Air Date 5/9/2023
Today, we take a look at the hyper-polarization of our era and the anti-democratic instincts of the right taking hold in state legislatures. Building on a decade of gerrymandering and voter suppression within a structurally undemocratic American system that has helped Republicans create minority rule in many places and unearned super-majorities in others, they have now turned to simply ejecting their elected political opponents from fully representing their constituents.
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Transcript
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SHOW NOTES
Ch. 1: Long division: America’s busy state legislatures - The Intelligence from The Economist - Air Date 2-9-23
America’s Congress may be gridlocked, but its state legislatures certainly aren’t.
Ch. 2: GOP legislatures gaming elections, suppressing voting - The BradCast - Air Date 5-4-23
In Ohio, Republicans are pushing a scheme to raise the qualification threshold for ballot initiatives before voters can mobilize to stop them.
Ch. 3: Banned MT Dem Zooey Zephyr: Silencing me is 'using decorum as a tool of oppression' - The Last Word - Air Date 4-26-23
MSNBC's Ali Velshi reports on the vote Wednesday by Montana House Republicans to ban Democratic State Rep. Zooey Zephyr, who is trans, after she spoke out against anti-trans legislation.
Ch. 4: Have State Legislatures Gone Rogue? - The New Yorker Radio Hour - Air Date 5-5-23
The story of two lawmakers expelled from the Tennessee legislature captured headlines across the country.
Ch. 5: Deciding the Fate of Democracy in North Carolina - The Laura Flanders Show - Air Date 5-7-23
So far, 27 people in North Carolina have been indicted in connection with the effort to overturn the 2020 election on January 6th.
Ch. 6: “Courage Is Contagious”: Zooey Zephyr & Justin Jones on the GOP’s Silencing of State Lawmakers - Democracy Now! - Air Date 4-28-23
Tennessee’s Justin Jones and Montana’s Zooey Zephyr, two Democratic state lawmakers who were both punished by their Republican-led legislatures for peaceful protests, say the only way to fight such anti-democratic moves is through broad solidarity.
Ch. 7: North Carolina lawmaker Tricia Cotham switches to GOP, votes to ban abortion - All In with Chris Hayes - Air Date 5-4-23
"This is a woman who spoke movingly about her own abortion on the floor of the North Carolina statehouse in 2015 when she was arguing against abortion restrictions," says Chris Hayes on State Rep. Tricia Cotham.
Ch. 8: “Rising Tide of Fascism”: Tennessee Rep. Justin Jones Warns of GOP’s Embrace of Authoritarianism - Democracy Now! - Air Date 4-28-23
The largely white Tennessee House of Representatives, with its heavily gerrymandered Republican supermajority, expelled two members, Justin Jones and Justin Pearson, the two youngest Black representatives in the House.
Ch. 9: Tyranny of the Minority: How American Democracy Came to the Breaking Point - Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs - Air Date 5-1-23
Steven Levitsky is David Rockefeller Professor of Latin American Studies and Professor of Government at Harvard University.
MEMBERS-ONLY BONUS CLIP(S)
Ch. 10: The Polarization Of State Legislatures - Not Another Politics Podcast - Air Date 3-1-23
Are state legislatures polarizing as well? And, if they are, what can that tell us about the state of our democracy?
VOICEMAILS
Ch. 11: Thoughts on big ideas to redistribute wealth - Dave from Olympia, WA
FINAL COMMENTS
Ch. 12: Final comments on an analogy that explains the dangers of poorly framed arguments
SHOW IMAGE
Description: A distorted, high-contrast photo of an American flag on a flag pole against a dark red sky.
Credit: "redflag" by AK Rockerfeller, Flickr | License: CC BY-SA 2.0 | Changes: Cropped
Bonus Sample #286 Looking to the Past to See Ourselves
#1603 Clarence Thomas and the Highest Court in the Land with the Lowest Standards of Ethics
#1535 We Don't Do Accountability (Trump and GOP Crimes That Go Unpunished) (Repost)
Bonus Sample #285 The Christians and the Pagans
#1602 What Happens in Israel and Gaza Doesn't Stay in Israel and Gaza
#1601 Christian Nationalism is not Christianity, it is Fascism
Bonus Sample #284 First they came for the Italian babies
#1532 Accelerationism is the Brick on the Gas Pedal of the Runaway Car of Society (Repost)
#1533 How Theocracies Begin and End (Rise of the Far-Right + Demanding Women's Rights in Iran) (Repost)
#1600 Housing Cannot be a Fundamental Human Right and a Commodity at the Same Time
#1599 Taming the Beast: AI Regulation Before Human Relegation
Bonus Sample #283 Meaningless rituals are useful but self-driving cars are more questionable
#1598 Kiss of Death: Henry Kissinger's Bloody Legacy of Indifference
Bonus Samples #281 and 282 No one likes how this is going | Not Worth It
#1597 The rise of fascism around the world driven by economic insecurity
#1596 Building a positive future by first envisioning it and then designing it
#1519 International Fascist Movement on the Move (Throwback)
#1595 Pushing for Medicare For All in the Laboratories of Democracy
#1594 Testing New Climate Solutions: Geothermal and Geo-Engineering
#1518 Ronald Reagan, It Turns Out, Was Bad (Repost)
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