Live from Music Row Monday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. –  host Leahy welcomed lead political columnist for The Epoch Times, Roger Simon to the studio.
During the third hour, Simon discussed his family’s disappointment with the disorganization of the Republican leadership during their trip to Georgia. He noted that there were two Republican parties in Georgia. The rank and file who want to do something and the establishment with a primary goal of doing deals with China.
Leahy: And joining us in the studio is the original all-star panelist Crom Carmichael. Good morning Crom.
Carmichael: Michael. Hello again.
Leahy: Hello again. And Roger Simon who is my former boss at Pajamas Media, PJTV. He is now the lead political columnist for The Epoch Times Roger, good morning.
Simon: Good morning to you.
Leahy: Now, you were telling us that you have a report from Georgia. You were down there a couple of weeks ago and apparently, members of your family are down there now trying to go door-to-door for the Republican candidates. Is it good news or bad news that you’re hearing?
Simon: Very bad news. I hate to do this because you know, we all know how important it is. My wife and daughter were down there and they came back early. They were so fed up with what was going on.
Leahy: Tell us why.
Simon: Because of the total disorganization of the door-to-door stuff that seemed to them totally silly. When they were going around door to door they were, first of all, they were sent to neighborhoods where nobody wanted them to be there. They were given very poor instructions. And then they were led by a woman who is a former DA down there.
I’m not going to give names but they were in Cobb County. Now Cobb County which is right outside Atlanta is the place where they just tried to get a new look at the voting and the local electors who were Republicans refused to do it. And this woman who is running many things said oh, well that’s important that they refused to do it because they don’t want lawsuits.
So, I mean, it’s crazy. So my wife and daughter came back really depressed by the situation. And I think there’s a message in it for all of us who care and that is we’ve got to fight harder. And we have to deal with the bigger issues. And the door-to-door stuff may have some relevance in certain areas but it actually doesn’t seem to be helping in Georgia because all those people have been already bombarded.
Leahy: They are getting bombarded.
Carmichael: So was your family distressed with the way they were treated or were they distressed with it overall? Do they have an opinion on where the race stands or just an opinion of how poorly organized the Republican party is?
Simon: The latter. I mean it doesn’t take Nostradamus to figure out where the race is. It’s been poorly done. And if they win great. But it’s still been poorly done.
Carmichael: If anybody asked you who’s going to win the races in Georgia, you should say well I already know the answer to that but I’ve been asked not to tell. (Laughter) I heard an economist who years ago was giving a talk and he was asked by somebody in the audience if short-term rates, we’re going to go up or down. And he gave that answer. And the audience just roared.
Simon: A couple of weeks ago I wrote a piece for The Epoch Times and it said there were two Republican parties in Georgia. And there really are. There’s an establishment party there that doesn’t want to really do anything except maybe make deals with China.
Leahy: Apparently.
Simon: And then there’s the rank and file who are hot and bothered and should be.
Carmichael: But which of those two within the Republican party, which of those two is larger?
Simon: Oh, the rank and file are but they have less power.
Carmichael: But if they will use the power that they have to change the leadership of the Republican party at least…
Simon: Bingo!
Carmichael: Then they could get things done on the legislative side of things.
Simon: I had lunch down there with the guy who’s the chairman of the Republican Party David Shafer the other night.
Leahy: Very good guy.
Simon: Very good guy. I agree. A smart guy and a nice guy to hang with. But the actual elected officials not so good.
Leahy: Let me follow up on that. You are spot-on in your analysis there Roger. We did a story at The Georgia Star News, which you can also see at the Tennessee Star. I’ll just read it which reinforces everything you’re saying. And the people that are the establishment and that isn’t with the pro-Trump conservatives are the Governor the Attorney General, the Secretary of State, the Lieutenant Governor, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives down there.
Here’s the story. State Rep. alleges Georgia House Speaker David Ralston ‘lied to Trump’ after following through on efforts to convene a special session. And here’s the story. In an interview with The Georgia Star News on Friday, State Representative David Clark a republican from Buford alleged that Georgia Speaker of the House David Ralston has no intention to follow through on a promise he made to President Trump on a phone call earlier this month.
Clark alleged that in that phone conversation Ralston promised President Trump, he would use his power and influence to convene a special session of the Georgia General Assembly for the purpose of reviewing the qualifications of electors in the aftermath of the November third election, which was fraught with allegations of voter fraud.
Clark further alleged that Ralston lied to the President telling them that he would collect enough signatures to convene a special session. ‘Ralston lied to the President. He’s always playing games. That’s who he is. If you had 15 minutes with him, he’ll say whatever you want him to say.’ He could under the Georgia Constitution convene a special session, but he’s not doing anything. There’s a petition out there. They don’t have enough signatures yet and he’s not supporting it.
Carmichael: Let me ask a question. Is this person that you’re identifying here, he’s the Speaker of the House?
Leahy: Yes. David Ralston.
Carmichael: Are Republican members of the Georgia statehouse, just for purposes of discussion I’m going to say that this Speaker the House is bought and paid for by somebody. Are the other Republican legislators that put him in that position, are they bought and paid for too?
Simon: Some must be.
Carmichael: There has to be a majority of them.
Simon: Some of it is just human error and ignorance but some of it is what you’re saying.
Carmichael: Well, but you know, it’s like the expression, fool me once shame on me blah blah blah and all that stuff. I mean this election was fraught with voter fraud and it was very specific and it was a very planned strategy in each of the states. Georgia had a particular strategy within Georgia for voter fraud. Stacey Abrams headed that up and accomplished what she wanted to but the legislature in Georgia can fix that.
They can now come back into session. Let’s assume for purposes of discussion that Biden is the next president and that we at least win one Senate seat. Let’s just assume that. The legislature in Georgia can come back into session and they can change the election law and they can overturn the consent decree because the Secretary of State didn’t have the authority to enter into the consent decree anyway.
Leahy: They can.
Carmichael: And so now if they don’t do it then the fool me once fool me twice thing now, they are the ones responsible.
Simon: Absolutely.
Carmichael: They’re the ones responsible because they got fooled the first time. Okay. Now if they get fooled a second time it’s because they want to be.
Simon:Â There’s a way to fix it because the way to fix it is that the people have to do it. They have to get out there and demonstrate. They have to do what the left does. We have to learn from the left.
Carmichael: Yes.
Simon: We have to get out there and make a lot of noise and not just in Georgia obviously. But Georgia is like right now kind of a petri dish for all this. There are a lot of people I met down there who are really on our team, but they got to get it together and put immense pressure. Because you know, you have a lot of business as usual people in that statehouse obviously. And those people don’t want to budge.
Carmichael: But this business as usual is not business as usual. That’s the point I’m trying to make. This is the greatest political theft in American history. In Nashville, we used to have that type of thing when Fate Thomas was the sheriff.
Leahy: Back in the 80s.
Carmichael: Maybe even in the 60s and 70s. But you had the Hopewell Box. You live in Nashville now. Now, you ought to read some of the historical books about the politics in Nashville. And it was corrupt. But the people of Nashville were willing to accept that. Now, this isn’t the people of Georgia. If the Republican people in Georgia will not change their legislators or force their legislators to pick a different Speaker of the House…we have a great Speaker of the House here in Tennessee.
Leahy: Cameron Sexton.
Simon: A very good one.
Carmichael: We are well-governed here in Tennessee. And the Republicans have the power to become well-governed in Georgia.
Leahy: It’s any total mess down there now on the Republican side. Roger. Would you agree with that?
Simon: Totally.
Leahy: A total mess. Not a good sign. Two weeks and one day before the run-off elections are for these two seats that will determine who owns the majority in the United States Senate. I hate to be pessimistic about it, but that’s just the reality.
Simon: Well Loeffler may sneak by.
Listen to the third hour here:
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