Vote Dems Vote!

Time to talk about the Supreme Court. With Anthony Kennedy retiring the tRump slavering over his new pick, we could be looking down the barrel of a loaded rifle that will be firing away at civil rights, women's rights, gay rights,workers rights, not to mention the environment, immigration and whatever else you hold dear, for forty years or so. If we don't do something about it.

Now.

Elect Democrats in November. Wherever you are, stop what you're doing and get to a phone bank or fly to a District with a potentially winnable Congressional race. This is our task. No whining!

Of course, we'd love it if they were young, progressives like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who beat old-timer Joe Crowley, considered a favorite to be the next leader of the House Dems. Not so fast, Joe. He did graciously endorse her and even played a song for her on a guitar.

So, the old timers (and I are one) are moving aside to let the youngsters take over. Some of us old-timers are progressives don't forger. (Think Bernie). So i really don't see it as a generational thing, but more of it's time to be feisty, resist, fight back, solve problems and move forward with programs that actually help people.

Getting that message to voting public is the rub. All good ideas welcomed at this blog!

It's almost the Fourth of July! No firecrackers please; fire danger and you'll scare the dogs. But do indulge in some all American Strawberry Shortcake. Home made, with organic berries and cream of course. Put a few blueberries in there for a red, white and blue effect, if you wish.

 From Fine Cooking. Very yum!

Classic Strawberry Shortcake

By Karen Barker Fine Cooking Issue 111

Servings: 6

These biscuits get their light, tender texture from buttermilk and baking powder, and their rich flavor from an egg, cream, and lots of butter. This simple dessert is best made at the height of strawberry season, using the juiciest, sweetest strawberries you can find. Looking for more shortcake inspiration? See a slideshow of twists on this classic version, from chocolate biscuits to roasted berries.
Watch a video of Fine Cooking‘s Homegrown/Homemade team making this strawberry shortcake recipe.

Ingredients

For the strawberries

• 1 lb. ripe strawberries, hulled (about 4 cups)
• 2 Tbs. granulated sugar; more to taste

For the biscuits

• 9 oz. (2 cups) unbleached all-purpose flour; more for rolling
• 1/3 cup plus 1 Tbs. granulated sugar
• 2-1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
• 4 oz. (1/2 cup) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 cup heavy cream; more for brushing
• 1/4 cup buttermilk

For the whipped cream

• 1-1/2 cups heavy cream
• 2 Tbs. granulated sugar

 Preparation

Prepare the strawberries

• Put one-third of the berries in a medium bowl and, using a potato masher, crush them into a chunky purée. Slice the remaining berries 1/4 inch thick and stir them into the mashed berries along with the sugar. Taste the berries, adding more sugar if necessary. Let the berries sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes.

Make the biscuits

• Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 425°F. Line a large heavy-duty baking sheet with parchment.Sift the flour, 1/3 cup of the sugar, the baking powder, and baking soda into a large bowl. Stir in the salt. Using a pastry blender, a fork, or your fingertips, work the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles coarse cornmeal.In a small bowl, beat the egg and heavy cream with a fork. Mix in the buttermilk. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and pour in the cream mixture. Mix with the fork until the dough is evenly moistened and just comes together; it will still look a little shaggy. Gather the dough and gently knead it three or four times. If the dough seems dry and doesn’t form a cohesive mass, work in more cream, 1 tsp. at a time. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and roll it into a 3/4 -inch-thick disk. With a sharp 2 1/2-inch biscuit cutter, press straight down to cut the dough into rounds and lift straight up to remove (don’t twist the cutter or it will seal the sides of the biscuits and interfere with rising). Transfer the rounds to the prepared baking sheet. Gather the dough scraps, gently knead them together, re-roll, and cut out more biscuits until you have a total of 6.
  Lightly brush the biscuit tops with cream (about 1 Tbs.) and sprinkle with the remaining 1 Tbs. sugar. Bake, rotating the baking sheet once, until the biscuit tops are lightly browned, 10 to 15 minutes. Let the biscuits cool slightly while you whip the cream.

Whip the cream

• In a large, chilled metal bowl, whip the heavy cream and sugar to soft peaks with an electric hand mixer. (Use immediately or refrigerate, covered until ready to serve).

Assemble the shortcakes

• Using a serrated knife, split the warm biscuits in half horizontally and transfer the bottoms to 6 dessert plates. Spoon about three-quarters of the macerated berries and their juice evenly over the biscuit bottoms. It’s OK if some of the berries spill out onto the plate. Top with a generous dollop of whipped cream and cover each with a biscuit top. Spoon more berries and cream over each shortcake and serve immediately.

Make Ahead Tips
The biscuits can be baked 10 to 12 hours ahead and reheated in a 350°F oven before serving. The strawberries can be macerated up to 2 hours ahead. The cream can be whipped up to 2 hours ahead and refrigerated, covered. If necessary, lightly rewhip before using.

Citizen Redistricting Commissions Upheld

In California, both the Republican and Democratic Parties came out against the redistricting commission notion. Then once we had it, our GreenDog team went to work making sure that in the Bay Area, things were done fairly. No more would we share a State Senator with San Francisco. (Much as we love our City across the Bay, it doesn't make sense for a District that crosses that body of water.) Our effort was called Uniquely North Bay and was fueled by social media and in-person appearances at Commission hearings. We prevailed.

The result were good; Democrats in the state made out ok. We all breathed a sigh of relief. And then along came Arizona State Legislature v. Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission, which threatened to undo it all. But the Supremes in a classic 5-4 decision (and if you've been following the Court, almost all of them have been lately, for good or ill) decided in favor of the citizens redistricting commission and against the Legislature's gerrymandering attempt. To celebrate make yourself a delicious strawberry shortcake (recipe below), as the 4th of July rolls around.

Here's the report from NPR:

Supreme Court Backs Arizona's Redistricting Commission Targeting Gridlock

June 29, 201510:47 AM ET

Bill Chappell

U.S. states' efforts to counter extreme gerrymandering won a victory Monday, as the Supreme Court ruled in favor of a bipartisan Arizona panel that draws the state's districts. The court's vote was 5-4; Chief Justice John Roberts dissented, as did Justices Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg wrote the opinion for the majority, in which her citations included James Madison writing in The Federalist Papers.

"The people of Arizona turned to the initiative to curb the practice of gerrymandering," Ginsberg wrote, "and, thereby, to ensure that Members of Congress would have 'an habitual recollection of their dependence on the people.' "

Ginsberg continued, quoting a 2005 gerrymandering case: "In so acting, Arizona voters sought to restore 'the core principle of republican government,' namely, 'that the voters should choose their representatives, not the other way around.' "

Arizona's Independent Redistricting Commission was formed 15 years ago, after the state's voters approved Proposition 106 and amended the state's constitution to take redistricting power away from the Legislature (which later filed suit).

In his dissent, Roberts said that the majority's position "has no basis in the text, structure, or history of the Constitution, and it contradicts precedents from both Congress and this Court."

Saying that if the people of Arizona want to change the electoral process, they should focus on passing an amendment to the U.S. Constitution, Roberts concluded, "Unfortunately, today's decision will only discourage this democratic method of change."

As for the effects Arizona's commission has had, here's what Arizona Public Media reports:

"The independent commission drew boundaries after the 2000 census and again after the 2010 census. In the 2012 election, five Democrats and four Republicans were elected to Congress in Arizona. In 2014, five Republicans and four Democrats were elected."

The case could have effects far beyond Arizona; more than a dozen other states, including California, have adopted similar processes as they try to break up partisan gridlock that results from drawing polarized districts.

Today's ruling has been hotly anticipated, particularly ahead of the 2016 election cycle. The ruling "could affect as many as one-third of congressional districts," NPR's Jessica Taylor writes for It's All Politics.

A large part of the debate over the case hinged on one word: "legislature."

From the Constitution's clause on elections:

"The times, places and manner of holding elections for senators and representatives, shall be prescribed in each state by the legislature thereof."

The two sides have argued over whether "legislature" in the clause can be interpreted to refer to voters who enact a law via ballot initiative.

When the case was argued back in March, the Arizona Legislature's lawyer, Paul Clement, said, "The whole idea of the Constitution was that we're going to form a republican government, that we can't have direct democracy."

The Constitution, Clement said, gave authority over elections to elected officials, not to the public. But Ginsberg and the rest of the majority disagreed, mentioning not only the efforts to combat gerrymandering but also dozens of voter initiatives that shape how Americans vote, such as mail-in ballots and voter ID laws.

But Chief Justice Roberts did not agree — and he cited the 1913 shift in how U.S. senators are chosen to show his disapproval. He wrote:

"Just over a century ago, Arizona became the second State in the Union to ratify the Seventeenth Amendment. That Amendment transferred power to choose United States Senators from the Legislature' of each State, Art. I, §3, to 'the people thereof.' The Amendment resulted from an arduous, decades-long campaign in which reformers across the country worked hard to garner approval from Congress and three-quarters of the States.

"What chumps! Didn't they realize that all they had to do was interpret the constitutional term 'the Legislature' to mean 'the people'? The Court today performs just such a magic trick with the Elections Clause."

Here's how NPR's Nina Totenberg described the case back in March:

"In a state with 35 percent registered Republicans, 35 percent Independents, and 30 percent Democrats, the congressional map the commission drew had four safe Republican seats, two safe Democratic seats, and three competitive districts.

"Infuriated Republican state legislators wanted a bigger slice of the pie, however, and after the Arizona Supreme Court frustrated their effort to fire the commission's chair, they challenged the commission as unconstitutional, appealing all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court."

                    ALL AMERICAN CITIZENS' STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE 

Original recipe makes 1 8-inch round cake Change Servings

• 3 pints fresh strawberries
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 tablespoons white sugar

• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup shortening
• 1 egg
• 2/3 cup milk
• 2 cups whipped heavy cream

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• PREP
  30 mins
• COOK
  20 mins
• READY IN
  50 mins

Directions

1. Slice the strawberries and toss them with 1/2 cup of white sugar. Set aside.
2. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Grease and flour one 8 inch round cake pan.
3. In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking powder, 2 tablespoons white sugar and the salt. With a pastry blender cut in the shortening until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Make a well in the center and add the beaten egg and milk. Stir until just combined.
4. Spread the batter into the prepared pan. Bake at 425 degrees F (220 degrees C) for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool partially in pan on wire rack.
5. Slice partially cooled cake in half, making two layers. Place half of the strawberries on one layer and top with the other layer. Top with remaining strawberries and cover with the whipped cream.