It does this grandmother and retired teacher’s heart good to hear that the youth are so enthusiastic about voting. For the decades that I taught middle school, I found opportunities to encourage my students to exercise their right snd great privilege to vote. Imagine how my heart swelled when our Penn State freshman grandchild volunteered to register fellow students to vote, rallied for Shapiro and Fetterman, and worked as a poll greeter. My hope is rekindled.
One of the wisest men I ever knew used to say that middle school was the best place to reach students. They were beginning to think critically, and they weren't old enough yet to be too cool to care. I suspect you know that.
Cvics & critical reasoning education so very important at this stage! All high schools & colleges should have drives to register voters & campus voting locations. It's high time the right to vote is not just protected, but ingrained in our democratic institutions.
In the 1920s and thereafter, schools merged civics, history and geography into an amorphous mass they called Social Studies. We've been suffering from the results of that giant mistake ever since. Each of these fields needs to be its own subject once again - because that's what history, civics and geography are, distinct and separate studies that can affect other fields but are inherently worthy of proper and intensive separate study.
I envy you your degrees and wish I had gone that route. America is indeed geographically illiterate; to most Americans, we're an island that we ourselves don't understand or know our way around.
To most Americans, Geography is a game of trivial pursuit. This is far from the truth. My Masters Thesis was more of a textbook than anything. I took 16 disciplines and showed how they were made Geographic. While a Biologist studies whales, a Biogeographer would examine whale migration routes and where they spend their time. Once you've mapped it, it is Geographic.
I'm sorry, but that's incorrect. Social studies is the term often used to describe the content of elementary education, but in most middle and high schools, there were distinct courses in civics, American and world history, world cultures, geography, sociology, economics, and, often, government until they began to get squeezed in the nineties. I know because I published some of those books.
I've researched that period of educational change coming largely out of Columbia Teachers College quite extensively, and although curricula and methods have changed over the years, it all began with the development of educational psychology, which itself grew out of the generation of founders of the then-new psychology departments across America and Europe in the first two decades of the century. Ref Thorndike, Skinner, Dewey and all the rest.
There are countries where every citizen upon reaching the age when they're eligible to vote, automatically gets the right to vote. I think Australia is one of them, & I wouldn't be surprised if many European nations are that way. We should do that here.
Traci, You are so right! We have acted so often as though voting is a privilege that we have to work for and that only a select few should have. Republicans have lately been acting that way with their voter suppression laws which should all be seen as unconstitutional since our Constitution states that everyone from age 18 up who is a citizen has the right to vote, not just when politicians say we do. Yes, there should be a voting center on every campus as well as in high schools around the country.
Proud Woman, that is true. I loved my middle schoolers. They are willing to say what they think and aren't too worried yet about what their classmates will think, especially if they can back up their opinion. If we can reach middle schoolers and help them see how valuable they are, we might help them stay involved when they reach high school and beyond.
Yes but. Have them exposed to diversity racial cultural economic. Otherwise it’s just like too many people going to Harvard who are getting a “good education “ but Identify with an economically elite class and concerns and outlook. 
This is not the Harvard I know. For example I was invited to apply based on test results for those interested in graduate school. I am the first person in my family to go to college which I began in a tin shack at a two-year school at the far end of the local high school campus. After two years I did well enough to transfer to a state university. There were many students like me there who went on to graduate school with sufficient funds awarded us based on our ability and not members of an elite class.
The thing is its not just how high your course scores are. Maybe you become elite? It depends on what you mean by elite. Most of my classmate friends became teachers or religious professionals.
I'm grateful for the youth vote...it's their country not just in the future, but now. I guess I'm in the minority, but 27% youth turnout is shockingly low (even if decisive in certain races). This will have to increase dramatically if they hope to have a dramatic impact on policy going forward.
HW, I am with you, except that it is a higher number than in recent elections. There has been such a negativity around young people from the older folks and I think the young people responded by not getting involved. That is a shame because I keep hearing young people complaining that so many of the political leaders are old. Well, those "old" leaders started out getting involved when they were young. In order to have older leaders in the future and to have a more futuristic outlook, we are going to need young people at a higher level than 27% to get involved now. I am glad for the 27% but want to see it more like 50% by the 2024 election or we might be in really bad shape. Old white Republicans (OK those 3 things are mostly the same), want to go back to their fantasy of the 1950s. We don't need that anymore.
Agree with you. Democrats should be working harder on electronic apps, I suspect. Republicans don't care which rabbit hole they go down as long as they don't wise up.
I did text banking for the first time for Fetterman's campaign. I can see how it reaches people in ways that other methods don't. Maybe only 3% of recipients responded, but they all got the message on their phones.
I too am a retired Middle School teacher - I spent my teaching career with 6th graders (mostly) and also emphasized the importance that they vote when old enough to do so. They would, after elections, ask me who I voted for and I would NEVER tell them, instead pointing out the importance of them deciding for themselves. My grandchildren aren't old enough to vote, but I did have a young Latina student who ran for the school district one year out of High School. I was so proud of her, despite the reality she had little chance to win. She's presently involved in "voto Latino" and several other of my former students are actively involved in their community. I couldn't agree more - our FUTURE is bright with the young people (Gen Z - and other "generations") who will play a larger and larger role in our government going forward.
Like every teacher I know, you and I both worked hard to appear neutral politically to our students. I did have one very bright student (now a Harvard grad) who said to me privately in 2012 that I had done a great job of appearing neutral, but he was sure I had voted for Obama because teachers were mostly Democrats, because I stood for everything good the Democrats stood for, and because the day after the election I couldn’t stop smiling. 😂
Hey Terre, Congratulations, you passed on your need to vote and its importance. Passing it on is probably the best way to get young people to get into the habit of fulfilling their rights and responsibilities as citizens.
Nov 11, 2022·edited Nov 11, 2022Liked by Robert Reich
Professor, Because I agree with virtually every one of your assertions, I merely wish to add that, for me, the biggest take-away from Tuesday’s midterms was the decisive defiance of MAGA extremism, largely due to GenZ’s historic engagement. Moreover, I would note, by 2024, that millions more will be eligible to vote, a factor, indeed, that substantially will drive up Democratic wins in federal, state, and local elections.
As a final point, aside from the December 6th Georgia runoff, I wish to amplify a second front-burner issue: the importance of calling attention to at least two pressing legislative clean-up and structural priorities for the so-called “lame duck” Congressional session. While Dems still control both chambers, I would suggest we urge particularly the Senate (a) to complete its reforms of the Electoral Count Act and (b) to use reconciliation to prophylactically raise the debt ceiling to preclude Republicans, were they to control the House in January, from threatening to default on the national debt as pretext for extracting concessions on protections, including Social Security, Medicare, Veterans benefits, and more.
I think that there are still some housekeeping matters to clean up in Congress. Several members were part of a conspiracy to illegally overthrow the government and should not be seated.
https://oce.house.gov/ Established March 11, 2008, by House Resolution 895, the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) is the first ever independent body overseeing the ethics of the House of Representatives. The OCE was formed after members of a congressional task force proposed an independent entity in the U.S. House to increase accountability and transparency. The OCE’s mission is to assist the U.S. House in upholding high ethical standards with an eye toward increasing transparency and providing information to the public.
The OCE reviews allegations of misconduct against House Members, officers, and staff and, when appropriate, refers investigations to the House Ethics Committee for further review. While our two-stage investigative process is confidential, in almost all circumstances, OCE cases sent to the Ethics Committee must become public.
In your complaint stick to FACTS, like those who asked Trump for a pardon for such activity and not speculation.
Daniel Solomon is so correct that we must not forget or ignore the illegal activities of House Members and publicize investigation results. Ignoring their seditious conduct only encourages them to become more offensive to democracy. The recent announcement that garbage mouth Alex Jones has been fined in excess of $400 million is an important statement for all to hear. Sentencing Jones restored responsibility to free speech while delivering a strong penalty for spreading misinformation. The 14th amendment and Merrick Garland must now remove Trump from eligibility to hold elected office.
Barbara, I believe our response to lies and misinformation is weak. In a democracy we allow differences of opinion. Our difficulty seems to be our inability to identify or clarify, misinformation, masquerading as opinion, that originates from an elected public official. Twitter instantly makes lies seem fashionable. Trump learned once in office the narcotic effect of his every comment. Laws must be written to identify irresponsibility and result in warning then removal from office if it persists. Nixon lied. Refusal to accept election results, without evidence or irregularities, by any elected official, is cause for dismissal. The obvious outrageous claims by Alex Jones have been punished. The obvious outrageous, manufactured claims of Graham, Rubio, Cruz, Kari Lake, Trump should face the wrath of a democracy that does not tolerate willful dissemination of misinformation by removal from office.
Robert, You might have noticed I deleted my initial reply to you, wherein essentially I was having an argument with myself with no idea of how to end it. Shortly after deleting it, the ending started writing itself. My mind had circled back to last Tuesday’s vote count, during which I had had my first real glimpse of a broad coalition rebuking Trump and Trumpism. I viewed that scene as, perhaps, the start of a kind of moral awakening upon which we would try to rebuild.
Regarding your reply to the text I deleted, in my view what has failed us is journalism that, too often, permits Washington officials to set the agenda in lieu of the press subjecting their words and deeds to critical scrutiny. Instead of acting as filters for readers and viewers, sifting the truth from the propaganda, journalists largely fail to provide context, background, or any sense of which claims hold up and which are misleading.
As for what constitutes cause for removal, I had understood that violation of one’s office and one’s oath to the Constitution were warranted grounds. In that regard, I am not convinced we have to write new laws. My concern is that we’re not enforcing the ones that exist. In Trump’s case, as early as Spring 2021, a number of scholars and former prosecutors already had laid out a blueprint for all of the criminal offenses that might have been committed by Trump and by others at the top. Many of us were deeply concerned and repeatedly were writing letters to Main Justice stating that if the A.G.hadn’t started holding the command structure up to and including Trump criminally accountable, at least to the point of being subjected to full blown investigation, then we essentially were giving up on democracy. As an aside, we also observed, while one could stonewall a Congressional committee, that it wouldn’t be so easy to stonewall a grand jury.
Circling back to your comment, while I subscribe to the importance of supporting candidates who accept the results of elections, who accept the rule of law, who don’t congenitally lie, or who don’t don’t pander and indulge in conspiracy theories, I don’t contend that any of the foregoing necessarily are grounds for removal from office unless the behavior causes irreparable harm.
You are right that our laws are not being enforced on government officials, be it Congress, the executive branch or members of the US Supreme Court, & that has had a very corrosive effect on our government & public trust of our government. Indeed failure to hold accountable Trump, any member of his administration, any member of Congress that conspired in the attempted overthrow of our government, any justice that has lied to get confirmed to the Supreme Court, refused to recuse himself from matters where he has an obvious conflict of interest or members of his family conspiring to overthrow the government has caused irreparable harm to our nation.
Daniel, as always thanks for shedding light on an often un noticed avenue of affecting accountabilty for unsavory behavior. This should be an imperatvie in these trying times.
Daniel, I have two questions. First, who are you addressing in your last paragraph? Second, can the reviews/ investigations you are proposing be completed in the brief time allotted for the “lame duck” session?
Daniel, Thank you for the clarification. While your call for action strikes me as essential, admittedly, I was thinking in terms of modest, doable, and yet highly consequential.
Daniel, Considering the research involved, I, nonetheless, agree we promptly can file our complaints, and I like your idea of sending copies to the media. Still, while I won’t be deterred, I do wonder what action, if any, could be taken by January.
I KNOW! Thank you for bringing this up. There are many insurrectionists who are being seated and were allowed to run. NOT ONE person has been made accountable. If the Republicans hold both chambers of Congress nothing will change. The GOP will prove we ARE A ONE PARTY SYSTEM! An authoritarian country.
Yes, let's contact our Sens and Reps and ask them to focus on:
(a) complete reforms of the Electoral Count Act
(b) use reconciliation to prophylactically raise the debt ceiling to preclude Republicans, should they to control the House in January, from threatening to default on the national debt as pretext for extracting concessions on protections, including Social Security, Medicare, Veterans benefits, and more.
Maryk, Considering one could expect these two issues to be somewhat bi-partisan, contacting our Senators and House Reps is a great start. In fact, I understand that Indivisible is calling upon its members to do the same, but with a substantially longer list of demands. Aside from one’s own Senators and House Rep, I also would suggest contacting House and Senate leadership, whom I imagine would relish resolving these legislative matters while Dems control both chambers.
I’m breathing a sigh of relief… but also sending a donation and writing VoteForward letters for Raphael Warnock.
Thank you for all of the fantastic work you do… educating all of us. Young people made a huge difference but it was also the powerful voices like yours that never gave up on democracy through these crazy times and continue to lead the way out of Trumpian MAGA hell.
Thank you too to President Biden who is our Luke Skywalker, Barack Obama—the epitome of class and excellent communication skills and Michael Moore who spoke truth to power.
Donna .....thanks for the reminder. I mailed letters to the south Miami area reminding voters to participate in the election ..... and I will again send letters to Georgia using Vote Forward and hope to reach out to independents and those who did not vote. Strongly agree with your comments
As always, your comments are valuable, hopeful, and well-reasoned. Thank you.
More than encouraged, I'm relieved. I need to wait and see how Cong. shapes up in 2023 before lightening up much. Too many corporate Dems and RW whackos still slither around the Capitol.
One point re TFG making "his presence conspicuous as he always does:" Imo MSM made his presence conspicuous as IT ALWAYS DOES. A major speech by the President of the United States is COMPLETELY ignored by all major news outlets, but EVERY rally TFG attends is headline news. That's disgusting and enraging.
If democracy dies in darkness, it will be hard to say who flipped the switch: Repub Fascists or MSM.
MSM is right wing corporate owned, including "left" outlets. We will be seeing less and less positive coverage moving forward. We will be seeing more and more culture war garbage stirred up by the MSM.
Good to be reminded that youth are the torchbearers and that American youth and people of colour are getting out and doing just that. Thanks Robert for another vision of optimism.
I’m really excited to read that this generation of young people is so politically active. I am also not quite ready for a victory lap. We need to run through the tape. There’s an urgent need to help Raphael Warnock’s campaign in the run-off to hold his senate seat against his disreputable, unqualified and Trump-endorsed opponent, Herschel Walker. As of tonight, holding that seat may keep the Democrats in a narrow majority. Vote Forward has a letter writing campaign to get out the vote in Georgia. My wife and I have already given $100 more to his campaign and have prepared 60 Vote Forward letters. Those letters can improve voter turnout by about 2 - 4 %.
Jessica Craven is a SubStack blogger who has a comprehensive document on actions we can take to help the Warnock campaign, including a way for people out of state to travel there and knock on doors. If you find her latest post, there’s a link to that document. I wish I knew how to share it here! Let’s hold the Senate and maybe even gain a seat!
We also contributed to so many of the Democratic candidates across the country because this election was, still is, the tipping point election. We were disheartened when the voters of their states did not elect/re-elect them, or when, as in the Warnock-Walker run-off, did not decisively elect Warnock. We hope Warnock wins the run-off and Walker goes slinking off to Mar-A-Lago where the Trump syndicate holes up.
That said, we are beyond disheartened, and are, in fact, angry that the DNC did not give proper support to the campaigns of candidates who ended up losing in the face of huge Republican money, such as Tim Ryan, Cheri Beasley, Mandela Barnes and Val Demmings! It is unconscionable that the DNC didn't give what they should have, when donors who don't live/vote in those candidates' states did. Furthermore, for the DNC to have given money to terrible Republican candidates to boost them so that the Democratic candidate might have a better chance in contrast is not only dirty pool but shows a lack of good faith in the Democratic candidates!
We were disgusted enough at the DNC's behavior against Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren in 2015-2016 when the DNC and Debbie Wasserman Schultz were doing the Clintons' bidding, but this 2022 activity is something out of the Republican "dirty tricks" playbook and should be repudiated.
Tim Ryan's defeat is a huge loss and should never have happened, even in Ohio.
I agree wholeheartedly, Annie. I live in Florida and am disgusted by the lack of support for Val Demmings! I also supported other candidates in other states and couldn’t believe the reports I heard about the DNC giving money to boost the rotten Republican candidates. I sincerely believe that the DNC leadership needs to change and do so very quickly. Florida needs so much help in Miami-Dade to combat the disinformation that the Republicans pump out non stop there. It’s nonsensical that it turned Red for Marco Rubio this election cycle. The DNC all but wrote off Florida and Tim Ryan in Ohio. A lot of reflection needs to happen quickly in the DNC. The very bright spot in Red Florida is Maxwell Frost. He is a very intelligent young man and an extremely hard worker. His constituents are very lucky to have him!
They should also have backed Charles Booker in Kentucky, running against that pompous poppinjay Rand Paul, who is champing at the bit to prosecute Fauci, Biden, Garland. They very vigorously backed the previous Democratic candidate Amy McGrath based on Chuck Schumer's strong endorsement of her, with all kinds of DNC support, even though poll after poll showed she had no support in Kentucky. She and Charles Booker both ran against Mitch McConnell and now in 2022 Booker ran against Rand Paul. Neither Rand Paul nor Mitch McConnell care a whit about Kentucky constituents (read the Matt Jones book about McConnell in KY called "Mitch Please: How Mitch McConnell Sold Out Kentucky and America, Too") and Charles Booker is a good Democratic candidate - but little to no DNC support, again and again.
I don't live in KY but their nationally elected officials inflict an outsized amount of pain and damage to Kentucky and the rest of the country, while the Democratic Party has exploited "coal country" for decades while doing nothing to genuinely effect systemic change that might improve lives; just decades of talk and endless photographs of the impoverished, coal-dust covered, ill, and other exploitable pitiful features of the people there, when, in fact, those kinds of photos have always ignored the broader cross-section of humanity living there. If ever there were a population that the Democratic Party should have been standing up for, it is Appalachia, geography that encompasses a lot of significant states when it comes to elections.
Stand for something and then stand up for it - that is what the DNC should hold as a mantra!
Total agreement with your call for DNC changes, but I have already been hearing the pundits praising the DNC and DCCC strategy, so change/reform may be unlikely.
Kentucky has a Democratic governor. Rejected anti-abortion law. I held hearings there annually until I retired in 201 8. McConnell and I go back to about 1970. His wife was my boss for 8 years.
All politics are local. Booker is a lousy candidate. To win statewide need to go door to door, not rely on advertising, which only works in Louisville, Lexington and the suburbs of Cincinnati.
The model has to be Brashear, grandson of a Baptist preacher, who was able to pierce the evangelical pale. It would have been relatively easy to out preach Paul, named for an ashiest. Paul does not reflect Kentucky culture.
I was about to mention the Kentucky race, too, as well as Iowa, where decrepit nonagenarian Grassley was vulnerable. Kentucky is one of the states whose electoral infrastructure I think should be investigated for fraud, along with Texas, Florida, Ohio, Missouri, Iowa & the Carolinas.
Yes! I have long thought there was something fishy about Mitch McConnell being re-elected year after year after year when he is, by all accounts, either widely reviled or virtually unknown in Kentucky. Kentuckian and broadcaster Matt Jones who wrote a book about McConnell traveled his home state county by county, reporting on how little to nothing McConnell has done for Kentucky, how he has never even visited most of the counties and how he does not respond to real needs of his constituents. Something fishy, indeed. McConnell is a Louisville fellow which means he is all-but Ohio.
I heard that Dem voter turn out in Florida was unexpectedly low. Did people just give up, thinking DeSantis and his supporters were unbeatable? Demings is such an excellent candidate. I thought she had a real chance 2 beat Rubio.
There's a lot of voter suppression in Florida. To begin with, a referendum allowing felons who have served their sentence to vote that Florida voters approved was struck down. And further voter suppression has been practically nonstop.
Also I really suspect the Florida electoral system to be corrupt, which is why Republicans win all the close elections & others by wider margins than expected.
It seems as though virtually all the focus was on Pennsylvania & Fetterman. Glad he won but there were other races that should've gotten at least as much support. Warnock also got a lot of attention & DNC support could've been the difference for both races. It might also have been the difference in other races if there had been more investment in them.
I 100% agree with you. I expected to win at least half those contests, especially Ohio, since Ryan put on a great campaign & his opponent is so horrendous.
I am as outraged with DNC behavior as you are sinceat least 2016. They also sabotaged the primaries of some good progressives, like supporting Cuellar over Cisneros. Throwing away money to support fascists in the Republican Party is too much.
YES, Annie! The money in elections has become critical to the final outcome. Voters are drowning in pleas for funding nationally and these candidates needed the support. And we can thank Citizens United and the Courts for the big money in elections.
Rubio beat Demings by something like 15%. She was consistently running behind by 10% in polls. I can’t fault the DNC for not spending more money although I think it’s important to spend at least something on every race. But In general I don’t feel that the DNC or DCCC
has a good handle or strategy on their spending.I’m also OK with them boosting rotten Republican candidates if it has a good chance of success and apparently it did overall. If these were more normal times I might not agree to them doing that. But these are not normal times. part of the problem with Florida is the democratic party down there . democratic turnout in Florida fell significantly behind Republican.And the demographics is working against you.
I’ll be updating this doc with new info all the time. But here are a bunch of ways to get started right now!
First, if you want to be invited to GA-related webinars, fundraisers, or other relevant-to-the-runoff events, please subscribe to my Chop Wood, Carry GA list here! https://adoptgeorgia.substack.com/ That’s where I’ll be sending out those invites.
Stuff to do NOW:
🍑 Center for Common Ground/Reclaim Our Vote has 879,000 addresses of consistent/reliable Black voters in Georgia available. YOU NEED TO USE THEIR CARDS so build in time to order them. The postcards need to be mailed by November 23. To get background and sign up to write postcards go to: http://centerforcommonground.org/postcards
🍑 Activate America is about to launch their GA postcarding effort. E-mail AnnaMartin@activateamerica.vote to be added to their list so you’ll be the first to hear when this campaign launches.
🍑 Vote Fwd has launched letter writing into Georgia! Read instructions
🍑 SURJ (Showing Up For Racial Justice) has several texting and phonebanking sessions already scheduled to help us win in GA. Sign up for one or more here. https://act.surj.org/a/ga-runoff
🍑 Volunteer with the Civics Center to send hand-written postcards to encourage young people in GA to turn out to vote and to help them find their polling places for the US Senate Runoff. https://secure.everyaction.com/X-mBsDT-5kCzTn7HqAd_Aw2
🍑 Postcards To Voters now has a writing campaign for Warnock in GA.
If you are an approved writer text HELLO to (484) 275-2229 or message HELLO to Abby the Address Bot or send an email to: Request@AbbyAddresses.org. Not yet approved and ready to join Postcards To Voters? Text JOIN to (484) 275-2229 or send an email to: Join@TonyTheDemocrat.org
🍑 Live in Georgia or have friends who live there? Use the AMAZING relational organizing app Swipe Blue to find out who in your contact list is a registered Dem, then easily reach out to them and remind them about this critical runoff! You can also help get them the info they need to vote! https://swipeblueapp.app.link/jc22ga
Ain't technology fun? The links work if you sign into Google Docs. I can't make it work with links with a PDF or a text document. Maybe someone can tell us how to upload it???
I’ll be updating this doc with new info all the time. But here are a bunch of ways to get started right now!
First, if you want to be invited to GA-related webinars, fundraisers, or other relevant-to-the-runoff events, please subscribe to my Chop Wood, Carry GA list here! https://adoptgeorgia.substack.com/ That’s where I’ll be sending out those invites.
Stuff to do NOW:
🍑 Center for Common Ground/Reclaim Our Vote has 879,000 addresses of consistent/reliable Black voters in Georgia available. YOU NEED TO USE THEIR CARDS so build in time to order them. The postcards need to be mailed by November 23. To get background and sign up to write postcards go to: http://centerforcommonground.org/postcards
🍑 Activate America is about to launch their GA postcarding effort. E-mail AnnaMartin@activateamerica.vote to be added to their list so you’ll be the first to hear when this campaign launches.
🍑 Vote Fwd has launched letter writing into Georgia! Read instructions
🍑 SURJ (Showing Up For Racial Justice) has several texting and phonebanking sessions already scheduled to help us win in GA. Sign up for one or more here. https://act.surj.org/a/ga-runoff
🍑 Volunteer with the Civics Center to send hand-written postcards to encourage young people in GA to turn out to vote and to help them find their polling places for the US Senate Runoff. https://secure.everyaction.com/X-mBsDT-5kCzTn7HqAd_Aw2
🍑 Postcards To Voters now has a writing campaign for Warnock in GA.
If you are an approved writer text HELLO to (484) 275-2229 or message HELLO to Abby the Address Bot or send an email to: Request@AbbyAddresses.org. Not yet approved and ready to join Postcards To Voters? Text JOIN to (484) 275-2229 or send an email to: Join@TonyTheDemocrat.org
🍑 Live in Georgia or have friends who live there? Use the AMAZING relational organizing app Swipe Blue to find out who in your contact list is a registered Dem, then easily reach out to them and remind them about this critical runoff! You can also help get them the info they need to vote! https://swipeblueapp.app.link/jc22ga
First I want to say thank you for your service and I wish you a good Veterans Day. Our President inspires the good in us and am happy we did well in the midterms. Even more by the young people who turned out to vote. They are the future and aren’t easily hoodwinked. The pandemic turned their world upside down and some missed proms and graduations. Some lost friends or loved ones to Covid or because of the rampant shootings in schools, churches or grocery stores. We are united with one goal, to continue fighting disinformation and the threat of authoritarianism.
My dad, twice wounded, past commander of our local American Legion post, member of 40&8, named for the train that took soldiers to the front in WWI, would give a speech every year on poppy day. By the time I came back from Vietnam, it was an anti-war speech.
Fighting disinformation. Parents don't have a right to enlist their kids over their visceral defense for a big lie. Kids should be able to be independent by the time they can vote. The only way to make sure they get facts, need to encourage free public education.
Here in Baghdad By the Sea, our governor and state legislature oppose public education to the benefit of "charter" and parochial schools. I blame the Bush family, in part, for this as JEB Bush was governor for 8 years without fully disclosing that some of his family members were heavily invested. JEBs kids went to a prep school with my niece. I don't begrudge them any success, but here they stand as "bluebloods" although they have a Mexican mother. If JEB had any character, he would have publicly opposed Trump in 2016, after Trump humiliated him in the primaries. The charter schools have been a dismal failure. Trump (and DeSantis) effectively purged Bush supporters from state positions. DeSantis attacks. https://www.politico.com/news/2022/08/27/desantis-suspends-4-broward-school-board-members-after-parkland-report-00053977
My family has had someone in every war except the Gulf War since the Revolutionary war. It has come at a great cost. Physical and emotional damage that never gets the real treatment needed resulted in violence and neglect of family. We have generational stories of basically throw away kids because the fathers needed so much care and consideration after the damage incurred from war. The harm war does not just to soldiers, but to families. who do not get their due as we celebrate the victories. I do not deny that we needed to be in WWII, but it saddens me that we have not kept the hard fought for lessons regarding Hitlers rise to power and the destruction of fascist. I’m the best democracies, their is a greater concern for the well being of the citizenry. In a civil society, people can count on their governments for healthcare, education, infrastructure, humane prisons, and humane policing with good gun control. The only way these service systems can be for profit is by reducing services and/or the quality of services. I agree, we need to protect our public school systems . Charter schools or religious schools should not be able to siphon off public tax payer funds. If parents want these for their children then they can pay for them. Today I think of the sacrifices of my grandfather, father, uncles, and nephew and the lack of real support from the Veterans Office. So it is with pride and anger that I meet this day. We can and need to do so much more to ensure equality and equity for all.
God Forbid: The Sex Scandal That Brought Down a Dynastyhttps://www.hulu.com › movie › god-forbid-the-sex-sc...
The photos of the ENTIRE Bush family being "blessed" and anointed by Falwell Sr and Jr are pandering at it worst. That they even needed the Falwells for a win speaks volumes about their lack of character. Especially since it put the imprimatur of legitimacy on these scoundrels who preach Jesus in order to line their own pockets. They are largely responsible for the demise of critical thinking and blind stupidity of the legions who buy into their sordid lies. The Bushes, all of them, should have known better!
My Gen Z kids are so excited for any and all civic engagement. They see a 31% turnout a a challenge to overcome and are all in. They know the cost of guns, the opioid crisis, lack of single payer healthcare and the fact that their femal friends will be denied healthcare and they are coming out fighting.
It does none of us any good to not resist. They will do ANYTHING to maintain their privilege and oppress others denying human and longstanding legal rights. The US is not a signatory to Universal Human Rights and appears to have the same or worse barriers to access to Justice for all these groups so there is certainly lots of room for improvement and for us not to be kidded in any way just how far the elite will go to continue to lie to us all. Even in countries like NZ laws and human rights plus access to services and Justice, even being signatories and long history in law of same Government doesn’t implement or act on any law or human rights to ensure equity let alone progressive law. We only had abortion decriminalised a couple of years ago and still have an economy based in free or cheap labour so here’s to hoping the youth, women, working classes and unpaid contributors and POC don’t get hoodwinked by all these rich folk maintaining their power and privilege any more. The US certainly looks like a particular basket case in that regard from here. I think the structural and corruption issues by private interests were identified about 100 years ago there but nothing much has been done about it. Democracy and individual rights are about the only thing the US has to be proud of...certainly not emissions profile and contribution to climate change which I think are second only to Chinas. Correct me if I’m wrong on that. The US may be the number 1 polluter which would be ironic given the rhetoric emanating on that. Blame everyone else 😂
4 years in the Navy here. With the direction we seemed to be going in prior to the election I was seriously wondering whether that service had any merit. But if there is anything to be thankful for this year it is the fact that this election just inverted those concerns. So peace, everyone. A good Veteran's Day and a very good Thanksgiving are called for.
Absolutely agree on Kentucky. Appalachia needs attention so badly, but that would take some of the high and mighty Dem’s coming down from their pedestal and paying attention. They really need to take a page out of John Fetterman’s book and meet people where they live.
I turned off the news this morning because of course they had to circle back to talking about how TFG’s feelings are hurt and the showdown that is coming between him and Desantis. What people don’t realize is that Desantis has no personality and most likely will do poorly on the national stage. He keeps his rallies private and holds them in places he knows will support him and bans the local media. His wife runs everything behind the scenes. Make no mistake, she is evil.
The GOP are already complaining about the youth voting Dem. They are going to try their best to suppress the youth vote in upcoming elections. They are blaming it on schools and the media. Which is hilarious considering 90% of all media is corporate/right wing owned. Even those outlets posing as left are right wing owned. Thankful for the youth and their ability to see through these assholes. They are a more diverse multi-cultural group who are over the bigotry that the GOP sells. As any sane human being with a heart would be. Can't wait for the younger open minded generation to get the vote. Tired of the old racist establishment. Especially those brought up prior to civil rights. They need to go. Quickly.
The age to buy a militaristic high powered gun should be raised to 95 years old; 105 would be better but we're willing to compromise in the spirit of bipartisonship.
This is hard for many to get. Biden and others on the left has been a good example of how to criticize, be angry but civil and rational. Many just don't get it that cruelty, name calling, invites more. Taunts, blame, and lies about progressives from the right and even within the left have made progressivism a curse word. The sad truth is that people love to hate. Lack of civility collects people; Trump okayed it and used it. This is the appeal on the right. Liz Cheney is a good example of how to be on the right but to be open and civil and respectful. Ultimately those that are not civil, demean themselves.
I too am thrilled that young people have become more enthusiastic about democratizing our nation. As a Gender Equity Educator who gives in-person law & language-focused sexual harassment prevention presentations, I'm oft surprised, frankly, that feminists (like Robert Reich) use "female erasure" language with such ease, the way some use racist language. Language matters. Otherwise fabulous Reich writes: "Don’t get me wrong. The growing numbers and political power of young people, as well as people of color and women, is not an argument for complacency." Heads up: Approximately HALF of "young people" ARE females; approximately HALF of "people of color" ARE women. Adding "women" the way some may add salt to a bland meal is not cool. Such language is called "female erasure" language. We hear it a lot when folks say "Black people--and women," or "at-risk youths--and females," or "Asian-Americans--and women," or "Police violence against Brown people--and women," etc. Yes, language matters to people...until and unless is doesn't.
It does this grandmother and retired teacher’s heart good to hear that the youth are so enthusiastic about voting. For the decades that I taught middle school, I found opportunities to encourage my students to exercise their right snd great privilege to vote. Imagine how my heart swelled when our Penn State freshman grandchild volunteered to register fellow students to vote, rallied for Shapiro and Fetterman, and worked as a poll greeter. My hope is rekindled.
One of the wisest men I ever knew used to say that middle school was the best place to reach students. They were beginning to think critically, and they weren't old enough yet to be too cool to care. I suspect you know that.
Cvics & critical reasoning education so very important at this stage! All high schools & colleges should have drives to register voters & campus voting locations. It's high time the right to vote is not just protected, but ingrained in our democratic institutions.
In the 1920s and thereafter, schools merged civics, history and geography into an amorphous mass they called Social Studies. We've been suffering from the results of that giant mistake ever since. Each of these fields needs to be its own subject once again - because that's what history, civics and geography are, distinct and separate studies that can affect other fields but are inherently worthy of proper and intensive separate study.
I've a BA in Geography and a distance learning MA in Geography. This is indeed the land of the Geographically illiterate and damned proud of it.
I envy you your degrees and wish I had gone that route. America is indeed geographically illiterate; to most Americans, we're an island that we ourselves don't understand or know our way around.
To most Americans, Geography is a game of trivial pursuit. This is far from the truth. My Masters Thesis was more of a textbook than anything. I took 16 disciplines and showed how they were made Geographic. While a Biologist studies whales, a Biogeographer would examine whale migration routes and where they spend their time. Once you've mapped it, it is Geographic.
I'm sorry, but that's incorrect. Social studies is the term often used to describe the content of elementary education, but in most middle and high schools, there were distinct courses in civics, American and world history, world cultures, geography, sociology, economics, and, often, government until they began to get squeezed in the nineties. I know because I published some of those books.
I've researched that period of educational change coming largely out of Columbia Teachers College quite extensively, and although curricula and methods have changed over the years, it all began with the development of educational psychology, which itself grew out of the generation of founders of the then-new psychology departments across America and Europe in the first two decades of the century. Ref Thorndike, Skinner, Dewey and all the rest.
There are countries where every citizen upon reaching the age when they're eligible to vote, automatically gets the right to vote. I think Australia is one of them, & I wouldn't be surprised if many European nations are that way. We should do that here.
People are required to vote in Australia and more than 30 other countries.
Traci, You are so right! We have acted so often as though voting is a privilege that we have to work for and that only a select few should have. Republicans have lately been acting that way with their voter suppression laws which should all be seen as unconstitutional since our Constitution states that everyone from age 18 up who is a citizen has the right to vote, not just when politicians say we do. Yes, there should be a voting center on every campus as well as in high schools around the country.
Proud Woman, that is true. I loved my middle schoolers. They are willing to say what they think and aren't too worried yet about what their classmates will think, especially if they can back up their opinion. If we can reach middle schoolers and help them see how valuable they are, we might help them stay involved when they reach high school and beyond.
Yes but. Have them exposed to diversity racial cultural economic. Otherwise it’s just like too many people going to Harvard who are getting a “good education “ but Identify with an economically elite class and concerns and outlook. 
This is not the Harvard I know. For example I was invited to apply based on test results for those interested in graduate school. I am the first person in my family to go to college which I began in a tin shack at a two-year school at the far end of the local high school campus. After two years I did well enough to transfer to a state university. There were many students like me there who went on to graduate school with sufficient funds awarded us based on our ability and not members of an elite class.
Appreciate your perspective.
The thing is its not just how high your course scores are. Maybe you become elite? It depends on what you mean by elite. Most of my classmate friends became teachers or religious professionals.
I'm grateful for the youth vote...it's their country not just in the future, but now. I guess I'm in the minority, but 27% youth turnout is shockingly low (even if decisive in certain races). This will have to increase dramatically if they hope to have a dramatic impact on policy going forward.
HW, I am with you, except that it is a higher number than in recent elections. There has been such a negativity around young people from the older folks and I think the young people responded by not getting involved. That is a shame because I keep hearing young people complaining that so many of the political leaders are old. Well, those "old" leaders started out getting involved when they were young. In order to have older leaders in the future and to have a more futuristic outlook, we are going to need young people at a higher level than 27% to get involved now. I am glad for the 27% but want to see it more like 50% by the 2024 election or we might be in really bad shape. Old white Republicans (OK those 3 things are mostly the same), want to go back to their fantasy of the 1950s. We don't need that anymore.
Agree with you. Democrats should be working harder on electronic apps, I suspect. Republicans don't care which rabbit hole they go down as long as they don't wise up.
I did text banking for the first time for Fetterman's campaign. I can see how it reaches people in ways that other methods don't. Maybe only 3% of recipients responded, but they all got the message on their phones.
❤️Love to hear this. My 30-something niece has been registering voters since college. Highly involved…love it! She makes me proud!
It sounds like you grandmothered and mothered a fine clan, Ms. Terre. YOU are the America we desperately need and will have after 2024.
I too am a retired Middle School teacher - I spent my teaching career with 6th graders (mostly) and also emphasized the importance that they vote when old enough to do so. They would, after elections, ask me who I voted for and I would NEVER tell them, instead pointing out the importance of them deciding for themselves. My grandchildren aren't old enough to vote, but I did have a young Latina student who ran for the school district one year out of High School. I was so proud of her, despite the reality she had little chance to win. She's presently involved in "voto Latino" and several other of my former students are actively involved in their community. I couldn't agree more - our FUTURE is bright with the young people (Gen Z - and other "generations") who will play a larger and larger role in our government going forward.
Like every teacher I know, you and I both worked hard to appear neutral politically to our students. I did have one very bright student (now a Harvard grad) who said to me privately in 2012 that I had done a great job of appearing neutral, but he was sure I had voted for Obama because teachers were mostly Democrats, because I stood for everything good the Democrats stood for, and because the day after the election I couldn’t stop smiling. 😂
Hey Terre, Congratulations, you passed on your need to vote and its importance. Passing it on is probably the best way to get young people to get into the habit of fulfilling their rights and responsibilities as citizens.
Professor, Because I agree with virtually every one of your assertions, I merely wish to add that, for me, the biggest take-away from Tuesday’s midterms was the decisive defiance of MAGA extremism, largely due to GenZ’s historic engagement. Moreover, I would note, by 2024, that millions more will be eligible to vote, a factor, indeed, that substantially will drive up Democratic wins in federal, state, and local elections.
As a final point, aside from the December 6th Georgia runoff, I wish to amplify a second front-burner issue: the importance of calling attention to at least two pressing legislative clean-up and structural priorities for the so-called “lame duck” Congressional session. While Dems still control both chambers, I would suggest we urge particularly the Senate (a) to complete its reforms of the Electoral Count Act and (b) to use reconciliation to prophylactically raise the debt ceiling to preclude Republicans, were they to control the House in January, from threatening to default on the national debt as pretext for extracting concessions on protections, including Social Security, Medicare, Veterans benefits, and more.
I think that there are still some housekeeping matters to clean up in Congress. Several members were part of a conspiracy to illegally overthrow the government and should not be seated.
https://oce.house.gov/ Established March 11, 2008, by House Resolution 895, the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) is the first ever independent body overseeing the ethics of the House of Representatives. The OCE was formed after members of a congressional task force proposed an independent entity in the U.S. House to increase accountability and transparency. The OCE’s mission is to assist the U.S. House in upholding high ethical standards with an eye toward increasing transparency and providing information to the public.
The OCE reviews allegations of misconduct against House Members, officers, and staff and, when appropriate, refers investigations to the House Ethics Committee for further review. While our two-stage investigative process is confidential, in almost all circumstances, OCE cases sent to the Ethics Committee must become public.
In your complaint stick to FACTS, like those who asked Trump for a pardon for such activity and not speculation.
Daniel Solomon is so correct that we must not forget or ignore the illegal activities of House Members and publicize investigation results. Ignoring their seditious conduct only encourages them to become more offensive to democracy. The recent announcement that garbage mouth Alex Jones has been fined in excess of $400 million is an important statement for all to hear. Sentencing Jones restored responsibility to free speech while delivering a strong penalty for spreading misinformation. The 14th amendment and Merrick Garland must now remove Trump from eligibility to hold elected office.
Barbara, I believe our response to lies and misinformation is weak. In a democracy we allow differences of opinion. Our difficulty seems to be our inability to identify or clarify, misinformation, masquerading as opinion, that originates from an elected public official. Twitter instantly makes lies seem fashionable. Trump learned once in office the narcotic effect of his every comment. Laws must be written to identify irresponsibility and result in warning then removal from office if it persists. Nixon lied. Refusal to accept election results, without evidence or irregularities, by any elected official, is cause for dismissal. The obvious outrageous claims by Alex Jones have been punished. The obvious outrageous, manufactured claims of Graham, Rubio, Cruz, Kari Lake, Trump should face the wrath of a democracy that does not tolerate willful dissemination of misinformation by removal from office.
Robert, You might have noticed I deleted my initial reply to you, wherein essentially I was having an argument with myself with no idea of how to end it. Shortly after deleting it, the ending started writing itself. My mind had circled back to last Tuesday’s vote count, during which I had had my first real glimpse of a broad coalition rebuking Trump and Trumpism. I viewed that scene as, perhaps, the start of a kind of moral awakening upon which we would try to rebuild.
Regarding your reply to the text I deleted, in my view what has failed us is journalism that, too often, permits Washington officials to set the agenda in lieu of the press subjecting their words and deeds to critical scrutiny. Instead of acting as filters for readers and viewers, sifting the truth from the propaganda, journalists largely fail to provide context, background, or any sense of which claims hold up and which are misleading.
As for what constitutes cause for removal, I had understood that violation of one’s office and one’s oath to the Constitution were warranted grounds. In that regard, I am not convinced we have to write new laws. My concern is that we’re not enforcing the ones that exist. In Trump’s case, as early as Spring 2021, a number of scholars and former prosecutors already had laid out a blueprint for all of the criminal offenses that might have been committed by Trump and by others at the top. Many of us were deeply concerned and repeatedly were writing letters to Main Justice stating that if the A.G.hadn’t started holding the command structure up to and including Trump criminally accountable, at least to the point of being subjected to full blown investigation, then we essentially were giving up on democracy. As an aside, we also observed, while one could stonewall a Congressional committee, that it wouldn’t be so easy to stonewall a grand jury.
Circling back to your comment, while I subscribe to the importance of supporting candidates who accept the results of elections, who accept the rule of law, who don’t congenitally lie, or who don’t don’t pander and indulge in conspiracy theories, I don’t contend that any of the foregoing necessarily are grounds for removal from office unless the behavior causes irreparable harm.
You are right that our laws are not being enforced on government officials, be it Congress, the executive branch or members of the US Supreme Court, & that has had a very corrosive effect on our government & public trust of our government. Indeed failure to hold accountable Trump, any member of his administration, any member of Congress that conspired in the attempted overthrow of our government, any justice that has lied to get confirmed to the Supreme Court, refused to recuse himself from matters where he has an obvious conflict of interest or members of his family conspiring to overthrow the government has caused irreparable harm to our nation.
Could Marjorie Taylor Green be removed for her participation in preparing for January 6?
Yes! Character and integrity matter (at least to me, anyway).
Daniel, as always thanks for shedding light on an often un noticed avenue of affecting accountabilty for unsavory behavior. This should be an imperatvie in these trying times.
Send copies of your complaints to the media.
Daniel, I have two questions. First, who are you addressing in your last paragraph? Second, can the reviews/ investigations you are proposing be completed in the brief time allotted for the “lame duck” session?
1. Individuals like you (and me).
2. Window closes in January. Probably need to give people like Biggs and Scott Perry an opportunity to be heard.
Daniel, Thank you for the clarification. While your call for action strikes me as essential, admittedly, I was thinking in terms of modest, doable, and yet highly consequential.
1. This is something we can do today. Immediate gratification.
2. Never up. never in.
Daniel, Considering the research involved, I, nonetheless, agree we promptly can file our complaints, and I like your idea of sending copies to the media. Still, while I won’t be deterred, I do wonder what action, if any, could be taken by January.
Excellent idea. I was unaware of this.
I KNOW! Thank you for bringing this up. There are many insurrectionists who are being seated and were allowed to run. NOT ONE person has been made accountable. If the Republicans hold both chambers of Congress nothing will change. The GOP will prove we ARE A ONE PARTY SYSTEM! An authoritarian country.
Will do.
Indeed !! In view of the historic behavior of what used to be the republican party , this is a must do time sensitive issue.
Yes, let's contact our Sens and Reps and ask them to focus on:
(a) complete reforms of the Electoral Count Act
(b) use reconciliation to prophylactically raise the debt ceiling to preclude Republicans, should they to control the House in January, from threatening to default on the national debt as pretext for extracting concessions on protections, including Social Security, Medicare, Veterans benefits, and more.
Maryk, Considering one could expect these two issues to be somewhat bi-partisan, contacting our Senators and House Reps is a great start. In fact, I understand that Indivisible is calling upon its members to do the same, but with a substantially longer list of demands. Aside from one’s own Senators and House Rep, I also would suggest contacting House and Senate leadership, whom I imagine would relish resolving these legislative matters while Dems control both chambers.
I’m breathing a sigh of relief… but also sending a donation and writing VoteForward letters for Raphael Warnock.
Thank you for all of the fantastic work you do… educating all of us. Young people made a huge difference but it was also the powerful voices like yours that never gave up on democracy through these crazy times and continue to lead the way out of Trumpian MAGA hell.
Thank you too to President Biden who is our Luke Skywalker, Barack Obama—the epitome of class and excellent communication skills and Michael Moore who spoke truth to power.
Must find all registered voters who failed to vote Nov 8 and convince them.
Donna .....thanks for the reminder. I mailed letters to the south Miami area reminding voters to participate in the election ..... and I will again send letters to Georgia using Vote Forward and hope to reach out to independents and those who did not vote. Strongly agree with your comments
Amen!!
Perhaps the 2022 midterms are the tipping point, where The Emperor is understood to have no clothes.
All hat. No pants.
Yechk! The visual. 😵💫
In Texas: All hat, no cattle.
As always, your comments are valuable, hopeful, and well-reasoned. Thank you.
More than encouraged, I'm relieved. I need to wait and see how Cong. shapes up in 2023 before lightening up much. Too many corporate Dems and RW whackos still slither around the Capitol.
One point re TFG making "his presence conspicuous as he always does:" Imo MSM made his presence conspicuous as IT ALWAYS DOES. A major speech by the President of the United States is COMPLETELY ignored by all major news outlets, but EVERY rally TFG attends is headline news. That's disgusting and enraging.
If democracy dies in darkness, it will be hard to say who flipped the switch: Repub Fascists or MSM.
MSM is right wing corporate owned, including "left" outlets. We will be seeing less and less positive coverage moving forward. We will be seeing more and more culture war garbage stirred up by the MSM.
Yep.
Good to be reminded that youth are the torchbearers and that American youth and people of colour are getting out and doing just that. Thanks Robert for another vision of optimism.
I’m really excited to read that this generation of young people is so politically active. I am also not quite ready for a victory lap. We need to run through the tape. There’s an urgent need to help Raphael Warnock’s campaign in the run-off to hold his senate seat against his disreputable, unqualified and Trump-endorsed opponent, Herschel Walker. As of tonight, holding that seat may keep the Democrats in a narrow majority. Vote Forward has a letter writing campaign to get out the vote in Georgia. My wife and I have already given $100 more to his campaign and have prepared 60 Vote Forward letters. Those letters can improve voter turnout by about 2 - 4 %.
Jessica Craven is a SubStack blogger who has a comprehensive document on actions we can take to help the Warnock campaign, including a way for people out of state to travel there and knock on doors. If you find her latest post, there’s a link to that document. I wish I knew how to share it here! Let’s hold the Senate and maybe even gain a seat!
We also contributed to so many of the Democratic candidates across the country because this election was, still is, the tipping point election. We were disheartened when the voters of their states did not elect/re-elect them, or when, as in the Warnock-Walker run-off, did not decisively elect Warnock. We hope Warnock wins the run-off and Walker goes slinking off to Mar-A-Lago where the Trump syndicate holes up.
That said, we are beyond disheartened, and are, in fact, angry that the DNC did not give proper support to the campaigns of candidates who ended up losing in the face of huge Republican money, such as Tim Ryan, Cheri Beasley, Mandela Barnes and Val Demmings! It is unconscionable that the DNC didn't give what they should have, when donors who don't live/vote in those candidates' states did. Furthermore, for the DNC to have given money to terrible Republican candidates to boost them so that the Democratic candidate might have a better chance in contrast is not only dirty pool but shows a lack of good faith in the Democratic candidates!
We were disgusted enough at the DNC's behavior against Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren in 2015-2016 when the DNC and Debbie Wasserman Schultz were doing the Clintons' bidding, but this 2022 activity is something out of the Republican "dirty tricks" playbook and should be repudiated.
Tim Ryan's defeat is a huge loss and should never have happened, even in Ohio.
I agree wholeheartedly, Annie. I live in Florida and am disgusted by the lack of support for Val Demmings! I also supported other candidates in other states and couldn’t believe the reports I heard about the DNC giving money to boost the rotten Republican candidates. I sincerely believe that the DNC leadership needs to change and do so very quickly. Florida needs so much help in Miami-Dade to combat the disinformation that the Republicans pump out non stop there. It’s nonsensical that it turned Red for Marco Rubio this election cycle. The DNC all but wrote off Florida and Tim Ryan in Ohio. A lot of reflection needs to happen quickly in the DNC. The very bright spot in Red Florida is Maxwell Frost. He is a very intelligent young man and an extremely hard worker. His constituents are very lucky to have him!
They should also have backed Charles Booker in Kentucky, running against that pompous poppinjay Rand Paul, who is champing at the bit to prosecute Fauci, Biden, Garland. They very vigorously backed the previous Democratic candidate Amy McGrath based on Chuck Schumer's strong endorsement of her, with all kinds of DNC support, even though poll after poll showed she had no support in Kentucky. She and Charles Booker both ran against Mitch McConnell and now in 2022 Booker ran against Rand Paul. Neither Rand Paul nor Mitch McConnell care a whit about Kentucky constituents (read the Matt Jones book about McConnell in KY called "Mitch Please: How Mitch McConnell Sold Out Kentucky and America, Too") and Charles Booker is a good Democratic candidate - but little to no DNC support, again and again.
I don't live in KY but their nationally elected officials inflict an outsized amount of pain and damage to Kentucky and the rest of the country, while the Democratic Party has exploited "coal country" for decades while doing nothing to genuinely effect systemic change that might improve lives; just decades of talk and endless photographs of the impoverished, coal-dust covered, ill, and other exploitable pitiful features of the people there, when, in fact, those kinds of photos have always ignored the broader cross-section of humanity living there. If ever there were a population that the Democratic Party should have been standing up for, it is Appalachia, geography that encompasses a lot of significant states when it comes to elections.
Stand for something and then stand up for it - that is what the DNC should hold as a mantra!
Total agreement with your call for DNC changes, but I have already been hearing the pundits praising the DNC and DCCC strategy, so change/reform may be unlikely.
KY needs a grassroots movement to support Democrats. That has to happen from inside over time.
Kentucky has a Democratic governor. Rejected anti-abortion law. I held hearings there annually until I retired in 201 8. McConnell and I go back to about 1970. His wife was my boss for 8 years.
All politics are local. Booker is a lousy candidate. To win statewide need to go door to door, not rely on advertising, which only works in Louisville, Lexington and the suburbs of Cincinnati.
The model has to be Brashear, grandson of a Baptist preacher, who was able to pierce the evangelical pale. It would have been relatively easy to out preach Paul, named for an ashiest. Paul does not reflect Kentucky culture.
I was about to mention the Kentucky race, too, as well as Iowa, where decrepit nonagenarian Grassley was vulnerable. Kentucky is one of the states whose electoral infrastructure I think should be investigated for fraud, along with Texas, Florida, Ohio, Missouri, Iowa & the Carolinas.
Yes! I have long thought there was something fishy about Mitch McConnell being re-elected year after year after year when he is, by all accounts, either widely reviled or virtually unknown in Kentucky. Kentuckian and broadcaster Matt Jones who wrote a book about McConnell traveled his home state county by county, reporting on how little to nothing McConnell has done for Kentucky, how he has never even visited most of the counties and how he does not respond to real needs of his constituents. Something fishy, indeed. McConnell is a Louisville fellow which means he is all-but Ohio.
I heard that Dem voter turn out in Florida was unexpectedly low. Did people just give up, thinking DeSantis and his supporters were unbeatable? Demings is such an excellent candidate. I thought she had a real chance 2 beat Rubio.
There's a lot of voter suppression in Florida. To begin with, a referendum allowing felons who have served their sentence to vote that Florida voters approved was struck down. And further voter suppression has been practically nonstop.
Also I really suspect the Florida electoral system to be corrupt, which is why Republicans win all the close elections & others by wider margins than expected.
It seems as though virtually all the focus was on Pennsylvania & Fetterman. Glad he won but there were other races that should've gotten at least as much support. Warnock also got a lot of attention & DNC support could've been the difference for both races. It might also have been the difference in other races if there had been more investment in them.
I 100% agree with you. I expected to win at least half those contests, especially Ohio, since Ryan put on a great campaign & his opponent is so horrendous.
I am as outraged with DNC behavior as you are sinceat least 2016. They also sabotaged the primaries of some good progressives, like supporting Cuellar over Cisneros. Throwing away money to support fascists in the Republican Party is too much.
YES, Annie! The money in elections has become critical to the final outcome. Voters are drowning in pleas for funding nationally and these candidates needed the support. And we can thank Citizens United and the Courts for the big money in elections.
Rubio beat Demings by something like 15%. She was consistently running behind by 10% in polls. I can’t fault the DNC for not spending more money although I think it’s important to spend at least something on every race. But In general I don’t feel that the DNC or DCCC
has a good handle or strategy on their spending.I’m also OK with them boosting rotten Republican candidates if it has a good chance of success and apparently it did overall. If these were more normal times I might not agree to them doing that. But these are not normal times. part of the problem with Florida is the democratic party down there . democratic turnout in Florida fell significantly behind Republican.And the demographics is working against you.
Here’s the Jessica Craven list of resources to help the Warnock campaign. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xOm2N3kde8A617xdGt_mkR5cR5aTslFXyqxNBZby9v4/edit
Here's a linked version.
HELP US WIN THE GA RUNOFFS!
I’ll be updating this doc with new info all the time. But here are a bunch of ways to get started right now!
First, if you want to be invited to GA-related webinars, fundraisers, or other relevant-to-the-runoff events, please subscribe to my Chop Wood, Carry GA list here! https://adoptgeorgia.substack.com/ That’s where I’ll be sending out those invites.
Stuff to do NOW:
🍑 Center for Common Ground/Reclaim Our Vote has 879,000 addresses of consistent/reliable Black voters in Georgia available. YOU NEED TO USE THEIR CARDS so build in time to order them. The postcards need to be mailed by November 23. To get background and sign up to write postcards go to: http://centerforcommonground.org/postcards
🍑 Sign up with Indivisible to be on their GA runoff volunteer team. They’ll let you know in the next few days how you can help. https://act.indivisible.org/signup/ga-runoff-vol-2022/
🍑 Working Families Party has text banking for the runoffs happening almost every day! Sign up here. https://www.mobilize.us/ga-wfp/event/540617/
🍑 Activate America is about to launch their GA postcarding effort. E-mail AnnaMartin@activateamerica.vote to be added to their list so you’ll be the first to hear when this campaign launches.
🍑 Vote Fwd has launched letter writing into Georgia! Read instructions
https://votefwd.org/posts/Georgia-Runoff-campaigns-2022
and guidelines here and then sign up here! https://votefwd.org/dashboard
🍑 SURJ (Showing Up For Racial Justice) has several texting and phonebanking sessions already scheduled to help us win in GA. Sign up for one or more here. https://act.surj.org/a/ga-runoff
🍑 Donate to Rev. Warnock’s campaign here. https://warnockforgeorgia.com/
🍑 Out of state and want to go knock doors in GA? Sign up here to knock doors with the GA Dems!
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSevOx7VEHNvNWY9Kp0JoKGuCw8lWuIJakYdmAx93tBUdbr2hw/viewform
🍑 Movement Voter Fund is raising money for the GA runoffs—specifically for their amazing partner group, Georgia Alliance for Progress,
https://www.georgiaalliance.org/
who will quickly deploy funds to the field. Donate at http://movement.vote/GA
🍑 Demcast has a Georgia runoff social media toolkit! They will be updating it regularly. Use it to easily amplify this race on any of your social media platforms. Find it here. https://share.demcastusa.com/campaign/53EA608C-0663-4335-AFFE-4DD323703E96
🍑 Volunteer with the Civics Center to send hand-written postcards to encourage young people in GA to turn out to vote and to help them find their polling places for the US Senate Runoff. https://secure.everyaction.com/X-mBsDT-5kCzTn7HqAd_Aw2
🍑 Postcards To Voters now has a writing campaign for Warnock in GA.
If you are an approved writer text HELLO to (484) 275-2229 or message HELLO to Abby the Address Bot or send an email to: Request@AbbyAddresses.org. Not yet approved and ready to join Postcards To Voters? Text JOIN to (484) 275-2229 or send an email to: Join@TonyTheDemocrat.org
🍑 Live in Georgia or have friends who live there? Use the AMAZING relational organizing app Swipe Blue to find out who in your contact list is a registered Dem, then easily reach out to them and remind them about this critical runoff! You can also help get them the info they need to vote! https://swipeblueapp.app.link/jc22ga
Wonderful list. Thanks for posting. But it's worth noting that it must be a PDF or something because the links don't work. Still a great list, though.
See above. I've linked it in SubStack.
Ain't technology fun? The links work if you sign into Google Docs. I can't make it work with links with a PDF or a text document. Maybe someone can tell us how to upload it???
Troglodyte here, I guess. No Google account.
Here's a post with links attached.
HELP US WIN THE GA RUNOFFS!
I’ll be updating this doc with new info all the time. But here are a bunch of ways to get started right now!
First, if you want to be invited to GA-related webinars, fundraisers, or other relevant-to-the-runoff events, please subscribe to my Chop Wood, Carry GA list here! https://adoptgeorgia.substack.com/ That’s where I’ll be sending out those invites.
Stuff to do NOW:
🍑 Center for Common Ground/Reclaim Our Vote has 879,000 addresses of consistent/reliable Black voters in Georgia available. YOU NEED TO USE THEIR CARDS so build in time to order them. The postcards need to be mailed by November 23. To get background and sign up to write postcards go to: http://centerforcommonground.org/postcards
🍑 Sign up with Indivisible to be on their GA runoff volunteer team. They’ll let you know in the next few days how you can help. https://act.indivisible.org/signup/ga-runoff-vol-2022/
🍑 Working Families Party has text banking for the runoffs happening almost every day! Sign up here. https://www.mobilize.us/ga-wfp/event/540617/
🍑 Activate America is about to launch their GA postcarding effort. E-mail AnnaMartin@activateamerica.vote to be added to their list so you’ll be the first to hear when this campaign launches.
🍑 Vote Fwd has launched letter writing into Georgia! Read instructions
https://votefwd.org/posts/Georgia-Runoff-campaigns-2022
and guidelines here and then sign up here! https://votefwd.org/dashboard
🍑 SURJ (Showing Up For Racial Justice) has several texting and phonebanking sessions already scheduled to help us win in GA. Sign up for one or more here. https://act.surj.org/a/ga-runoff
🍑 Donate to Rev. Warnock’s campaign here. https://warnockforgeorgia.com/
🍑 Out of state and want to go knock doors in GA? Sign up here to knock doors with the GA Dems!
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSevOx7VEHNvNWY9Kp0JoKGuCw8lWuIJakYdmAx93tBUdbr2hw/viewform
🍑 Movement Voter Fund is raising money for the GA runoffs—specifically for their amazing partner group, Georgia Alliance for Progress,
https://www.georgiaalliance.org/
who will quickly deploy funds to the field. Donate at http://movement.vote/GA
🍑 Demcast has a Georgia runoff social media toolkit! They will be updating it regularly. Use it to easily amplify this race on any of your social media platforms. Find it here. https://share.demcastusa.com/campaign/53EA608C-0663-4335-AFFE-4DD323703E96
🍑 Volunteer with the Civics Center to send hand-written postcards to encourage young people in GA to turn out to vote and to help them find their polling places for the US Senate Runoff. https://secure.everyaction.com/X-mBsDT-5kCzTn7HqAd_Aw2
🍑 Postcards To Voters now has a writing campaign for Warnock in GA.
If you are an approved writer text HELLO to (484) 275-2229 or message HELLO to Abby the Address Bot or send an email to: Request@AbbyAddresses.org. Not yet approved and ready to join Postcards To Voters? Text JOIN to (484) 275-2229 or send an email to: Join@TonyTheDemocrat.org
🍑 Live in Georgia or have friends who live there? Use the AMAZING relational organizing app Swipe Blue to find out who in your contact list is a registered Dem, then easily reach out to them and remind them about this critical runoff! You can also help get them the info they need to vote! https://swipeblueapp.app.link/jc22ga
Thank you, Gary... Very helpful.
They work fine in Edge. Hope this helps the efforts.
Great -have actions will forward
https://chopwoodcarrywaterdailyactions.substack.com/p/chop-wood-carry-water-addendum-a98?r=3lzb6&utm_medium=android
First I want to say thank you for your service and I wish you a good Veterans Day. Our President inspires the good in us and am happy we did well in the midterms. Even more by the young people who turned out to vote. They are the future and aren’t easily hoodwinked. The pandemic turned their world upside down and some missed proms and graduations. Some lost friends or loved ones to Covid or because of the rampant shootings in schools, churches or grocery stores. We are united with one goal, to continue fighting disinformation and the threat of authoritarianism.
My dad, twice wounded, past commander of our local American Legion post, member of 40&8, named for the train that took soldiers to the front in WWI, would give a speech every year on poppy day. By the time I came back from Vietnam, it was an anti-war speech.
Fighting disinformation. Parents don't have a right to enlist their kids over their visceral defense for a big lie. Kids should be able to be independent by the time they can vote. The only way to make sure they get facts, need to encourage free public education.
Here in Baghdad By the Sea, our governor and state legislature oppose public education to the benefit of "charter" and parochial schools. I blame the Bush family, in part, for this as JEB Bush was governor for 8 years without fully disclosing that some of his family members were heavily invested. JEBs kids went to a prep school with my niece. I don't begrudge them any success, but here they stand as "bluebloods" although they have a Mexican mother. If JEB had any character, he would have publicly opposed Trump in 2016, after Trump humiliated him in the primaries. The charter schools have been a dismal failure. Trump (and DeSantis) effectively purged Bush supporters from state positions. DeSantis attacks. https://www.politico.com/news/2022/08/27/desantis-suspends-4-broward-school-board-members-after-parkland-report-00053977
My family has had someone in every war except the Gulf War since the Revolutionary war. It has come at a great cost. Physical and emotional damage that never gets the real treatment needed resulted in violence and neglect of family. We have generational stories of basically throw away kids because the fathers needed so much care and consideration after the damage incurred from war. The harm war does not just to soldiers, but to families. who do not get their due as we celebrate the victories. I do not deny that we needed to be in WWII, but it saddens me that we have not kept the hard fought for lessons regarding Hitlers rise to power and the destruction of fascist. I’m the best democracies, their is a greater concern for the well being of the citizenry. In a civil society, people can count on their governments for healthcare, education, infrastructure, humane prisons, and humane policing with good gun control. The only way these service systems can be for profit is by reducing services and/or the quality of services. I agree, we need to protect our public school systems . Charter schools or religious schools should not be able to siphon off public tax payer funds. If parents want these for their children then they can pay for them. Today I think of the sacrifices of my grandfather, father, uncles, and nephew and the lack of real support from the Veterans Office. So it is with pride and anger that I meet this day. We can and need to do so much more to ensure equality and equity for all.
Additionally, take a look at the documentary
God Forbid: The Sex Scandal That Brought Down a Dynastyhttps://www.hulu.com › movie › god-forbid-the-sex-sc...
The photos of the ENTIRE Bush family being "blessed" and anointed by Falwell Sr and Jr are pandering at it worst. That they even needed the Falwells for a win speaks volumes about their lack of character. Especially since it put the imprimatur of legitimacy on these scoundrels who preach Jesus in order to line their own pockets. They are largely responsible for the demise of critical thinking and blind stupidity of the legions who buy into their sordid lies. The Bushes, all of them, should have known better!
My Gen Z kids are so excited for any and all civic engagement. They see a 31% turnout a a challenge to overcome and are all in. They know the cost of guns, the opioid crisis, lack of single payer healthcare and the fact that their femal friends will be denied healthcare and they are coming out fighting.
It does none of us any good to not resist. They will do ANYTHING to maintain their privilege and oppress others denying human and longstanding legal rights. The US is not a signatory to Universal Human Rights and appears to have the same or worse barriers to access to Justice for all these groups so there is certainly lots of room for improvement and for us not to be kidded in any way just how far the elite will go to continue to lie to us all. Even in countries like NZ laws and human rights plus access to services and Justice, even being signatories and long history in law of same Government doesn’t implement or act on any law or human rights to ensure equity let alone progressive law. We only had abortion decriminalised a couple of years ago and still have an economy based in free or cheap labour so here’s to hoping the youth, women, working classes and unpaid contributors and POC don’t get hoodwinked by all these rich folk maintaining their power and privilege any more. The US certainly looks like a particular basket case in that regard from here. I think the structural and corruption issues by private interests were identified about 100 years ago there but nothing much has been done about it. Democracy and individual rights are about the only thing the US has to be proud of...certainly not emissions profile and contribution to climate change which I think are second only to Chinas. Correct me if I’m wrong on that. The US may be the number 1 polluter which would be ironic given the rhetoric emanating on that. Blame everyone else 😂
We fervently hope this is a growing trend and not a phenomenon based on one urgent issue, reproductive health rights, as important as that is.
The audacity of hope....
It keeps us going.
Serving in our country's military is an honor, an education, and a great risk to one's life. To all those who served, hoooo yah!
4 years in the Navy here. With the direction we seemed to be going in prior to the election I was seriously wondering whether that service had any merit. But if there is anything to be thankful for this year it is the fact that this election just inverted those concerns. So peace, everyone. A good Veteran's Day and a very good Thanksgiving are called for.
Absolutely agree on Kentucky. Appalachia needs attention so badly, but that would take some of the high and mighty Dem’s coming down from their pedestal and paying attention. They really need to take a page out of John Fetterman’s book and meet people where they live.
I turned off the news this morning because of course they had to circle back to talking about how TFG’s feelings are hurt and the showdown that is coming between him and Desantis. What people don’t realize is that Desantis has no personality and most likely will do poorly on the national stage. He keeps his rallies private and holds them in places he knows will support him and bans the local media. His wife runs everything behind the scenes. Make no mistake, she is evil.
The GOP are already complaining about the youth voting Dem. They are going to try their best to suppress the youth vote in upcoming elections. They are blaming it on schools and the media. Which is hilarious considering 90% of all media is corporate/right wing owned. Even those outlets posing as left are right wing owned. Thankful for the youth and their ability to see through these assholes. They are a more diverse multi-cultural group who are over the bigotry that the GOP sells. As any sane human being with a heart would be. Can't wait for the younger open minded generation to get the vote. Tired of the old racist establishment. Especially those brought up prior to civil rights. They need to go. Quickly.
And there's scuttlebutt to raise the voting age to 21 - the VOTING age, not the gun owning age.
The age to buy a militaristic high powered gun should be raised to 95 years old; 105 would be better but we're willing to compromise in the spirit of bipartisonship.
It has been like this since LBJ.
"No, we fight it with openness and civility."
This is hard for many to get. Biden and others on the left has been a good example of how to criticize, be angry but civil and rational. Many just don't get it that cruelty, name calling, invites more. Taunts, blame, and lies about progressives from the right and even within the left have made progressivism a curse word. The sad truth is that people love to hate. Lack of civility collects people; Trump okayed it and used it. This is the appeal on the right. Liz Cheney is a good example of how to be on the right but to be open and civil and respectful. Ultimately those that are not civil, demean themselves.
I too am thrilled that young people have become more enthusiastic about democratizing our nation. As a Gender Equity Educator who gives in-person law & language-focused sexual harassment prevention presentations, I'm oft surprised, frankly, that feminists (like Robert Reich) use "female erasure" language with such ease, the way some use racist language. Language matters. Otherwise fabulous Reich writes: "Don’t get me wrong. The growing numbers and political power of young people, as well as people of color and women, is not an argument for complacency." Heads up: Approximately HALF of "young people" ARE females; approximately HALF of "people of color" ARE women. Adding "women" the way some may add salt to a bland meal is not cool. Such language is called "female erasure" language. We hear it a lot when folks say "Black people--and women," or "at-risk youths--and females," or "Asian-Americans--and women," or "Police violence against Brown people--and women," etc. Yes, language matters to people...until and unless is doesn't.
Happy Veterans Day to all--women, men, others.
R.D. in La Mesa, CA