Quentin's Weeknotes 11/3/18-11/9/18

This week:

• I read volume 9 of Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples' brilliant and poignant graphic novel “Saga”. The only question I have is whether we’ll see Ponk Konk again…
• Just in time for election day, I finished political scientist David Faris' new book “It’s Time to Fight Dirty: How Democrats Can Build a Lasting Majority in American Politics”. Faris argues that the Republican party has spent the last two and a half decades waging a war of procedure on government–rather than running and governing based on a political philosophy, they have exploited ambiguities in the constitution and law, as well as previous reliance on governmental ‘norms’ to entrench conservative governance throughout Washington D.C. Faris' prescriptions to combat this are quite bold, and include no-brainer policies like a national holiday on election day, and statehood for the 4 million US citizens who live in Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico. However, he also advocates for more radical inteventions, including splitting up electoral behemoth California into 7 states, and packing the US Supreme court with additional jurists, as well as retiring existing jurists after a period of service on the court.
• I voted in NY-19, a tight race where the newcomer Antonio Delgado ultimately prevailed. I also drove a van from Hartwick to take students to the polls, and helped the Otsego County Democratic Party with last minute Get-out-the-vote efforts.