- If, in 2019, someone told me that our election center should nicknamed "Fortress Democracy." I would have laughed.
Then 2020 happened.
From AP -
Arizona expects to be back at the center of election attacks. Its top officials are going on offense
The room sits behind a chain-link fence, then black iron gates. Guards block the entrance, which requires a security badge to access. The glass surrounding it is shatterproof.
What merits all these layers of protection is somewhat surprising: tabulating machines that count the votes during elections in Arizona’s Maricopa County. The security measures are a necessary expense, said the county recorder, Stephen Richer, as Arizona and its largest county have become hotbeds of election misinformation and conspiracy theories that have led to near continuous threats and harassment against election workers.
[snip]
The false claims, promoted by prominent Republicans such as presumptive presidential nominee Donald Trump and Arizona Senate candidate Kari Lake, have driven protesters to rally outside vote-counting centers and to patrol drop boxes. The claims have fueled death threats against election workers and their families and prompted top election officials to quit across Arizona.
The battleground state also has become a target for attacks from election meddlers and other bad actors who repeatedly attempt to hack or disable the state’s electronic systems, Secretary of State Adrian Fontes said.
- It seems that throwing ideological bombs is preferable to actually, you know, governing. At least it is for certain people..
From The Independent (UK) -
Marjorie Taylor Greene insists she doesn’t want ‘chaos’ after second threat to oust House Speaker
Marjorie Taylor Greene has defended her bid to oust Republican House speaker, Mike Johnson - after threatening to do so in January - and insisted that she was not seeking to throw the government into “chaos”.
The Georgia representative and other far right members of the House opposed the $1.2trn federal spending package that passed Congress this past week, and claimed that it was full of wasteful spending.
She denounced Mr Johnson as “willing to do the bidding of [Senate Majority Leader] Chuck Schumer”.
[snip]
Ms Greene denied that the House’s paralysis is due to far-right conservatives, or the second effort to oust a speaker in six months.
“Those people stepping down early and leaving, are the ones leaving us at risk of the Democrats controlling the majority, not me,” the congresswoman said.
She's not the only GOPer in the House who is ticked at Johnson over the budget deal.
- It seems redundant to make a deep fake video about a dilettante, but it sure can be entertaining.
From Arizona Agenda, written by Hank Stephenson -
Hey Agenda readers!
We have a very special announcement today.
To our great surprise, Kari Lake, the former newscaster turned political candidate and frequent subject of our derision, offered to film a testimonial about how much she likes the Arizona Agenda.
[snip]
At least, did you spot it before she told you?
Or — like most people that we’ve shown this to — did it take a second for your brain to catch up even after our “Deep Fake Kari Lake” told you she was fake?
Many commentators/outlets have bemoaned the effect of deep fake videos on politics.
My concern is the effect of AI-generated videos on credibility; nobody will be able to believe what they see.
And while I believe that the destruction of credibility, especially institutional credibility, is an end goal of MAGA types, it will go far beyond politics.
Can you say "reasonable doubt"?
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