It Could Happen Here - California’s Post Recall Future Part 2

Episode Date: September 14, 2021

Today is the Election deadline for California’s Recall. In this episode we dive into wildfire prevention measures and the voter fraud propaganda that is already being spread. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You should probably keep your lights on for Nocturnal Tales from the Shadowlands. Join me, Danny Trejo, and step into the flames of fright. An anthology podcast of modern-day horror stories inspired by the most terrifying legends and lore of Latin America. Listen to Nocturnal on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. On Thanksgiving Day, 1999, five-year-old Cuban boy

Elian Gonzalez was found off the coast of Florida. And the question was, should the boy go back to his father in Cuba? Mr. Gonzalez wanted to go home and he wanted to take his son with him. Or stay with his relatives in Miami? Imagine that your mother died trying to get you to freedom. Listen to Chess Peace, the Elian Gonzalez story on the iHeartRadio app,

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Or whenever you get your podcasts. books while running errands or at the end of a busy day. From thought-provoking novels to powerful poetry, we'll explore the stories that shape our culture. Listen to Black Lit on the Black Effect Podcast Network, iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. AT&T, connecting changes everything. everything. When I smoke weed, I get lost in the music. I like to isolate each instrument, the rhythmic bass, the harmonies on the piano, the sticky melody. Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, careful, babe.

There's someone crossing the street. Sorry, I didn't see him there. If you feel different, you drive different. Don't drive high. It's dangerous and illegal everywhere. A message from NHTSA and the Ad Council. The last few months in San Francisco have been, honestly, better than you expected. Still hot and dry, but now that you're in fall, the heat has become manageable. In the Bay Area, at least.

Staying with your brother has been actually really nice. The first few showers felt like luxury. Recently, he's had less of a good time. He found out he was getting laid off right before the school year started. He told me over 15,000 other teachers have been fired as a part of the governor's new Reform Schools program. The teachers' union is fighting it, but your brother isn't too optimistic regarding the outcome. He's been looking for new work, and meanwhile, you've gotten a shitty retail job to help with bills while you decide on what hospitals you want to apply to. You don't really miss your old EMS job in Redwood Valley. When you finally do get back into medical care, you'd really prefer something in a hospital or clinic setting, as opposed to the extra stress inherent in emergency

services. The one chance you have had to use your medical skills since moving was during the fires last September and October. Back up north, they got really bad, and hundreds of thousands of people evacuated down south. Some old activist friends of yours from college made their own fire relief slash mutual aid setup to give out clothes and food and to help people displaced by the fires. You haven't talked much with your old college buddies in the past few years, but upon hearing of the relief effort, you happily offered up your skills to help with minor medical issues

in a small medic tent they set up. It was the first time you've helped with anything related to protests or organizing since you moved up to Redwood Valley ten years ago. It was oddly refreshing. Politics hasn't been a major part of your life since college, but speaking of politics, midterms are finally this month. The past year has felt like it's stretched on forever. Your brother and his

union buddies have been doing canvassing for a few progressive city council candidates that might actually get a shot at getting in. You haven't had time to adjust to San Francisco's local political scene, and honestly, you're not sure if you really care to. You have been keeping half an eye on the big state electoral races, though, which feels kind of weird. You know there's no way the Republican governor will get re-elected, not here in California. One thing that has gotten you worried is the weekly anti-election fraud rallies that have been happening in LA ever since October.

The governor, surrounded by state troopers, has made it down himself a few times to drum up support from his fanbase. And after the rallies, roving gangs of far-right extremists have gone around randomly attacking homeless encampments. You heard that just last week after a Sunday rally, three people had to be rushed to the emergency room. It's now just a week before election day. You're on the bus home from your job at the vintage clothing store when you receive a message on signal from one of your old college mutual aid buddies you met up with again during the fire relief effort. The message reads,

Hey, are you free on election day? You hadn't really thought about the day itself. You respond, Maybe. Nothing really planned yet. Your friend replies with a fat wall of text. My affinity group and I are heading down to LA on Tuesday. There's a big Stop the Steal type rally happening, and word is lots of Proud Boys are going to show up.

Comrades in LA have put out some calls for support, so my crew is going to go down and probably bring some medical stuff. If you want to come, we got an extra seat in the van. The thought of driving down to Los Angeles to deal with Proud Boys doesn't excite you, especially on an already stressful day. You think about it for a few minutes. Images of the people maimed during and after the recent rallies floods your mind. Your buddies know more about organizing and protests than you do,

but you have more medical training. You decide you'll do it. You reply, I'll come with, and pack some extra IFACs and tourniquets. Among the issues Republican recall challengers have raised to attack Newsom, force mismanagement has loomed large among the recent complaints. This type of thing harkens back to Trump's old habit of blaming the governor and not raking enough leaves for California's fiery plight. On a larger scale, this can be seen as part of an effort to push all the blame of wildfires

off of oil, gas, and our transformation of the climate, and onto a simple lack of fire prevention measures. This narrative, of course, makes the fossil fuel industry more happy. The thing is, all of these things are contributing factors for California's wildfire problem. Climate change caused hotter temperatures and droughts makes fires easier to catch and spread, and inadequate force management plus above-ground power lines do the same. Just because there are bad faith attacks on Newsom doesn't mean there aren't actual failures he's made as governor, especially in relation to the forests. An investigation from Cap Radio

and California NPR, published last June, found out Newsom had grossly misrepresented and flat-out lied about his promises of new wildfire prevention efforts. Elements of the piece were of course used by Larry Elder and the right to push for support of the recall, but the article itself is a very fine piece of journalism. Back when Newsom first took office in January of 2019, one of the first things he did was sign an executive order overhauling how California handles wildfire prevention and forest management. The measures included removal of hazardous dead trees, vegetation clearing, creation of fuel breaks in community defensible spaces, and creation of ingress and egress corridors. In January 2020, a year after Newsom's initial

announcement, the governor's office claimed in a press release that under the executive order's priority projects, 90,000 acres got treated with these fire prevention measures. But according to data obtained by CapRadio and NPR, the actual number of acres treated by these priority projects was only 11,399, just 13% of the number Newsom boasted about. Quoting the piece by Cap Radio, quote, data shows Cal Fire's fuel reduction output dropped by half in 2020, to levels below Governor Jerry Brown's final year in office. At the same time, Newsom slashed roughly $150 million from Cal Fire's wildfire prevention budget. In 2020, 4.3 million acres burned, the most in California's recorded history. That was more than double the

previous record set in 2018, when the Camp Fire destroyed the town of Paradise, ultimately killing 85 people. A decade ago, Cal Fire was trading a poultry 17,000 acres annually. That number has steadily climbed. Though Newsom misrepresented the number of acres treated in his priority projects, the overall amount of wildfire mitigation work carried out by CAL FIRE spiked in his first year of office to 64,000 acres. But in 2020, fuel reduction totals plummeted to less than 32,000 acres, a roughly 50% drop, unquote. Multiple factors contributed to 2020's subpar fire prevention and reduction efforts. In 2019, the year with the largest number of acres treated in recent history, the state budget allotted for $355 million for wildfire prevention and resource management. But after the COVID-19 pandemic hit California in early 2020, Newsom cut the budget by 40%, down to $203 million.

On top of the budget cuts, the fires themselves made prevention work more challenging. 2020's wildfire season started out early, which resulted in less time to do prescribed burns and thinnings, because the same teams that are tasked with prevention and fuel reduction often also serve as firefighters once the fires break out. As of May 2021, CAL FIRE has treated over 23,000 acres throughout the year. This puts California on a trajectory better than last year's total, but not as high as the 60,000-plus acres treated in 2019. Newsom has been trying to make up for his missteps and gross exaggerations. Quoting the CapRadio report again, quote, Newsom is trying to play catch-up,

with the state enjoying an unexpected surplus. Newsom proposed $2 billion in spending on wildfires and emergency preparedness, with $1.2 billion going towards wildfire resiliency in the upcoming budget. Experts say the increase in prevention spending could help the state get closer to a less dangerous wildfire season over time. But they also expressed concern over whether the state will sustain that commitment for years to come, unquote. Revelations about Newsom's and Cal Fire's lies and lackluster forest management were quickly jumped on by Larry Elder and other Republican challengers as an easy way to attack Newsom and to move the conversation about wildfires away from climate change. Elder has said he has

quote-unquote no idea why more prevention and reduction measures aren't being done, and when he becomes governor, he'll be quote, implementing these commonsensical kinds of plans so that we can reduce the severity of these fires, unquote. Elder has given no concrete plans on what measures he'll be shooting to implement or any indication on how much money will be directed to prevent or fight fires. On the note of budgets, Elder has said that the more recent spending on wind and solar power has left, quote, less money for removing trees and putting power lines underground, the kind of things that would make these fires less intense, unquote. And he promises to drastically cut spending on renewables, while also investing more in oil and gas.

To be clear, Newsom's upcoming budget contains billions for both fire prevention slash fuel reduction and renewable energy such as wind and solar. Welcome. I'm Danny Thrill. Won't you join me at the fire and dare enter Nocturnum, Tales from the Shadows, presented by iHeart and Sonora. An anthology of modern-day horror stories inspired by the legends of Latin America. From ghastly encounters with shapeshifters to bone-chilling brushes with supernatural creatures.

I know you. Take a trip and experience the horrors that have haunted Latin America since the beginning of time. Listen to Nocturnal Tales from the Shadows as part of my Cultura podcast network, available on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hi, I'm Ed Zitron, host of the Better Offline podcast, and we're kicking off our second season digging into how tech's elite has turned Silicon Valley into a playground for billionaires.

From the chaotic world of generative AI to the destruction of Google search, Better Offline is your unvarnished and at times unhinged look at the underbelly of tech from an industry veteran with nothing to lose. This season, I'm going to be joined by everyone from Nobel-winning economists to leading journalists in the field. And I'll be digging into why the products you love keep getting worse

and naming and shaming those responsible. Don't get me wrong, though. I love technology. I just hate the people in charge and want them to get back to building things that actually do things to help real people. I swear to God, things can change if we're loud enough. So join me every week to understand what's happening in the tech industry and what could be done to make things better. Listen to Better Offline on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,

wherever else you get your podcasts. Check out betteroffline.com. Hola mi gente, it's Honey German and I'm bringing you Gracias, Come Again. The podcast where we dive deep into the world of Latin culture, musica, peliculas, and entertainment with some of the biggest names in the game. If you love hearing real conversations with your favorite Latin celebrities, artists, and culture shifters, this is the podcast for you. We're talking real conversations with our Latin stars, from actors and artists to musicians and creators,

sharing their stories, struggles, and successes. You know it's going to be filled with chisme, laughs, and all the vibes that you love. Each week, we'll explore everything from music and pop culture to deeper topics like identity, community, and breaking down barriers in all sorts of industries. Don't miss out on the fun, el té caliente, and life stories. Join me for Gracias Come Again, a podcast by Honey German, where we get into todo lo actual y viral. Listen to Gracias Come Again on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. On Thanksgiving Day, 1999, a five-year-old boy floated alone in the ocean. He had lost his mother trying to reach Florida from Cuba.

He looked like a little angel. I mean, he looked so fresh. And his name, Elian Gonzalez, will make headlines everywhere. Elian Gonzalez. Elian Gonzalez. Elian. Elian. Elian Gonzalez. At the heart of the story is a young boy and the question of who he belongs with.

His father in Cuba. Mr. Gonzalez wanted to go home and he wanted to take his son with him. Or his relatives in Miami. Imagine that your mother died trying to get you to freedom. At the heart of it all is still this painful family separation. Something that as a Cuban, I know all too well. Listen to Chess Peace, the Elian Gonzalez story, as part of the My Cultura podcast network, available on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. your podcasts. Whoever ends up governing California is not only in charge of local politics, like governors in other states. What happens in California affects people across the

country and even globally, whether that's wildfire smoke traveling across continents, or changes to supply chains and industry rippling across the world. California is, after all, the world's fifth largest economy. There are also political ramifications that could affect the state as a whole if Elder gets in office. The Senate is currently a 50-50 split between Republicans and Democrats, with Vice President Kamala Harris getting the tie-breaking vote. One of California senators is 88-year-old Dianne Feinstein, the oldest active senator. If she dies in office, or has to step down due to medical reasons before her term is over, the governor of California gets

to appoint her replacement. If Elder appoints a Republican, then the Senate will be back under GOP control. And given his connections to the far-right media sphere, the list of potentials that Elder could appoint is frightening. This is by no means inevitable, even if Elder gets into office. If he does, Feinstein does have the brief opportunity to step down and put a replacement in before the new governor is sworn into office. However, Feinstein has said she has no plans of doing so. Reports of her declining health have become only more common in recent years, but like many politicians and judges, she's not keen on

stepping aside even to possibly help prevent a disastrous outcome. Changes in the Senate are not required for horrible outcomes in the wake of an even brief Elder governorship. His anti-vax sentiments and plan to open up the state and remove basically all COVID restrictions will result in hospitals being pushed to max capacity. Elder has said he has plans to appoint education officials similar to former Secretary Betsy DeVos and judicial appointees like conservative Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. Elder has stated his intention of declaring states of emergency and using executive orders to push through otherwise unpopular legislation. He has discussed

plans to declare an education emergency in order to fire upwards of 21,000 quote-unquote bad teachers. Elder blames teacher unions for quote, protecting bad teachers. And in a recent interview stated, quote, someone told me that between 5% and 7% of public school teachers need to be fired. An emergency declaration would give the power to get rid of bad teachers faster than the system allows. Once you did that,

automatically education would improve overnight, unquote. Now, Elder has not specified who had advised him on teacher terminations or how he plans to weed out the so-called bad teachers out of the 300,000 in the school system. He's also touted plans to declare a homeless emergency, but his solutions have nothing to do with actually helping homeless people. His homeless emergency declaration but his solutions have nothing to do with actually helping homeless people. His homeless emergency declaration would allow him to suspend the California Environmental Quality Act, the law requiring environmental review of building projects. Elder's stated goal is to unleash developers and contractors without environmental regulation, which he claims, quote,

treats developers and contractors like criminals, unquote, and allows building projects to get suspended indefinitely, ultimately raising the cost of housing, in his opinion. One of the more frightening aspects of Larry Elder is his close ties to many far-right propagandists. He's done work for PragerU, Epo Epic Times, and has been a guest on Fox News at least 220 times in the past five years. In the last episode, we discussed his friendship with Dennis Prager. Also, Dave Rubin just recently campaigned for Elder at a recent rally. And a month and a half ago, Elder was on Candace Owen's show discussing how the descendants of slave owners deserve reparations for having their property, i.e. black people, stolen from them when the slaves were freed. Those are his words, not

mine. What's probably most concerning is Elder's connection to Stephen Miller. In fact, we wouldn't have Stephen Miller if it were not for Larry Elder. Back in the late 90s, a conservative student from Santa Monica High School would call into Larry Elder's show to rant about his school's liberal culture. Reportedly, the student would go around demanding staff and fellow students regularly recite the Pledge of Allegiance. He railed against condom giveaways and called Spanish language announcements, quote, a crutch preventing Spanish speakers from standing on their own, unquote. Young Californians calling into Elder's show and agreeing with him wasn't very common, and Elder ate it up. He loved talking with the

student so much that he let the kid on basically any time he wanted a platform to rant and rave. You know where this is going. That student was Stephen Miller. According to Miller, he appeared on Elder's show 69 times throughout his time in high school and university, and calls Elder, quote, the one true guide I've always had, unquote. Miller's appearances on Elder's radio show made him a recognizable figure in the larger conservative media world, helping him connect with Steve Bannon and eventually President Trump.

By extension, Elder was Stephen Miller's on-ramp to the White House. In an email to Miller in 2016, Elder told him, quote, I hope to live to see the day when you become president. Presented by I Heart and Sonora. An anthology of modern day horror stories inspired by the legends of Latin America. From ghastly encounters with shapeshifters. To bone chilling brushes with supernatural creatures. I know you. ¡Suscríbete al canal! Podcast Network, available on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hola, mi gente. It's Honey German, and I'm bringing you Gracias, Come Again, the podcast where we dive deep

into the world of Latin culture, musica, peliculas, and entertainment with some of the biggest names in the game. If you love hearing real conversations with your favorite Latin celebrities, artists, and culture shifters, this is the podcast for you. We're talking real conversations with our Latin stars, from actors and artists to musicians and creators, sharing their stories, struggles, and successes. You know it's going to be filled with chisme laughs and all the vibes that you love. Each week, we'll explore everything from music and pop culture to deeper topics like identity, community, and breaking down barriers in all sorts of industries. Don't miss out on the fun, el té caliente, and life stories.

Join me for Gracias Come Again, a podcast by Honey German, where we get into todo lo actual y viral. Listen to Gracias Come Again on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hi, I'm Ed Zitron, host of the Better Offline podcast, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. your unvarnished and at times unhinged look at the underbelly of tech from an industry veteran with nothing to lose. This season, I'm going to be joined by everyone from Nobel-winning economists to leading journalists in the field, and I'll be digging into why the products you love keep getting worse and naming and shaming those responsible. Don't get me wrong, though. I love technology. I just hate the people in charge and want them to get back to building things that actually do things to help real people. I swear to God things can change if we're loud enough. So join me every

week to understand what's happening in the tech industry and what could be done to make things better. Listen to Better Offline on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, wherever else you get your podcasts. Check out betteroffline.com. On Thanksgiving Day, 1999, a five-year-old boy floated alone in the ocean. He had lost his mother trying to reach Florida from Cuba. He looked like a little angel. I mean, he looked so fresh. And his name, Elian Gonzalez, will make headlines everywhere. Elian Gonzalez. Elian Gonzalez.

Elian. Elian. Elian Gonzalez. Elian. Elian. Elian. Elian. Elian. Elian Gonzalez. At the heart of the story is a young boy and the question of who he belongs with. His father in Cuba. Mr. Gonzalez wanted to go home and he wanted to take his son with him. Or his relatives in Miami.

Imagine that your mother died trying to get you to freedom. At the heart of it all is still this painful family separation. Something that as a Cuban, I know all too well. Listen to Chess Peace, the Elian Gonzalez story, as part of the My Cultura podcast network, available on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. When media has brought up his friendship with Stephen Miller, Elder tries very quickly to change the subject. When pushed on the topic in a recent interview, Elder shot back with, quote, Why would you bring up Stephen Miller? I'm just wondering what the agenda here is.

What's the point? Am I somehow, what, a Nazi? A fascist? Unquote. I think that says enough. The reason we haven't discussed the other candidates in the recall election is because, at this point, if Newsom is recalled, it's absolutely certain that Elder will be the one to succeed him.

He has a 20-point lead ahead other challengers, but that lead is still only a tiny fraction of the total electorate, which demonstrates part of the problem in California's recall process. There are other Republican challengers with concerning pasts and beliefs. Lots of anti-mask, anti-trans, anti-vax, total disbelief in climate change, people spouting QAnon-originated conspiracy claims, advocating the lie that the presidential election was stolen, and there's even a Democrat challenger that plans to use the National Guard

to round up all homeless people and put them in concentration camps. But Elder himself shares a lot of those views, and uses the fact that he's black as a shield for criticism against his racist and nationalist policies and ideas. We haven't even mentioned that last month, Elder's ex-fiancé came out and said that Elder was extremely abusive and had threatened her with a loaded gun. In early August, polls were showing pretty much neck and neck for the first question on the ballot, yes or no on the recall itself. A SurveyUSA poll from that time even had 40% of respondents vote no on the recall and 51% vote yes to remove Newsom.

Throughout August and September, results started to flip the other direction as ads against the recall hit the airwaves and internet. The latest SurveyUSA poll has 54% voting ads against the recall hit the airwaves and internet. The latest SurveyUSA poll has 54% voting no on the recall and 41% voting yes. Other polls hover around the same 10 to 15 point lead for Newsom staying in office. Now, with polls not going the way Elder and the GOP would like, we're starting to see a new yet familiar narrative being prepared. On my website, electelder.com, we have a voter integrity project. We have lawyers all set up, all ready to go to file lawsuits in a timely fashion. The reason the lawsuits did not work

in the 2020 election, we know what happened there, is because the lawsuits were filed too late and many of them were dismissed on procedural grounds. Courts don't like to overturn an election. So when you hear of anything suspicious, we've heard a lot of things that have been suspicious so far, go to electelder.com. We're going to sick our lawyers on them, file lawsuits right away. They're going to cheat, we know that. But I'll tell you what, so many people are angry about the crime, about the homelessness, about the way he shut down this state, about the fact that one-third of all small businesses, many of them are owned by black and brown and Asian American people that they care about, about the declining quality of schools, about the fact that people are leaving, rolling brownouts, lack of water. So many people are angry. The number of people that are going to vote to recall this man is going to be so overwhelming

so that even when they cheat, they're still going to lose. call this man is going to be so overwhelming, so that even when they cheat, they're still going to lose. That's Larry Elder saying that if he doesn't win, that means the election must have been stolen. Fox News has been promoting the same idea the past month. All of it is in the vein of the Stop the Steal movement post the 2020 presidential election, culminating with the attempted insurrection on January 6th. Here's Elder again on Fox News in early September. But you're right, I am concerned about voter fraud. And that's why I'm asking people to go to electelder.com. That's my website.

We have a voter integrity project set up with a bunch of lawyers ready to file lawsuits if anybody sees anything suspicious. Big 2020 election fraud conspiracy proponent and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich was one of the first people to chime in to stoke disinformation about the recall election. And I think this may well be the most rigged statewide election we've seen probably at least a half century. And I think people should look carefully at this because there's pretty good evidence that if Newsom is in a straight, honest count, he probably has a good chance of losing. But if they can stuff every ballot box in California,

and they can cheat in every way possible. And of course, this type of propaganda has made it onto the most watched cable news show on air, Tucker Carlson. California does not get the credit it deserves for the corruption that's endemic there. It's a one party state and they act like it. And you've got to have concerns about whether this recall election will be free and fair. Are you concerned? Well, of course I'm concerned, Tucker. I'm involved in election integrity efforts throughout the United States and I'm also a member of the Republican National Committee. So we have a team of lawyers that is ready to deploy throughout the state here, and we are monitoring things

every single day. Just a couple of hours ago, I filed a lawsuit to intervene in a challenge to the constitutionality of the recall statute, because frankly, I don't trust the Secretary of State or the Attorney General, who are both appointed by the governor, to defend him in this regard. And so we are going to be jumping on every potential opportunity to do that and fight back against the Democrats. Of course, they are playing fast and loose. We've seen some very alarming scenes of 300 ballots bundled together in the car of a person with a gun and some drugs. And so we are definitely looking into all of these issues. But, Tucker, ultimately, it's going to come down to how much do people want to change in California? And I can tell you, even living in my latte, sipping avocado toast, eating, you know,

Lululemon wearing neighborhood in San Francisco, people are fed up with the crime, the drugs, the homelessness, the intermittent electricity and everything else that is wrong with California. So people want to change here. It's just not working. And this really is a test of whether our system works. I mean, can people get better leadership? That's kind of the question. Will there be election observers on the scene so the rest of us can know this was fair? Well, 100 percent. The problem in California is that the voting doesn't just take place on election day like it would in a normal place. It's taking place now on a rolling basis through mail-in voting. It's 100% mail-in ballots this time around.

And it is going to take place for 30 days after the election if it's close because they have 30 days to count the vote. That's 60 days of voting. And, of course, a lot of shenanigans can occur and ballots can disappear. So we are going to be observing it very closely and demanding accountability and filing lawsuits wherever we need to, to hold the Democrats accountable, because we cannot trust them. Yeah, I hope so. People want to believe the system works, that it's real, that they have power, that their vote matters. So I appreciate what you're doing. Harmeet Dhillon, thank you. A lot of what's said in that last clip is either extremely misrepresented or just flat out lies. Those 300 ballots found in a car were actually

part of a larger mail theft thing not related to the election at all. Voters have received new ballots. And for this election, just like the last one, Californians have the option to vote in person, to mail in ballots, or deliver them in a drop box. The deadline to drop off, mail, or place your vote is September 14th. Counting cannot start till the 14th either, and like every election, there will be observers throughout the entire counting process. Obviously, this isn't the first time conservative media has hyped up election fraud, the last presidential election being the biggest instance to date. But what is concerning here is that they're setting up a template to use for all future elections whenever Republicans lose. Here's a Fox clip from September 7th.

The only thing that will save Gavin Newsom is voter fraud. So as they say, stay woke, pay attention to the voter fraud going on in California, because it's going to have big consequences not only for that state, but for upcoming elections. It's safe to assume that stop the steal-esque strategies will be used almost every time a Republican loses in an election going forward. We've seen exactly what this type of rhetoric and propaganda leads to, and it ends in blood. There were multiple attacks on state capitals during the Stop the Steal rallies prior to January 6th. In some places, like Salem, Oregon, they succeeded in getting inside the Capitol. Even if Newsom gets to stay in office, there will still be many problems. Election conspiracies and the possibility of violence like January 6th

just being one. We haven't wanted to righteously defend Newsom here. He's a politician, and inept in many ways. He deserves plenty of criticism, especially on the issues of climate change. But the criticism levied at Newsom from the likes of Elder and the GOP are based on bigotry, nationalism, and climate denial. Newsom should be our punching bag, not theirs. You should probably keep your lights on for Nocturnal Tales from the Shadow. Join me, Danny Trejo, and step into the flames of right.

An anthology podcast of modern day horror stories inspired by the most terrifying legends and lore of Latin America. Listen to Nocturno on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. On Thanksgiving Day, 1999, five-year-old Cuban boy Elian Gonzalez was found off the coast of Florida. And the question was, should the boy go back to his father in Cuba? Mr. Gonzalez wanted to go home, and he wanted to take his son with him.

Or stay with his relatives in Miami? Imagine that your mother died trying to get you to freedom. Listen to Chess Peace, the Elian Gonzalez story, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Listen to audiobooks while running errands or at the end of a busy day. From thought-provoking novels to powerful poetry, we'll explore the stories that shape our culture. Listen to Black Lit on the Black Effect Podcast Network, iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. AT&T. Connecting changes everything. When I smoke weed, I get lost in the music. changes everything. Hey, careful, babe. There's someone crossing the street. Sorry, I didn't see him there. If you feel different, you drive different. Don't drive high. It's dangerous and illegal everywhere.

A message from NHTSA and the Ad Council.