CBS NEWS: Garland names special counsel to oversee Trump documents case, aspects of Jan. 6 probe.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/special-counsel-trump-investigations-merrick-garland/ via @CBSPolitics

VICE NEWS- ARIZONAS NEW SECRETARY OF STATE WANTS TO CALL 'ELECTION DENIERS' TRAITORS.

“Why let them off the hook? We’re gonna hurt their feelings?”

This content comes from the latest installment of our weekly Breaking the Vote newsletter out of VICE News’ D.C. bureau, tracking the ongoing efforts to undermine the democratic process in America. Sign up here to get it in your inbox every Friday.

“I have not conceded, we all know why. That is all,” Mark Finchem, the QAnon-promoting, Oath Keeper-repping GOP candidate for Arizona Secretary of State tweeted after he lost. Finchem was among the last of former President Donald Trump’s cadre of election-denying candidates to have his race called last week. He lost to Democrat Adrian Fontes, a lawyer and former Maricopa County recorder. I reached out to Fontes to see how he felt about bringing down one of 2022’s democracy-threatening candidates.

What message do you think Arizona voters were sending in your win over Mark Finchem? 

Arizona voters told its government, “we’re ok with elections the way they are now. We don’t want major changes. We don’t want hand counts. We’re ok with machines the way they are. We don’t want the Big Lie any more. We just want to vote, find out who won, who lost.” That’s what my mandate is. 

Why do you say it’s time to do away with the term “election deniers” to describe people who falsely say Biden didn’t win in 2020? 

Calling them election deniers gives them too much breathing room. It minimizes the threat in using that label. It’s as if we’re trying to be politically correct against the political aggressor and I don’t believe in that type of appeasement. Call the traitor a traitor. Call the seditionist a seditionist. Call the authoritarian an authoritarian. Why let them off the hook? We’re gonna hurt their feelings?

Sometimes bad guys don’t like being called bad guys. And just because they’re sensitive does mean they’re not a-holes. 

Huh. I’m not sure I’ve heard that from any other candidate. Pro-democracy candidates seemed to do pretty well in the midterms. But a lot of them at times seemed to struggle to find clear and salient language about what was at stake for democracy. 

We came up with a slogan around this. “Sabemos lo que es perderlo.” ”We know what it’s like to lose it.” We used it in all our Spanish-language radio and TV ads. The idea that we know what it’s like to lose it is real from a cultural context and the cultural history of Latinos and Native Americans in Arizona. 

It was hard to justify a basic translation about democracy that was relevant to the cultural DNA of “pioneers” or “trailblazers.” It doesn’t have the same cultural heft if you were the child of a family that was here already when the pioneers showed up. Or if you’re an immigrant from some other Latin American country because you ran away from authoritarianism or totalitarianism.  

I felt it as a Hispanic man in the US. I wanted to hold myself to a higher standard because I’m not just representing a party or a brand, but myself. And I wanted to do it right with something better than a rote translation.

Mark Finchem and others on the right are now debasing the election, calling for a redo, and demanding it not be certified. It appears election denialism isn’t going anywhere in Arizona, even as you get ready to take over.

They don’t like being pushed back against. You saw his reactions on Twitter. I don’t follow him because I don’t give a shit what he has to say, but he was melting down. People of strength don’t usually do that. He’s very weak, and it shows. The Republicans who voted for me saw it. As for their demands, I don’t occupy myself with nonsense until there’s something real to deal with. This election was a good election and was run well. We’ll have a canvass in a week or so, we may have one or two recounts, but we’ll move on. And democracy has survived. 

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IT'S ABOUT TIME. MORE ELECTED OFFICIALS SHOULD BE CALLING THEM FOR WHAT THEY REALLY ARE. THESE ARE NOT DECENT, UPRIGHT AMERICANS. THEY ARE FASCIST STOOGES, WHO FOLLOW THE LEAD OF THEIR MESSIAH: DER FUEHRER TRUMP. 

WHETHER THEY WON OR LOST DOES NOT MATTER. THEIR GOAL IS TO UNDERMIND OUR CONSTITUTIONAL REPUBLIC TO DESTROY IT. DON'T BELIEVE IT? ASK PROGRESSIVES IN FLORIDA, OHIO AND TEXAS ABOUT THE STATES LEADERSHIP, AND THEN LOOK AT RECENT ELECTION RESULTS. (IN SOME CASES THEY'RE SO OBVIOUSLY BOGUS THAT IT'S ALMOST LIKE A PARODY.)

ARIZONA- GOOD FOR YOU. IT'S A PLEASURE TO SEE ANOTHER PART OF THE AMERICAN WEST STANDING UP TO THE NEO-NAZI/FASCIST RECRUITING TOOL THAT THE GOP IS TURNING INTO. (I had the pleasure of visiting your great state a number of years ago, and have never forgotten the Wonderful People, or the Breathtaking Scenery.)

DAVID MCDONALD, PUBLISHER.

WELL, AT LEAST THE COURT SYSTEM IN FLORIDA ISN'T RUN BY FASCISTS. FIRE- VICTORY: FEDERAL COURT STOPS FLORIDAS 'DYSTOPIAN' WOKE ACT.

REICHSFUEHRER DESANTIS MUST BE GOOSESTEPPING MAD.

BOGUS ELECTIONS GIVE YOU BOGUS ELECTED OFFICIALS.

 

When Florida lawmakers decided to violate the First Amendment rights of students and faculty members like Sam Rechek and Adriana Novoa, we said “we’ll see you in court.” Today, a federal court stopped enforcement of key parts of the “Stop WOKE Act,” calling the law “positively dystopian” and ruling that it violates the First Amendment because it censors viewpoints on Florida’s college campuses. Citing George Orwell, the court criticized the state’s power grab “to muzzle its professors in the name of ‘freedom.’”   VIDEO: FIRE attorney Greg Greubel explains the implications of today’s update.   The law turns professors into mouthpieces of the government, snatching away their ability to offer any viewpoint not endorsed by the state — even for the sake of argument. It also limits their ability to teach on concepts related to race and sex and requires faculty to censor guest lecturers. Adriana and Sam joined with FIRE in September to challenge the law. Adriana, a University of South Florida professor, would have been required to remove course readings — including one on Jackie Robinson and segregation for her course on sports history — to comply with the law. Sam, head of USF’s First Amendment Forum student group, said it’s impossible to engage in frank discussions of contested issues when a professor’s response to questions may be reported to administrators or government officials for formal action.  That is why state legislatures — Republican or Democratic — should not enact laws that restrict constitutionally protected speech in college classrooms. FIRE will continue to fight any and all attempts to limit the First Amendment rights of the American people.   What does this mean? Watch FIRE attorney Greg Greubel explain the implications of today’s update.

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WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU DON'T HAVE ELECTION GUIDELINES, OR ELEMENTS OF LAW ENFORCEMENT THAT WON'T DO IT'S JOB.