#1240 The bare-knuckle fight for democracy itself
Best of the Left - Leftist Perspectives on Progressive Politics, News, Culture, Economics and Democracy
Jay Tomlinson
4.5 • 3.4K Ratings
🗓️ 11 January 2019
⏱️ 78 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Air Date: 1/11/2019
Today we take a look at the small-D anti-democratic power grabs implemented by many GOP-led legislatures during the lame-duck session with the explicit intention of subverting the will of the voters and the most significant democracy reform bill since the Watergate era meant to help restore eroded democratic norms that was introduced by the new Congress' House Democrats as their first order of business.
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SHOW NOTES
Paul Rosenberg helps explain the naked, anti-Democratic power grabs by many GOP legislators in the wake of the 2018 election. They rely on a lack of public awareness, abetted by a lack of media sunlight.
In Michigan, GOPers are jamming through last-minute legislation to block the reforms voters had adopted to expand voting rights.
Jane, Ezra, and Matt talk about state-level GOP power grabs
Ch. 4: Subversions of democracy are aimed at harming the poor - @offkiltershow - Air Date 12-5-18
The recent anti-democratic power grabs from the GOP aren't just reprehensible in principle but are especially horrific as they target the poor.
In North Carolina, the GOP-controlled legislature is hypocritically ramming through new Photo ID voting restrictions, even with the state in the midst of a massive GOP absentee ballot election fraud scandal in the state’s 9th Congressional district.
Ch. 6: The roots of America's democracy problem - Ezra Klein from Vox - Air Date 11-20-18
What happens when American politics just doesn’t seem fair?
Voting rights activists are hailing a new House bill that aims to restore voting rights to millions, crack down on the influence of dark money in politics and restore the landmark Voting Rights Act. The bill has been dubbed the For the People Act.
Ch. 8: HR 1: The Historic Bill No One Is Talking About - Equal Citizens - Air Date 12-31-18
Watch as Lessig invokes the memory of Doris "Granny D" Haddock to illustrate just how significant HR 1 (and the fight to get it passed) will be.
VOICEMAILS
Ch. 9: Gregorian calendar in use due to colonization - Anonymous
Ch. 10: How do we facilitate the movement of people to the left? + The shutdown is a ripoff - Laura from Alameda, CA
FINAL COMMENTS
Ch. 11: Final comments
MUSIC:
- Opening Theme: Loving Acoustic Instrumental by John Douglas Orr
- Entrap - Darby (Blue Dot Sessions)
- PolyCoat - The Cabinetmaker (Blue Dot Sessions)
- The Rampart - Castle Danger (Blue Dot Sessions)
- Astrisx - Bodytonic (Blue Dot Sessions)
- Begrudge - Darby (Blue Dot Sessions)
- Sunday Lights - Onesuch Village (Blue Dot Sessions)
- Celestial Navigation - Aeronaut (Blue Dot Sessions)
- Voicemail Music: Low Key Lost Feeling Electro by Alex Stinnent
- Closing Music: Upbeat Laid Back Indie Rock by Alex Stinnent
Produced by Jay! Tomlinson
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Transcript
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| 0:24.9 | tab at bestofleft.com. |
| 0:27.2 | Welcome to this episode of the award winning best of the left podcast in which we shall |
| 0:31.0 | learn about the anti-democratic power grabs implemented by many GOP-led legislatures during |
| 0:36.4 | the lame duck session and the democracy reform bill introduced by the new congress's house |
| 0:41.2 | democrats as their first order of business. |
| 0:43.9 | Quicks Today come from counterspin, the Bradcast, the weeds, off-kilter, vox and democracy |
| 0:50.5 | now. |
| 0:56.9 | One can make too much of political gestures, but when 44 former senators co-sign an op-ed |
| 1:04.4 | declaring that the country is entering a dangerous period, there may be something to see here. |
| 1:10.9 | The piece, signed by 32 democrats, 10 republicans and two independents, had referenced two |
| 1:16.8 | investigations of Donald Trump. |
| 1:19.7 | But the ex law makers stated concern about the rule of law and the ability of our institutions |
| 1:26.1 | to function freely and independently could be well applied in numerous places around |
| 1:31.4 | the country. |
| 1:32.6 | Whereas our next guest reports, we are seeing in the wake of the midterms quote a red tide |
| 1:38.8 | of anti-democratic power grabs, strategies, tactics and rationals designed to deny the |
| 1:45.8 | will of the voters. |
... |
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