It’s been a while since one of our favorite BradCast guests has joined us, and so we’ve got a lot to catch up with her on today, starting with the GOP’s latest attempt to use “legal means to subvert democracy,” as she describes it, out here in California. [Audio link to today’s full show is posted below this summary.]
But, first some very quick news items today, including good news in Florida, where a state judge has struck down Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis’ deadly ban on local and school district mask mandates as “illegal and unsupported”; Bad news in Texas, where three weak-kneed Democrats who returned to the state legislature after blocking a quorum for the last month, just allowed Republicans to adopt a sweeping new voter suppression law; Disturbing news in Russia, where massive wildfires are now said to be threatening a top-secret facility where nuclear war heads are made; Very disturbing news for New Orleans, where evacuations are underway with potentially killer Hurricane Ida quickly approaching; And some puzzling news out of Southern California, where a man was found by police with 300 stolen Vote-by-Mail ballots from California’s Gubernatorial Recall election, which is now under way.
That’s where we kick things off with award-winning Salon columnist, Hullabaloo blogger and fellow Californian HEATHER DIGBY PARTON today. For those who don’t know, state Republicans received three extra months, due to the pandemic, to gather signatures for their attempted recall of the Golden State’s popular Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, in a state where it is virtually impossible for the unpopular GOP to win normal statewide elections anymore. Vote-by-Mail ballots have been sent to all registered voters with two questions: 1) Should Newsom be removed from office? And 2) If so, who should replace him? There are 46 candidates listed under the second question.
As Parton recently wrote at Salon and details today, Newsom could lose on question 1 with 49.9% of the vote, while current GOP front-runner and far-right, Trump-loving radio talk show host Larry Elder, could then “win” on the second question to become the Governor of the nation’s most populous state with just 15 percent of the vote.
Why Democrats didn’t reform the state’s “archaic” recall system after a similar scam was carried out by the GOP in 2003 to oust then Democratic Gov. Gray Davis and replace him with Arnold Schwarzenegger is a mystery. Though it speaks to the fact that Democrats, in general, as Parton argues, “have failed to understand the political culture that we’re dealing with now, and fail to grasp just how important it is that they look ahead and take steps to protect democracy.”
“I would say wake up, because this is happening nationally. It’s happening in blue states, red states, and everywhere else — which is an absolute assault on democracy that’s coming from the right,” she explains, citing the national consequences as well for the outcome of the Recall on September 14th. “We have an 88-year-old Senator” who may need to be replaced by the Governor at some point. If that Governor is Republican Larry Elder, he’d flip the majority in the U.S. Senate with his appointment and “Mitch McConnell would be laughing and laughing and laughing at the idea that Biden’s agenda was completely derailed by the lazy people in California who didn’t come out to vote.”
In addition to the Recall, we also catch up with Parton on the U.S. pullout from Afghanistan, and the ridiculous way the media has been covering the largest and, so far, most successful U.S. airlift in history, even as they otherwise haven’t paid attention to what has been going on for most of the last 20 years of America’s longest war.
We discuss how the GOP’s long con of claiming to be “small government conservatives” has been exposed by the big government authoritarian edicts of Governors like DeSantis in Florida and Greg Abbott in Texas.
And, as if that’s not enough, she also offers thoughts on the growing attempts to bring accountability for Donald Trump’s attempt to steal the 2020 election, particularly by the U.S. House Select Committee examining the Trump-incited January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol. “What they seem to be putting together is the case that Trump was planning to steal the election, and he was using the power of the Presidency to do it.”
So, yeah, there’s a lot to catch up on today, in yet another very lively conversation with our friend “Digby”!…
(Snail mail support to “Brad Friedman, 7095 Hollywood Blvd., #594 Los Angeles, CA 90028” always welcome too!)
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While I do not have a problem with criticizing CA Democrats for failing to reform Gubernatorial Recalls, as I previously argued, the ideal course, after defeating this Recall, the Democratic supermajorities in the CA legislature should place a proposition for amending the CA Constitution on the November 2022 general election ballot.
Placing such a measure on a general election ballot would maximize voter input and would best align with small “d” democracy.
Brad, we all love you, however it is too bad you allowed Heather to go easy and unchallenged regarding Schwarzenegger. He was a terrible governor who exited the job with a 22% approval rating — his legacy is detailed here: https://www.lamag.com/longform/the-rise-and-fall-of-governor-arnold-schwarze/ . Also, I’m surprised you didn’t bring up the fact that Schwarzenegger appointed MacPherson to be Secretary of State — the guy who promptly undid Kevin Shelley’s heroic decertification of the diebold machines. Seems that the ‘ol Republican trick of driving a Dem out of office for having been “abusive†to his staff and a false accusation of graft, plus threats drove a great SOS out of office https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_Shelley
I forgot to add the sordid history of Schwarzenegger’s groping and sexual harassment of women https://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-archive-schwarzenegger-women-story.html How times have changed — or is it only that Dem politicians are driven from office by this type of history.
Brad:
Congratulations on your important journalism court victory!
Is there any action you can take against PAYPAL for not letting people donate to you without using their “service”. 🙁
Every time I try to donate, I get a message saying my banking card won’t release the money, but my bank has no clue for why that happens. Every attempt I make, I end up being offered a chance to donate through PAYPAL, which I refuse to do.
I usually get through eventually, but I never have any idea how, and I’m tired of the goose chase.
Do you have an address I can use to send a check instead. It will be worth $50 for you. 🙂
AllIn @2&3:
I remember Digby’s reference to Schwarzenegger replacing Gray Davis, and noting that he was a big movie star, but I don’t remember her saying anything particular complimentary about him — and I’d be very surprised if she did! I can’t go back and easily listen at the moment, so feel free to remind me what she said. Though I’m sure if it was in some way complimentary, I’d like have had a thing or two to say in response…unless I missed it somehow. (Which is always certainly possible.)
I didn’t go into the Bruce McPherson/Kevin Shelley stuff, because I had a lot to get to with her, and that was a bit far afield of the particular conversation we were having at the moment.
As to only “Dem politicians [being] driven from office by this type of history,” well, yeah, duh. That’s pretty much been the case for quite some time. At least since Donald Trump made “sexual abuse great again” for Republican politicians.
Larry Bergan @ 4:
Hmphm. Can’t image what the prob is you mention via PayPal, but I am certainly sorry for it! Haven’t had similar complaints from others, so I’m unclear what is going on. If you want me to try and look into it, please feel free to email me privately and we can try to go from there.
As to a SnailMail address for us, there is always one available in the light blue box mid-way down the the right side of every BRAD BLOG page, or at Bradblog.com/Donate.
But, in any case, it is also right here:
Thanks much, Larry! And apologies again for whatever inconvenience PayPal is causing! 🙁
Brad:
MY BAD!
Paypal is off the hook on this one.
For some unknown reason, when I auto-filled my name, address and credit card number, it was putting in the wrong expiration date, which I don’t understand because I’ve used this card for well over a year and, obviously, the date didn’t change from the other successful transactions I made with it when it saved my entries.
I always think about how Paypal denied payments to Julian Assange and I was hoping the organization wasn’t using similar tactics with your good-trouble making. 🙂
At any rate, your $50 should have shown up in your hopper today. Thanks again for being the most effective, (ignored), person in the country trying to save the most important right we – sort of – still have.
The one area in which I must respectfully disagree with Heather relates to the reasons why Bustamonte’s candidacy on the 2003 Recall ballot fell flat.
In Sept. 2003, the media did not permit Gray Davis to take part in the key debate that preceded the Oct. 7 Recall.
Five candidates did take part: Republicans Arnold Schwarzenegger and Tom McClintock, the Democratic Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamonte, Independent Ariana Huffington, former MLB Commissioner, Peter Ueberfoth and the Green Party’s Peter Camejo.
It would be kind to suggest that Bustamonte’s performance was dismal. Schwarzenegger ran circles around him and all the Lt. Gov. could do was roll his eyes and repeatedly say, “yes, Arnold”.
Camejo gave a stellar performance, but he lacked either the funds or the widespread popularity of the one time body builder and movie action hero.
(I could tell an unflattering story about Arnold who was a witness on behalf the client my first law firm employer which was defending the authors of the book Pumping Iron in federal court. But I prefer not to.)
It was Bustamonte’s dismal performance, Arnold’s immense popularity and the multitude of candidates — as opposed to strategy of combining “No” on the Recall with “yes” on Bustamonte that was the source of Schwarzenegger’s victory.
Brad@5
Check out 25:07 – 25:25 — this is what I was alluding to in posts 2&3.