Daily Kos senior political writer Joan McCarter joined Michelangelo Signorile on his show earlier this week, where they discussed why democracy in America is increasingly at risk—especially as we head toward 2024—and what’s happening with the fight over the debt ceiling.
Signorile and McCarter opened the show with some context from Barton Gellman’s recent piece in The Atlantic, which explores how conservatives are learning lessons from former president Donald Trump’s failure to carry out a coup. As Gellman writes, they have been working hard to make sure that next time, they succeed.
Far from being sneaky about it, Republicans are hardly being discrete in laying out the groundwork for the next coup, McCarter argued. “We’re seeing it in state after state after state, where they are passing increasingly egregious legislation to keep people from voting, to overturn the results of the election by taking over various elections boards in key counties, and by just allowing the Big Lie to continue to fester at pretty much every level of the Republican party.”
The compelling case Gellman has made about the very real and urgent threat to democracy has largely gone unheeded—or at least has not been taken very seriously. “Gellman was prescient in 2020, he’s prescient now, and I really wish more of the traditional media was paying attention to that,” McCarter said.
Moreover, elected officials do not seem to be acting on this with a sense of urgency, as McCarter explained:
Signorile then asked McCarter to delve into the ongoing discussions over the debt limit. McCarter thinks that McConnell is showing signs of not wanting a big fight, as he seems to understand that he can only push so hard:
Signorile noted that the narrative that exists about McConnell in the media is that he always wins and always gets his way, though it isn’t always true. As he elaborated, “When it’s not true, they kind of forget that part. When you do stand up and you do take him on, there are things he’s afraid of, so he will go along.”
You can listen to the full audio below:
YouTube Video
Signorile and McCarter opened the show with some context from Barton Gellman’s recent piece in The Atlantic, which explores how conservatives are learning lessons from former president Donald Trump’s failure to carry out a coup. As Gellman writes, they have been working hard to make sure that next time, they succeed.
Far from being sneaky about it, Republicans are hardly being discrete in laying out the groundwork for the next coup, McCarter argued. “We’re seeing it in state after state after state, where they are passing increasingly egregious legislation to keep people from voting, to overturn the results of the election by taking over various elections boards in key counties, and by just allowing the Big Lie to continue to fester at pretty much every level of the Republican party.”
The compelling case Gellman has made about the very real and urgent threat to democracy has largely gone unheeded—or at least has not been taken very seriously. “Gellman was prescient in 2020, he’s prescient now, and I really wish more of the traditional media was paying attention to that,” McCarter said.
Moreover, elected officials do not seem to be acting on this with a sense of urgency, as McCarter explained:
Signorile then asked McCarter to delve into the ongoing discussions over the debt limit. McCarter thinks that McConnell is showing signs of not wanting a big fight, as he seems to understand that he can only push so hard:
Signorile noted that the narrative that exists about McConnell in the media is that he always wins and always gets his way, though it isn’t always true. As he elaborated, “When it’s not true, they kind of forget that part. When you do stand up and you do take him on, there are things he’s afraid of, so he will go along.”
You can listen to the full audio below:
YouTube Video