Democracy on the Move

Are We Color Blind or Simply Blind?

The concepts of color blindness and meritocracy seem like a good idea. In practice, however, it completely ignores the fact that not everyone is treated equally in our society. But these concepts are sold nevertheless in an insidious maneuver to undermine our democracy.

Ignorance and Entitlement

In this short podcast, we talk about the way in which our own mythology instills in us a sense of entitlement, and this entitlement makes us both perpetrators and victims.

Impeach Josh Hawley?

In this short podcast, we focus on a key question regarding the January 6 insurrection: Should those elected members of congress that either participated in or contributed to the insurrection be allowed to remain in congress? Technically, the answer is no; however, as a practical matter, it’s difficult to remove an elected member from congress. Congresspeople are basically untouchable while in office. But that’s not to say that we citizens are powerless. When the next election rolls around, we ought to be able to disqualify a person from running again if he or she has broken their sacred oath to the Constitution. In this podcast we argue that Josh Hawley is one such individual, and we devote some time to considering a course of action.

Meet Jenna Roberson, Candidate for State Senate

Jenna Roberson joins us on the podcast to talk about politics in the eastern part of Missouri, where she is running for the state senate seat, district 2. Missouri is a super-majority state, heavily favoring Republicans, so Jenna, running as a Democrat, has her work cut out for her. But she’s not backing away from the big issues facing Missourians and the entire Midwest. Listen in as we talk about voting rights, abortion, the Missouri Legislature’s fight against ballot initiatives, critical race theory, factory farms and how Democrats need to connect with the Midwestern voter. This episode is packed with lots of issues important to the heartland!

Note that during this episode, we reference the following report: A Democracy Crisis in the Making.

Meet Spencer Toder, Candidate for U.S. Senate

Spencer Toder joins us on the podcast to discuss his candidacy for the U.S. Senate, representing Missouri. If he wins the primary and the general, Spencer would replace Roy Blunt as one of the two senators from Missouri. During this podcast, we dive into Spencer’s political philosophy and discuss several topics including:

• What qualifications does Spencer have; he is roughly half Roy Blunt’s age and has no prior political experience.
• What’s wrong with the Democrats’ messaging? Why do they appear so out of touch with many Americans?
• Does healthcare have to be so expensive, and what can we do about it?
• Why does the economy not work for everyone? What can we do to fix it?
• Voting rights seems to be under attack lately. What can we do to actually increase voting rights?
• Global warming (climate change) is real. What do we need to do today to get us back to a stable climate? Is the Green New Deal the answer?

Spend an hour listening to the views and political philosophy from someone who could well be the next senator from Missouri!

So You Want to Win a Local Election

What does it take to win a local election? Probably a lot more than you think! Jeff Ward, author of the book So You Want to Win a Local Election, lays it all out in brutally honest words. His book is chock-full hard advice you must take into consideration before running for political office. For example:

• Keep your ego in check; people will find the skeletons in your closet, and if they can't find any, they'll make 'em up.
• National negative politics doesn't play well at the local level.
• Don't run if your spouse isn't onboard with the idea.
• You must ignore many voters and focus only on the undecideds.
• Always remember the words of BB King, "Nobody loves you but your mother, and she could be jivin' too."

If you're considering a run for any office from state congress on down to the local water district, you should consider what Jeff Ward has to say. If he doesn't talk you out of running (which has happened), at least you'll be prepared to weather the storm.

Author Jessica Henry Discusses Wrongful Convictions

Jessica Henry, author of the book Smoke But No Fire - Convicting the Innocent of Crimes that Never Happened, drops by to discuss the book's topic; people convicted of crimes that never happened. You read that right; people are often convicted of crimes that never took place, and many have served years in prison and have had their lives ruined in a Kafkaesque nightmare. If you think this cannot happen in our criminal justice system, think again. It happens. It happens a lot.

In this podcast, Jessica talks about the ways that people often fall prey to a combination of overly ambitious prosecutors, corrupt police officers, lying witnesses, questionable accusers, invalid forensic evidence and indifferent defense lawyers. She also makes a number of powerful suggestions on how we might fix the system to prevent such atrocities from occurring in the first place, including how ordinary citizens can get involved.

Jessica Henry spent nearly ten years as a public defender in New York City before joining the Department of Justice Studies at Montclair State University, where she is a Professor and a frequent commentator on national television, radio, and in print media. Her website can be found at jessicahenryjustice.com.

National Popular Vote

Democracy on the Move took a break this Labor Day week, so we're rebroadcasting our very first episode, which originally aired on November 22, 2020. In that episode, we talked with Vermont State Senator Christopher Pearson about an organization known as National Popular Vote.

See you next week!

General Topics and Issues with Ryan Schaefer

This evening we catch up on a few stories that occurred over the past week. We talk with a young filmmaker currently working in Southern California, Ryan Schaefer, and get his views on recent events.

Braver Angels

Dennis Eckhard stops by to talk about an organization known as Braver Angels.

Braver Angels is a national citizens’ movement launched in 2016. Its purpose is to bring liberals, conservatives and others together at the grassroots level — not to find centrist compromise, but to find one another as citizens. Through workshops, debates, and campus engagement, Braver Angels helps Americans understand each other beyond stereotypes, form community alliances, and reduce the vitriol that poisons our civic culture.

Dennis joined Braver Angels because he was fed up with the constant political polarization in our nation, and he felt that if people could just talk to one another, they could help the nation come together rather than drifting further apart. Listen in as he provides information on the Braver Angels organization and the successes it finds in simply getting people to talk and listen to each other.