Outraged. To my core. I think next cycle, I’ll fly to Atlanta and hand out water, order pizzas, whatever is needed for people waiting in a ballot line. Now, I’m looking for “good trouble”.
Outraged. To my core. I think next cycle, I’ll fly to Atlanta and hand out water, order pizzas, whatever is needed for people waiting in a ballot line. Now, I’m looking for “good trouble”.
Giving may be proscribed, but selling might be OK. I'll sell you a bottle of water for a nickel and a slice of pizza for a dime. My food truck is parked right over there if you want more.
Technicalities. I’ll leave that to my lawyer. I can’t say I’m going to be upset with a criminal record saying “sold or gave food and water to voters.“ Never had a criminal record, but this is one I would accept.
Same for me, Roland. I am 75. Except for one speeding ticket no other criminal record. Going to jail for a good cause sounds like a worthy contribution.
We'd need to be sure natl media is there to show live video of we silver-hairs being cuffed for providing water in 90 heat. THAT's where the power is. Also, find out how much bail will cost and have that cash in your pocket.
Does getting thrown in jail at the age of 3 for wandering away from home, scream/crying for my mommy when the "authorities" picked me up off the street count? Otherwise, I'm in!
If you're a 3rd party they can bust you. If, however, you fly to Atlanta and provide that material support away from the polling place I don't think they can touch you. I'm not an attorney, though...
I'll give you my phone number if you decide to visit. You can walk to my polling place from our house, so you can "stage" your pizza stand here. I can contribute to your bail fund, too.
Appeals were readied long ago, and immediately filed today. It should take a while for the GA and other suppression bills to become enforceable law. Still, there is no time to waste.
Lovers of democracy can commit mass civil disobedience by providing "illegal" humanitarian aid in Georgia. If the police use fire hoses and dogs again, it'll look just as bad as it did in the 1960s.
Nancy and Ted, you may see me there. Save me a seat.
First protest 1961, at age 6, with Albert Bigelow, John Lewis's Freedom Rider partner. Bert and Sylvia helped found the Quaker meeting that raised me. It's time to stand on the shoulders of these giants.
And to repeat also from years gone by....Federal government "nationalizes the National Guard" to protect piza and water suppliers....and polling stations...from interference.
Somewhere along the road we seem to have lost the idea of freedom that we had then when we were going to change the world. Our generation has built the mess that the world is in despite our youthful protestation.
I'm reading "Caste" by Isabel Wilkerson. In Chapter 11 she talks about the rising mortality rates of White American, middle-aged, working-class males. Almost half a million excess deaths from 1998 to 2013. She refers them as "Deaths of Despair".
Chances are pretty good that the authoritarian bully mindset that is the hallmark of racism has consequences for the children raised in such homes. Generally minds that are attracted to a culture that feeds on lies/denial/deception have been bathed in that environment in their formative years. Trauma in childhood can lead to addiction and addiction creates more traumatized children. Vicious cycle. Hillary Clinton understood this well and it's why the patriarchy did everything in their power to keep her out of power. https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/aces/index.html
Herb, it reminds me of conversations that i had with a SF businessman while i was living In DC. He told me that he has to come for business but spends as little time as possible along the East Coast as "people seem so unhealthy" .
I thank you as well for your protest. My husband got his draft card with the number 78 six months before they ended the draft. He did not have to go to Viet Nam thank God. I feel that the protests and work we do today will also benefit future generations. So again, thank you!
Today is worse because I really never felt unsafe in those years. I was a proud hippie and held idealistic views. Burning my bra was quite “uplifting”. :) I loved RFK. I thought he was quite strategic and thoughtful. Even more so than his brother. He would’ve made a great president, in my opinion.
I am just on the bottom edge of the boomer gen. My mom would not take me with her to protests, but she did take me to a Love In at a park in Los Angeles. My, my, I learned a lot there for a tweenager!
Yes-- quite a pedagogy! Funny that my current career often involves helping young people in who are exploring drugs, sex, hooking up, sexting, porn and now about 30+ STDs. What a set up that early experience provided me— but kids today deal with soooo much more than in the 60's. They are not allowed to come to my sessions stoned and are shocked when I can smell pot or tell by their eyes the they are in an altered state and call them on it. They wonder how I know. ;-) Hope none of them read HCR!
Hahaha! In what way did pachysandra help the Dems? Pachy is root for pachyderm = Elephant = Republican? More evidence that the dems really need to get it together. That dem donkey symbol: The wild donkey -- Equus africanus asinus -- wild ass. Did you know that is why they call them "ass" rom asinus? I just learned something that puzzled me most of my life. I do love donkeys and elephants. I think the repubs elephant should now dawn a White Hood.
Thank you! As I said before, your protests in the 60's may have spared my husband from having to go. Had a low draft number but draft ended six months later.
Already vaccinated, and we'll add birthday cake to the menu! My nextdoor neighbors are Dems, so some of you could probably park in their driveway once ours is full. . . .
Gunga din was the water carrier—he was kind of abused by some of the soldiers he gave water to but the famous Kipling line is — you’re a better man than I am Gunga Din— so my immediate connection was with the people who would dare give voters on line water since that may be against the law in the next GA election— for me it’s so refreshing to hear Biden call out this horrendous law as modern Jim Crow. I liked Obama a lot for many reasons but I’m loving Biden’s straightforwardness.
There will be several polling places to attend. Cannot think of a better way to spend pent up travel drive from this at home year. Voters will need help finding hidden drop boxes too. And so much more.
What if we just go in and have them arrest 1,000's of us for being good human beings? You cannot/should not legislate our votes, water, food.
Is this not the party of bathtub sized government and they are legislating food and water? Stop this nonsense.
All this experimental humans need to be kicked out of our government and shipped to Moscow. So much for my trying to find the best qualities in one another and amplifying it.
What % of Atlanta cops are African American? I think it unenforceable. Ur gonna see protests prior, by the police themselves and/or mass resignations. Every institution of govt and most private enterprises are diverse. GA legislature can try to dream that magically away, but it is concrete and real. Their resolve will wither as this firestorm grows and grows. Hopefully the courts strike it down. If not, we are all coming to Georgia, “all of us this time.”
I disagree. I don't see how it can be enforced in the diverse police departments in Georgia. Think about it. The law pits black cops against white cops within every department and at every level. On the justice side, it pits black prosecutors and staffs against their communities and maybe fractures from within. It is and will be an institutional cancer throughout every govt in Georgia. Its about to get interesting and the more it gets, the more we need to get moving.
Yes, France (Europe in general) is a different beast altogether. Police in the U.S. have absolutely no incentive to do other than support the status quo.
I wish you were right, I truly do. I think the courts may strike down parts of this law, but otherwise this scenario is highly unlikely. Boycotts might actually work, though. But the idea that there will be a mass uprising is not supported by history. We have tolerated and rationalized away much worse outrages than this.
Which history, and when? And what counts as an uprising? Not solely violent rebellion, that's for sure. There are many examples all through history.
On April 20, 1861 (we'll observe it next month), 250,000 Unionists rallied in NYC's Union Sq for democracy and freedom. During the Civil War 500,000 enslaved people liberated themselves by escaping to Union lines, many serving in the military. A leading scholar, Steven Hahn, has a chapter titled "Did we Miss the Greatest Slave Rebellion in Modern History?" Preserving democracy today looks to be as important as expanding human liberty then.
More recently, the violent white backlash against civil rights provoked a nationwide wave of revulsion leading directly to the Civil and Voting Rights Acts in 1964-5. The Georgia GQP is setting up a very similar scenario. Also, the Nuclear Freeze movement significantly impacted the arms race. I know; I was at the great 1982 rally in Central Park with 800,000 of my closest friends.
P Ackerman, A Force More Powerful: A Century of Nonviolent Conflict
I was speaking specifically of the type of rebellion ted was describing. And I am more concerned with more recent history. Yes, many of us came out for BLM rallies early on, but they petered out pretty quickly. The Women's March after Trump was elected was very impressive, but in the end politically impotent. I would also point out that the Civil War and the Civil and Voting Rights Acts, while of course deeply significant, did not then and have not yet led to true equality in any area in the U.S. Ted spoke of a growing firestorm which he implies will lead to substantive change. I am dubious.
BLM protests petered out? Hah. Perhaps you just stopped attending or paying attention. And wait til the summer protest season, when AAPI people finally also find the strength that lies within.
I stand by my prior comment, and, with Stuart, note that when police join or enable protesters, violence is not automatic. Sometimes it prevents it. Please look at "A Force More Powerful" for numerous 20C examples.
What is the loophole in our Constitution that allow states take away our rights to vote? Or to provide water. WTF? Why is a gun more important than a vote to a republican? Are we back in the insane asylum so quickly? I just woke up and am mad as hell.
I thought we were going to have a period of calm but no. The liars and thieves are at it in full strength trying to take away the shreds of democracy that we have managed to salvage in the past four years years
It will be very interesting to read the actual wording of the bill and see what the loopholes are. I have no doubt there will be many people looking for them and exploiting them.
In 1840, American humorist Seba Smith first indicated as much in her short story “The Money Diggers” when she wrote: “As it is said, 'There are more ways than one to skin a cat,' so are there more ways than one of digging for money.” Courtesy of Google.
Many such phrases started with communities in poor Appalachian settlements and came from their Scots/Irish/Northern English origins, spreading thereafter throughout the language. Seba Smith was born and bread Maine and was the first American Humorist to employ a great deal of "vernacula".
Mind you we tend to do that now when transporting horses. But it is true, in metaphorical terms it not good for anyone, despite the current tendency to work on the symptoms rather than the cause, to get their logic in such a disgraceful disorder. Certainly this, for one reason or another, allows people not to see the wood for the trees......to quote another aphorism.
Aren't you glad you moved! AR15s on all of the campaign signs. Of course, they're cashing their relief checks. Now that's a group that would benefit from reeducation.
Looks like a really good use of my time as well. I’ve been getting a lot of questions about retiring. When I do, if this shit is still going down, it’ll be time for me to travel to the South. I am getting really pissed off.
HAHA, but don't laugh, if they explicitly said "water" and somebody offers Gatorade, they can't be arrested because they didn't offer water. Killers have gotten off on technicalities like this!
I just saw this politician from Georgia defending his parties changing the rules and not being able to get food and water to people standing in the line. It is a chance for people to “campaign “and they don’t want people doing that to people in the line they say. 😡
Yeah, did they ask said politician why the lines on one side of town are so long and the wait horrendous? As a white man, I’ve never had to wait more than a few minutes at most. In fact I think less than a minute in my whole life, mostly walk up and vote. I think I only have had to wait while they check my ID. I’m 49 and have never missed voting in a major election. What’s happening in Georgia is appalling.
So the obvious solution is to open up more voting sites, extend the hours of early voting, reinstate voting on Sunday. I do not buy his despicable response.
This once feisty sometime activist—now using a wheelchair— is coming with you. I haven't had such a glorious prospect since singing folk songs along with Joan Baez. Imagine those uptight people trying to jail an immobile old woman handing out water.
Outraged. To my core. I think next cycle, I’ll fly to Atlanta and hand out water, order pizzas, whatever is needed for people waiting in a ballot line. Now, I’m looking for “good trouble”.
Giving may be proscribed, but selling might be OK. I'll sell you a bottle of water for a nickel and a slice of pizza for a dime. My food truck is parked right over there if you want more.
Technicalities. I’ll leave that to my lawyer. I can’t say I’m going to be upset with a criminal record saying “sold or gave food and water to voters.“ Never had a criminal record, but this is one I would accept.
Same for me, Roland. I am 75. Except for one speeding ticket no other criminal record. Going to jail for a good cause sounds like a worthy contribution.
Boomer power!
We'd need to be sure natl media is there to show live video of we silver-hairs being cuffed for providing water in 90 heat. THAT's where the power is. Also, find out how much bail will cost and have that cash in your pocket.
Let's do it!
Does getting thrown in jail at the age of 3 for wandering away from home, scream/crying for my mommy when the "authorities" picked me up off the street count? Otherwise, I'm in!
You're cool, Lynell. The statute of limitations on toddler terrorism has expired.
Funny...now. Maybe not so much then.
What a great way to sully our reputations.
If you're a 3rd party they can bust you. If, however, you fly to Atlanta and provide that material support away from the polling place I don't think they can touch you. I'm not an attorney, though...
My birthdays in early Nov. it will be my 50th. I can’t think of a better way to celebrate.
I'll give you my phone number if you decide to visit. You can walk to my polling place from our house, so you can "stage" your pizza stand here. I can contribute to your bail fund, too.
Appeals were readied long ago, and immediately filed today. It should take a while for the GA and other suppression bills to become enforceable law. Still, there is no time to waste.
Lovers of democracy can commit mass civil disobedience by providing "illegal" humanitarian aid in Georgia. If the police use fire hoses and dogs again, it'll look just as bad as it did in the 1960s.
Nancy and Ted, you may see me there. Save me a seat.
Much was accomplished in 1960s. I was there.
First protest 1961, at age 6, with Albert Bigelow, John Lewis's Freedom Rider partner. Bert and Sylvia helped found the Quaker meeting that raised me. It's time to stand on the shoulders of these giants.
I can’t really see any cops stopping me. They will be busy with my donation of Krispy creams to them. The krispy cream rebellion!
And to repeat also from years gone by....Federal government "nationalizes the National Guard" to protect piza and water suppliers....and polling stations...from interference.
ted that is wicked funny. krispy kreme. doughnuts for the cops. brilliant.
May have to lobby Krispy Kreme first to stop their funding of republican party...
Love it!!
I’m impressed! My first was in 1969 in DC protesting the Vietnam War. Seems have been protesting ever since.
Somewhere along the road we seem to have lost the idea of freedom that we had then when we were going to change the world. Our generation has built the mess that the world is in despite our youthful protestation.
I'm reading "Caste" by Isabel Wilkerson. In Chapter 11 she talks about the rising mortality rates of White American, middle-aged, working-class males. Almost half a million excess deaths from 1998 to 2013. She refers them as "Deaths of Despair".
Chances are pretty good that the authoritarian bully mindset that is the hallmark of racism has consequences for the children raised in such homes. Generally minds that are attracted to a culture that feeds on lies/denial/deception have been bathed in that environment in their formative years. Trauma in childhood can lead to addiction and addiction creates more traumatized children. Vicious cycle. Hillary Clinton understood this well and it's why the patriarchy did everything in their power to keep her out of power. https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/aces/index.html
Herb, it reminds me of conversations that i had with a SF businessman while i was living In DC. He told me that he has to come for business but spends as little time as possible along the East Coast as "people seem so unhealthy" .
Is this about suicides?
Marlene, thank u. Your protest might have saved my dad and uncles lives.
I hope so but funny thing is I ended up marrying a Vietnam Vet 45 years ago. He never trusted the government then and still doesn’t to this day.
Life’s a doughnut sometimes.
I thank you as well for your protest. My husband got his draft card with the number 78 six months before they ended the draft. He did not have to go to Viet Nam thank God. I feel that the protests and work we do today will also benefit future generations. So again, thank you!
You all did a great job levitating the Pentagon.
Me too
How rough was that then? Is today worse? What did you think of Robert Kennedy them?
Today is worse because I really never felt unsafe in those years. I was a proud hippie and held idealistic views. Burning my bra was quite “uplifting”. :) I loved RFK. I thought he was quite strategic and thoughtful. Even more so than his brother. He would’ve made a great president, in my opinion.
I had hope we could make a difference. I never worried there would be AK 47 ‘s shooting us down. Robert Kennedy was a hero in my eyes.
I am just on the bottom edge of the boomer gen. My mom would not take me with her to protests, but she did take me to a Love In at a park in Los Angeles. My, my, I learned a lot there for a tweenager!
Things the so riteous and the holier than thou don't want you to learn in school, no doubt......practical demonstrations are excellent pedagogy
Yes-- quite a pedagogy! Funny that my current career often involves helping young people in who are exploring drugs, sex, hooking up, sexting, porn and now about 30+ STDs. What a set up that early experience provided me— but kids today deal with soooo much more than in the 60's. They are not allowed to come to my sessions stoned and are shocked when I can smell pot or tell by their eyes the they are in an altered state and call them on it. They wonder how I know. ;-) Hope none of them read HCR!
Darn Penelope, I'm jealous. Mom took us to pick pachysandra for the local Dems.
Hahaha! In what way did pachysandra help the Dems? Pachy is root for pachyderm = Elephant = Republican? More evidence that the dems really need to get it together. That dem donkey symbol: The wild donkey -- Equus africanus asinus -- wild ass. Did you know that is why they call them "ass" rom asinus? I just learned something that puzzled me most of my life. I do love donkeys and elephants. I think the repubs elephant should now dawn a White Hood.
HA! I bet you most definitely did!
People's Park 1969, "Free Huey , Off the Pig" S.F. what is this? Street Cred time?
Bruce, no one has encouraged or mentioned violent protests, except you. What's up with that? That rally is an outlier in the history of the 1960s.
Left a reply somewhere. Not sure if you'll ever get it. But no condoning or promoting of violence intended.
Thank you for clarifying, Bruce. Write on.
First protest in 1965 against Vietnam War while a grad student at Berkeley.
Thank you! As I said before, your protests in the 60's may have spared my husband from having to go. Had a low draft number but draft ended six months later.
Yes, we were not caught unawares. Now the many challenges will come. I'm really looking forward to our reunion. Everyone's welcome.
Shoulder 2 shoulder ( just please wear a mask!)
Me too— the Gunga din delegation from MA—my birthday is also in early November.
Already vaccinated, and we'll add birthday cake to the menu! My nextdoor neighbors are Dems, so some of you could probably park in their driveway once ours is full. . . .
Fun fun fun
Can Vermonter delegates join the Gunga din in MA?
Can you explain the GD reference, please? I know the film and poem, but not in this context.
I am not totally sure if Liz's reference would be different than mine...but I believe Gunga din a water carrier.
More the merrier
My son turns 21 in Nov. Great way to celebrate him and help preserve a future that’s brighter.
For sure
Can you explain the GD reference, please? I know the film and poem, but not in this context.
Gunga din was the water carrier—he was kind of abused by some of the soldiers he gave water to but the famous Kipling line is — you’re a better man than I am Gunga Din— so my immediate connection was with the people who would dare give voters on line water since that may be against the law in the next GA election— for me it’s so refreshing to hear Biden call out this horrendous law as modern Jim Crow. I liked Obama a lot for many reasons but I’m loving Biden’s straightforwardness.
Thanks, got it, Liz. It's pretty simple, so of course I missed it. The delegation riding the same DC bus once travel starts again.
And we’re all fully vaccinated
Gunga Din
BY RUDYARD KIPLING
You may talk o’ gin and beer
When you’re quartered safe out ’ere,
An’ you’re sent to penny-fights an’ Aldershot it;
But when it comes to slaughter
You will do your work on water,
An’ you’ll lick the bloomin’ boots of ’im that’s got it.
Now in Injia’s sunny clime,
Where I used to spend my time
A-servin’ of ’Er Majesty the Queen,
Of all them blackfaced crew
The finest man I knew
Was our regimental bhisti, Gunga Din,
He was ‘Din! Din! Din!
‘You limpin’ lump o’ brick-dust, Gunga Din!
‘Hi! Slippy hitherao
‘Water, get it! Panee lao,
‘You squidgy-nosed old idol, Gunga Din.’
The uniform ’e wore
Was nothin’ much before,
An’ rather less than ’arf o’ that be’ind,
For a piece o’ twisty rag
An’ a goatskin water-bag
Was all the field-equipment ’e could find.
When the sweatin’ troop-train lay
In a sidin’ through the day,
Where the ’eat would make your bloomin’ eyebrows crawl,
We shouted ‘Harry By!’
Till our throats were bricky-dry,
Then we wopped ’im ’cause ’e couldn’t serve us all.
It was ‘Din! Din! Din!
‘You ’eathen, where the mischief ’ave you been?
‘You put some juldee in it
‘Or I’ll marrow you this minute
‘If you don’t fill up my helmet, Gunga Din!’
’E would dot an’ carry one
Till the longest day was done;
An’ ’e didn’t seem to know the use o’ fear.
If we charged or broke or cut,
You could bet your bloomin’ nut,
’E’d be waitin’ fifty paces right flank rear.
With ’is mussick on ’is back,
’E would skip with our attack,
An’ watch us till the bugles made 'Retire,’
An’ for all ’is dirty ’ide
’E was white, clear white, inside
When ’e went to tend the wounded under fire!
It was ‘Din! Din! Din!’
With the bullets kickin’ dust-spots on the green.
When the cartridges ran out,
You could hear the front-ranks shout,
‘Hi! ammunition-mules an' Gunga Din!’
I shan’t forgit the night
When I dropped be’ind the fight
With a bullet where my belt-plate should ’a’ been.
I was chokin’ mad with thirst,
An’ the man that spied me first
Was our good old grinnin’, gruntin’ Gunga Din.
’E lifted up my ’ead,
An’ he plugged me where I bled,
An’ ’e guv me ’arf-a-pint o’ water green.
It was crawlin’ and it stunk,
But of all the drinks I’ve drunk,
I’m gratefullest to one from Gunga Din.
It was 'Din! Din! Din!
‘’Ere’s a beggar with a bullet through ’is spleen;
‘’E's chawin’ up the ground,
‘An’ ’e’s kickin’ all around:
‘For Gawd’s sake git the water, Gunga Din!’
’E carried me away
To where a dooli lay,
An’ a bullet come an’ drilled the beggar clean.
’E put me safe inside,
An’ just before ’e died,
'I ’ope you liked your drink,’ sez Gunga Din.
So I’ll meet ’im later on
At the place where ’e is gone—
Where it’s always double drill and no canteen.
’E’ll be squattin’ on the coals
Givin’ drink to poor damned souls,
An’ I’ll get a swig in hell from Gunga Din!
Yes, Din! Din! Din!
You Lazarushian-leather Gunga Din!
Though I’ve belted you and flayed you,
By the livin’ Gawd that made you,
You’re a better man than I am, Gunga Din!
Thank you Ted —Kipling’s words so inspire the moment
There will be several polling places to attend. Cannot think of a better way to spend pent up travel drive from this at home year. Voters will need help finding hidden drop boxes too. And so much more.
Just make certain you’re vaccinated. It’s adding to those statistics that’s troubling.
Nancy you are a rock star!
Sweet!
I see a for democracy “fieldtrip” forming!
Mitzi A Plus
I'm sure there's a loophole or two. What exactly is the definition of "give?"
What if a person sells water for 10 cents a bottle? What if another person, independent of the first, hands out dimes?
10 bottles for 1 cent
Get ur ice cold ballot water here! I got ice cold democracy water here( like at a baseball game)
With a penny taped to it?
Well, woops. Don't want to go to jail for buying votes. No penny.
Use our convenient layaway plan. Buy now, pay later!
Nobody said you couldn’t SELL water!
I would even accept IOU's.
What if we just go in and have them arrest 1,000's of us for being good human beings? You cannot/should not legislate our votes, water, food.
Is this not the party of bathtub sized government and they are legislating food and water? Stop this nonsense.
All this experimental humans need to be kicked out of our government and shipped to Moscow. So much for my trying to find the best qualities in one another and amplifying it.
"Experimental human beings" "shipped to Moscow" Now that's an idea!
Yeah, or a penny! Stop us and ur em peddling my business! That’d be awesome
Might need a license, as soon as they catch on
Hard to get to all 1000 of us, though.
Or thousands Reid
The rights of the corporate voter...Perfect, Ted!
Yep, you are a winner! On the team!
Good old American ingenuity at work
You'd probably need a Vendor Permit from the city and they would probably deny it or some rule about "fair value prices" or other b/s
Good trouble....
Very good trouble
No mention of dimes in the bill, so should be fine.
What % of Atlanta cops are African American? I think it unenforceable. Ur gonna see protests prior, by the police themselves and/or mass resignations. Every institution of govt and most private enterprises are diverse. GA legislature can try to dream that magically away, but it is concrete and real. Their resolve will wither as this firestorm grows and grows. Hopefully the courts strike it down. If not, we are all coming to Georgia, “all of us this time.”
It is a turning point in any revolution when the police side with the people and turn against the government.
Never happen.
I disagree. I don't see how it can be enforced in the diverse police departments in Georgia. Think about it. The law pits black cops against white cops within every department and at every level. On the justice side, it pits black prosecutors and staffs against their communities and maybe fractures from within. It is and will be an institutional cancer throughout every govt in Georgia. Its about to get interesting and the more it gets, the more we need to get moving.
It's not too far off already in France!
Yes, France (Europe in general) is a different beast altogether. Police in the U.S. have absolutely no incentive to do other than support the status quo.
Some police forces protected BLM protests some didn't. That's progress.
I know Stuart.
I wish you were right, I truly do. I think the courts may strike down parts of this law, but otherwise this scenario is highly unlikely. Boycotts might actually work, though. But the idea that there will be a mass uprising is not supported by history. We have tolerated and rationalized away much worse outrages than this.
Which history, and when? And what counts as an uprising? Not solely violent rebellion, that's for sure. There are many examples all through history.
On April 20, 1861 (we'll observe it next month), 250,000 Unionists rallied in NYC's Union Sq for democracy and freedom. During the Civil War 500,000 enslaved people liberated themselves by escaping to Union lines, many serving in the military. A leading scholar, Steven Hahn, has a chapter titled "Did we Miss the Greatest Slave Rebellion in Modern History?" Preserving democracy today looks to be as important as expanding human liberty then.
More recently, the violent white backlash against civil rights provoked a nationwide wave of revulsion leading directly to the Civil and Voting Rights Acts in 1964-5. The Georgia GQP is setting up a very similar scenario. Also, the Nuclear Freeze movement significantly impacted the arms race. I know; I was at the great 1982 rally in Central Park with 800,000 of my closest friends.
P Ackerman, A Force More Powerful: A Century of Nonviolent Conflict
S Hahn, A Nation Under our Feet
____, The Political Worlds of Slavery and Freedom
I was speaking specifically of the type of rebellion ted was describing. And I am more concerned with more recent history. Yes, many of us came out for BLM rallies early on, but they petered out pretty quickly. The Women's March after Trump was elected was very impressive, but in the end politically impotent. I would also point out that the Civil War and the Civil and Voting Rights Acts, while of course deeply significant, did not then and have not yet led to true equality in any area in the U.S. Ted spoke of a growing firestorm which he implies will lead to substantive change. I am dubious.
The BLM protests have made a lot of us aware of the inequality & the brutality. The women's March spurred many more women to run for public office.
Granted there is much more to accomplish but it's a start.
BLM protests petered out? Hah. Perhaps you just stopped attending or paying attention. And wait til the summer protest season, when AAPI people finally also find the strength that lies within.
I stand by my prior comment, and, with Stuart, note that when police join or enable protesters, violence is not automatic. Sometimes it prevents it. Please look at "A Force More Powerful" for numerous 20C examples.
Deep down we’re all dubious but we know these times call for action
I’m definitely envisioning this road trip
What is the loophole in our Constitution that allow states take away our rights to vote? Or to provide water. WTF? Why is a gun more important than a vote to a republican? Are we back in the insane asylum so quickly? I just woke up and am mad as hell.
Because it just is.
Guns can be used to stop POC and Dems from voting.
Oh, silly me. That makes supremely white sense.
I thought we were going to have a period of calm but no. The liars and thieves are at it in full strength trying to take away the shreds of democracy that we have managed to salvage in the past four years years
"Officer, I didn't 'give' it to them; I made it available and they helped themselves."
What's their definition of 3rd party?
Anyone who's not a voter or a fascist?
You can probably still pull into GA, buy yourself an AR15, and patrol the voting lines though. You know, to protect voters from food and water.
Rings true
It should not be easier to buy a gun and shoot someone then it is to vote
Yes Kathleen you are so correct
Anyone who is not white, male, straight, and Republican
It will be very interesting to read the actual wording of the bill and see what the loopholes are. I have no doubt there will be many people looking for them and exploiting them.
Georgia Senate Bill 202 - link to a pdf of full text
https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/legislation/document/20212022/201498
95 pages of corrupt legislation
Syd, You're funny. That last line was very Clintonesque.
There's always more than one way to skin the proverbial cat. (with apologies, I have no idea where that saying comes from)
In 1840, American humorist Seba Smith first indicated as much in her short story “The Money Diggers” when she wrote: “As it is said, 'There are more ways than one to skin a cat,' so are there more ways than one of digging for money.” Courtesy of Google.
Many such phrases started with communities in poor Appalachian settlements and came from their Scots/Irish/Northern English origins, spreading thereafter throughout the language. Seba Smith was born and bread Maine and was the first American Humorist to employ a great deal of "vernacula".
Putting the cart before the horse was always bad for the horse.
Mind you we tend to do that now when transporting horses. But it is true, in metaphorical terms it not good for anyone, despite the current tendency to work on the symptoms rather than the cause, to get their logic in such a disgraceful disorder. Certainly this, for one reason or another, allows people not to see the wood for the trees......to quote another aphorism.
Always makes me cringe!
"Killing two birds with one stone..." makes me shudder, too.
Cool it, folks. You're freaking out the animals.
It's going to take a big, but subtle stone to do it. Biden is probably on it.
Biden has a way with the vernacular
Vernacular = popular speech!
The Google is strong within you. I still haven't fully internalized the ability to answer any question, any time.
Nor do I, but I remember my father using it frequently.
Just don’t ask the cat 🙀
Amazon could launch an "Operation Water Drop" with a fleet of their drones. Would a drone qualify as a "third party" and a "drop" qualify as "give"?
As long as the bottles are Coca Cola Branded "dasani". We dont want Bezos getting any ideas about controlling our water supply.
For sure Ted let’s keep Bezos out of our mission
Ahhh, that was my first laugh reading all this. Thank you.
Give yourself (and GA) a present of democracy, Ted.
GA is the boiling pot of democracy and no matter how many disgusting laws they pass I think GA will be fine.
As a young man I lived outside Atlanta, working and training one winter. Love Atlanta! Can’t wait
Newly married and from IN, I lived in what is now Greene’s district! I loved GA.
Aren't you glad you moved! AR15s on all of the campaign signs. Of course, they're cashing their relief checks. Now that's a group that would benefit from reeducation.
As a transplant, I love it too. It's changing, as are many places in this country.
See you there
I would gladly go to jail for giving away food and water.
Looks like a really good use of my time as well. I’ve been getting a lot of questions about retiring. When I do, if this shit is still going down, it’ll be time for me to travel to the South. I am getting really pissed off.
Me too. Just saying, if we're in jail we can't help.
That might not be true, if there are enough of us.
In your case (Morning, Daria!!) you'd be headed north-ish?
Yes. (Morning, Lynell!)
Me too good trouble
Does anyone know if "water" was explicitly stated in the bill? If so, and nothing was said about Gatorade, etc., this could be an exposed loophole.
Lynell the Gatorade loophole— that solves the problem.
HAHA, but don't laugh, if they explicitly said "water" and somebody offers Gatorade, they can't be arrested because they didn't offer water. Killers have gotten off on technicalities like this!
Lynell I’m not sure I’d feel much safer with all the guns.
Civil disobedience....
I just saw this politician from Georgia defending his parties changing the rules and not being able to get food and water to people standing in the line. It is a chance for people to “campaign “and they don’t want people doing that to people in the line they say. 😡
Yeah, did they ask said politician why the lines on one side of town are so long and the wait horrendous? As a white man, I’ve never had to wait more than a few minutes at most. In fact I think less than a minute in my whole life, mostly walk up and vote. I think I only have had to wait while they check my ID. I’m 49 and have never missed voting in a major election. What’s happening in Georgia is appalling.
So the obvious solution is to open up more voting sites, extend the hours of early voting, reinstate voting on Sunday. I do not buy his despicable response.
“These forces of evil are well financed and determined”- Sen Raphael Warnock
Good morning, Ted. Waiting for HCRs Letter, no doubt, as am I.
Busted! GOod morning back at ya
Nobody said you can’t SELL food or water - maybe a penny apiece?
Love you ted
🙏 luv u 2 Roland
With you every step.
This once feisty sometime activist—now using a wheelchair— is coming with you. I haven't had such a glorious prospect since singing folk songs along with Joan Baez. Imagine those uptight people trying to jail an immobile old woman handing out water.
Sounds like we need a HCR Brigade in Georgia!
My plan is to offer to hold their place in line while they go get food & drink off site(& really close by).
I'll be there with you.
Just was thinking the same thing.
I’m with you!!!
Yes! If ever we need civil disobedience, it is now, against these democracy-fearing laws.