'BradCast' 2/22/2022 (Democracy under attack in Ukraine and Texas)
On today's 'BradCast':\xa0 Democracy is the greatest threat to authoritarianism and autocratic rule, which is why Vladimir Putin is now threatening Ukraine, and Republicans in this country are successfully threatening the right to vote itself. President Biden and European Union leaders began issuing a series of economic sanctions in response to Putin's bellicose, unilateral declaration that two Russian-backed, separatist-controlled regions in eastern Ukraine are now independent 'republics' that the Russian military may invade at will, in violation of international law. Germany announced it will halt certification of Russia's controversial Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline. While there is much debate over Putin's motives and the Russian aggression that now threaten to destabilize the post-World War II and post-Cold War international order, the Washington Post Editorial Board argues that Putin is targeting Ukraine because his power in Moscow is 'threatened by a successful democratic experiment in a former Soviet republic of Ukraine's size and cultural importance.' Authoritarians hate democracy, which is why GOP-controlled state legislatures have adopted so many voter suppression laws since losing the 2020 election, which are now having a direct and disastrous effect on actual voters in Texas, as intended. GRACE CHIMENE, President of the League of Women Voters of Texas, explains the state's wildly restrictive and complicated new voting laws that have forced election officials to reject up to 40 percent of mail-in ballots, and what can be done to help voters in time for the state's 2022 primaries next Tuesday, and the crucial midterm elections in November, when voter turnout is expected to be huge. Plus Desi Doyen has our latest 'Green News Report.'