Porkins Policy Review

Good friend and frequent guest Stephen Singular joins me today to discuss his latest book and first novel In the Cards. The book deals with the 2000 election and one journalists effort to expose the corruption and manipulation of the results by the GOP. Stephen begins by giving us an overview of the novel and what led him to write it. He also discusses the setting and the circumstances around the rigged 2000 election. We then talk about the novels protagonist, freelance journalist Jimmy Iverson. Stephen talks about the sort of person that Jimmy is and the journalistic ideals that he holds. We also talk about Jimmy’s current job as a ghostwriter for larger than life oil executive Bart Simmons. Stephen touches on the issue of ghostwriting and the reality of doing that work. Stephen and I talk about Bart’s veiled hints to Jimmy about voting manipulation, and how this and Jimmy’s engineer friend Tony lead him into uncovering the truth of the 2000 election. We also talk about Bart as a character and the complex way Stephen writes about him. Neither a hero nor a villain, Bart is a complex individual who does what he does for the good of the nation. We then explore Jimmy’s investigation into the company that produces the voter cards and electronic voting machines. Stephen and I discuss the real life problem of having a handful of powerful corporations in charge of voting here in the US and around the world. We also talk about how the voter cards could be manipulated to 1/5000 of an inch. We also touch on the many roadblocks that Jimmy facing in his pursuit of the truth. Stephen discusses the issues surrounding the media coverage of the election in both the novel and in real life. He talks about how and why the media completely fell asleep at the wheel and decided that this was not a story worth exploring. Stephen explains how this has led us to the situation we find ourselves in today. We also talk about how 9/11 and the Iraq war shifted the media and political narrative so quickly that the 2000 election was all but forgotten.

In the second hour Stephen and I explore how the election story affects Jimmy’s life on a personal level. We talk about Jimmy’s obsession with the truth and his deterioration when no one will take him seriously. Stephen and I talk about Jimmy’s alcohol abuse and the unraveling of his family life because of his desire to expose the reality of the rigged election. Stephen talks about how Jimmy’s convictions and lack of support leads him down a self destructive path. Stephen also talks about his own personal experience dealing with dangerous topics such as neo-nazis, and the risks that he took, and his own decisions to draw a line in the sand. We finish off the conversation by looking at the circumstances of the 2016 election and the allegations of Russian interference. I discuss my own beliefs which have evolved since reading In The Cards. We discuss how the 2000 election set the stage for subsequent voter manipulation in 2004, 2008, and 2012, and how the threat of a foreign government manipulating votes is not a far-fetched theory. I talk about the idea that the Democrats may be using the Russians as a smoke screen for GOP voter manipulation because admitting the truth exposes their own corruption, and the corruptions of the entire voting system as it exists today.

I finish off the show by talking about some new features I will be introducing on Patreon, and encouraging Patrons at the $5 level to suggest topics for the show. I also briefly touch on the launch of Scientology’s latest venture, Scientology TV.

Download PPR episode 134

Show Notes:

StephenSingular.com

In The Cards

In The Cards (Amazon)

Black Box Voting

Scientology TV