A Texas judge has dismissed voter fraud charges against Hervis Rogers, the Houston man who drew national attention– – and praise– – for waiting seven hours in line to vote in the March 2020 presidential primary.
Rogers, who is Black, became a symbol of tenacity when news of the circumstances surrounding his voting experience surfaced. He stuck around– – despite working two jobs, including one beginning at 6am– – and was among the last, potentially the last, Texas resident to vote, according to KERA news.
“I wanted to get my vote in, voice my opinion,” he said to a local ABC affiliate. “I wasn’t going to let anything stop me, so I waited it out.”
But Republican Ken Paxton, the Texas attorney general, ordered Rogers’ arrest in July 2021, for casting a ballot while on parole. Rogers became one of the dozens of voters nationwide swept up by heightened GOP efforts to pursue election fraud cases; while many Republicans insist there is widespread voting fraud, there is no evidence to support this claim, according to the Associated Press.
Since April of last year, the ReAwaken America Tour has brought hardline-election deniers, anti-vaccine doctors, self-proclaimed prophets and conspiracy theorists to enthusiastic crowds across the country. The central message is that America’s white, evangelical Christian way of life is under threat from the globalist cabal on the “woke” left.
The traveling carnival of misinformation merges entertainment, politics and theology and makes the existential argument to those attending: The debate is no longer about Republican vs. Democrat, they say, it’s about good vs. evil. And it’s time to pick a side.
Since its inception, the tour has been denounced by mainstream religious leaders because of its extremist views. Its organizers have been forced to move venues twice — in New York and Washington state — due to community concerns. The Anti-Defamation League has targeted it in a report. [snip]
A growing number of Republicans are embracing the ideology of Christian nationalism, which advocates the fusion of American civic life with a particular kind of white, conservative Christianity, according to Samuel Perry, an associate professor of sociology at the University of Oklahoma and the co-author of the book “The Flag and the Cross: White Christian Nationalism and the Threat to American Democracy.”
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) sells T-shirts that proclaim “Proud Christian nationalist.” Trump-endorsed Mastriano — who was seen at the Capitol on Jan. 6 although he says he left before the riot began — has made Christian nationalist ideology a centerpiece of his campaign, although he has rejected the term. At a recent campaign stop for Mastriano in Pittsburgh, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) urged the crowd to “put on the full armor of God” and “take a stand against the left’s schemes.”
In new audio recordings released by journalist Bob Woodward, former President Donald Trump likened his relationship with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un to having “chemistry” when first meeting a woman.
In an interview from early 2020, Woodward told Trump that the CIA described Kim as “cunning, crafty but ultimately stupid,” according to excerpts of Woodward’s recordings published by the Washington Post on Sunday.
“I disagree,” Trump answered. “He’s cunning. He’s crafty. And he’s very smart.”
“Why does the CIA say that?” Woodward asked.
“Because they don’t know. Okay?” Trump replied. “Because they don’t know. They have no idea. I’m the only one that knows. I’m the only one he deals with. He won’t deal with anybody else.”
He added: “The word chemistry. You meet somebody and you have a good chemistry. You meet a woman. In one second, you know whether or not it’s all going to happen.”
Get a room. Preferably a padded one.
