Today is the day, Georgia!
If you are registered to vote in Georgia, vote today for BOTH Jon Ossoff AND Rev. Raphael Warnock.
If you do not live in Georgia, you can still help through
Election Connection: Georgia Senate Runoff TODAY
2020 election
Election Connection: Georgia Runoff: Get Rid of Republican Corruption, Elect Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock on Jan. 5th
StandardI know that people often talk about the corruption of politicians and sometimes that can be an oversimplified catch-all and generalization and stereotype, but even I was surprised at the level of corruption of the Trump Administration, and I believe that the blatant corruption and lack of empathy towards the American people led to a much wider array of abuses.
Senators David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler are two of the most unethical and shady pols I have come across. To the point, that in the last debate Perdue had with challenger Jon Ossoff, he had no response to Ossoff calling him a crook right to his face.
He didn’t defend, he didn’t excuse, he stood silently by as if accepting the description. He has refused to debate in subsequent opportunities.
Loeffler debated her challenger Reverend Raphael Warnock, but instead of laying out her policy priorities and her ideals, she persisted in name-calling using “radical liberal Raphael Warnock” as if that false characterization was all that mattered, and perhaps to the GOP it is.
To Georgia voters, though, I hope that they can see through the dishonest shenanigans of both incumbents who have done nothing for their constituents and only worked to line their own pockets.
Both have sat in on classified briefings earlier in the year about the oncoming Covid pandemic, and instead of taking care of Georgians, they made sure their stock portfolios were in order, trading stocks they felt would fall when the pandemic reached the United States and become common knowledge, and buying stocks in the health care field that would surely grow as Americans became sicker and sicker.
In any other administration, there would be an ethics investigation into both of them.
We currently stand at just under 300,000 dead from the virus known as covid-19. They haven’t pressured Mitch McConnell to bring covid relief to the Senate floor, and have stood in line behind him as he ignores the ravages of the pandemic.
As long as they’re getting paid, I suppose.
Some links for you to see for yourselves what they’ve been doing for most of 2020:
What We Know About David Perdue’s Stock Trades
David Perdue profited from a Navy contractor’s stock while overseeing the Naval Fleet
Perdue and Loeffler’s Well-timed Stock Trades Give Georgia Democrats an Opening
Georgia Senator David Perdue privately pushed for a tax break for rich Sports Teamowners
After Insider Trading Probe, Loeffler Offers Donors Access In ‘Co-Investor Program’
9 Questions about the Georgia Senate Runoffs You Were Too Embarrassed to Ask
Loeffler among Senators whose stock trading during coronavirus raises questions
Please give your support to Jon Ossoff and Reverend Raphael Warnock; vote for BOTH of them and bring integrity and purpose to the Senate in representing the people of Georgia.
Follow these accounts on Twitter and visit their websites to see what you can do to ensure a Democratic win in the Georgia Runoff!
LaTosha Brown, co-founder Black Voters Matter
Reverend Raphael Warnock
Website for Donations
Vote Save America: GA Runoff
Get Mitch Fund for Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock
Election Connection – Georgia Runoff – Why You Should Care About Georgia
StandardLiving in New York, why do I care about a runoff election in Georgia? And more importantly, why should you care?
Two words, one hashtag: #MoscowMitch
Mitch McConnell, Senator of Kentucky and overall partisan hypocrite.
I know, I know, I shouldn’t start out with calling names, but believe me there are much worse that would be applicable that I am refraining from. He has no conscience. He has no shame.
We came out, 80 million + of us and we sent a clear message that we want the Trump Administration and its policies gone. G-O-N-E. With the amount of votes and the states that flipped from 2016 and especially the states flipping that have been Republican strongholds for years, Arizona and Georgia, it is clear that Republican tactics and policies have been rejected out of hand.
Currently, Senator McConnell is the Majority Leader in the Senate. He has single handedly halted legislation in Congress.
The House of Representatives have passed laws for the past two years – hundred of laws – and sent them to the Senate. Mitch McConnell decides what is brought to the floor for debate and to be voted on. He’s brought nearly none of them. Not voting rights, not covid survival checks for struggling American citizens, not state and local government monies to offset their covid spending for police and fire, not money for testing and PPE.
All Mitch McConnell does is confirm judges, most of them unqualified as determined by the American Bar Association. Many of them with less experience than anyone else on the bench. Mitch McConnell blocked most of President Obama’s agenda including judges and one Supreme Court justice.
On the night that Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died, Mitch McConnell was communicating his intention to confirm a “replacement” justice as soon as possible despite the election coming in mere weeks.
He cried in saying farewell to fellow Senator Lamar Alexander who is retiring and has yet to say any words of condolence for the almost 300,000 Americans who have died during the pandemic this year from covid.
He tells his followers that he doesn’t want to “bail out blue states” while ignoring the reality that the blue states bail out the red states each and every year, and blue states receive less in federal aid than Republican run states.
To put it simply, Mitch McConnell is despicable.
He has already said that he will block Biden’s choices for judges and any Supreme Court justices that are nominated. He will not advance for vote any Cabinet confirmation who he doesn’t agree with.
In other words, McConnell will single-handedly hamstring the Biden Administration that the majority of the country has voted for, has spoken in favor of.
President-elect Biden and Vice-President-elect Harris have been given a mandate to get this country on track and to be better; to move away from corporate welfare and debilitating trade wars and help the people in this country who desperately need the help. They can begin to address the racial disparity that’s been built into our system since its founding.
All that is for naught without the Senate though.
As of this writing (a few days before publishing), 126 House Republicans, 17 Republican Attorneys General, and untold numbers of GOP Senators have signed on, either by name or by silent complicity in attempting to overthrow the will of the people, to have the courts intercede and throw out the election with lies of nonexistent voter fraud and disinformation.
However, we have a chance to nip this un-American, unpatriotic behavior in the bud: if we win the two Senate seats in the Georgia runoff happening on January 5, 2021 and you can help even if you don’t live in Georgia and can’t personally vote for Jon Ossoff and Reverend Raphael Warnock.
Money is still needed.
Volunteers are still needed – for phone calls, for texts, for transporting voters to the polls on January 5th.
We also need to remind people that when they go to the polls during early voting beginning on December 14 (yesterday) and finishing on January 5th, they need to vote for BOTH Warnock and Ossoff. If they are BOTH elected to the Senate, the Senate will be tied 50-50, and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will be the deciding vote and the Democrats will control the agenda.
Start by going to Vote Save America’s Georgia Page. It will give you all the information you need to get started in volunteering, in getting out the information, and in getting out the vote.
Next week, I will talk about the current Georgia’s Senators’ blatant corruption.
Election Connection: Georgia Runoff – Registration Deadline is Tomorrow
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IMPORTANT DATES:
Last Day to Register is TOMORROW. Go here for information and to register.
First Day of Early Voting: December 14
Runoff Election Voting: January 5, 2021
Helpful Links:
Vote Save America – Adopt Georgia
Choose between these two Vote Save America Funds:
Get Mitch or Die Trying – money is divided between Ossoff, Warnock, and Fair Fight
Every Last Vote – money is divided between on the ground orgs in Georgia who work year round.
Election Connection: Georgia Senate Runoff
StandardI have seen reports that Georgia is purging its voter rolls. Check your registration, and check it again, much like you did for the general election and 2020 primaries.
You can register (if you will be turning 18 before the Jan. 5th runoff you are eligible to register) until Dec. 7th and the runoff election is Jan. 5, 2021.
See this original post for most information.
Election Resources
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Time Magazine Cover from Nov. 2, 2020. Art by Shepard Fairey. It is the first time that the magazine’s name does not appear on the cover. (c)2020
Voter Protection Hotlines in Each State
Resources for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Voters.
Election Connection: ELECTION DAY! IT’S HERE! IT’S NOW!
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Today is Election Day; the last day of the 2020 Election to make your voice heard.
My Home Page is now temporarily an Election Resource Page. It includes voter protection hotlines including for the deaf and hard of hearing, some informative graphics from Vote Save America including how to volunteer and help people waiting in long lines.
When the polls close tonight, it will probably not be over. Here are a few resources to follow or get on email lists. It is also a good idea to support investigative journalism. I can’t afford a lot, but the two things I subscribed to in the last year or so are The Washington Post (on Kindle) and Cafe Insider, which features former US Attorney Preet Bharara and a few of his closest friends and associates who bring national security information to life on several podcasts with interviews on a variety of other subjects as well. These are both well worth the monthly subscription.
Others:
Andy Slavitt’s Podcast: In The Bubble
Penzeys Spices – they have really stepped up in the last four years to help Americans know the issues and walk the walk on their values and ours.
Jesus on Twitter – I know, I know, but this Twitter feed has a way of distilling things into simple terms and reminders and adds a calming feeling in the midst of chaos. (And this Jesus Twitter specifically)
And of course, your own Representatives and Senators. Know who they are, know their online and phone information and continue to hold them accountable. They work for you.
Please add any of your own recommendations in the comments.
Below the cut are some graphics related to VP Biden’s policies including a comparison and timeline between his and Pres. Trump’s covid response/reactions.
Continue readingInspire. November.
StandardNovember is full of opportunities for gratitude – Veteran’s Day, Thanksgiving, colorful fall leaves, the smell of apples and cinnamon. We don’t think so much of Election Day as a day of gratitude, but for those of us who cherish our representative democracy, it is definitely a day to count our blessings.
After the last seven months of isolating and after 230,000 covid deaths (and rising), those of us who have been spared have much to be grateful for in addition to respecting the sacrifice made by others, not only the dead, but the frontline workers – in the health care field, in the food field and the fields that grow the food, our first responders, our teachers, and our parents, and so many other unsung heroes.
Tomorrow is Election Day.
It is the final day to vote for the candidate that best represents us, ALL of us. We have the opportunity to vote for the man (this time) who cares; who epitomizes decency and character; who truly feels the empathy this country needs right now. On a more pragmatic note, he also knows how to get things done without divisiveness, without distruct, with honesty and dedication to service, and that is Vice President Joe Biden and his running mate, Kamala Harris. I proudly voted for them more than a week ago during early voting. You can join the majority of this country in turning around the hate train, the white supremecists who in the last two days tried to run the Biden bus off the road in Texas and closed highways in New Jersey and bridges in New York and today blocking polling places in California. We can take our country back, and it begins tomorrow.
“May history be able to say that the end of this chapter of American darkness began here tonight as love and hope and light joined in the battle for the soul of the nation.“ – Joe Biden
What we do, we do together.
Election Connection: 6 Days
StandardIn addition to yesterday’s post, here is another resource to get out the vote!
TALKTHEVOTE.ORG
(c)2020
Election Connection: One Week. Seven Days. We’ve Got Work To Do.
I’ve already voted. I made my plan and followed through. I voted on Saturday. In a typical year, that would mean I’m done for the next twelve months. But this is not a typical year.
Even though I’ve cast my vote for Joe Biden, my work (and yours) is not finished until the end of Election Day.
At that point, others may take up the baton, but hopefully the landslide and mandate will express crystal clearly the will of the American people.
As I was working on what this post was going to be eight days before Election Day, and even as I was writing my notes late last night, things happened that need to be brought to light for prospective voters.
The first is the confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett on the Supreme Court. This was an illegitimate process to confirm a justice whose beliefs are so far opposite of the American people that that alone should disqualify her. Her lack of litigation experience is a second disqualification. Confirming her eight days before the end of an election after sixty million people have already voted is a despicable act by the Senate GOP and especially the evil*, hypocritical Majority Leader McConnell.
Clicking this photo will take you directly to Vote Save America’s Voting Plan. Twitter. (c)2020
The second big item was a Supreme Court ruling that while ballots in Wisconsin can be postmarked by Election Day, they cannot be counted after Election Day. What this means in the real world is that if you mail your ballot in, it may not be counted. Again, McConnell (evil hypocrite) and Postmaster General Louis DeJoy have consistently kept Congress from including voter security monies for the post office and have sabotaged key sorting equipment nationwide. Because of this partisan hackery, please, either vote early or on Election Day in person or hand deliver your absentee ballot to an official ballot box, to your board of elections, or at the polls on Election Day.
To be sure your vote is counted, have a plan. The following are resources to help you from now through Election Day.
Remember – speak to your family and friends about voting. Be prepared to answer any questions. Direct them to the Biden website to read up on his policy proposals and priorities.
Make sure they’re voting.
Offer to drive people to the polls.
Volunteer – it’s not too late to help (see the links below).
*see his debate with Amy McGrath in Kentucky laughing about not bringing covid relief to the floor for a vote.
Clicking this photo will take you to volunteer opportunities at the Vote Save America website.
Other links:
Vote Save America – Donate to relieve this country of Mitch McConnell’s “leadership”
Vote Save America – Have a Plan to Vote
Follow Marc Elias on Twitter.
What do you do if there is voter intimidation at your poll? Call 1-866-687-8683 (1-866-OUR VOTE)
What do you do if armed “militias” are at your polling place? Georgetown Law has information for all fifty states.
Clicking the photo will take you to We The Action where, if you’re a lawyer, you can sign up to volunteer to protect our vote.
Griffins and Ginger Snaps 