Tag Archives: GOTV

Justice Matters – 9/26/20

Here’s today’s “Justice Matters,” from Glenn Kirschner. Glenn lays out the latest Appellate Court ruling involving the Manhattan D.A.’s subpoena for Trump’s tax returns. He points out the judges essentially told Trump’s lawyer, William Consovoy, that his arguments were “full of shit.” (my words)

Check out the video. It’s a little more than eight minutes. One point worth remembering; it’s virtually impossible at this point we will see these tax returns prior to the election. This is because the subpoena Vance is seeking to enforce is for a Grand Jury proceeding and, unless it results in a criminal indictment against Trump, in which the documents would finally appear as evidence, they will remain secret. So … essentially, this means Trump’s dilatory moves have succeeded … at least to the point that his taxes will not be revealed to the public prior to November 3.

I think it’s important for us to recognize how disrespectful this is to the American people. Time and again Trump makes it clear he has nothing but contempt for democracy or the people of the United States. He professes to love this country; he perversely hugs the Stars and Stripes as if it has something he wants to grab, but he has shown no respect at all for the human beings that make up the vast bulk of the nation’s people. As of this moment, we’re approaching 210,000 deaths from, and nearly 7.3 million people infected with, the Coronavirus, yet there’s still no national testing or contact tracing plan, and precious little else in the way of Federal leadership.

Regardless of what these tax returns end up showing us, and past experience makes it likely—IMO—they will show us how dishonest Trump actually is, we know who the man is. He’s shown us repeatedly how little he cares for anyone save himself and those who praise and support him. We need to throw him out of office, along with as many of the weak-kneed, treacherous sycophants and bootlickers we can muster the votes to remove from their positions.

These are desperate times, and our nation is on the verge of becoming an autocracy, with a deeply flawed person at its helm. We can’t let this happen. We need to show up this election season in numbers like never before.

Older people like me need to recognize that Trump and those who support him would prefer we were dead. Many, like me, are now collecting social security and are on Medicare. We worked and paid for these things. They aren’t entitlements—at least not in the sense the right uses the word—they are earnings that our representatives have not managed well over the years. We’re perceived as a financial drag on the economy.

Younger people, more than ever before, need to show up this election season as well. This is an all-hands-on-deck moment. Trump and the entire Republican party are science deniers and, as such, they cannot (and will not) accept the science of climate change, nor will they accept the science of epidemiology. The future of our planet and our species is being threatened by these idiots.

!!VOTE THEM ALL OUT!!


GOTV, AND GIVE!!

I have been asked by a dear friend of mine to share the following blog post. Here is what she said about it:

“My friend’s father has become an activist. At age 80+, he is FIRED UP to get the word out and effect positive change in the upcoming election. Can you help him make this message go viral? He doesn’t use social media, but knows about its reach and power. I’m inspired by his activism! And am helping by lending my blog page. Here’s his message:”

Friends & Family, In this November election, more than ever before, we must prevail.  To do this we need to counter “faith based” (1) voting and voting by people who have short attention spans & respond well to rhetorical fear/hate campaign ads. Looking forward, if we let these people win, we could very well look up and find we have “dictatorship,” a bought-and-paid-for senate and an uncontrollable US “oligarchy” (2).  Think Germany in the 1930’s when millions of innocent people died during the rise of the Nazis.

This time, we must stop Trump & we must break the GOP deadlock in the US Senate.  This means electing at least 5 of the below listed senators.

With all the candidates now in place, we are left with making a concerted effort to influence the election outcomes.  And the best tool we have is to contribute to the war chests of the “good people”.

Please consider making contribution to the following campaigns (click on the website, then on “Donate”).

  1. Biden/Harris for president/VP joebiden.com  (vs. Trump)
  2. Candidates for federal (& state) offices in your state
  3. Candidates for US Senate in other states. None of these accept corporate PAC money; any amount would be appreciated-even $5:

MAKE IT REALLY EASY:  When you go to make your first contribution, the website will ask if you want to contribute.  If you click “Donate,” it will ask if you want to sign-up to use Act Blue.  This is really a good idea, because for all contributions thereafter, when you click “donate” & the “amount”, ActBlue sends your contribution to appropriate candidate & bills your credit card.

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE help to multiply our efforts by sharing this message with your friends and family…. And, ask them to also share it with as many people as they can. Just copy and paste the blog link and share it via email, or post it on Facebook, Twitter, or your platform of choice. The link is https://rickladd.wordpress.com/2020/08/17/gotv-and-give/

Thank you for your help!

Notes:

(1) Faith based voting:  My grandparents always voted Republican, my parents always voted Republican therefore I must vote Republican.  Or my club president said vote Republican or my minister said vote Republican therefore…  No data or other proof needed.

(2) Oligarchy:  A small group of people having control of a country, organization  (the 1-percenters)


Better Understanding The Franchise

We’ve taken voting a little too much for granted, methinks. That would include yours truly, though I have never missed a vote since June 4, 1968, my 21st birthday. I think I made the mistake of believing all that mattered was that I voted and I encouraged those close to me to vote as well. I’m pretty certain that’s no longer good enough; probably was never good enough, but it took the tender ministrations of the tangerine shitgibbon to make it clear we need to take the franchise a bit more seriously.

What, perzackly, that entails is unclear to me, but I’m sure a lot of us have ideas and many are already working on it. That’s what VR and GOTV are all about, no? But I am thinking a little beyond those two things, which we’ve been doing for a long time. We need to talk more about what it means to be an informed citizen. We need to find ways to present it that aren’t tres wonky. Therein may lie the greatest challenge.


Worst of the Worst!

Never forget that Trump, the spoiled three-year-old rich kid, comes with nothing less than the dregs of society, the worst of the worst; the greedy, unscrupulous, selfish, narrow-minded, bigoted, misogynistic malcontents. And don’t for one moment forget their white supremacy, which masks their white fragility. Trump, and as many Republicans as possible—especially in the Senate—must be soundly defeated come this November.

The only way we’re really going to accomplish what needs to be done is if a substantial percentage of people who normally sit out elections, step up and make their voices heard. Everybody needs to vote in this general election. Everybody . . . or at least a substantial percentage more than has been the case in the last dozen elections. Voter participation hasn’t exceeded 60% since 1968. This is no way to preserve a democratic republic, folks.


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