December 26, 2021 / Newsletter 256 |
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HELP US FIGHT JIM CROW 2.0!
Your donations help us in the fight for all eligible voters to be able to cast their votes & have them counted.
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Next meeting of the Hall County Dems:
When: Monday, January 10, 2022
Doors open at 6 pm,
meeting called to order at 6:30
Where: Gainesville Civic Center,
830 Green Street NE
Guest Speaker:
Senator Lester Jackson, Democratic candidate for Georgia Labor Commissioner.
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Save the Date!
Martin Luther King Day activities in Gainesville will be taking place over the weekend of January 15th - 17th. Watch this space for details coming soon.
Hall County Dems will be serving hot chocolate during the event, from a booth at Fair Street School.
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Get involved!
If you want to help protect our right to vote and to have those votes counted, why not attend the next meeting of the Hall County Board of Elections?
The next BOE meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, January 4, 2022, at 3:30 p.m. in the fourth-floor meeting room of the county administration building at the corner of McEver and Brown's Bridge Roads in Gainesville.
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Don’t give up, don’t give in
Confronted with a constant tsunami of discouraging news,whether about the Omicron variant of COVID or Joe Manchin’s proclamation that he won’t act to help the American people, it’s easy to get discouraged.
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A Short Note on a Difficult Day...
I promise this note will not be too long. I've already sent you an email this morning and I suspect many of you have already read enough today. But I also know that this has been a tough day of news, on top of many other tough days.
Read more
steady.substack.com
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20 Lessons from the 20th Century About How to Defend...
Image by Rob Kall, via Flickr Commons Timothy Snyder, Housum Professor of History at Yale University, is one of the foremost scholars in the U.S. and Europe on the rise and fall of totalitarianism during the 1930s and 40s.
Read more
www.openculture.com
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Interested in a career in politics? Georgia Dems have you covered!
Arena Academy is a program that trains current and aspiring political professionals in all things campaigns. If you've ever thought about pursuing a career in Democratic politics, this is an excellent way to get started.
The training will take place online February 3-7, 2022. If accepted, graduates from Arena Academy will work with their careers team to match with jobs on campaigns or progressive organizations around the country.
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Weekly Thoughts from the Chair:
The Grinches who would steal Democracy
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As Christmas fades and 2022 approaches, there are Grinches trying to steal away our Democracy.
Republican Butch Miller, with his grinch-like grin, has brought his evil plans to our legislature. This would-be Lieutenant Governor is calculating and scheming to steal away our rights and freedoms – grinning as he wanders the halls of our legislature – undermining our democracy. Of course, Butch is not alone - Republican conspirators and enablers are everywhere.
Recall that Butch the Grinch took selfish advantage of Georgia citizens by using our public property for the private benefit of his car business; that Butch the Grinch, very much supported HB481-- the Georgia Heart Beat Bill – the Bill that destroys a woman’s right to control her own body and criminalizes all those who would act to support her; that Butch the Grinch very much wants to replace our state income tax with a sales tax – to favor the rich while defunding essential programs like education; that Butch the Grinch very much supported SB202 – by which Republicans gleefully enacted voter suppression claiming it was “restoring voter confidence” – all with knowing winks and nods; and now, Butch the Grinch plans to steal away all of the drop boxes from Georgia voters.
Butch and his fellow Republicans are not supporting family values. They are not working to make Georgians stronger. Butch and the anti-democracy Republicans are working to take away our rights so that we become weak and powerless. Faithless to their duty as leaders, these Republicans seek not a stronger Georgia but a weaker, divided one. This calamity can destroy Georgia as we know it.
As the New Year arrives, We, the Patriotic Democrats, must become the Minutemen and women of 2022. Two hundred and forty-six years after the American Revolution, it falls to the Democrats – as the only patriotic political party – to save our nation and democracy. We shall follow the admonition of Dylan Thomas – we shall not go gentle into that “good night.” We shall “Rage, rage against the dying of the light” of our Democracy.
Mike
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Nearly a year after the insurrection, Republicans intent on supporting an end to democratic rule |
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As the anniversary of the January 6 attempt to block the legal and democratic transfer of power in the US approaches, Joe Biden supports Senate rule changes to protect our vote and pundits contemplate the situation in the US today.
More facts are brought to light weekly, as the House Special Committee works through documents, conducts interviews, and issues subpoenas in a Herculean effort to find the truth. Just Security—an online forum for the analysis of national security, foreign policy, and rights— has published a number of detailed timelines of the events leading up to and during the insurrection. One such timeline addresses the unsettling news that both the acting Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the Pentagon were concerned that Trump would use the National Guard to hold onto power.
Think about that: the two top officials in charge of the defense of our country didn’t trust the President to allow the peaceful transfer of power. No doubt even more information will come out as the committee continues its investigations.
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Crisis of Command: The Pentagon, The President, and...
One of the most vexing questions about Jan. 6 is why the National Guard took more than three hours to arrive at the Capitol after D.C. authorities and Capitol Police called for immediate assistance.
Read more
www.justsecurity.org
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Bookman: Naming names, former Sens. Perdue and Loeffler...
Anyone in public life who supported, advocated, justified, participated in, financed or helped to organize the scheme to void the 2020 Electoral College vote, take away the voice of the people, and MacGyver state legislatures into keeping Donald...
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georgiarecorder.com
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President Biden endorses exempting voting rights...
President Biden endorses exempting voting rights legislation from filibuster for first time: "Change the Senate rules."
Read more
therecount.com
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America is now in fascism's legal phase | Jason Stanley
Let us be reminded that before there is a final solution, there must be a first solution, a second one, even a third. The move toward a final solution is not a jump. It takes one step, then another, then another."
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www.theguardian.com
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The clear and present danger of Trump's enduring 'Big Lie'
It's been nearly a year since the United States suffered an unprecedented attack on constitutional democracy. When a violent mob stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, the goal was to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election and...
Read more
www.npr.org
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Thompson says Jan. 6 committee focused on Trump's hours...
The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol is focusing intently on Donald Trump's actions that day as it begins to discuss whether to recommend that the Justice Department open a criminal investigation into the former...
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www.washingtonpost.com
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State & Local News (Some links may require a subscription)
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PLEASE NOTE: Any articles we post about Georgia Democrats on the primary ballot in 2022 are intended to keep you informed. They are not an endorsement of any candidate. |
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Georgia Senator Jon Ossoff, wife welcome first baby
ATLANTA - Senator Jon Ossoff can add another title to his name: Father. The Georgia senator and his wife, Dr. Alisha Kramer, welcomed their first child on Dec. 17. Ossoff's spokesperson confirmed the news on Twitter. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News...
Read more
www.wsbtv.com
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Two Georgia election workers sue Giuliani and One...
Two Georgia election workers are accusing right-wing TV network One America News and former Trump lawyer and pundit Rudy Giuliani of destroying their reputations and prompting Trump supporters to harass them -- filling their lives with fear --...
Read more
www.cnn.com
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Gov. Brian Kemp backs Juneteenth as Georgia state holiday
ATLANTA (AP) Gov. Brian Kemp is supporting a plan to add Juneteenth as a mandatory 13th holiday for Georgia state employees. Georgia law now mandates the observance of the 10 federal holidays set in 1984, when Martin Luther King Jr. Day was first ...
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accesswdun.com
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Here's the bizarre way Republicans are attempting to...
As Stacey Abrams hits the campaign trail for a second Georgia gubernatorial race, Republicans are scrambling to make her current run all about her previous one in 2018. According to Politico, Republicans are zeroing in on Abrams' final speech...
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www.salon.com
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National News (Some links may require a subscription)
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King Family and Activists Plan Marches to Spur Action on ...
Prominent backers of stalled voting rights legislation plan a blitz emphasizing the urgent need to counter new state restrictions. WASHINGTON - Frustrated with President Biden and congressional Democrats for failing to enact voting rights...
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www.nytimes.com
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Opinion | This Christmas, Republicans are giving...
Republican lawmakers this holiday season are unwrapping a rare and valuable gift: congressional seats for life. Thanks to a breathtaking abuse of redistricting in GOP-controlled states, all but an unlucky handful of members of Congress will...
Read more
www.washingtonpost.com
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Opinion | Red states are now paying people not to get...
Once upon a time, states debated whether to pay people to get vaccinated. Now, some red states are paying people not to get vaccinated, by cutting checks to workers who quit or are fired because they refuse covid-19 shots. All spring and summer,...
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www.washingtonpost.com
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Trump met with boos after revealing he received Covid-19 ...
Former President Donald Trump was booed by a portion of an audience in Dallas on Sunday when he said he had received a Covid-19 booster shot, according to video of the closed press event that was shared on social media.
Read more
www.cnn.com
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