Background Briefing: October 29, 2020

On By gram

 

An “Army” of Militias Will Answer Trump to Intimidate Voters on Tuesday

We begin with the looming threat of militia violence at the polls on Tuesday since these various so-called “patriot” groups are answering Trump’s call for an “army” to show up at the polls to stop Democratic votes which Trump has equated with fraud. Spencer Sunshine who has spent the last decade and a half studying White Nationalist groups, neo-Nazis, the Patriot movement and militias, joins us to discuss his article at Truthout, “Organizers Are Gearing Up to Resist Far Right Intimidation at Polls” and assess how dangerous the biggest group, the “Oathkeepers” are since they have recruited thousands of police, soldiers and veterans with military training. We examine the options voters have when they face intimidation from armed militiamen most of whom are acting out their fantasy of being special forces warriors but a few are deranged and dangerous. Advice can be found at Georgetown’s Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection whose website is https://www.law.georgetown.edu/icap/our-work/addressing-the-rise-of-unlawful-private-paramilitaries/state-fact-sheets/

 

How Trump’s False Promises to the Rust Belt Could Hurt Him in Ohio

Then we speak with veteran New York Times labor reporter Steven Greenhouse the author of Beaten Down, Worked Up: The Past, Present, and Future of American Labor about his article at The Guardian “‘I regret voting for him’: Ohioans hit by GM plant closure reflect on Trump.” We examine whether the false promises Trump made to “Rust Belt” voters who helped elect him in 2016 will result in the key swing state of Ohio turning against Trump on Tuesday.

 

A New Book of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s Opinions and Dissents

Then finally we speak with Corey Brettschneider, a professor of political science at Brown University where he teaches constitutional law and politics who is the author of The Oath and the Office: A Guide to the Constitution for Future Presidents. He joins us to discuss his new book, just out, Decisions and Dissents of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg: A Selection and what can be done to undo the Republican stacking of the Supreme Court.