Coming to The Dixie Dems podcast in September
by Bob Gatty
Two gutsy women – one a retired Air Force veteran, the other a 13-year-old who intends to run for President someday – are making Republicans head spin in their home state of South Carolina.
Carole Bellacera, activist, author and AF veteran, and young Maliegh Marie Leday, will be guests on special episodes of The Dixie Dems, a special monthly feature of The Lean to the Left podcast, with their episodes streaming Sept. 4 and Sept. 18 respectively.
Carole Bellacera has been all over the local news recently after being ejected from a “town hall” by staff of U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace (MAGA-SC), one of several Republican candidates for their party’s nomination to succeed term-limited GOP Gov. Henry McMaster.
Maliegh Leday, at age 13, will graduate from high school in February with a 3.6 GPA, and is already politically active as a volunteer for Democratic Senate candidate Dr. Annie Andrews. She’s planning a special event in her home state to generate opposition to Mace.
“We can’t let Nancy Mace win,” Maliegh says. “So many people in South Carolina are uneducated about the governor’s race.”
A member of the South Carolina American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Maliegh has created a petition to overturn the state’s six-week abortion ban and a second petition calling for the shutdown of Alligator Alcatraz in Florida.
Not waiting to be old enough to run for U.S. Senate, Maliegh already is developing legislation aimed at lowering costs and making essential items more affordable, plus two additional bills, the Trans Sports Inclusion and Fairness Act and the Youth Healthcare Access and Affordability Act. Ultimately, she intends to run for U.S. Senate and then for President of the United States.
Maliegh says she is using social media and activism “to ensure younger generations are heard and represented.”
Carole Bellacera has been a resident of Myrtle Beach for 13 years, having moved there from Northern Virginia. She is the author of nine books of fiction and a singer in a local band called Generations.
She served in the Air Force from 1971-19785 as a medic, attending to wounded troops returning from Vietnam. Ironically, she was kicked out of Mace’s “town hall”, held at a Veterans Café in Myrtle Beach after acknowledging that she is a Democrat.
Carole says she’s been a devoted activist and resister since Trump came down his golden escalator. She attended the Women’s March in DC in January 2017, and says “It was one of the greatest days of my life.”
The Dixie Dems, the boldest progressive podcast rising out of the South, is hosted by Lean to the Left’s Bob Gatty, from South Carolina, Arthur Hill from North Carolina, and Robert Thompson from Georgia. We dig into the real political battle across the red states — and shine a spotlight on the Southern resistance – of which Carole Bellacera and Maliegh Leday are an important part.
Please mark your calendars for these episodes. Carole’s interview will stream Sept. 4, while Maliegh’s will be available on Sept. 18. Just check https://podcast.leantotheleft or visit the Lean to the Left channel on YouTube and all major audio podcast channels.