On HBO’s “Last Week Tonight,” John Oliver tackled an issue that many consider the most pressing threat to our democracy: gerrymandering. As he often does, Oliver explained the intricacies of this complex policy issue with wit and humor, much to the alarm of voters everywhere. After explaining how politicians help their own party win seats by “packing and cracking” voters into districts, Oliver left viewers with a glimmer of hope by introducing the idea of independent redistricting commissions.

In the early hours of Wednesday morning, AP notified followers that an investigative report revealed broad and damming allegations of sexual abuse and exploitation over the last 12 years by UN peacekeepers around the world. In total, AP uncovered almost 2,000 allegations.

https://twitter.com/AP/status/852084955219996672

Sri Lankan peacekeepers are accused of being involved in a child sex-ring in Haiti.

Independent and minor party candidates in Montana were handed a bittersweet victory in their bids to replace former Congressman Ryan Zinke.

On April 8, Federal Judge Brian Morris ruled against Montana Secretary of State Cory Stapleton, finding that the signature requirement placed on non-major party candidates "severely burdens the constitutional rights of ballot access for independent candidates and minor party candidates."

Authoritarians to the Right of Me

Trump’s election caused a spike in sales of George Orwell’s famous novel, 1984 – apparently to people who believe that his becoming president may be a harbinger of an Orwellian dystopia across our country.

This week host T.J. O’Hara is joined by the Centrist Project’s executive director, Nick Troiano. The two discussed Nick’s 2014 run for Congress, the bipartisan policy campaign The Can Kicks Back, and the Centrist Project’s latest venture: #HackTheSenate.

The campaign focuses on the fulcrum strategy to “hack” the senate, and works to create a network of supporters and potential candidates ready to run as independents.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRCZR_BbjTo&t=1s

Imagine if there was a computer algorithm that could redraw legislative districts in a purely nonpartisan manner. Imagine this algorithm could give courts a measurable way to determine what constitutes "too partisan" in the drawing of electoral lines. Imagine it could end partisan gerrymandering for good.

Well, that may now be closer to a reality.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t67ezWp7Zao&feature=youtu.be

President Trump has actively utilized executive orders to bypass the unpredictability of Congress. Now, Represent.us has authored an executive order that has Trump’s “drain the swamp” mantra embedded into its very core.

Represent.Us explains:

From May 9th to 13th, the Arlington County Democratic Committee (ACDC) will be using ranked choice voting to select their nominee for a seat on the Arlington County Board. With incumbent Jay Fisette not seeking a sixth term, a crowded field of four candidates are seeking the party’s nomination for the open seat.

Individuals from several parties are joining together to challenge corruption in Pennsylvania's poorest District -- Philadelphia's district #197.

“It angers and saddens me that President Trump has taken the advice of war hawks and escalated our illegal regime change war to overthrow the Syrian government...This Administration has acted recklessly without care or consideration of the dire consequences of the United States attack on Syria without waiting for the collection of evidence from the scene of the chemical poisoning. If President Assad is indeed guilty of this horrible chemical attack on innocent civilians, I will be the first to call for his prosecution and execution by the International Criminal Court.