After RBG: Our Fight for Democracy Just Got More Desperate
The Mother Jones Podcast
Mother Jones
4.5 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 23 September 2020
⏱️ 29 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Trailblazing Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died last week at 87. President Trump now has the opportunity to remake the court for a generation by replacing R.B.G. with a staunch conservative. On today's show: What happens next? Mother Jones's voting rights reporter Ari Berman discusses what the scorched-earth Republican strategy reveals about the fairness of American democracy, and the battle for free, fair elections come November 3.
Ginsburg’s death comes as President Donald Trump is already trashing the Constitution to stay in power: His attacks on the postal service and the census are laying the groundwork to steal the election. Ari tells host Jamilah King that by eroding Americans’ confidence in the census, the administration may already be accomplishing its goal of rigging the count in its favor. And if voters are afraid to vote in-person believe that postal delays will cause their mail-in ballots not to be counted, they may decide not to vote at all. The extraordinary efforts to undermine the mail and census should prepare us for the possibility of an even more egregious abuse of power to keep Trump in office. Now, with another Supreme Court pick during his presidency, a contested election could be decided by a court with yet another conservative Justice ready to side with Trump. How much damage can he do now, and can it be reversed?
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| 0:00.0 | This is the Mother Jones Podcast. I'm Jamila King in Oakland. |
| 0:05.0 | On today's show, President Trump is already corrupting core democratic institutions, |
| 0:18.4 | from the post office to the census to voting, making America less Democratic. |
| 0:25.0 | Now, with another Supreme Court pick during his presidency, |
| 0:29.1 | how much damage can he do, and can it be reversed? What does the scorched earth Republican strategy to |
| 0:36.2 | replace RBG on the Supreme Court reveal about the fairness of American democracy and the battle for free, fair, and representative elections |
| 0:46.1 | on November 3rd. |
| 0:48.0 | That's all coming up. |
| 0:49.2 | Stick around. U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has died at the age of 87. |
| 1:06.2 | Due to complications of metastas pancreatic cancer, |
| 1:09.1 | she was only the second woman ever pointed to the court. |
| 1:11.8 | The battle lines over the court's future already |
| 1:14.5 | being drawn. Where were you when you heard the news about Ruth Bader |
| 1:22.2 | Ginsburg. I was at home trying to relax after a long week. It was a Friday night and then I just lost it. |
| 1:37.6 | You must have tons of questions about what the hell happens next. I do, dozens of them, it's head spinning. Here to help talk us through what we could be facing in the next few months is Ari Berman, Mother |
| 1:49.2 | Jones's Voting Rights reporter. |
| 1:51.3 | Ari, welcome to the show. Hey Jamila, how's it going? |
| 1:55.0 | I'm, you know, I'm alive. |
| 1:58.1 | So let's get into it. |
| 2:00.1 | Where were you when you heard the news about the passing of Ruth Bader Ginsburg? |
| 2:05.1 | What was your first reaction? |
| 2:06.7 | I was at home. |
... |
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