Background Briefing: November 29, 2021
Democrats Are Asleep as the Republicans Quietly Rig the Vote
We begin with the biggest issue facing America and that is the very future of democracy itself in this country. Joining us is David Pepper, who served as Chairman of the Democratic Party of Ohio from 2015-2021 and is the author of the new book, just out, Laboratories of Autocracy: A Wake-Up Call from Behind the Lines. He has an article at The Guardian, “Republicans are quietly rigging election maps to ensure permanent rule” and we discuss how the free and fair vote is being systematically undermined at the federal, state and local levels and in the courts. We assess what can be done to stop the Republican onslaught of gerrymandering, voter suppression, having state legislatures count, certify and change the vote count to their liking as well as stacking local election boards with Trump “Stop the Steal” partisans to intimidate voters and rig the count at the ballot box level.
Mixed Messages About the New Covid Variant Omicron
Then we get an update on the new Covid Omicron variant spreading around the world which has alarmed the WHO but in contrast the South African doctor who first discovered it claims its symptoms are “extremely mild”. Joining us to weigh the mixed messages as President Biden cautions Americans that there is “a cause for concern, not a cause for panic,” is Dr. Stanley Perlman, a professor of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Iowa who has studied coronavirus pathogenesis for four decades.