Today on Sojourner Truth:
Voter suppression efforts are being stepped up by the Trump administration in the lead up to the November 2020 elections. This, following a spate of voter suppression measures put in place across the United States after the 2013 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to gut a key section of the voting rights act. Is your vote under threat? States with some form of voter suppression include Alabama, Arizona, Indiana, Kansas, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Ohio, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Wisconsin, Arkansas, North Dakota, Georgia and others. In what is noted as a blatantly partisan move, Trump, on the one hand, praises Florida's vote by mail program (Florida, being led by a Republican). Meanwhile, he's suing Nevada (led by a Democrat) for precisely implementing vote by mail in that state. All of this, after Trump has spent months blasting vote by mail as a fraud, an unproven claim. What are we in for in the upcoming election? Our guest is Greg Palast, the author of several New York Times bestsellers, including "The Best Democracy Money Can Buy" and "Armed Madhouse." His latest book is titled, "How Trump Stole 2020." Palast has also produced investigative reports for BBC Television, The Guardian, Democracy Now! and Rolling Stone.
Also, there is concern about a slow-motion coup in Ecuador. The government of President Lenin Moreno is being accused of eroding democratic rights and suppressing opposition from the progressive left. On July 19, the South American country's National Electoral Council suspended four political parties and banned them from taking part in the 2021 general elections. The suspended parties include the Social Commitment Force Party, led by former President Rafael Correa, who served in office from 2007 to 2017. Our guest is Guillaume Long, a senior policy analyst at the Center for Economic and Policy Research. Prior to joining CEPR, Guillaume held several cabinet positions in the government of Ecuador, including Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of Culture, and Minister of Knowledge and Human Talent.
Also, today marks the 75th anniversary of the U.S. dropping a nuclear weapon on Hiroshima, Japan. We mark the occasion by remembering the victims as well as underscoring the dangerous nuclear arms race now underway worldwide.
Lastly, our weekly Earth Minute presented by the Global Justice Ecology Project.
