{"id":12815,"date":"2018-12-05T19:10:30","date_gmt":"2018-12-06T03:10:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bradblog.com\/?p=12815"},"modified":"2018-12-05T20:00:53","modified_gmt":"2018-12-06T04:00:53","slug":"gop-death-throes-government-by-chaos-elections-by-fraud-bradcast-1252018","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bradblog.com\/?p=12815","title":{"rendered":"GOP Death Throes?: Government by Chaos, Elections by Fraud: &#8216;BradCast&#8217; 12\/5\/2018"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/BradBlog.com\/Images\/BradCast_WIPowerGrabProtest_GOPMadness_120518.jpg\" hspace=\"6\" vspace=\"3\" border=\"0\" align=\"right\">Given many of the stories covered on today&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/BradBlog.com\/BradCast\"><i>BradCast<\/i><\/a>, it&#8217;s beginning to feel more and more each day like the GOP is a party in its death throes. Of course, rumors of that death have been greatly exaggerated in the past. [<i>Audio link to show follows below<\/i>]\n<p>Among the many stories covered on today&#8217;s program&#8230;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The stock market was closed today in observance of a national day of mourning declared for President George H.W. Bush, whose funeral ceremony was held on Wednesday at the National Cathedral in D.C.  The market closures may prove to have been a good thing, given that the Dow plummeted some 800 points on Tuesday after it became clear that Donald Trump and his Administration had <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/90948085616f4f029e50ecf904b670a1\">lied over the weekend<\/a> regarding a deal with China to avoid more tariffs on Chinese imports. During a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vox.com\/policy-and-politics\/2018\/12\/4\/18126061\/tariff-man-trump-china-tweets-memes-stock-market\">Twitter rant<\/a> that helped send the markets plunging, Trump appeared to reveal once again that he has no idea what tariffs actually are.  He seems to believe they involve foreign countries paying money to the U.S., rather than an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/news\/opinion\/commentary\/ct-perspec-tariff-china-trump-american-consumers-0924-story.html\">actual tax on American consumers<\/a>. Is it conceivable that he really does not understand this by now? Or is he just continuing to play his supporters for chumps? We discuss;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>In <b>Georgia<\/b>&#8216;s runoff election for Secretary of State on Tuesday, Republican Brad Raffensperger has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.apnews.com\/6f0a06492a2e4be1974d75926adbe745\">declared himself<\/a> the winner over Democrat John Barrow, in a race that will have serious repercussions for the 2020 Presidential election in the trending-&#8220;blue&#8221; southern state, where voter suppression and 100% unverifiable touchscreen voting systems created havoc in the 2018 Gubernatorial race said to have been won by GOP Sec. of State Brian Kemp. Raffensperger has called for new 100% touchscreen systems that create unverifiable computer-marked\/barcoded ballot summary cards. Barrow, who is waiting for late absentee ballots to actually be tallied, has called for the only system of voting that is actually verifiable by the public after an election: <b><i>hand-marked<\/i><\/b> paper ballots.\n<p>At the same time, the state&#8217;s largest newspaper, the <i>Atlanta Journal Constitution<\/i>, has <a href=\"https:\/\/politics.myajc.com\/blog\/politics\/time-solve-the-mystery-the-100-000-missing-votes\/nEYXrcGW8et8esyVL6W4QM\/\">finally noticed<\/a> the <i>wildly<\/i> anomalous undervote rate from the November 6th general election in the Lt. Governor&#8217;s race, as <i>only<\/i> seen in the unverifiable touchscreen results, not on the vote-by-mail paper absentee ballots. <a href=\"https:\/\/bradblog.com\/?p=12805\">Last week<\/a>, we discussed these concerns with plaintiff Marilyn Marks of the non-partisan <a href=\"https:\/\/coalitionforgoodgovernance.org\/\">Coalition for Good Governance<\/a>. Two weeks ago, Marks <a href=\"https:\/\/myemail.constantcontact.com\/We-are-Contesting-Georgia-s-Lt--Governor-Election.html?soid=1109272168263&#038;aid=tvSc-nps-7A\">filed an election lawsuit<\/a> contesting the results of the Lt. Governor&#8217;s race. She and other plaintiffs are seeking a first-of-its-kind post-election forensic audit of the state&#8217;s voting systems in light of the seemingly inexplicable undervote numbers;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>But there was some <i>good<\/i> news from Tuesday&#8217;s runoffs as well. In Little Rock, <b>Arkansas<\/b>, where, six decades after angry white mobs protested the integration of nine black students at the Little Rock Central High School <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Little_Rock_Nine\">in 1957<\/a>, the town will now have its <a href=\"https:\/\/talkingpointsmemo.com\/news\/little-rock-has-first-black-mayor\">very first elected African-American mayor<\/a>!;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>In <b>North Carolina<\/b>, new details continue to emerge from the intensifying GOP absentee ballot election fraud scandal which has prevented the certification of Republican Mark Harris&#8217; purported 905-vote &#8220;win&#8221; over Democrat Dan McCready in the 9th District U.S. House race.  A <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsoctv.com\/news\/local\/second-woman-claims-she-was-paid-to-pick-up-ballots-in-us-house-district-9-race\/883177036\">second woman<\/a> has now come forward to allege that she was paid to unlawfully collect absentee ballots by McCrae Dowless, a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/politics\/north-carolina-election-fraud-investigation-centers-on-operative-with-criminal-history-who-worked-for-gop-congressional-candidate\/2018\/12\/03\/7b270a90-f6aa-11e8-8c9a-860ce2a8148f_story.html?utm_term=.8ae0d5d89824\">former felon<\/a> contracted by Harris in Bladen Country and, as discussed today, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wect.com\/2018\/12\/05\/former-friend-mccrae-dowless-he-indicated-he-knew-election-laws-better-than-board-elections-did\/\">by the Bladen County Sheriff Jim McVicker<\/a>. The GOP Sheriff has deleted his campaign webpage on Facebook and refuses to comment after he was found to have paid thousands of dollars to Dowless along with Harris.\n<p>A top Democrat in the U.S. House has now <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/RepJeffries\/status\/1070022983056539649\">suggested<\/a> that &#8220;Republican operatives stole&#8221; the House seat and cites the silence from the Trump Administration about it. &#8220;LOCK THEM UP,&#8221; quipped new House Democratic Caucus chair Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) on Tuesday. Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA) has now <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/sethmoulton\/status\/1070022117025042437\">called for<\/a> a new election and, on Wednesday, he was joined in that call <a href=\"https:\/\/www.charlotteobserver.com\/opinion\/article222602100.html\">by the editorial board of <i>The Charlotte Observer<\/i><\/a>, the state&#8217;s largest newspaper.<\/p>\n<p>(For my part, I&#8217;m just happy that at least <i>some<\/i> in the media reporting on this have <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JoeBrunoWSOC9\/status\/1070042157128540160\">finally noticed<\/a> they were previously misreporting on it as a &#8220;voter fraud&#8221;, rather than election fraud, scandal, even though voters are accused of having done nothing wrong here. In fact, they are the ones who appear to have been defrauded in this matter by GOP insiders!  Happily, the <i>Washington Post<\/i> removed three references to &#8220;voter fraud&#8221; in one of their stories after <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TheBradBlog\/status\/1068356100309700608\">my complaints<\/a> last week.)<\/p>\n<p>All of that, even as Republicans in the state&#8217;s legislature continue to jam through a polling place Photo ID voting restriction during the lame duck period before they lose their supermajority in the upcoming new session, along with their ability to override a veto from the state&#8217;s Democratic Governor.  The Photo ID measure, which they&#8217;ve been trying to adopt for years, claiming it necessary to prevent &#8220;voter fraud&#8221;, did not, <a href=\"http:\/\/speakermoore.com\/absentee-ballots-included-bipartisan-voter-id-bill-approved-n-c-house\/\">until today<\/a>, apply to absentee voting &#8212; where <i>actual<\/i> fraud clearly exists;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Finally today, speaking of lame ducks, the GOP-gerrymandered and controlled state legislature in <b>Wisconsin<\/b> worked, literally, all night to jam through a bill aimed at stealing power from incoming Democratic Governor Tony Evers, incoming Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul and from the state&#8217;s voters who elected Democrats for every statewide office in November.  <a href=\"https:\/\/www.apnews.com\/02dd4f5766da4c9a955c3a6ac47398fe\">Adopted by party line votes<\/a> in both chambers as the sun rose today after another all-night session, Republicans hope GOP Gov. Scott Walker will sign the measure before leaving office after the first of the year. Walker, who was rejected by voters last month, has said he planned to do so.\n<p>As we discussed on <a href=\"https:\/\/bradblog.com\/?p=12814\">yesterday&#8217;s program<\/a>, the outrageous GOP power grab in WI mirrors a similar coup by the NC legislature in 2016 after a Democrat was elected as Governor in that state. Republican lawmakers in Michigan are also considering similarly desperate measures before Democrats take over as Governor and Sec. of State in that state next month.  All in all, the desperate power grabs by GOPers around the country do not suggest a healthy party but, rather, one that may well be revealing its political death throes.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<blockquote><p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\".\/Images\/Speaker_Icon_24.png\" style=\"width: 24px; float: none; vertical-align: middle;\"><span style=\"font-size: 18px; line-height: 18px;\"> <b><i><a href=\"https:\/\/BradBlog.com\/audio\/BradCast_BradFriedman_TrumpTariffs_GASoSRunoff-LtGovContest_NC9Fraud_WIGOPCoup_120518.mp3\">CLICK TO LISTEN OR DOWNLOAD SHOW!&#8230;<\/a><\/i><\/b><br \/>\n[audio:http:\/\/bradblog.com\/audio\/BradCast_BradFriedman_TrumpTariffs_GASoSRunoff-LtGovContest_NC9Fraud_WIGOPCoup_120518.mp3]<\/blockquote>\n<p><center><b>* * *<\/b><\/center><i>While we post <a href=\"https:\/\/BradBlog.com\/BradCast\"><\/i>The BradCast<i><\/a> here every day, and you can hear it across all of our great affiliate stations and websites, to automagically get new episodes as soon as they&#8217;re available sent right to your computer or personal device, subscribe for free at <a href=\"https:\/\/itunes.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/the-bradcast-w-brad-friedman\/id803467610\">iTunes<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/stitcher.com\/s\/player.php?fid=25838&#038;src=psl\">Stitcher<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/tunein.com\/radio\/The-BradCast-with-Brad-Friedman-p477565\/\">TuneIn<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/bradblog.com\/podcastgen\/bradcast\/feed.xml\">our native RSS feed<\/a>!<\/i><\/p>\n<p><!--BB-DONATEPITCH-START--><\/p>\n<div style=\"background:#f5f0e0; border:2px solid #6b5a2e; border-radius:6px; padding:10px 14px; text-align:center; font-family:Georgia,serif;\"><span style=\"display:block; margin:0 0 8px 0; color:#3a2e0e; font-size:0.95em; line-height:1.5;\"><strong>The BRAD BLOG<\/strong>, <em>The BradCast<\/em> and <em>Green News Report<\/em> are all 100% independent and 100% listener and reader supported!<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/bradblog.com\/Donate\" style=\"display:inline-block; background:#6b5a2e; color:#ffffff; padding:6px 18px; border-radius:4px; font-weight:bold; text-decoration:none; font-family:Georgia,serif; font-size:0.9em;\">Please CLICK HERE to help support our work today!<\/a><\/div>\n<p><!--BB-DONATEPITCH-END--><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Given many of the stories covered on today&#8217;s BradCast, it&#8217;s beginning to feel more and more each day like the GOP is a party in its death throes. Of course, rumors of that death have been greatly exaggerated in the past. [Audio link to show follows below] Among the many stories covered on today&#8217;s program&#8230; [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[192,12,89,1273,675,405,598,1268,299,479,390,930,106,6,28,72,1274,477,1267,1272,43,172,771,300,523,1213,166,1124,348,143],"tags":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-12815","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-accountability","category-arkansas","category-media-appearance","category-brad-raffensperger","category-bradcast","category-bush-legacy","category-china","category-dan-mccready","category-democrats","category-donald-trump","category-economy","category-election-2018","category-election-fraud","category-election-irregularities","category-election-reform","category-georgia","category-jim-mcvicker","category-kpfk","category-mark-harris","category-mccrae-dowless","category-north-carolina","category-photo-id-laws","category-race","category-republicans","category-scott-walker","category-tony-evers","category-touch-screen-vote-hopping","category-trade","category-vote-by-mail","category-wisconsin","bb-type-bradcast"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bradblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12815","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bradblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bradblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bradblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bradblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12815"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bradblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12815\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bradblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12815"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bradblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12815"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bradblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12815"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bradblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcoauthors&post=12815"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}