It's Election Day, and it's almost all over but for the shouting—and the lawsuits, vote counting controversies, election denialism, and possible additional chaos to come. I'm not predicting anything in particular, but merely acknowledging that we may no longer have elections in the United States free of disinformation battles and efforts to overturn results. The ride might be bumpy these coming days. And even more tumultuous after that, should the Republicans gain control of one or both houses of Congress. I've commented extensively here and elsewhere on the turmoil that would result. No need to bang that drum today. My traditional Election Day routine is to vote, clean my office, and noodle a few ideas for a story to write after the results become clear. There's not much I could put in the newsletter today that wouldn't repeat what I've already written or lessen your sense of dread.
Some of the most popular non-political items in Our Land have been about the Fab Four, so it seemed fitting to reprise these previous offerings as a palate cleanser before we face the music of the midterm elections. I certainly know that I could use a respite, having spent the past few weeks breaking news on the most extremist of the extreme GOP candidates.
I reported that Ohio Senate candidate J.D. Vance flip-flopped on his opinion about the infamous racist Charlottesville march and that he appeared on the podcast of a right-winger who once said "feminists need rape," where Vance called for the "de-Nazification" of the federal government, meaning illegally purging anyone in the civil service deemed not sufficiently loyal to Trumpism. I wrote about the similarity between Vance's elite-denouncing, anti-woke rhetoric and that of Giorgia Meloni, the Mussolini fangirl in Italy. I noted how Vance and Arizona GOP Senate contender Blake Masters, each the beneficiary of millions of dollars in campaign bucks from libertarian, Trumpish billionaire Peter Thiel, were Big Tech-bashing hypocrites.
I revealed that as part of his TV show hucksterism Pennsylvania Senate candidate Mehmet Oz promoted an anti-vaxxer who became a leading disseminator of Covid disinformation. Another scoop: Arizona GOP gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake's campaign ran an ad featuring a Phoenix businessman that did not disclose he was a virulently homophobic and Islamophobic pastor whose church called for the "submission" of wives. And I repeatedly wrote about the extremist ties of Mark Finchem of Arizona and Jim Marchant of Nevada, each a QAnon-friendly election-denier and GOP secretary of state candidate. Finchem, I revealed, was connected to far-right, militia-related groups that engaged in voter intimidation and was closely associated with a lawyer involved in a fake-electors scheme. If either of these two guys win, he will oversee elections in a crucial swing state. Not to state the obvious, but that's bad news for democracy.
There's just been too much GOP nuttiness and irrationality to cover this campaign season. (Did I mention election deniers Doug Mastriano in Pennsylvania, Adam Laxalt in Nevada, Herschel Walker in Georgia, and Don Bolduc in New Hampshire?) And some of the wingnuts, election-deniers, QAnoners, and Thielites may win. For many American, that will be discouraging and present profound challenges. But there will be plenty of time to sort out how best to deal with those lunatics, liars, and bigots who end up in power. For now, remember to vote, and, ladies and gentlemen…the Beatles.
Got anything to say about this item—or anything else? Email me at ourland@motherjones.com
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