October 18, 2024 • 29 mins
Journalist, author and historian Bill O’Reilly joins us to give his perspective on US Presidents past and present as we lead up to the 2024 election. Then Sen Katie Britt weighs in on the upcoming election. Finaly State Sec of State Wes Allen talks about the steps Alabama is taking to make sure our elections are fair and secure.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Election Day in Alabama is a little more than two
weeks away, and as we're all reflecting on who would
be best to lead our country, it's important to consider
not only the times we live in now, but the
context of what got us here. Hello, and welcome to Viewpoint,
Alabama on the Alabama Radio Network. I'm John Mounts. When
I think about people who are impeccable with impeccable historical acumen,
(00:23):
I can think of none better than mister Bill. O'Reilly Bill.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Welcome to Viewpoint, John.
Speaker 3 (00:27):
Thanks for having me and really appreciated. Hi to everybody
in Alabama. Sure.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
So, your past books, you've killed a few presidents and
killed a few people. But in your latest you're confronting
the president. In this book, you cover so much real
estate four hundred pages, it doesn't seem like enough. How
did you choose not only what you put in there,
but how did you choose what you left out?
Speaker 4 (00:47):
Well, what we did was the Killing Series, the best
selling nonfiction series in history. But I wanted to write
a book that would help voters in twenty twenty four.
My belief is the more you know about your country,
the smarter you're going to be in your choices not
only for president, but local and.
Speaker 3 (01:11):
Governorships and things like that.
Speaker 4 (01:13):
So we have forty five men, all right, who have
served as president, and they're just human beings.
Speaker 3 (01:19):
Some of them were good, some of them were bad.
Speaker 4 (01:23):
But the truth has not been told about most of
these individuals because public schools really don't do much history anymore.
So I decided to divide the book up into forty
five chapters.
Speaker 3 (01:34):
Each man gets a chapter. At the end, we have
Biden and Trump.
Speaker 4 (01:38):
We do it a little bit differently because history is
still unfolding for those two, but you get in each
chapter who the person really was as a human being,
what they did good, what they did bad.
Speaker 3 (01:53):
For the country.
Speaker 4 (01:54):
Now, obviously I had to leave out a whole bunch
of stuff because the book would have been forty thousand
pages educated at the policy, but we hit the highlights
and we hit who they were. This is called discipline writing,
and the book it just runs by.
Speaker 3 (02:12):
It's fun to read, but more importantly, you read.
Speaker 4 (02:14):
Confronting the presidents, you will be a lot smarter than
when you started.
Speaker 1 (02:20):
So I read through it and there was a lot
of information. I like the way you have specific details
on each leader. In some of the details, they're very
nitty gritty, but out of that you kind of draw
a larger story that builds on why it is that
you know, George Washington and his mom didn't get along
things like that? Did you as you researched them, did
you find out anything that surprised you.
Speaker 3 (02:40):
All the time? Every page? So let me give you
the best example.
Speaker 4 (02:44):
JFK was assassinated in nineteen sixty three. I was a
high school freshman and Linda Johnson takes over as president.
So what we know about Linda Johnson is that he
booted the Vietnam War.
Speaker 3 (02:57):
It there's no doubt he.
Speaker 4 (02:57):
Did all right, But he did good things in the
civil rights area, and he seemed to be well intentioned there.
But I did not know how corrupt LBJ really was.
And when we started to research him, and I'll give
you one very vivid example.
Speaker 3 (03:17):
I mean, this guy.
Speaker 4 (03:20):
Invented a bordello with his friend Bobby Baker, who subsequently
went to prison, and put the bordello in DC and
lured politicians in there so they could be secretly filmed and.
Speaker 3 (03:35):
Then blackmailed Linna Johnson? Did that? Does anybody know that?
Speaker 5 (03:42):
No?
Speaker 4 (03:44):
And it's a harrowing story, and I got one hundred
of them, not at that level, but that people go, well,
I have no idea about this. And when you see
how these people conducted themselves, all forty five of them,
(04:05):
you then become more skeptical of what you are being told,
which is a very important thing for every single voter.
Speaker 1 (04:14):
And there's a lot of things I think that we
thought we knew that you kind of flesh out a
little bit better. For example, with Richard Nixon. In with Watergate,
there's a Richard Nixon is often maligned as this terrible man,
but you get to know more about who Nixon really
was and what brought him to the point of being
the president, where he came from, and that sort of thing.
(04:34):
And I think it's fascinating the way that you kind
of lay out the facts as they really existed surrounding
the whole situation with Watergate.
Speaker 4 (04:43):
Well, it's our job as a journalist and hist or
lay out the truth. So Nixon panicked and that's what
led to his demise. You know, he didn't have anything
to do directly with breaking into the Watergate DNC headquarters.
Speaker 3 (04:58):
He didn't order that. Guys did it.
Speaker 4 (05:02):
And then when he found out about he tried to
cover it up because he panicked. All he had to
do is say, look, I haven't even to do with this.
I'm firing all those guys that should never have been done.
Speaker 3 (05:12):
But he didn't. And that shows.
Speaker 4 (05:14):
Again to the reader, if something bad happens to a president,
the best thing for the president to do is going
up to it and take action. And if you got
to leave, you gotta leave. But you know, the cover
up never works, and all the stuff going on with
the propaganda and all out now is insane. Jay, if
(05:37):
you make a mistake, admit the mistake. And that's a
crucial part of confronting the presidents.
Speaker 1 (05:43):
This is Viewpoint Alabama on the Alabama Radio Network. I'm
John Mounts. My guest today is mister Bill O'Reilly talking
about his new book Confronting the Presidents, the no Spend
Assessments from Washington to Biden. In researching this, I want
to ask you who your favorite president is, but in
your opinion, who was the most underrated president and why?
Speaker 3 (06:03):
James K.
Speaker 5 (06:04):
Polk.
Speaker 4 (06:05):
So if you go out John, on the streets of
Alabama after your show and you stop, somebody goes, what
do you think about James K.
Speaker 3 (06:12):
Polk because he's a rapper, right is James K. I
like him. Nobody knows him.
Speaker 5 (06:20):
You got James K.
Speaker 3 (06:21):
Barby. They don't know who the.
Speaker 1 (06:22):
Deuce he is now in Tennessee.
Speaker 3 (06:24):
They would be president.
Speaker 4 (06:26):
Yeah, but very few people visit his gravesite. Everybody's over
Andrew Jackson's hermitage. Nobody is swinging by Pope Now, Pope
one termer didn't want a second term dying in office.
He knew it, nobody else did. He spreads the country
from Atlantic to Pacific.
Speaker 3 (06:47):
In a brilliant way.
Speaker 4 (06:48):
He had that vision and he carried it out and
that changed everything about the USA, and we go through
it and it was really extraordinary what he did and
what he overcame. He was as a child, very sickly.
He had maladies that really couldn't be addressed. So that
(07:12):
his story is just fascinating to me. And he is
in the line of one of the top presidents.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
Okay, the subsequent question I would have is who do
you think is the most overrated president? And don't say
George Washington because I really like Washington.
Speaker 4 (07:27):
No, Washington wasn't overrated. He did a very good job.
Overrated presidents. Let's see, we have him listed down on achievements.
There was some very bad presidents, but that's not your question.
Your question is who got put up there as somebody
(07:49):
to be admired and really wasn't. And so I'm gonna
go with Woodrow Wilson. The Democratic Party to this day
is big on but he was a racist and his
vision of a United Nations was a good one.
Speaker 3 (08:08):
But he did a lot of nefarious things.
Speaker 4 (08:11):
And the fascinating part about Wilson is he had a
stroke and for the last eighteen months of his second
term his wife ran the country Edieth Wilson, and no
one knew it.
Speaker 3 (08:23):
No one knew it. That is incredible, John, So.
Speaker 4 (08:27):
I'd say Wilson was the most overrated Teddy Roosevelt, by
the way, hated him, hated wood.
Speaker 3 (08:35):
Row Wilson and put it in writing a number of times.
Speaker 1 (08:38):
Bill going back to Washington. In his farewell address, he
warned against the divisiveness of political parties. This could have
been one of his most clairvoyant admonitions. Do you see
a time in America where we have a departure from
the two party system? And if so, what do you
think that had looked like now.
Speaker 3 (08:56):
I don't.
Speaker 4 (08:56):
I think the two body system is entrenched. But there
could be a third party, but it's going to take
time to organize that, and it's going to take a
billion dollars at least to get a third party up
and running. That I think is more likely to happen
than a dissolution of the Republican or Democratic parties because
(09:18):
they're so entrenched and there's a tradition in this country
of having two parties to select from. I think we
would be stronger if we had three, and I hope
that happens.
Speaker 1 (09:31):
The book Confronting the Presidents and No Spin Assessment from
Washington to Biden, co authored by Martin Dugard and mister
Bill O'Reilly, pick up or download your copy before the
November fifth election and get informed. Bill, thank you so
much for being on Viewpoint today.
Speaker 3 (09:46):
Oh it's a pleasure, John, Thanks for having me in.
Speaker 1 (09:48):
This is Viewpoint Alabama on the Alabama Radio Network. My
name is John Mounts and JT checks in with Senator
Katie Brick.
Speaker 6 (09:56):
All Right, I do want to talk about this call
that you made the President Trump and then President Trump
referred to you as a very beautiful person.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
Listen.
Speaker 7 (10:06):
I got a call from Katie Britt, a young just
a fantastically attractive person from Alabama. She's a senator, and
she called me up like emergency, emergency, because an Alabama
judge had ruled that the IVF clinics were illegal and
they have to be closed down. A judge ruled, and
she said, friends of mine came up to me and
(10:27):
they were, oh, they were so angry. I didn't even
know they were going, you know, she they were it's fertilization.
I didn't know they were even involved. And nobody talks
about that. Don't talk about it.
Speaker 3 (10:37):
You know.
Speaker 6 (10:37):
I thought it was a very nice compliment that he,
you know, said you're an attractive young woman. But a
lot of people jumped on that and started slamming him.
Look at that misogynistic guy. There he goes again. And
you know, the Democrats jumped on a little bit and
said the same thing. How dare he you say something
like that? I'm sorry, were you offended by that?
Speaker 8 (10:57):
Let me tell you something. I think the only thing
only person that's Wesley is upset that what Trump has
said about him has not made headlines. Because he's called
Wesley big and beautiful, and so Wesley said, why are
they not picking up on that? Come on, Katie, this
shouldn't always this shouldn't only be about you. So we've
had a great time with that obviously internally, but like, look,
(11:20):
here's the deal. The media is so focused on one comment.
The truth is President Trump has been talking about that
moment since March. You know, he has called me smart,
he has called me a wonderful young senator, all kinds
of things, and guess what, the media has refused to
pick up on it. They refuse to pick up on
it because they don't want to tell the story that
(11:41):
President Trump is such a strong supporter of IVF. They
don't want to talk about that. Republicans want to make
sure that that is protected and that people who are
struggling to bring life into this world have that opportunity
available to them, because that doesn't fit their narrative. So
it's interesting, and you know, Trump is true a genius
because it is interesting that now he says one thing,
(12:03):
and guess what, everyone has covered it, Everyone from you know,
People magazine to the New York Times. People who didn't
want to admit that Trump starts stood firmly with IVF
are now reporting that whole thing as a result of
as a result of those words. And so look, we're
going to continue to keep fighting for making sure that
(12:25):
the IVF is legal and accessible in all fifty states,
which by the way, it is. And I am just
glad that Republicans are finally getting the coverage they deserve
of their strong support of IVF. And like I said,
we just got to get the headline. You know, Wesley Britt,
big beautiful husband, that's what.
Speaker 2 (12:43):
He called them. That's right, that's right.
Speaker 8 (12:45):
That's what that's what we're looking for next.
Speaker 6 (12:47):
Now, you're right, the messaging on the IVF is starting to,
you know, really start to shine and come above, you know,
the censorship of the left media on this because they
want to paint Republicans and Donald Trump into somebody that
hates women's right and it's just completely not true.
Speaker 2 (13:02):
So all right, Katie, hold on a second.
Speaker 8 (13:05):
Yeah, it's not not at all, hey. And I just
want to point out obviously I told the people of Alabama,
no matter the situation, no matter the room, no matter
the phone call I had to make, I was always
going to fight for our values and our people. And
that's exactly what I'm doing well.
Speaker 2 (13:17):
I appreciate that.
Speaker 6 (13:18):
So I wanted to talk to you about the farmers
and some legislation that's trying to be pushed through, but
the Dems don't want to hear about it. What's going
on and what's happening in your world as far as
supporting our farmers around our state and our country.
Speaker 8 (13:30):
Yeah, so listen, jt our. Farmers are hurting, and I
think we all need to take a step back and
remember that food security is national security. We have not
passed a farm bill. We have not what we needed
to need, done what we needed to do to support
these men and women who literally not only make their
livelihood but make hours possible. And so we've got to
(13:53):
do more. So Chuck Schumer has refused to put a
farm bill on the floor, and again you heard.
Speaker 3 (13:58):
Me say it.
Speaker 8 (13:59):
You put one on the or every five years, So
it's not like he didn't know that this was coming.
Speaker 3 (14:04):
You know.
Speaker 8 (14:04):
As a result of that and the disastrous policies of
the Biden Harris administration, we are in just an unprecedented spot.
And so when I say that, if you look at
input costs that our farmers have, you look at gasoline,
you look at energy, You look at fertilizer, and then
you look, you know, at all of the different things
that that they are dealing with across the board. You
(14:25):
look at solutions that you know, Kamala Harris has come
up with, like price control, which couldn't be more disastrous. Look,
there we are. They're in a They're in a spot
that they never thought themselves to be in. And that's
where many of them are thinking of having to either
sell their family farms and or you know, have possibly
(14:45):
not be able to make ends meet. And when that happens,
we are going to be in a decriminal spot across
this nation and across the globe truly, and so it's
time for us to wake up. I've been prowd obviously
to work alongside Senator had Smith. She is working on
some solutions we know. Obviously Senator Coverville is on the
AG Committee. I appreciate his leadership there, you know. And look,
(15:08):
at the end of the day, we know that President
Trump is going to fight for farmers, but until he
gets back in office, we have got to have some
type of bridge to save our family farms, and so
I'll be meeting with them. I met with some farmers
last week who were telling me their stories. I mean, JK,
people need to wake up. This is bad. And I'll
be meeting with some farmers coming this coming week. So
(15:32):
this is something that we need to act on, and
we have to do it before Christmas. So whatever pressure
we can place on Congress to make it, to make
it happen is essential.
Speaker 6 (15:41):
Yeah, essential for this country to take care of our
farmers and continue absolutely so good work there. I did
want to get your thoughts. Did you watch the Brett
Bear interview with Kamal Heresy the other night?
Speaker 8 (15:51):
Oh my gosh, can you even believe it?
Speaker 3 (15:54):
All?
Speaker 5 (15:54):
Right?
Speaker 6 (15:54):
I know, it's just never answered a single question, never,
right right out of the gate, Red Bear was pressing
her on the you know, the whole situation with our
immigration system. Listen to this, and then I want to
talk to you about how you thought things went with her,
how she's portraying herself, skipping the Al Smith dinner in
New York last night, and then also the polling numbers.
Speaker 2 (16:17):
But first your thoughts on this.
Speaker 3 (16:18):
Listen.
Speaker 9 (16:19):
The first bill practically within hours of taking the oath,
was a bill to fix our immigration system this ma'am.
Speaker 7 (16:27):
It was called the US Citizen Citizenship Act of two
thousand exactly twenty one.
Speaker 3 (16:31):
It was essentially waite.
Speaker 9 (16:33):
A citizenship I finished, I finished responding for you, but
you have to let me finish.
Speaker 2 (16:39):
You had the.
Speaker 3 (16:39):
White House and the House and the Senate.
Speaker 9 (16:41):
I mean, they didn't bring up responding to the point
you're raising, and I'd like to finish, ma'am. We recognized
from day one that to the point of this being
your first question, it is a priority for us as
a nation and for the American people, and our focus
has been on fixing a problem.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
Oh, this is ridiculous.
Speaker 6 (17:01):
The question that Brett asked out of the gate was
how many illegals did you and Joe Biden let across
our border? One million, three million, six million. The answer
should have been a number answer. She never got to
that at all. Spun it right back to this whole
thing is Trump's fault.
Speaker 8 (17:16):
Oh my gosh. Well, first, now you see why they're
hiding her, right, I mean, this is why they're hiding her,
period the end. And Brett was right. That was a massive,
giant amnesty bill.
Speaker 3 (17:28):
And because that.
Speaker 8 (17:30):
That's their priority. That's what they want, mass migration, not
border security. You know, they want to put illegal border
crossers first, and not Americans, you know, prioritizing those people
who broke our in laws, putting them, making sure that
they legalized them being here over thinking about how do
we secure our border first, make sure you know, you've
(17:51):
got to think about that. You've got you got to
plug a hole before you deal with what's in there.
And it just unfortunately, this is just more of the
same for her, and I think it brought the point
home that you know, Trump is the only one that
is actually serious about border security. She said from day one. Well,
then they did nothing else. They had a massive amnesty bill,
(18:12):
did nothing else except for undue Trump's policies. Ninety four
executive orders in the first one hundred days said we're
going to halt construction of the border wall. We are
going to you know, we are going to you know,
give amnesty to millions. I mean, the things that day did,
and we're going to stop deportations acted as a magnet
for more. We see the results of that, and unfortunately
(18:35):
we see that she Andrew Biden had an opportunity to.
Speaker 3 (18:38):
Fix this and they just didn't.
Speaker 4 (18:41):
And so.
Speaker 8 (18:43):
Unfortunately it's more of the same.
Speaker 6 (18:45):
I think we're all about talking about reform. Okay, the
immigration situation is two subjects. To me, one, secure the
border and stop the illegals coming across Indros we are
being invaded. But the second issue is all right, if
Congress wants to have a discussion on how to make
things better for the legal process and smooth it out
(19:06):
and not make it so costly or make it go
quick or whatever, let's talk about immigration reform and fixing
it the legal way to do it. Those are two
separate discussions. But when they bring up the first point
I made about the border, they immediately shift to the
other one about the policies to change it to make
it better. That's not what we're no. The question is
(19:26):
why is the border not secure? And it's the same
spin answer every time, away from what they've done to
what Donald Trump should be doing. Well, he would be
if you'd fix and close down the border like he had.
It's just outrageous to me. But polling numbers now starting
to shift a little bit in Donald Trump's favor. As
you said, you know, they're hiding her, and I think
(19:46):
people are becoming more and more aware of what she
is really all about and has no substance to any
things as she stands for.
Speaker 8 (19:54):
No, no, she doesn't. And look, the polls are shifting.
President Trump has the momentum. At the end of the day,
people are sitting around their kitchen table. They know their
dollar doesn't go as far. They're sick of what they're
paying at the grocery store, the gas station, everything in between.
They see an open border, as we just talked about,
and we may see an administration that is prioritizing the
needs of citizens of other countries over the needs of
(20:18):
citizens here. And look, we are a nation of immigrants,
but we are a nation of laws. And when you
look at the both the lawlessness occurring in this nation,
and you look at how Americans are hurting. We just
talked about our farmers. You know, you look at people
like Lake and Riley, who would still be here but
for the policies at the border. You talk to families
all across the country who their children have died a
(20:40):
sentinel overdoses, and we know where that's coming from. This
administration has done nothing. And you put all of that
in perspective and looking at what's happening across the globe,
we know that under President Trump, despite what people said said,
people said, oh, the world will be on fire under
President Trump.
Speaker 5 (20:56):
The truth is we.
Speaker 8 (20:56):
Got in no new wars. That couldn't have been further
from the true truth. There was peace and stability, everything
from the Abraham Accord to people starting to pay their
fair share in NATO, et cetera. Now the actual opposite,
the world is on fire under Kamala Harris and Joe
(21:17):
Biden's regime. And you see what's happening in the Middle East,
all the way across the board. You see China continuing
to take advantage of America American workers. You see them
continuing to build up their defense capabilities. And at the
end of the day, people have had enough. They want
the American dream to be alive for their kids and
their kids' kids, and they know the only way that
(21:38):
that happens is Donald Trump back in the White House,
put some common sense back into DC and make America
great again.
Speaker 6 (21:47):
Absolutely, Kamala is nothing but a cackling embarrassment to this
country and zero qualifications to be holding the office of
the White House. Absolutely, Katie, thank you so much for
being with me this morning. I appreciate you. God bless tell.
Wesley said hello, and we'll talk again.
Speaker 2 (22:01):
Soon.
Speaker 8 (22:02):
You got to tell Michael Day talk all right.
Speaker 2 (22:05):
Thank you, Katie Bred, thank you.
Speaker 10 (22:07):
You're listening to Viewpoint Alabama, a public affairs program from
the Alabama Radio Network.
Speaker 6 (22:12):
Wes Allen joined us now our secretary of State, to
take a look what's going on here with us trying to,
you know, bring integrity into this election process here in Alabama.
And I think some common sense goes a long way here.
A federal judge now has blocked a portion of our
law criminalizing some absentee ballot assistance. Wes, welcome in, Thanks
for being here.
Speaker 5 (22:31):
Good morning, JT. I appreciate you having me on.
Speaker 6 (22:33):
Thank you absolutely So let's get some clarity on what
exactly this you know, portion of the Alabama law is
all about.
Speaker 5 (22:41):
Sure, I think it's important, JT. First let's review for
our listeners, just to bring us up to speed on
what SB one does, on what we did in the
legislature last spring to protect absentee voting. You know, it
was our stance the whole time to ensure that the
absentee vote process JG is driven by the voters, not
(23:03):
other interested parties, not by these paid political activists, these
grifters that are you know that sometimes corruption slips in
an undue influence. And what SB ones reforms prohibited was
for absentee ballid application buying and making it illegal to
pay or to be paid by a third party to
(23:24):
pre fill and or collect absentee ballid applications and the
applications must be submitted by the applicant and then pre
filling an application is prohibited to cut down on potential
fraud and confusion. And so that's what we were wanting
to do is protect the absentee process because it is
important and a lot of people utilize it. Now, what
(23:48):
we got sued on by these liberal activist groups out
there that get paid to go sue and you know,
sue the state and sue the and to open up
these absentee voting as there were six complaints in the
federal lawsuit. Five were dismissed except for this one that
pertained to Section two eight of the Voting Rights Act
(24:12):
in federal law. We wanted and our intent was to
protect disabled voters. So we took the language of the
federal law that the intent was to protect those that
are disabled and put that in SB one so the
disabled the vulnerable can choose who they want to help
them and assist them with their absentee ballot. Our intent
(24:36):
was not to allow these paid political activists to go
door to door to canvas and to put undue influence
on vulnerable, disabled voters. So basically, what the judge did,
the federal judge and then of course the Eleventh Circuit
held it up upheld his decision on Friday afternoon was
(24:57):
to put us stay on that one little portion of
the state law that we have, and so we don't
agree with it the intent of too eight if you're
to read it in this totality in the federal law,
the intent was meant to protect those that are disabled
and for them to be able to choose who they want,
not these individuals who are getting paid to go door
(25:20):
to door and canvas and put the undue influence on
these Dealma, well.
Speaker 2 (25:23):
I think we all agree.
Speaker 6 (25:24):
If you know you're you're burdened with being blind or
disabled or illiterate or don't understand it and need help,
you know, Okay, we're fine with that, but you can't
allow it to just be turned over to whoever you
know wants to do it and set it up and
pre authorize you know, signatures based on political you know,
you know interest. So look, I mean, how can the
(25:46):
judge say that this law illegally burden these folks that
needed the help.
Speaker 5 (25:52):
Well, that's a good question. Uh. And so we're going
to continue, I know, AG's Ernie General Steve Marshall and
his team are going to continue to fight this thing
up to chain. This is and really this is a
this is kind of plowing some new ground here in
federal law.
Speaker 8 (26:10):
Uh.
Speaker 5 (26:11):
You know, we took a different approach the way we
approached protecting the absentee ballot and the absentee ballot applications
that that kind of never been looked at before and
done this way throughout the country. So we got a
lot of eyeballs, a lot of states watching what we're doing.
Matter of fact, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Florida, there were some
(26:32):
other states that joined in an amicus brief, a friend
of the court brief, uh, to support our efforts in
this in this federal lawsuit, to defend ourselves and to
say that we can set the parameters for absentee voting.
We really want the court to take a look and
look at the intent to O eight that protects the
disabled while they can choose, it does not allow for
(26:56):
these paid all this money to come flowing in to
these political activists go door to door and with this
endue influence on these voters.
Speaker 6 (27:03):
Once again, I mean clear to me, this is a
politically motivated move here, because you know, we're messing with
the ballots and that is a critical situation. We saw
the problems in twenty twenty and we want to clean
up the integrity and make sure things are done right.
So when you start to protect the ballot processing, you know,
voting is one thing, collecting ballots is the other issue,
(27:24):
and collecting ballots seems to be a the more important
part of everything right now, and we want to make
sure they're cleaning and done right. So these guys are
just getting in the way and putting it under a
disguise of well, we're trying to protect those that can't.
Speaker 2 (27:37):
No, you're not.
Speaker 6 (27:38):
No, that's not what's happening here. So well, best of luck,
up the chain. What's the next move and how long
do you think will this be figured out before November fifth?
Speaker 5 (27:47):
No, I don't think it'll It's going to be figured
out here in the next couple of weeks. You know,
it'll go on up the chain and get argued in
front of the full eleventh Circuit if I had to guess,
is what the next move is going to be for
Attorney General Marshall and his team there, And they've been
working really hard to and JT let me just say,
you know, since day one when I stepped in that office,
(28:09):
we had a lot of work to do. And you
know it's my constitutional duty to ensure that our elections
are conducted properly, and I take that very serious.
Speaker 2 (28:19):
Well, I appreciate the work you're doing. Wes.
Speaker 6 (28:21):
Thank you very much for taking some time with us
this morning too, and we'll get in touch with Steve
and see where he's at on this and you know
later in the week, and you know, if you hear
anything in the meantime, you know you've got my number.
Speaker 5 (28:31):
Yes, sir, Thank you. JK. You always appreciate to come on.
Speaker 10 (28:34):
You've been listening to Viewpoint Alabama, a public affairs program
from the Alabama Radio Network. The opinions expressed on Viewpoint
Alabama are not necessarily those of the staff, management, or
advertisers of this station.
Speaker 2 (28:51):
Okay, man, this is your time.
Speaker 11 (28:54):
Maybe you didn't choose this. That you're here. Now, you're
going to go out there and being all star caregiver.
It's up to you. So what are you gonna do.
You're gonna go grocery shopping, cook clean, be there emotionally
and physically.
Speaker 3 (29:09):
You gotta take teaper drive in.
Speaker 11 (29:11):
The physical therapy, doctor's appointments.
Speaker 3 (29:13):
Don't you forget about the pharmacy.
Speaker 11 (29:15):
I know you won't, because that's what caregivers do. Don't
give up, don't ever give up. This is your time
to show the world, your family, and yourself.
Speaker 2 (29:31):
That you're tougher than tough.
Speaker 11 (29:33):
I'll go out there and be the best caregiver this
world has ever seen.
Speaker 2 (29:40):
Caregiving is tougher than tough.
Speaker 11 (29:42):
Find the careguids you need at AARP dot org slash Caregiving.
A public service announcement brought to you by AARP and
the AD Council
Election Day in Alabama is a little more than two
weeks away, and as we're all reflecting on who would
be best to lead our country, it's important to consider
not only the times we live in now, but the
context of what got us here. Hello, and welcome to Viewpoint,
Alabama on the Alabama Radio Network. I'm John Mounts. When
I think about people who are impeccable with impeccable historical acumen,
(00:23):
I can think of none better than mister Bill. O'Reilly Bill.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Welcome to Viewpoint, John.
Speaker 3 (00:27):
Thanks for having me and really appreciated. Hi to everybody
in Alabama. Sure.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
So, your past books, you've killed a few presidents and
killed a few people. But in your latest you're confronting
the president. In this book, you cover so much real
estate four hundred pages, it doesn't seem like enough. How
did you choose not only what you put in there,
but how did you choose what you left out?
Speaker 4 (00:47):
Well, what we did was the Killing Series, the best
selling nonfiction series in history. But I wanted to write
a book that would help voters in twenty twenty four.
My belief is the more you know about your country,
the smarter you're going to be in your choices not
only for president, but local and.
Speaker 3 (01:11):
Governorships and things like that.
Speaker 4 (01:13):
So we have forty five men, all right, who have
served as president, and they're just human beings.
Speaker 3 (01:19):
Some of them were good, some of them were bad.
Speaker 4 (01:23):
But the truth has not been told about most of
these individuals because public schools really don't do much history anymore.
So I decided to divide the book up into forty
five chapters.
Speaker 3 (01:34):
Each man gets a chapter. At the end, we have
Biden and Trump.
Speaker 4 (01:38):
We do it a little bit differently because history is
still unfolding for those two, but you get in each
chapter who the person really was as a human being,
what they did good, what they did bad.
Speaker 3 (01:53):
For the country.
Speaker 4 (01:54):
Now, obviously I had to leave out a whole bunch
of stuff because the book would have been forty thousand
pages educated at the policy, but we hit the highlights
and we hit who they were. This is called discipline writing,
and the book it just runs by.
Speaker 3 (02:12):
It's fun to read, but more importantly, you read.
Speaker 4 (02:14):
Confronting the presidents, you will be a lot smarter than
when you started.
Speaker 1 (02:20):
So I read through it and there was a lot
of information. I like the way you have specific details
on each leader. In some of the details, they're very
nitty gritty, but out of that you kind of draw
a larger story that builds on why it is that
you know, George Washington and his mom didn't get along
things like that? Did you as you researched them, did
you find out anything that surprised you.
Speaker 3 (02:40):
All the time? Every page? So let me give you
the best example.
Speaker 4 (02:44):
JFK was assassinated in nineteen sixty three. I was a
high school freshman and Linda Johnson takes over as president.
So what we know about Linda Johnson is that he
booted the Vietnam War.
Speaker 3 (02:57):
It there's no doubt he.
Speaker 4 (02:57):
Did all right, But he did good things in the
civil rights area, and he seemed to be well intentioned there.
But I did not know how corrupt LBJ really was.
And when we started to research him, and I'll give
you one very vivid example.
Speaker 3 (03:17):
I mean, this guy.
Speaker 4 (03:20):
Invented a bordello with his friend Bobby Baker, who subsequently
went to prison, and put the bordello in DC and
lured politicians in there so they could be secretly filmed and.
Speaker 3 (03:35):
Then blackmailed Linna Johnson? Did that? Does anybody know that?
Speaker 5 (03:42):
No?
Speaker 4 (03:44):
And it's a harrowing story, and I got one hundred
of them, not at that level, but that people go, well,
I have no idea about this. And when you see
how these people conducted themselves, all forty five of them,
(04:05):
you then become more skeptical of what you are being told,
which is a very important thing for every single voter.
Speaker 1 (04:14):
And there's a lot of things I think that we
thought we knew that you kind of flesh out a
little bit better. For example, with Richard Nixon. In with Watergate,
there's a Richard Nixon is often maligned as this terrible man,
but you get to know more about who Nixon really
was and what brought him to the point of being
the president, where he came from, and that sort of thing.
(04:34):
And I think it's fascinating the way that you kind
of lay out the facts as they really existed surrounding
the whole situation with Watergate.
Speaker 4 (04:43):
Well, it's our job as a journalist and hist or
lay out the truth. So Nixon panicked and that's what
led to his demise. You know, he didn't have anything
to do directly with breaking into the Watergate DNC headquarters.
Speaker 3 (04:58):
He didn't order that. Guys did it.
Speaker 4 (05:02):
And then when he found out about he tried to
cover it up because he panicked. All he had to
do is say, look, I haven't even to do with this.
I'm firing all those guys that should never have been done.
Speaker 3 (05:12):
But he didn't. And that shows.
Speaker 4 (05:14):
Again to the reader, if something bad happens to a president,
the best thing for the president to do is going
up to it and take action. And if you got
to leave, you gotta leave. But you know, the cover
up never works, and all the stuff going on with
the propaganda and all out now is insane. Jay, if
(05:37):
you make a mistake, admit the mistake. And that's a
crucial part of confronting the presidents.
Speaker 1 (05:43):
This is Viewpoint Alabama on the Alabama Radio Network. I'm
John Mounts. My guest today is mister Bill O'Reilly talking
about his new book Confronting the Presidents, the no Spend
Assessments from Washington to Biden. In researching this, I want
to ask you who your favorite president is, but in
your opinion, who was the most underrated president and why?
Speaker 3 (06:03):
James K.
Speaker 5 (06:04):
Polk.
Speaker 4 (06:05):
So if you go out John, on the streets of
Alabama after your show and you stop, somebody goes, what
do you think about James K.
Speaker 3 (06:12):
Polk because he's a rapper, right is James K. I
like him. Nobody knows him.
Speaker 5 (06:20):
You got James K.
Speaker 3 (06:21):
Barby. They don't know who the.
Speaker 1 (06:22):
Deuce he is now in Tennessee.
Speaker 3 (06:24):
They would be president.
Speaker 4 (06:26):
Yeah, but very few people visit his gravesite. Everybody's over
Andrew Jackson's hermitage. Nobody is swinging by Pope Now, Pope
one termer didn't want a second term dying in office.
He knew it, nobody else did. He spreads the country
from Atlantic to Pacific.
Speaker 3 (06:47):
In a brilliant way.
Speaker 4 (06:48):
He had that vision and he carried it out and
that changed everything about the USA, and we go through
it and it was really extraordinary what he did and
what he overcame. He was as a child, very sickly.
He had maladies that really couldn't be addressed. So that
(07:12):
his story is just fascinating to me. And he is
in the line of one of the top presidents.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
Okay, the subsequent question I would have is who do
you think is the most overrated president? And don't say
George Washington because I really like Washington.
Speaker 4 (07:27):
No, Washington wasn't overrated. He did a very good job.
Overrated presidents. Let's see, we have him listed down on achievements.
There was some very bad presidents, but that's not your question.
Your question is who got put up there as somebody
(07:49):
to be admired and really wasn't. And so I'm gonna
go with Woodrow Wilson. The Democratic Party to this day
is big on but he was a racist and his
vision of a United Nations was a good one.
Speaker 3 (08:08):
But he did a lot of nefarious things.
Speaker 4 (08:11):
And the fascinating part about Wilson is he had a
stroke and for the last eighteen months of his second
term his wife ran the country Edieth Wilson, and no
one knew it.
Speaker 3 (08:23):
No one knew it. That is incredible, John, So.
Speaker 4 (08:27):
I'd say Wilson was the most overrated Teddy Roosevelt, by
the way, hated him, hated wood.
Speaker 3 (08:35):
Row Wilson and put it in writing a number of times.
Speaker 1 (08:38):
Bill going back to Washington. In his farewell address, he
warned against the divisiveness of political parties. This could have
been one of his most clairvoyant admonitions. Do you see
a time in America where we have a departure from
the two party system? And if so, what do you
think that had looked like now.
Speaker 3 (08:56):
I don't.
Speaker 4 (08:56):
I think the two body system is entrenched. But there
could be a third party, but it's going to take
time to organize that, and it's going to take a
billion dollars at least to get a third party up
and running. That I think is more likely to happen
than a dissolution of the Republican or Democratic parties because
(09:18):
they're so entrenched and there's a tradition in this country
of having two parties to select from. I think we
would be stronger if we had three, and I hope
that happens.
Speaker 1 (09:31):
The book Confronting the Presidents and No Spin Assessment from
Washington to Biden, co authored by Martin Dugard and mister
Bill O'Reilly, pick up or download your copy before the
November fifth election and get informed. Bill, thank you so
much for being on Viewpoint today.
Speaker 3 (09:46):
Oh it's a pleasure, John, Thanks for having me in.
Speaker 1 (09:48):
This is Viewpoint Alabama on the Alabama Radio Network. My
name is John Mounts and JT checks in with Senator
Katie Brick.
Speaker 6 (09:56):
All Right, I do want to talk about this call
that you made the President Trump and then President Trump
referred to you as a very beautiful person.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
Listen.
Speaker 7 (10:06):
I got a call from Katie Britt, a young just
a fantastically attractive person from Alabama. She's a senator, and
she called me up like emergency, emergency, because an Alabama
judge had ruled that the IVF clinics were illegal and
they have to be closed down. A judge ruled, and
she said, friends of mine came up to me and
(10:27):
they were, oh, they were so angry. I didn't even
know they were going, you know, she they were it's fertilization.
I didn't know they were even involved. And nobody talks
about that. Don't talk about it.
Speaker 3 (10:37):
You know.
Speaker 6 (10:37):
I thought it was a very nice compliment that he,
you know, said you're an attractive young woman. But a
lot of people jumped on that and started slamming him.
Look at that misogynistic guy. There he goes again. And
you know, the Democrats jumped on a little bit and
said the same thing. How dare he you say something
like that? I'm sorry, were you offended by that?
Speaker 8 (10:57):
Let me tell you something. I think the only thing
only person that's Wesley is upset that what Trump has
said about him has not made headlines. Because he's called
Wesley big and beautiful, and so Wesley said, why are
they not picking up on that? Come on, Katie, this
shouldn't always this shouldn't only be about you. So we've
had a great time with that obviously internally, but like, look,
(11:20):
here's the deal. The media is so focused on one comment.
The truth is President Trump has been talking about that
moment since March. You know, he has called me smart,
he has called me a wonderful young senator, all kinds
of things, and guess what, the media has refused to
pick up on it. They refuse to pick up on
it because they don't want to tell the story that
(11:41):
President Trump is such a strong supporter of IVF. They
don't want to talk about that. Republicans want to make
sure that that is protected and that people who are
struggling to bring life into this world have that opportunity
available to them, because that doesn't fit their narrative. So
it's interesting, and you know, Trump is true a genius
because it is interesting that now he says one thing,
(12:03):
and guess what, everyone has covered it, Everyone from you know,
People magazine to the New York Times. People who didn't
want to admit that Trump starts stood firmly with IVF
are now reporting that whole thing as a result of
as a result of those words. And so look, we're
going to continue to keep fighting for making sure that
(12:25):
the IVF is legal and accessible in all fifty states,
which by the way, it is. And I am just
glad that Republicans are finally getting the coverage they deserve
of their strong support of IVF. And like I said,
we just got to get the headline. You know, Wesley Britt,
big beautiful husband, that's what.
Speaker 2 (12:43):
He called them. That's right, that's right.
Speaker 8 (12:45):
That's what that's what we're looking for next.
Speaker 6 (12:47):
Now, you're right, the messaging on the IVF is starting to,
you know, really start to shine and come above, you know,
the censorship of the left media on this because they
want to paint Republicans and Donald Trump into somebody that
hates women's right and it's just completely not true.
Speaker 2 (13:02):
So all right, Katie, hold on a second.
Speaker 8 (13:05):
Yeah, it's not not at all, hey. And I just
want to point out obviously I told the people of Alabama,
no matter the situation, no matter the room, no matter
the phone call I had to make, I was always
going to fight for our values and our people. And
that's exactly what I'm doing well.
Speaker 2 (13:17):
I appreciate that.
Speaker 6 (13:18):
So I wanted to talk to you about the farmers
and some legislation that's trying to be pushed through, but
the Dems don't want to hear about it. What's going
on and what's happening in your world as far as
supporting our farmers around our state and our country.
Speaker 8 (13:30):
Yeah, so listen, jt our. Farmers are hurting, and I
think we all need to take a step back and
remember that food security is national security. We have not
passed a farm bill. We have not what we needed
to need, done what we needed to do to support
these men and women who literally not only make their
livelihood but make hours possible. And so we've got to
(13:53):
do more. So Chuck Schumer has refused to put a
farm bill on the floor, and again you heard.
Speaker 3 (13:58):
Me say it.
Speaker 8 (13:59):
You put one on the or every five years, So
it's not like he didn't know that this was coming.
Speaker 3 (14:04):
You know.
Speaker 8 (14:04):
As a result of that and the disastrous policies of
the Biden Harris administration, we are in just an unprecedented spot.
And so when I say that, if you look at
input costs that our farmers have, you look at gasoline,
you look at energy, You look at fertilizer, and then
you look, you know, at all of the different things
that that they are dealing with across the board. You
(14:25):
look at solutions that you know, Kamala Harris has come
up with, like price control, which couldn't be more disastrous. Look,
there we are. They're in a They're in a spot
that they never thought themselves to be in. And that's
where many of them are thinking of having to either
sell their family farms and or you know, have possibly
(14:45):
not be able to make ends meet. And when that happens,
we are going to be in a decriminal spot across
this nation and across the globe truly, and so it's
time for us to wake up. I've been prowd obviously
to work alongside Senator had Smith. She is working on
some solutions we know. Obviously Senator Coverville is on the
AG Committee. I appreciate his leadership there, you know. And look,
(15:08):
at the end of the day, we know that President
Trump is going to fight for farmers, but until he
gets back in office, we have got to have some
type of bridge to save our family farms, and so
I'll be meeting with them. I met with some farmers
last week who were telling me their stories. I mean, JK,
people need to wake up. This is bad. And I'll
be meeting with some farmers coming this coming week. So
(15:32):
this is something that we need to act on, and
we have to do it before Christmas. So whatever pressure
we can place on Congress to make it, to make
it happen is essential.
Speaker 6 (15:41):
Yeah, essential for this country to take care of our
farmers and continue absolutely so good work there. I did
want to get your thoughts. Did you watch the Brett
Bear interview with Kamal Heresy the other night?
Speaker 8 (15:51):
Oh my gosh, can you even believe it?
Speaker 3 (15:54):
All?
Speaker 5 (15:54):
Right?
Speaker 6 (15:54):
I know, it's just never answered a single question, never,
right right out of the gate, Red Bear was pressing
her on the you know, the whole situation with our
immigration system. Listen to this, and then I want to
talk to you about how you thought things went with her,
how she's portraying herself, skipping the Al Smith dinner in
New York last night, and then also the polling numbers.
Speaker 2 (16:17):
But first your thoughts on this.
Speaker 3 (16:18):
Listen.
Speaker 9 (16:19):
The first bill practically within hours of taking the oath,
was a bill to fix our immigration system this ma'am.
Speaker 7 (16:27):
It was called the US Citizen Citizenship Act of two
thousand exactly twenty one.
Speaker 3 (16:31):
It was essentially waite.
Speaker 9 (16:33):
A citizenship I finished, I finished responding for you, but
you have to let me finish.
Speaker 2 (16:39):
You had the.
Speaker 3 (16:39):
White House and the House and the Senate.
Speaker 9 (16:41):
I mean, they didn't bring up responding to the point
you're raising, and I'd like to finish, ma'am. We recognized
from day one that to the point of this being
your first question, it is a priority for us as
a nation and for the American people, and our focus
has been on fixing a problem.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
Oh, this is ridiculous.
Speaker 6 (17:01):
The question that Brett asked out of the gate was
how many illegals did you and Joe Biden let across
our border? One million, three million, six million. The answer
should have been a number answer. She never got to
that at all. Spun it right back to this whole
thing is Trump's fault.
Speaker 8 (17:16):
Oh my gosh. Well, first, now you see why they're
hiding her, right, I mean, this is why they're hiding her,
period the end. And Brett was right. That was a massive,
giant amnesty bill.
Speaker 3 (17:28):
And because that.
Speaker 8 (17:30):
That's their priority. That's what they want, mass migration, not
border security. You know, they want to put illegal border
crossers first, and not Americans, you know, prioritizing those people
who broke our in laws, putting them, making sure that
they legalized them being here over thinking about how do
we secure our border first, make sure you know, you've
(17:51):
got to think about that. You've got you got to
plug a hole before you deal with what's in there.
And it just unfortunately, this is just more of the
same for her, and I think it brought the point
home that you know, Trump is the only one that
is actually serious about border security. She said from day one. Well,
then they did nothing else. They had a massive amnesty bill,
(18:12):
did nothing else except for undue Trump's policies. Ninety four
executive orders in the first one hundred days said we're
going to halt construction of the border wall. We are
going to you know, we are going to you know,
give amnesty to millions. I mean, the things that day did,
and we're going to stop deportations acted as a magnet
for more. We see the results of that, and unfortunately
(18:35):
we see that she Andrew Biden had an opportunity to.
Speaker 3 (18:38):
Fix this and they just didn't.
Speaker 4 (18:41):
And so.
Speaker 8 (18:43):
Unfortunately it's more of the same.
Speaker 6 (18:45):
I think we're all about talking about reform. Okay, the
immigration situation is two subjects. To me, one, secure the
border and stop the illegals coming across Indros we are
being invaded. But the second issue is all right, if
Congress wants to have a discussion on how to make
things better for the legal process and smooth it out
(19:06):
and not make it so costly or make it go
quick or whatever, let's talk about immigration reform and fixing
it the legal way to do it. Those are two
separate discussions. But when they bring up the first point
I made about the border, they immediately shift to the
other one about the policies to change it to make
it better. That's not what we're no. The question is
(19:26):
why is the border not secure? And it's the same
spin answer every time, away from what they've done to
what Donald Trump should be doing. Well, he would be
if you'd fix and close down the border like he had.
It's just outrageous to me. But polling numbers now starting
to shift a little bit in Donald Trump's favor. As
you said, you know, they're hiding her, and I think
(19:46):
people are becoming more and more aware of what she
is really all about and has no substance to any
things as she stands for.
Speaker 8 (19:54):
No, no, she doesn't. And look, the polls are shifting.
President Trump has the momentum. At the end of the day,
people are sitting around their kitchen table. They know their
dollar doesn't go as far. They're sick of what they're
paying at the grocery store, the gas station, everything in between.
They see an open border, as we just talked about,
and we may see an administration that is prioritizing the
needs of citizens of other countries over the needs of
(20:18):
citizens here. And look, we are a nation of immigrants,
but we are a nation of laws. And when you
look at the both the lawlessness occurring in this nation,
and you look at how Americans are hurting. We just
talked about our farmers. You know, you look at people
like Lake and Riley, who would still be here but
for the policies at the border. You talk to families
all across the country who their children have died a
(20:40):
sentinel overdoses, and we know where that's coming from. This
administration has done nothing. And you put all of that
in perspective and looking at what's happening across the globe,
we know that under President Trump, despite what people said said,
people said, oh, the world will be on fire under
President Trump.
Speaker 5 (20:56):
The truth is we.
Speaker 8 (20:56):
Got in no new wars. That couldn't have been further
from the true truth. There was peace and stability, everything
from the Abraham Accord to people starting to pay their
fair share in NATO, et cetera. Now the actual opposite,
the world is on fire under Kamala Harris and Joe
(21:17):
Biden's regime. And you see what's happening in the Middle East,
all the way across the board. You see China continuing
to take advantage of America American workers. You see them
continuing to build up their defense capabilities. And at the
end of the day, people have had enough. They want
the American dream to be alive for their kids and
their kids' kids, and they know the only way that
(21:38):
that happens is Donald Trump back in the White House,
put some common sense back into DC and make America
great again.
Speaker 6 (21:47):
Absolutely, Kamala is nothing but a cackling embarrassment to this
country and zero qualifications to be holding the office of
the White House. Absolutely, Katie, thank you so much for
being with me this morning. I appreciate you. God bless tell.
Wesley said hello, and we'll talk again.
Speaker 2 (22:01):
Soon.
Speaker 8 (22:02):
You got to tell Michael Day talk all right.
Speaker 2 (22:05):
Thank you, Katie Bred, thank you.
Speaker 10 (22:07):
You're listening to Viewpoint Alabama, a public affairs program from
the Alabama Radio Network.
Speaker 6 (22:12):
Wes Allen joined us now our secretary of State, to
take a look what's going on here with us trying to,
you know, bring integrity into this election process here in Alabama.
And I think some common sense goes a long way here.
A federal judge now has blocked a portion of our
law criminalizing some absentee ballot assistance. Wes, welcome in, Thanks
for being here.
Speaker 5 (22:31):
Good morning, JT. I appreciate you having me on.
Speaker 6 (22:33):
Thank you absolutely So let's get some clarity on what
exactly this you know, portion of the Alabama law is
all about.
Speaker 5 (22:41):
Sure, I think it's important, JT. First let's review for
our listeners, just to bring us up to speed on
what SB one does, on what we did in the
legislature last spring to protect absentee voting. You know, it
was our stance the whole time to ensure that the
absentee vote process JG is driven by the voters, not
(23:03):
other interested parties, not by these paid political activists, these
grifters that are you know that sometimes corruption slips in
an undue influence. And what SB ones reforms prohibited was
for absentee ballid application buying and making it illegal to
pay or to be paid by a third party to
(23:24):
pre fill and or collect absentee ballid applications and the
applications must be submitted by the applicant and then pre
filling an application is prohibited to cut down on potential
fraud and confusion. And so that's what we were wanting
to do is protect the absentee process because it is
important and a lot of people utilize it. Now, what
(23:48):
we got sued on by these liberal activist groups out
there that get paid to go sue and you know,
sue the state and sue the and to open up
these absentee voting as there were six complaints in the
federal lawsuit. Five were dismissed except for this one that
pertained to Section two eight of the Voting Rights Act
(24:12):
in federal law. We wanted and our intent was to
protect disabled voters. So we took the language of the
federal law that the intent was to protect those that
are disabled and put that in SB one so the
disabled the vulnerable can choose who they want to help
them and assist them with their absentee ballot. Our intent
(24:36):
was not to allow these paid political activists to go
door to door to canvas and to put undue influence
on vulnerable, disabled voters. So basically, what the judge did,
the federal judge and then of course the Eleventh Circuit
held it up upheld his decision on Friday afternoon was
(24:57):
to put us stay on that one little portion of
the state law that we have, and so we don't
agree with it the intent of too eight if you're
to read it in this totality in the federal law,
the intent was meant to protect those that are disabled
and for them to be able to choose who they want,
not these individuals who are getting paid to go door
(25:20):
to door and canvas and put the undue influence on
these Dealma, well.
Speaker 2 (25:23):
I think we all agree.
Speaker 6 (25:24):
If you know you're you're burdened with being blind or
disabled or illiterate or don't understand it and need help,
you know, Okay, we're fine with that, but you can't
allow it to just be turned over to whoever you
know wants to do it and set it up and
pre authorize you know, signatures based on political you know,
you know interest. So look, I mean, how can the
(25:46):
judge say that this law illegally burden these folks that
needed the help.
Speaker 5 (25:52):
Well, that's a good question. Uh. And so we're going
to continue, I know, AG's Ernie General Steve Marshall and
his team are going to continue to fight this thing
up to chain. This is and really this is a
this is kind of plowing some new ground here in
federal law.
Speaker 8 (26:10):
Uh.
Speaker 5 (26:11):
You know, we took a different approach the way we
approached protecting the absentee ballot and the absentee ballot applications
that that kind of never been looked at before and
done this way throughout the country. So we got a
lot of eyeballs, a lot of states watching what we're doing.
Matter of fact, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Florida, there were some
(26:32):
other states that joined in an amicus brief, a friend
of the court brief, uh, to support our efforts in
this in this federal lawsuit, to defend ourselves and to
say that we can set the parameters for absentee voting.
We really want the court to take a look and
look at the intent to O eight that protects the
disabled while they can choose, it does not allow for
(26:56):
these paid all this money to come flowing in to
these political activists go door to door and with this
endue influence on these voters.
Speaker 6 (27:03):
Once again, I mean clear to me, this is a
politically motivated move here, because you know, we're messing with
the ballots and that is a critical situation. We saw
the problems in twenty twenty and we want to clean
up the integrity and make sure things are done right.
So when you start to protect the ballot processing, you know,
voting is one thing, collecting ballots is the other issue,
(27:24):
and collecting ballots seems to be a the more important
part of everything right now, and we want to make
sure they're cleaning and done right. So these guys are
just getting in the way and putting it under a
disguise of well, we're trying to protect those that can't.
Speaker 2 (27:37):
No, you're not.
Speaker 6 (27:38):
No, that's not what's happening here. So well, best of luck,
up the chain. What's the next move and how long
do you think will this be figured out before November fifth?
Speaker 5 (27:47):
No, I don't think it'll It's going to be figured
out here in the next couple of weeks. You know,
it'll go on up the chain and get argued in
front of the full eleventh Circuit if I had to guess,
is what the next move is going to be for
Attorney General Marshall and his team there, And they've been
working really hard to and JT let me just say,
you know, since day one when I stepped in that office,
(28:09):
we had a lot of work to do. And you
know it's my constitutional duty to ensure that our elections
are conducted properly, and I take that very serious.
Speaker 2 (28:19):
Well, I appreciate the work you're doing. Wes.
Speaker 6 (28:21):
Thank you very much for taking some time with us
this morning too, and we'll get in touch with Steve
and see where he's at on this and you know
later in the week, and you know, if you hear
anything in the meantime, you know you've got my number.
Speaker 5 (28:31):
Yes, sir, Thank you. JK. You always appreciate to come on.
Speaker 10 (28:34):
You've been listening to Viewpoint Alabama, a public affairs program
from the Alabama Radio Network. The opinions expressed on Viewpoint
Alabama are not necessarily those of the staff, management, or
advertisers of this station.
Speaker 2 (28:51):
Okay, man, this is your time.
Speaker 11 (28:54):
Maybe you didn't choose this. That you're here. Now, you're
going to go out there and being all star caregiver.
It's up to you. So what are you gonna do.
You're gonna go grocery shopping, cook clean, be there emotionally
and physically.
Speaker 3 (29:09):
You gotta take teaper drive in.
Speaker 11 (29:11):
The physical therapy, doctor's appointments.
Speaker 3 (29:13):
Don't you forget about the pharmacy.
Speaker 11 (29:15):
I know you won't, because that's what caregivers do. Don't
give up, don't ever give up. This is your time
to show the world, your family, and yourself.
Speaker 2 (29:31):
That you're tougher than tough.
Speaker 11 (29:33):
I'll go out there and be the best caregiver this
world has ever seen.
Speaker 2 (29:40):
Caregiving is tougher than tough.
Speaker 11 (29:42):
Find the careguids you need at AARP dot org slash Caregiving.
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