Are we possibly headed to a complete electoral and political meltdown in November, complete with riots in the streets and threats of secession by some states? Last week something called the Transition Integrity Project (TIP) made huge news with a 22-page report on a simulation exercise of scenarios of what might happen in the event we have a contested election in November. A bipartisan groups of political luminaries, including former RNC chair Michael Steele, former Michigan Democratic Governor Jennifer Granholm, and all-around liberal potentate John Podesta, conducted the simulation, and it set off a media frenzy over the prospects of either Trump or Biden contesting the election result right up to inauguration day, with potential riots in the streets, and “Seven Days in May”-sounding concern over what the military might do!
Nils Gilman
Amidst all the handwringing and near-hysteria about a report projecting possible hysteria, few news stories (or podcasts for that matter), bothered to talk in depth with the two leaders of TIP, Rosa Brooks of Georgetown University Law Center, and Nils Gilman, vice president of programs at the Berggruen Institute in California. As it happens, I know Nils Gilman! He’s a very smart lefty, though he might quibble some with my description of him as such, and I like him personally, though we obviously disagree about a great many (though not all) things. So I decided to ring him up and talk through the TIP report and several related matters, and the result is this fast-paced hour-long show that barely scratches the surface of the many issues that deserve exploration. (So we may need to do a sequel! Let me know what you think.)
For exit music this week, since I try to find something that fits the show’s theme, I decided to use Molly Hatchet’s tune from the 80s, “Flirtin’ With Disaster,” and it certainly fits!
We’re flirtin’ with disaster,
Ya’ll know what I mean
And the way we run our lives,
It makes no sense to meI’m travelin’ down that lonesome road
Feel like I’m dragging a heavy load
Yeah I’ve tried to turn my head away,
Feels about the same most every day
You know what to do next: listen here, or at our hosts at Ricochet.
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