On today’s BradCast: The complicated death of a U.S. President during the Trump-era and fresh updates on several midterm election count controversies, fiascos and fraud investigations. [Audio link to show follows below.]
First up: George H.W. Bush, the 41st President of the United States died on Friday. Remarkably enough, there was a question as to whether Donald Trump, the 45th President of the United States would attend his memorial service, given his obnoxious attacks on the Bush family in recent years, as recently as this past summer. Reportedly, Trump will attend, even after making Bush Sr. the butt of campaign rally jokes just months ago. We review parts of Bush Sr.’s legacy today — without either dancing on his grave or lionizing — particularly on the environment, while leaving the more unsavory parts of that legacy to callers who ring in with their own thoughts on “41”.
Also today, updates on several recent stories we’ve been closely following of late, including a state House District contest in Alaska that was tied after the initial tally and then “recounted” on Friday, with control of the entire state legislature hanging in the balance. The state’s “recount” of hand-marked paper ballots was carried out by hand late last week, and also ended in a tie, until one previously untallied ballot was added after finding that it had been wrongly excluded from the count. That one vote was enough to hand the election to Republicans and, with it, the full reigns of state government to the GOP which now controls the state House, Senate and Governor’s mansion. We explain.
In another follow-up from Friday’s show, a lawsuit filed by the Democratic Party in Georgia was settled late last week to allow more time for absentee ballots to be received in Tuesday’s crucial midterm runoff elections was resolved in favor of voters. With the state’s next Secretary of State on the line in the runoff, scores of counties had waited until just one week before Election Day to mail out absentee ballots, requiring that they be returned by Election Day on December 4th. An agreement with the state now allows such ballots to be tallied, as Democrats had sought, so long as they are post-marked by Election Day and arrive up to three days afterward.
Finally today, still more new details on the growing GOP election fraud scandal in North Carolina, which has kept a reported 905-vote Republican U.S. House “win” from being certified by the State Board of Elections. New details have emerged on the rather stunning criminal record of GOP contractor McCrae Dowless [pictured above right], who was hired to run an absentee ballot campaign in NC’s 9th Congressional District in Bladen County on behalf of GOP candidate Mark Harris. Analyses of absentee ballots both returned and, mysteriously, not returned, reveal inexplicable irregularities in both the 2018 GOP primary and the general election. In both cases there are now more and more indications of a massive absentee ballot fraud scheme that may have affected the final results.
The controversy and likely criminal investigations come after evidence from the 2016 election suggested Dowless ran a similar absentee scam in that election as well. Dowless, according to police records, spent time in jail from an outrageous life insurance fraud scheme in the 1990s. So, naturally, he was hired by the GOP to work on their elections in 2016 and 2018. We discuss some of those stunning new details in a state where Republicans, ironically enough, have been claiming for years that new restrictions are needed at the polling place in order to deter fraud by Democrats!…
Brad,
Count me as one of the “dancing-on-the-grave” crowd. Too many crimes to list, but let me just offer two words: WILLIE HORTON.
https://www.nytimes.com/1991/01...s-apology.html
Let me be clear. I would suggest that the one feature of Republican politics that renders so many of its membership impervious to revulsion at Roy Moore all the way over to its rejection of climate science, is racism. Plain and simple. Hatred of the African American is the bedrock of Republican appeal, even on matters where Blacks or other people of color are not even discussed.
The delusions that constitute the belief system of the racist mind leave said mind open to all other delusions as long as such delusions serve the purpose of hierarchy, and have the backing of a good couple centuries of practice.
George H.W. Bush defended the infamous Horton ad and its success was not lost on the Republican Party when in its efforts to grab “the bigger half” [in the words of Patrick J. Buchanan] of the electorate.
Now, where did I put my dancin’ shoes?
More reasons to grave-dance, courtesy The Nation magazine:
https://www.thenation.com/artic...utm_term=daily
You’re welcome, folks!
You’re a fine dancer, Donald! 🙂
Not as good as you and Desi, Brad!