Biden comes to a close, and we have a couple of bits of very good news to take us into the weekend.

The Census

This week marks the anniversary of the Charlottesville hate march of 2017, where the moral and intellectual heirs to the Nazis marched through the town screaming either "Jews will not replace us" or "You will not replace us". 

Well. Yesterday, Census figures were released. And this is the top headline:

The U.S. became more diverse and more urban over the past decade, and the non-Hispanic white population dropped for the first time on record, the Census Bureau reported Thursday as it released a trove of demographic data that will be used to redraw the nation’s political maps.

The new figures offered the most detailed portrait yet of how the country has changed since 2010, and they are sure to set off an intense partisan battle over representation at a time of deep national division and fights over voting rights. The numbers could help determine control of the House in the 2022 elections and provide an electoral edge for years to come. The data will also shape how $1.5 trillion in annual federal spending is distributed.

For the first time since the first census in 1790, the proportion of the white population in the US has declined. This is exactly what the Charlottesville hate marchers were soiling themselves over: A country in which they were no longer the overwhelming majority, fearing that what they wanted to do to us would be done to them.

But, it gets better:

The new census data, all told, is *exceptional* for Democrats:

1) depopulation of red rural counties everywhere

2) rapid growth of increasingly Democratic suburbs means Dems are now more efficiently spread and harder to pack into a few deep blue districts pic.twitter.com/W8ERFfo9zM

— Brent Peabody (@brent_peabody) August 12, 2021

GOP hit with a rural double whammy:

1) declining population means a lower pool to turnout

2) continued belief in election conspiracies ("it's all rigged anyway") could dampen turnout even further

This is a shot in the arm for Dems' 2022 chances pic.twitter.com/LVKFhmHXzy

— Brent Peabody (@brent_peabody) August 12, 2021

Republicans were hoping for favorable census numbers to continue their illegal gerrymandering. And the Liberal Bluechecks were wetting their pants and wallowing in the doom to come. For years, we've been saying that "demography is destiny." Well, now it looks like the Republican demographic apocalypse isn't coming; it's here.

The problem for Republicans is that they have spent the past few decades—and definitely since 2008—narrowing their voter pool, relying on an older, whiter electorate which was vanishing. They were hoping that control of statehouses would cement their gerrymanders. But now that cities and suburbs are growing at breakneck speed, and breaking for Democrats, even without passing electoral reform—which I still think we will get done—Republicans are in a trap of their own devising. And the expedient which has worked before—expanding the definition of "whiteness"—isn't going to work this time, as any possible population which could be coopted has been demonized by the GOP for years. Which just goes to show: defaulting to expecting the worst on our side is a chump's game. The arc of the moral universe, and so on.

Amy!

Unseen by anyone, Justice Amy Coney Barrett dealt a strong blow against those inveighing against vaccination mandates:

Justice Amy Coney Barrett declined a request to block Indiana University's vaccine mandate, signaling that similar policies going into effect amid a Covid-19 surge could pass legal muster.

Barrett, who has jurisdiction over the appeals court involved in the case, acted alone without referring the matter to the full court.

Barrett's action marks the first time the justices have been asked to weigh in on the legality of a mandate that private and public entities increasingly believe will combat the spread of Covid-19.

Requiring vaccinations as part of a public health regime is a longstanding constitutional tradition in this country. By not even referring the case to the Court, Barrett reaffirmed that once-uncontroversial position. Now the legality of COVID vaccine mandates have precedent. This is a Very Good Thing™. The likes of Greg Abbott and Ron DeSantis might find their dogmatic anti-vaccine and anti-mask mandate stances will evaporate under judicial scrutiny. The fact that this ruling came from one of the former guy's Supreme Court appointments is even more delicious.

In conclusion

For months now, we have been treated to doom and gloom from the usual quarters, expecting the worst, and not even hoping for the best. This is in the face of the fact that we are winning. We are winning, but the bluechecks don't prosper if we're winning. Keeping us scared and disheartened is great for their bottom lines. Don't listen to them. Ignore them. They're not Cassandras; Cassandra was right, but cursed by the gods to not be listened to. These people have no gift of prophecy. Listen to the evidence of your ears, and take in the evidence of your eyes. Gaslighting isn't relegated to the right.