A handful of proponents of the Big Lie have launched bids for secretary of state — elected, state-level positions that will have a say in voting operations for future election cycles.
JoinBob Dylan turns 80 today.
If you’re inclined to celebrate here’s a series of interviews from 1971 never published until last year. The interviews were conducted by Dylan’s friend Tony Glover, an accomplished musician and author in his own right. The two met when they were both kids playing in the Minneapolis music scene before Dylan left for New York City. Then Glover was the bigger deal. That was the start of a lifelong friendship. And the origin of the relationship makes these interviews much more expansive and open than Dylan’s frequently evasive and secretive way of approaching interviews.
Only the best people.
The scandal-embroiled Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) is teaming up with one of his most controversial (and annoying) colleagues, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), to do their dear leader’s bidding in Arizona.
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Political violence is always anathema to democracy. This is the case not least because what we think of as civic democracy requires high-trust environments over high-fear environments. The latter make civic life brittle and tenuous. But what is really lethal to democracy is less acts of terroristic, high profile violence (say an Oklahoma City bombing) but when violence and the threat of violence begin to seep into the ordinary process of governmental decision-making. And of late I’ve seen smatterings of examples of this from around the country. The numbers are very, very small – at least the ones I’ve seen. So I don’t know whether I’m simply seeing them more, or whether they are just the knock-on effects of the massive disruptions of COVID or something more persistent and grave.
JoinFor a few decades New York City had mayor’s races between representatives of the city’s Democratic establishment and silent majority type Republicans who presented themselves as hedges against the city’s excesses. That role was embodied for a dozen years by Rudy Giuliani. Then it was taken over in a considerably more muted form by Michael Bloomberg. After the transition from Michael Bloomberg to Bill deBlasio that all kind of ended. Republicans have scarcely even registered in the last two elections and there’s little sign they will in 2021.
And yet something funny is happening in this year’s mayor’s race as candidates jockey to succeed deBlasio. The race is being dominated by one candidate running on conventional retail politics (Andrew Yang) and another on public safety (Eric Adams). They’re both in the high teens or maybe 20%. Various candidates supported by the city’s progressive movement, its leaders, influencers, etc. are simply not getting much traction.
A new episode of The Josh Marshall Podcast is now live. Josh and Kate discuss the fate of the January 6 commission as Kevin McCarthy struggles to unify his caucus.
When impeachment was on the table, the House minority leader was all about putting together a Jan. 6 commission in lieu of a trial.
JoinWe’ve covered an endless number of stories over the twenty year history of TPM. But if there’s one through-line, one consistent and especial focus throughout, it’s voting rights and democracy. The site started in a contested election, our big stories in 2002 were big voter suppression stories in South Dakota and New Hampshire. The US Attorney Firing scandal was in fact a voter suppression story. Firing those US Attorneys was just a step to get the suppression moving.
I’m proud to say there’s no publication in the United States that has devoted more of its resources to this issue over a longer period of time than TPM. The franchise is the central architecture of equality and the sheet anchor of the American republic. That’s always been the case. But people are especially attuned to that fact now after the shocking events of the 2020 election and the Republican party’s current effort to clamp down on voting across the country.
That’s why we’re launching The Franchise, a weekly newsletter devoted to democracy and voting rights in the United States.
There’s a rural county in California where the local militia is threatening violence if the local government doesn’t do what it’s told on COVID.
“I’m a politician out of the womb.”
This is how the son of Rudy Giuliani announced his bid for the Republican nomination in New York’s gubernatorial race, a fittingly bizarre statement for an under-the-radar bizarre boy.
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