There Are No Girls on the Internet - Texas’ abortion law is just another disinfo fueled attack on democracy

Episode Date: September 3, 2021

Texas just passed the most extreme anti-abortion law in the country. But it’s yet another plank of a coordinated disinformation fueled attack on democracy.Donate to local abortion funds in TX: Tangoti.com/donate The Anti-Abortion Movement Was Always Built on Lies: https://www.gq.com/story/jane-roe-anti-abortion-lies Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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This week, Texas has passed over 600 new laws. And a good bit of those laws are based on the kind of escalating myths and disinformation, conspiracy theories, social media-fueled culture wars, and scare-mongering that we've spent the last year breaking down on this very podcast. There is a lot to be mad about, so let's get into it. Now, a lot of people are rightfully talking about SB 8, the law limiting abortion access in Texas, which we'll get into in just a moment. But that is not the only legislation in Texas that shows what happens when disinformation becomes codified into law.

The Texas legislature also passed HB3979, which banned school teachers from discussing systemic racism and current events in class. It also outright bans the teaching of the 1619 project. As you'll recall, Nicole Hannah-Jones' 1619 project became the target of right-wing racists. There's also a new law that allows anyone over the age of 21 to carry a gun without training or a license, as long as they're not already legally prevented from doing so. So basically, yes to guns, no to abortions. Then there's just a bunch of ridiculous culture war stuff, like the so-called Starr's-Bangled Banner Act. a law that requires professional sports teams in Texas with state funding to play the national anthem before games,

which I'm sure, as the pandemic rages, is the most pressing issue in the minds of most Americans right now. So let's get into SB8. Texas's new law that severely restricts abortion access. This law is bad, and it's what abortion advocates have been warning about for years. The law prevents abortions as early as six weeks into pregnancy. Now, many have been calling this a six-week abortion ban, but the way we're talking about it is really imprecise, and that seems like it might be by design. It isn't six weeks after you get a positive pregnancy test. It's actually six weeks after the first day of your last period, so that, quote,

six weeks is actually four weeks after conception and just two weeks after your missed period. That's right, before many pregnancy tests that you'd buy in a store would even be able to tell you that you're pregnant at all. So that would only really leave you with two weeks to suspect that you may be pregnant, get a positive pregnancy test, make an appointment, have an ultrasound, wait 24 hours, and then have a second appointment with the same provider to comply with Texas law. So basically, the window to get a legal abortion is basically so narrow, it's closed before most people would even know they're pregnant in the first place. And this is only if your period comes like clockworks each cycle. But we know many people have irregular periods. It's a totally normal thing.

But this law ignores that medical reality and is based instead on fictions about how our bodies work. Even the way these laws are framed as so-called heartbeat bills restricting abortion, when there's a fetal heartbeat, are distortions about the reality of pregnancy. The, quote, fetal heartbeat talking point is just misinformation, intended to deceive, and even the press falls for it by repeating it. At six weeks of fetal development, there is no heart to have a heartbeat. Doctors say the sound that Republican lawmakers are inaccurately calling a heartbeat is actually just the motion of an electrical pulse in a growth known as the fetal pole.

But Republican lawmakers know that using this inaccurate language makes an early stage abortion seem like a shameful, a moral choice, rather than just a commonplace medical procedure, which is why they use this deceptive language in the first place. So this law is definitely based on complete fictions and lies about our bodies and how they work. But that isn't even the worst part. So just who enforces this law? The state, the government.

Oh no, much worse. Any private citizen. Let me say that another way. Any random asshole. This law allows private individuals to sue abortion providers or anyone who assists in providing an abortion for up to $10,000. It doesn't matter if the person suing is an abusive ex, a rapist, or just some random stranger with no connection to the person getting an abortion whatsoever. It essentially creates a bounty for abortion providers or people who assist in abortions.

And yeah, it could even be used to sue an Uber driver who drives you to an abortion appointment. There's already a tip-line website asking people to turn in people they suspect of aiding in abortions. So yes, things are pretty bad, but honestly, this is nothing new. The anti-choice movement has always used lies and distortions to pass laws restricting abortion access. Now, why do they do this? Well, it's because most people actually support abortion access. So anti-choice advocates, they have to turn to lies in order to sway the public. But y'all, this is not just about Texas.

We've seen more laws restricting abortion access this year in 2021 than in any other previous year. this is according to a study by the Gutmacher Institute. It's just part of a national agenda to end abortion access in this country. This Texas law sets a dangerous legal precedent and could create a path for other states to make abortions unattainable to people who need them. And we expect to see similar bills introduced in states across the country. And honestly, it's not even really just about abortion. From laws attacking trans youth and immigrants and queer folks,

this is yet another in a series of legislation fueled by the state. distortion and lies. The power of lies and disinformation was on full display earlier this year, when states were passing laws rolling back voting rights in response to the complete fiction that the 2020 election results were rigged because too many black and brown folks voted. Now, we told you about this earlier this year in an interview with Ano Changa, a Georgia-based journalist, about how these attacks are not just about voting or abortion, but rather a coordinated network of attacks on marginalized people and our democracy. So let's revisit what happens and who gets harmed when disinformation is codified into law.

We've talked a lot about disinformation this season, but what happens when lies and distortions actually become law? Well, that's exactly what's happening in Georgia. Trump's big lie that he won the election and it was being stolen from him is being used to fuel a sweeping new law that many advocates say creates barriers to voting, that will make it harder for all Georgians to vote. But it doesn't start there. I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have, because we won the state, and flipping the state is a great testament to our country.

On January 2nd, Trump had a now infamous phone call with Georgia Secretary of State, Brad Raffensberger, where he falsely made. maintained that he'd won the election in Georgia and pressured Raffensberger to, quote, find more votes in an attempt to make that fiction a reality. In the end, Raffensberger certified the election results because there wasn't a reason not to. After a statewide audit of the 2020 election results, Raffensberger himself said that Georgia's historic first statewide audit reaffirmed that the state's new secure paper ballot voting system accurately counted and reported the results. So according to him, the election was

secure. And yet, the so-called Election Integrity Act of 2021 was signed into law by Governor Brian Kemp. This law makes massive changes to how and when folks can vote in Georgia. Now, Kemp said this law was necessary to boost confidence in, quote, secure, accessible, and fair elections. But if his own Secretary of State says the Georgia election results were accurate, then what's really going on? Well, this is an example of what happens when disinformation becomes codified into law. Despite what Trump's said in that phone call, there was no voter fraud or election fraud in Georgia. But that didn't stop the Georgia legislature from passing this bill that voting rights advocates say will overwhelmingly

create barriers that keep black and brown Georgians from voting. And it was all based on a big lie. It's so important that we talk about this law for what it is and the impact it will have on Georgians, which is something Annoe-Changa knows firsthand. It was really rooted in self-determination for me. In 2017, Georgia was facing a closely watched Democratic primary for governor between Stacey Abrams, a black woman, who if she had won, would have become the country's first black woman governor and Stacey Evans, a white Georgia state representative. Both candidates were speaking at Netroots Nation, the largest gathering of progressive political organizers in the country, which was being held in Atlanta. Now, something to know about Netroots is that there is always a protest. It's basically expected at this point. And speeches always get interrupted by shouting. It's happened to Bernie Sanders, Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren, and Martin O'Malley. It's a thing.

In 2017, at NetRoutes, I was a part of a group of folks who, you know, led a protest to shut down a speech that was being given by Stacey Evans, who was at the time running against Stacey Abrams for governor. And a lot of people thought it was just a bunch of old Stacey Abrams supporters who were shutting down this white woman. But that, like, at the time, I wasn't even like a Stacey fan. I wasn't even, I was like, I'll probably vote for her. But it wasn't anything. And so many folks, what it was really about Stacey Evans was trying to be positioned as like the more progressive choice. And she had a bunch of votes, including some along education, which were extremely problematic, which she was not being held accountable on. And that day at that route, she was speaking before Becky Pringle, who was then the vice president of the NEA, the National Education Association.

So you're someone who has been pro-charter school, pro, you know, removing money out of education. You voted against the interests of teachers, students, families, unions. And you're speaking ahead of like this prominent national black woman that has been this advocate for education. That's a NOAA alongside a group of black women interrupting Stacey Evans' plan speech. They're chanting, trust black women. The incident came up in a tense debate between Evans and Abrams, with Evans maintaining that what happened at NetRoutes was not a peaceful protest, and kind of implying that the group was affiliated with the Stacey Abrams campaign.

And I support the right of folks to peacefully protest. That wasn't what happened at NetRoutes. And if something like that had happened to my opponent, whether the group was affiliated, unaffiliated, slightly affiliated, not affiliated at all, I would have stood up and said that it was wrong. But remember, Anoa says she wasn't even a big Abram supporter at the time. Reporters just didn't really bother to talk to her or the group or find out more about their motivations or message and why they interrupted the speech.

They just kind of ran with whatever. And this was hugely instructive for Anoa. Now, that didn't translate the way we thought it would, unfortunately, because no one in the media even cared to talk to us, to ask any of us about what happened, the way media reacted, it, like especially local media here in Georgia, ran with a particular narrative. I mean, you even had like one article written that just because I knew someone who was on staff, senior staff at Stacey's campaign, we had worked together previously, that because of

that previous work relationship, they put me up to it. Without understanding that also when you're talking about black progressive political work, there's so few people in these spaces, whether you're working in black or white led orgs. It's just not that many of us. So we all end up either knowing each other directly or having people in common. So that experience really taught me about the power and necessity for telling our own stories, making sure our voices were being heard. Today, Anoa is a pretty prolific independent journalist who covers elections and local politics in Georgia.

But instead of covering them like a horse race between two politicians, she centers the people impacted by the policies. People whose stories are often overlooked in favor of stories about political point scoring and posturing. And when it comes to the new voting legislation in Georgia, this also means pointing out a lot of lies and distortions. When we're looking at what's happening here in this law, like I was saying, yes, you have the lies from the different state representatives and state senators. You have the lies from the various election officials, you know, in varied capacities. But you have also our governor, who was the former Secretary of State, who is known for his own shenanigans and foolishness, But, I mean, he's someone who actually lied ahead of his own election for governor.

The weekend ahead of his election for governor, he lied and said that Stacey Abrams campaign and Democrats were trying to hack the state of Georgia, which was not true. An investigation later revealed that it was not true. And he has never been held accountable to that. So we know Brian Camp lies on a regular. Rod Raffensberger also has fell into this whole of trying to appease his party and placating and twisting, you know, rhetoric. It's one thing to deal with and be able to point out a bold-faced lie, which we've seen in the testimony from Rudy Giuliani when he was in these various hearings in Michigan and here in Georgia, which we've seen, unfortunately, even in some of the testimony or some of the conversations happening in chambers in the passage of these bills by Republican elected officials.

And I often harp on the Secretary of State because everyone has, in terms of national media, has like lionized him and made him this very important figure. but at the same time, he gives credence and he finds ways to give legitimacy, even though he has certified the election, even though he has acknowledged there's no widespread fraud, even though he acknowledged that this is the most secure election Jordan has ever had, all these other things, he will still say things that leave open the door that act like there is legitimate concern. I mean, just even the widespread reporting of fraud that was happening, it was an issue. At some point, it's not simply that people don't know the process and don't understand what's going on, and people are being willfully obtuse. As I have for more than 25 years, I will stand with my fellow Georgians in pursuit of fairness. You see, I did so as a college student, speaking in the shadow of Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King Jr. I did so as Democratic leader of the House of Representatives, and now I will do so as a private citizen.

In the 2018 gubernatorial election in Georgia, Stacey Abrams acknowledged that her opponent Brian Kemp would be the next governor of Georgia. I watched her speech from Atlanta, where, full disclosure, I spent time in the state knocking doors for her campaign. During the election, Brian Kemp was Georgia's Secretary of State, which meant that he was in charge of overseeing his own election. As Secretary of State, Kemp purged over 1.4 million in active voters with low-income and Black Georgians being the most likely to have their registrations canceled. He also oversaw 53,000 voter registrations being put on hold, thanks to Georgia's exact match policy, that flags registrations from voters with any kind of name discrepancy in state databases. So if you registered for your

first learner's permit with your first and middle name, and then registered to vote with just your first name, you would be flagged. According to the Associated Press, nearly 70% of those voter registrations on hold were black voters, despite the state's population only being about 32% black. Now, because of all this, Abrams has said the 2018 gubernatorial election was stolen from the Georgia voters. After the race, she formed Fair Fight, an organization aimed at increasing voter turnout and ensuring that all votes are accurately counted. It was hugely successful, and their work is often credited with securing the historic Democratic wins in Georgia this past election. But here's where things get tricky. Current Secretary of State Brad Raffensberger has compared what Abrams did to Trump's refusal to concede and press,

assuring officials to quote, fine votes. In a recent USA Today op-ed, he calls Trump's refusal to concede a page out of Stacey Abrams's playbook, writing Abrams's refusal to concede at her dogmatic conviction that her election was stolen had done significant damage to trust an election integrity in Georgia. You have Rapinsberger recently writing an op-ed in the USA Today and in part of the rhetoric from him and one of his staffers Gabe Sterling, blaming Stacey Abrams and saying that her fight around the 2018 election and the ongoing lawsuit and the work of fair fight is the same as Donald Trump, right, that false equivalency. And so while that's not like this exactly the same as the outright bold face lying, like saying like, oh, there was massive fraud happening in Fulton County or

whatever, at the same time, it still lends credence. It still gives legitimacy. And because they did have the one brave stand, which really was a matter of, I don't want to go to jail because that's hella illegal. Like, I mean, let's just be real. Like Brad, Brad did not, Brad did everything else in his power. Brad didn't want to go to jail because that's like telling someone to go find some votes. This ain't scandal. Like, that's jail, right? Like, this is real life. And so, but they will, they will still craft narratives. They still will shift things that still give support. And then people who are like, oh, well, he's a secretary of state. He's an elected official. He should get some deference. We'll cover and report what he says and does as if it's legitimate concern.

when in fact it's really just also in the, the furtherance of the Republican agenda, which we have seen very clearly over this past year. But I mean, you and I, you know, as folks who have been digging in and focusing and looking at the scourge that is disinformation, have seen how deeply entrenched and widespread it has been, particularly over the past several years, and the very deep digital networks that already exist. and like, you know, liberals in the left and progressives are way behind the eight ball. We react, unfortunately, to things where these people are very strategic. I mean, even I was reading an article this morning about one of the lawyers that was representing Trump

with all that nonsense. She was actually one of the lawyers on that infamous phone call is now heading up or at least co-leading one of the efforts to attack HR1. And so it's not just Georgia, right? you see this coordinated GOP attack on voting rights and really on democracy at this point. When we are having people lie and having those lies enshrined into law and I mean, folks will say it happens in other capacities, but what's happening right now in terms of elections and election reform and how we are treating false allegations as valid considerations for passing law,

it's a very scary precedent that's being set right now. I mean, it's so sad, but that's really been Trump's legacy, you know? After the election, I saw this poll from our street that said that two-thirds of Republicans say the 2020 presidential election was invalid. And I think that's kind of the point of this kind of disinformation to make people really distrust our democratic process to the point where they just sort of check out. Even in states where Trump won, right? We're still seeing that happening and unfold.

right? Like in Iowa, we're still seeing a Republican majority in Iowa, even though Trump won that state. Let's take a quick break. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel help an acapella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter.

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Streaming, radio, and podcasting. Call 844-8-4-I-Hart to get started. That's 844-8-4-I-Hart. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in.

I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves. Their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear.

The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered. Sports Slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them.

Listen to Sports Slice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, Follow Timbo Slica Life 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Jacob Kingston grew up in an isolated polygamous sect. We were God's chosen kingdom on earth. He felt destined for greatness. So when a swaggering Armenian businessman catapults Jacob into an extraordinary world, he doesn't look back.

Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, meeting the president of Turkey. I'm Michelle McPhee, and this is one of the most shocking criminal concerns. I've ever come across. When Jacob met Levan this went to a billion-dollar fraud. But with two kings from entirely different worlds, just how long can their empire survive? The largest tax investigation in American history. You need to tell me what you know.

Is somebody coming after me? Jacob told Levan, you're ruining my life. Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. And we're back. Democrats have their own legislation to expand voting rights called HR1, which would expand access to voting by making Election Day and National Holiday, offering online and automatic registration for anyone who wanted it,

and prohibit the kind of voter purges that we saw before the 2018 governor's race in Georgia from taking place less than six months before an election. Now, even though we're talking about voting rights, Anoa says it's about much more than that. She says it's about a coordinated right-wing attack on democracy, like the waves of anti-trans and anti-abortion bills we've seen in some states. And any attack on identities is a direct attack on democracies. Like, we're still seeing them push through these types of laws.

We're seeing it in Mississippi and Missouri. Like, we're still seeing in areas that even, like, they're seizing. This isn't just about like, oh, we're upset because this happened. And this is a real opportunity point for them. And this is like, I really do think that we ignore, we forget. Like there's so much, with so much focus on Trump and resistance and getting Trump out of office that these state legislatures, these state, you know, capitals and governor seats, we've ignored the way in which that very and deeply entrenched rhetoric has permeated at the state level and is backed and funded by some of the usual suspects that we've been talking about over the last, you know, however many decades that fund and get behind these types of work.

And what was really interesting, someone sent me an article recently. They talked about some of the major anti-abortion folks are also getting in the fight behind HR1. So we also see, I had an article a couple weeks back in Troufout, just talking about how, like, when we're talking about voting rights and we're talking about what's happening in these fights, it literally isn't, we're talking about saving democracy. It's not just about voting rights, right? It's about all these other opportunities and entry points. And we're seeing some of the worst legislation that is really denying people's humanity

and right to exist when we see the trans sports bills being passed in various places. When we see these various attacks on reproductive rights and freedom. And so we really have this much broader attack happening on democracy. And there are these various levels of lives. I mean, just thinking about the way the anti-abortion stuff happens. So much of that is based on fear mongering around mistruths and disinformation as well, right? So like it permeates across so much. In conversations about disinformation, it's tempting to focus on foreign bad actors like Russia.

But sometimes that can lead us to overlook the massive coordination of domestic bad actors right here in our own country and the powerful networks of online distortions they have at their disposal. We spent so much time in 2017 post-election focusing on Russian interference. and Russian amplification of disinformation, but never looking at the disinformation itself, the domestic information. And I think now, and I really appreciate what you've been doing, like, so many people have been like sounding the alarm on the danger of what is happening domestically. I think now maybe folks are starting to understand, but it's still being limited to Trump's big lie, which Trump's big lie is really having a grip on our national politics right now. But,

Part of the reason why it's able to do so is because these networks have been able to thrive and have existed for so long and they're so deep and intense. And so, like, it takes, it's a lot to, like, peel back those layers. I don't think people understand about, like, how people get targeted with disinformation, particularly when they come after black, Latino, and other folks of color through the various mediums. Like, I know, you know, Latino folks have talked to me about, like, the use of WhatsApp. I think some Asian folks, too, have talked about the use of WhatsApp groups, which are very common with both communities in terms of how they share and disseminate information. So what you end up happening is you might have somebody's auntie or whoever who sees like this posts or sees this thing. It's like, oh, my God, did you see this? And then it spreads like wildfire.

But like that information is not actually accurate, right? So we, there are these other ways that is very insidious in infiltrating trusted spaces that somehow we have to figure out. how do we help people become, you know, better shares of information and really, like, see through? Because there are some things that might kind of make sense. That's, like, what's really tricky, too, right? People will say things that might make sense. Like, let's take first up with a voter ID stuff, right? So in the Georgia law, you know, there's a new voter ID requirement for folks who are voting absentee ballot. And it will be like, well, what's wrong? You need ID for everything else. You need ID when you do this. Yes, you need ID.

You need to prove who you are when you register. But once you've registered, like, why do I have to keep showing you the picture itself, right? Like, you need ID. You need ID when you go here. You need ID. Like, so people will do this thing. They're like, well, that makes sense. But the rhetoric, the rationalization has to do with fraud when the fraud has never been proven to be an actual issue.

Right. Like so they, I remember, I remember doing some research during the election and like in Alabama, and when Alabama was adapting its voter ID law, the NACP Legal Defense Fund looked back 12 years prior to the year when they were trying to enact the law, trying to see how many fraud cases there were. There was only like one or two in a 12 year period. Right.

And so like they will use the presence of like one or two. And they'll be like, well, see, there's an issue because this one or two happened. Or someone made a comment about people changing, you know, ballots. But it was a Republican postal man in West Virginia that was changing people's request ballots, but it was caught, right? That's the other thing, right? The very rare instances where things happen, the people doing it are caught like almost right away, right? Because of the mechanisms already built into the system. So media frustrates me too because how they report these things as if they're valid considerations on all sides when really the only side we need to be

thinking about is like democracy, right? And what does it mean to uphold and protect democracy? And how could you ever justify in rationales to say you're protecting democracy by keeping people out? Yeah, I mean, you can't, you know, in a democracy, you want to expand voting access. You want to make it easier and get rid of barriers that people have to vote, not enact more. And it was really disingenuous to see a statement today, I think, from Kemp, who was like, you know, oh, we're widening the, like, the ability for people to vote. We're expanding it. And it's just a lie.

I mean, there is just not a way that you could look at that and see the, see the kinds of barriers that this legislation puts in place and try with a straight face to say that you're actually trying to make it easier for people to vote. If that's the case, why are you threatening souls to the polls? Why have you made it so to make it harder for people to give water to folks standing in long lines, right? Like, if that's, it's part of it to me is shocking how they can seize on something that might have a nugget of truth to try to paint a wider, a wide. you know, portrait of what's happening. To your point earlier about the networks and how coordinated this is, before you and I got on this call, I was just doing a little search about, like, what's the, you know, what am I seeing in, like, Republican or right-wing spaces? Like, what's the conversation online? And what you said about, like, oh, you need an ID to go

buy liquor. You need an ID to do XYZ. Why is it bad to have to need an ID to vote? it was interesting to me that in some large Facebook groups that are not even necessarily like explicitly political, I saw a bunch of memes this morning kind of making that point. And they make the point in a way that seems to make sense. You're like, okay, you know, I get the point that's being made and it seems, it seems non-controversial. But when you think about it, you're like, oh, wait, in context, that's actually really messed up. And then, you know, it's just interesting to me how how there are these networks online that are ready to echo and amplify the distortions of folks on the right about voting and disseminate them into groups of people who might not even be necessarily primed to be looking at like politically charged content. But this is exactly how we saw the Stop the Steel stuff spread, right? And the J. Racist insurrection. Like we, these people have been primed and right.

is why you have so many quote unquote normal mild-mannered folks. They've been all wrapped up in the Q&N and whatever because again, this stuff is overlooked. It's not seen as important to engage with. I just remember some years ago, just nonsense that would happen on Twitter. And then people be like, why do you even waste time debunking that? Like, what's the point? Like, I've learned there are probably more effective ways to do things than having one-on-one arguments with dumb folks on Twitter. But at the same time, like when you have people with large platforms who are engaging in some of this, you know, both sides or these red herrings and stuff, it is dangerous because they are then informing and engaging so many other people. But like with these various groups, I mean,

I've seen people talking about like the yoga groups, like some of them are more like just basic spiritual type places that unfortunately end up being places where there was a lot of widespread COVID-19 misinformation being spread as well. And not necessarily because the people sharing it themselves are malicious or trying to fool people. Like, Some of it made sense to people, but like whoever's putting it out there and creating it, knowing that people are going to pick it up. Like, I think it was earlier this year, there's actually someone being charged by the FBI, which I don't really know how I feel about this.

But at the same time, it is a very interesting conversation to have. There was someone being charged by the FBI, and part of it was because they were disseminating misleading information, targeting predominantly black and I think voters of color. but they were sending out what made it seem like you could vote by using a text code if you couldn't get to the polls. And think about it, right? Like people were doing innovative things to help people vote in the middle of a pandemic. So if you're someone who's not very politically savvy who doesn't know that you can't vote by text or by tweeting at someone, I mean, like to me and you, that might seem like, duh, of course you can't do that.

But to somebody who doesn't know any better who actually thinks that that could be a real legitimate option and their way of also engaging the process, in the middle of a pandemic, that's kind of fucked up. And so, like, this person, I guess, got investigated and the other folks in this, like, group chat they were in also got investigated. But they literally had a chat. They were surveilling these multiple different groups in different spaces and coordinating, releasing these memes and stuff, right? And so, like, I mean, that type of stuff has been happening.

And so to my point about the Russia stuff, like, what was happening with the Russia's stuff in its place in the conversation, it really overshadowed the mass volume of what was happening domestically. And so people had years now unchecked to perfect that domestic system. And we're really seeing it rear its head in coordination with just the regular conservative, you know, legislative organizing that already happens. Like, you know, you used to, people used to talk about, like you would see the Alec bills that basically was the same boiled plate language. multiple states across the country, they're a little bit more savvy now because we're seeing similar things happening across the country and it's clearly not a coincidence. Can you tell us some

of what's in this law? Some of the most insidious parts of the law here in Georgia, it removes the Secretary of State of State Board of Elections. State Board of Elections is a five-person body. The General Assembly appoints two of those people. The General Assembly will now appoint a majority of the five with the removal of the Secretary of State as the chair. So our Republican controlled legislature will now, in effect, control the state election board, which is state of election board sets down election, you know, per view regulations for the entire state, which is how we select our members of a general assembly. And, you know, there's a brilliant lawyer here that I follow and really looks to for guidance,

Sarah Tyndel Gazzal, and she was just pointing out in one of the hearings, like how ridiculous it is, one of, you know, the proponent, those proponents, Barry Fleming was like, well, I mean, the governor appoints the entire board of regions. The governor points the transportation board. And she's just like, okay, I guess I got to explain this to you. But that's fine. The governor appoints those bodies. But you all appointing the people who set the rules for how you all hold office isn't really like you're appointing your own referees and then we're expecting them to hold you accountable. Like it's just a wild. proposition. Here's how one voter described her voting experience in Georgia. I don't feel like this is happening at all polls. I'm in a 30331 zip code and I feel like most of the problems that occurred and this is what we were told that certain polling locations have problems and I do believe it's I think it's targeted. Another thing they did that directly targets Fulton County in particular is forbidding the use of mobile vans for voting, mobile voting. This was also something that was done in Harris County in Texas.

And so like that helps because, you know, Fulton County, Gwinnett County, the Metro Atlantic counties in particular are often burdened with the very long lines. And so mobile voting was something that was implemented to help alleviate some of that. So it's basically setting up a mobile polling site. So that was that helped alleviate some of that. So like when they're talking about oh, we're making it easier, how are you making it easier when you're restricting the time period within which people have to request an absentee ballot and return it. Because if you really want to make it easier, you could have adopted a policy that several states have where you return the absentee ballot as long as it's postmarked on election day or the day before election day,

as long as it's received in a particular time period, it would still count. They could have went that route. So there are things that they could have done, but they chose more restrictive means. Now, a lot of the headlines about this bill have pointed out that it puts new restrictions on how volunteers can do things like give water or snacks or a chair to people waiting in long lines. to vote. But it's even more worrisome than it sounds. So for folks who might not be familiar, like line warming is what is you keep in line warm, you keep people comfortable who are standing in line. I remember in 2018, the New Georgia project in some of their election protection folks,

they literally sent a mariachi ban to one line to keep people entertained because they're waiting in line so long. And so because we have these long lines, because depending upon the weather, if it's in like, you know, spring, because we have very worn spring time here in Georgia, or if it's very cold for whatever reason or raining. You know, people have handed out ponchos. People have handed out hand warmers, food, like snacks. I mean, you have pizzas to the polls. You have the chef for the polls with chef Jose Andreas started the chef to the polls this past cycle, too.

So you have these other things that people are doing. And they have tried to compare it to partisan electioneering in the past. and you even had Brad Raffersberger telling media that it was, in fact, illegal and a felony. So before the state actually made it illegal, you had the Secretary of State telling people that it was illegal, and you had people being harassed accordingly because of his misinterpretation and misstatements of law. So now that it is illegal to be within 150 feet, that's the same, why that 100 to feet, why I keep harking on that, is because that is the same distance that if you're representing a party or a candidate, you have to be away. So they have compared nonpartisan activity to partisan activity.

And that's a very real attack on black and brown and other organizers of color who have been trying to help alleviate what we see. You know, we don't want people to be discouraged. So I will also note that because there's not anything clear cut in law and like voting rights law, period, the way people have tried to kind of just protect themselves and make sure they don't end up being accused of violating any type of federal laws. Because it has been a lot, I think since the 40s, that you cannot give anyone of something of value for their vote. And so, unfortunately, because of the discretion involved and are interpreting, you know, a secretary of state like Brad Raffers, could interpret that as, you know, giving something someone of value because they're in line to vote, which it's like, whatever, it's a stretch, but whatever. So how a lot of folks have dealt with that is like anyone in the vicinity, whether it's the poll workers, if you're at some place, that has security, if there are other people passing through the general community, anyone can get

anything we're giving out no matter what, right? Like, it's a service. And, you know, when I got a, I got some quotes when I was writing the article, like from the piece of the poll folks, one of the things they said was, we see this as a way of incentivizing civic engagement in the general community. So we'll provide it to anyone, right? And I know that several lawyers have advised people that that was the best way to handle it as well. But now it doesn't matter who you're giving it to, regardless, is just the very act of being close to the polling location, they have now decided to criminalize. And that is a very clear attack in a very real way

at something that is very commonly known to be seen as an added value and benefit to communities. And so we're seeing this a very real attack, not just simply on democracy, but on our participation as people of color who are exercising and leveraging that power. And a lot of folks are comparing this to Jim Crow. And I'd really be interested in talking to some historians just to learn more about that post,

that early, the pre, you know, 50, 60 civil rights era. So like, you know, the late 1800s to like the 1940s, 1950s, because it seems like in some ways we're really in that period, like post-reconstruction, where we saw very blatant active attempts to strip black political power from communities. This attempt to strip black communities of power via curbing access to voting is nothing new. After the Civil War during Reconstruction, black folks were attacked by racist poll taxes and literacy tests and other barriers to make it harder for us to vote. According to the Brennan Center, even though these laws are over a century old, as recently as 2012, 46 states allowed for voter challenges, laws that allowed any private citizen to challenge the eligibility of prospective voters on or before election day. Now, these kinds of barriers to voting have never gone down without a fight. organizations like Black Voters Matter, led by Cliff Albright, have already challenged Georgia's new law on the grounds that it will unfairly hurt Black and Brown voters.

So it's going to be interesting about like how some of this stuff even stands up in court. New Georgia Project Black Voters Matter Fund and RISE all filed, they file the joint suit the same night that Kemp signed the bill. So it's going to be interesting to see how that moves forward and unfolds. But but the voter challenges. So basically, and this is like something that used to happen in the old days too, like you could just go in or really white people could just go in and be like, no, that person can't vote for whatever reason or whatever. And you would literally have to have like a white person like someone come vouch for you. And so it's something very similar. Like they can come in and just challenge anyone for any reason.

And that is very intimidating. It's very stressful. That is something that actually is very insidious. it also kind of feels like an attack on some aspects of the black way of life. I know I have older women in my life who I call Auntie and drop off mail and groceries and prescriptions for who are not actually my blood relatives. And I wouldn't be able to touch their ballots. You can't have other people collecting your ballots for you.

And again, that might even sound logical to people, but you have some folks. What about people who can't get around and get out, right? Like, we all know folks. So, like, if I know people in my general, like, life, unless I'm directly related in a household with them, I can't touch their ballot for them, right? But if they don't have anyone, and a lot of us live in families and community like that, right? Where we have Ms. So-and-so who, no, I'm technically not related to her, but she's still my auntie or she's still my grandma or whoever. And it's not anything nefarious. For Noah, the root of this is so obvious.

It's racist. The root of it all is they are afraid that they won't win elections unless they do this. It's not like, hi, I should adopt better policies or maybe I need to not be so extremists in our positions. It's like, no, we just need to do whatever we came to retain and maintain power and make sure them darkies don't. Because that's really what it is. That's really what it is. We talk about it, but it's like, you and I both know, right? Like it's so clear.

No one wants to come out and say it. They don't say it. They dance around it. But it's clear that's what's happening. Anybody, anybody can see it. More after a quick break. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends.

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Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking, Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark, sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing. And we're still chasing it.

And we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on Earth. Are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust.

I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, learn the hard way. Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search, learn the hard way, and listen now.

Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where sports slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise.

breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered. Sports slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to Sports Slice on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Let's get right back into it. Kemp, flanked by a bunch of white male Georgia state legislators, sign the law under a painting of a slave plantation. When folks are pointing to Kemp signing that bill under a picture of not just any plantation, right? Like what someone, several folks have just pierced out the history of the plantation that's depicted, a very brutal, atrocious, you know, that held like, I think upwards of a hundred slaves. Like that with, and then I mean, also you have him flanked by six white men, which I believe just taking a quick glance. And that's like six people who are above house and sit at leadership. I mean, the fact that, you know, the leadership of our government is all white men in a rapidly diversifying state like Georgia is quite telling.

I mean, that's the other thing, right? Like, there is this real fear that they are losing power and that's at the heart of it. But we know what happens when white fear controls policy, right? We've seen it. We've seen, you know, folks can act like, oh, the KKK or white supremacy is just some white national. that's some extreme outside thing. But unfortunately, a lot of those same tenants, a lot of those same attitudes influence

when we're looking at the way in which people are charged with various crimes or we're looking at the decisions that are being made. We're looking at the way in which our children are treated in public schools. We see the very deep, rooted nature of white supremacy across so many facets of society. So we can't just, you know, it's not enough to just say this is Trump's big lie. Like it's so much more than that happening. And I'm just really, like, excited for the work that you're doing and the conversations you've been having around disinformation because we really need to understand how these systems are operating and what role do we all have to play. And we really should take that role seriously. I really do believe that we all have a role to play in fighting against information. It doesn't matter if you are aligned ideologically. If you're a conservative, if you're someone who believes in more moderate or conservative values, you should want people. telling the truth. Like, you just, you should want facts. You should not want to exist with people

distorting information and blatantly lying. It's a wild time we're in. Bridget, like, this is a wild time. It's a wild time. I guess that's one of my last questions for you. What do you think is next for the state of voting in Georgia? Like, what's next? Where do we go from here? We keep doing what we've been doing. Like, I keep reporting, but I've been reporting. I'm sure organizers. I just finished interviewing Cliff Albright and some other folks. Simone Bell is a former state rep.

And we were just talking about what's next, right? In conversations with folks are just like, so now what? And so folks are, you know, working through like what does it look like possibly as an economic boycott strategy or continuing the corporate accountability strategy as a pressure point

to paraphrase Cliff. Just thinking about like the Georgia law has been passed. It's now that's up. Now that for that specifically, that's up to the lawsuit, right, the legal strategy. There's always still the organizing strategy and working within the confines of the new limitations that exist. We see folks continuing to, you know, strategize, organized, and just get more people in the process. But that corporate accountability strategy, you know, folks are all hyped up about boycotting Georgia. And I personally tend to object to boycotts unless they are called directly by people themselves.

As soon as the legislation was signed into law, people on social media began calling for boycotts of Georgia-based corporations, like Delta Airlines and Coca-Cola, until they came out against the law. Now, boycotts like these have been effective in the past. In the 80s, organizers called for a boycott of Coca-Cola and other U.S. companies if they didn't divest from South Africa to help end apartheid. But the difference is, those boycotts were led by local folks on the ground, not outsiders on Twitter. Anoa thinks any calls for boycotts should be led by organizers in Georgia, not people who don't live there. But also, like, with a boycott, and, you know, I had folks like, well, you know, they did it in the 80s with Coca-Cola. That was a part of a very strategic effort around divestment from South Africa, right? And I do remember as a kid, we did not drink Coca-Cola or worry box because of divestment. That's like the only thing, like, I really remember, you know, being a young child in the 80s.

That and then by the early 90s, a different world episode where one of the characters had to give up or chose to give up a scholarship because the company had not divested from South Africa. Economic accountability, economic corporate boycotts. That stuff can work, but it's strategic. It has to be led by impacted people who are very clear on what the goals are. I think Senator Warnock actually said this really well in an interview recently. they're so busy asking Democrats about why the filibuses or the filibuster. It's like, why aren't you asking Republicans about why they're not protecting voting rights? Like, why they don't care.

I think that's what, but where we all go, I think we need to have a very clear commitment and understanding that democracy is not just some stagnant thing that just exists. It is really an active process that requires us to play a very clear, consistent role. So whether that's just being involved in, you know, even if it's, being involved in your kids like if there's like a local school council or something for your district or your school or if it's you know when you can and have the time because I also I mean I've been a single mom my entire adult life I had my daughter when I was 20 when almost my entire adult life and I discount the years their dad was around but like I you know so I get being busy

right like I get having multiple competing things you know I've taken care of other people in addition to my kids. So I understand having other things pressing on us, but we can still find a way to write off that letter to, you know, now they, now with the technology is so easy. You can automatically send out the texts to do stuff, the autopopulate, the emails. I mean, we, we can, we can follow and support the work of black and other organizers of color, not just here in Georgia, because yes, they're amazing people, Georgia, but you know what? There are awesome folks throwing down all over the South and really all over the country. I think between Georgia and the Midwest, not to exclude anyone else, the South and the Midwest, I've met some of the most prolific

organizers really grinding and working at multiple intersections of crisis right now, because we're still in the middle of a pandemic, and we have the democracy issues, and then just the regular issue-based work that people are doing. So I think about folks like Mississippi Votes, who are the People's Advocacy Institute led by Rakea Lumumba and Mississippi Voses Zerica Bennett. I think about work over in Louisiana. I mean, up in Wisconsin, you have lit leaders igniting transformation and block black leaders organizing communities. And those are both organizations that have worked around multiple issues as well as elections and civic engagement, while at the same time holding space for community in the middle of a pandemic.

And so these types of groups exist all over. Some of them may be smaller and may not be as well funded. And that's definitely where you like your support. I mean, like we act like, you know, donations don't matter. But like financial freedom writers are a thing in my opinion. It's definitely necessary. Not all of us can get there and be there physically in person. Not everybody has to be on the front line.

That's one of things I appreciate about the pandemic too, I think, that folks have learned their. different ways that you can contribute and being like literally on the front line is not the only thing of value you can do. Can you feed some folks every once in a while? That's also really valuable. So I mean, I just think as we're wrapping up like, you know, and just thinking about where to go next, also sharing good information, sharing podcasts and, you know, like yours, sharing articles like the ones I write, like that goes a long way because we don't necessarily have the same distribution networks that the other side does. And so we need to get our information out there. I'll just share.

a real quick personal story like, I've had these conversations with my mother about sharing bad information about COVID, whether the vaccine or whatever. And it's the same thing. They target black folks. It sounds kind of right, right? Like it makes kind of sense. They get you hooked in. But I had to walk through with my mom.

I had to point her to black doctors she should be following. And one thing she said was, she goes, well, if they're saying such good information, why isn't their information being shared everywhere? I said, unfortunately, because of the way these algorithms work, the way the sharing systems work, she was like, oh, well, so taking the time to just talk to our folks, right? Like, that's super critical. The bill attacking abortion access in Texas is just one more plank of a coordinated attack on our democracy and the rights of marginalized people. And it's time for all of us to fight back.

Go to tangoity.com slash donate to support abortion funds in Texas. Got a story about an interesting thing in tech or just want to say hi? You can reach us at hello at tangoity.com. You can also find transcripts for today's episode at tangoity.com. There are no girls on the internet was created by me, Bridget Todd. It's a production of IHeartRadio and Unbossed Creative. Jonathan Strickland is our executive producer. Taray Harrison is our producer and sound engineer.

Michael Amato is our contributing producer. I'm your host, Bridget Todd. If you want to help us grow, write and review us on Apple Podcasts. For more podcasts from IHeartRadio, check out the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts. Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy guide. Not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, S&L's Mikey Day and headwriter, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter.

Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Life is full of hurdles. So how do you keep going? On Hurtle with Emily Abadi, we're talking with the most inspiring women in sports and wellness from professional athletes, coaches, and Olympic champions about the challenges that shape them and the mindset that keeps them moving forward. At our level, at this scale, being able to fail in front of the entire world.

Like, I can do anything. I can do anything. Listen to Hurtle with Emily Abadi on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. I'm Michelle McPhee. And I've been unraveling the strangest criminal alliance I've ever reported on, a Mormon polygamist and an Armenian businessman. Multi-million dollar house, Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, a billion dollar fraud.

But how long can this alliance last? Tell me what you know. Is somebody coming after me? Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where SportsSlice comes in. I'm Timbo, and every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the biggest moments in sports and giving you the real story behind the headline.

And we're going straight to the source, the athletes themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions in the moment, and the stuff nobody gets to hear. Listen to Sports Slice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slica Life 12 in the TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok.