Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

When I was faster i was always behind.

When your entire life is steeped in white supremacy, equality feels like discrimination.

Compromise? There is no middle ground between a firefighter and an arsonist.

This year has been the longest three days of putin’s life.

This country desperately needs a functioning fourth estate.

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

Usually wrong but never in doubt

It is possible to do the right thing without the promise of a cookie.

The truth is, these are not very bright guys, and things got out of hand.

Baby steps, because the Republican Party is full of angry babies.

If a good thing happens for a bad reason, it’s still a good thing.

If rights aren’t universal, they are privilege, not rights.

The next time the wall street journal editorial board speaks the truth will be the first.

Red lights blinking on democracy’s dashboard

Too often we confuse noise with substance. too often we confuse setbacks with defeat.

The only way through is to slog through the muck one step at at time.

Relentless negativity is not a sign that you are more realistic.

A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

“Can i answer the question? No you can not!”

A thin legal pretext to veneer over their personal religious and political desires.

When you’re in more danger from the IDF than from Russian shelling, that’s really bad.

We will not go back.

Wow, you are pre-disappointed. How surprising.

You can’t attract Republican voters. You can only out organize them.

You are here: Home / Political Fundraising / NC Fundraiser: It Can’t Happen Here (Once More with Feeling)

NC Fundraiser: It Can’t Happen Here (Once More with Feeling)

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Fundraiser: <em>It Can't Happen Here</em>

If you want something to do next Sunday evening:

Four years ago I, a loyal Balloon Juice reader and general lurker since John was a Republican, put on a staged reading of Sinclair Lewis’s stage adaptation of his novel It Can’t Happen Here at UNC’s Old Playmakers Theatre. The play describes the takeover of the United States by an American president, and the resistance movement for which ordinary people risked their lives.

Four years ago, the threat was clear, but this election the threat is happening. Rise of militia movements. Voter suppression. Administration corruption as never seen.

Out of Durham and Chapel Hill, NC, a cast of professional and community theatre stalwarts will perform a zoom livestream of the production Oct. 18 at 7 p.m. to counter the threat to our democracy. Legendary music club The Cat’s Cradle is hosting the livestream. Longtime local musical favorite Daniel Chavis from the Veldt, is playing. Novelist Daniel Wallace (Big Fish) is introducing and historian Tim Tyson is doing a q&a following.

Our cast and crew are coming in from Texas, Illinois, and Brooklyn, and we’d love an audience from everywhere too. All people need to do is donate to FlipNC or the David Ladley Swanson Fund to elect progressive candidates through this ActBlue site: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/turningncblue. Any amount is welcome. The donation will generate the livestream link.

We have a website with more information: www.itcanthappenhere.net

Some BJ people donated last time to a reading they could not attend. Bravo, my virtual friends! But this time we can all share in this act of theatrical resistance, just as we’re pulling together to resist the galloping authoritarianism of the Trump presidency. It can happen here, it is happening here, but we can stop it.

Reader Interactions

36Comments

  4. 4.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    I have a story to tell about a friend of mine and militias that I’m gonna hang on to for a few months.

    Its a doozy.

  5. 5.

    Elizabelle

    I had the pleasure of seeing this play at UNC Chapel Hill 4 years ago.  Look forward to supporting and seeing it again.

  8. 8.

    frosty

    I read the book in high school, many many years ago. It made an impression but I don’t remember any of the details. It would be good to revisit it. Thanks for the link.

  10. 10.

    SiubhanDuinne

    By the way, may we know the name/nym of the jackal who is spearheading this? Producer (of the dramatised reading) Leslie Frost is the only one I can think it might be. And no, I certainly don’t need to know, nor do I wish to violate anyone’s privacy. It’s just my ‘satiable curtiosity.

  11. 11.

    Benw

    I’m toggling between the Braves and Chargers games. Bold prediction: the Chargers will lose because they are the stupid Chargers and the Braves will lose because the Dodgers are the stupid Dodgers

  14. 14.

    PsiFighter37

    Speaking of fundraising, it appears that Cunningham has actually increased his lead since the news about his extramarital dalliances came out. Lost ground amongst seniors and women but apparently more than made up with it from (go figure) men.

  17. 17.

    beth

    sunday nights are tricky for us but i’d love to help flip my new home state blue and get some culture in the process. i’ve put a reminder in my calendar to tune in from the western part of the state. thanks for doing this!

  18. 18.

    TS (the original)

    Latest poll has Cunningham +10 – seems he has been forgiven – or other issues are more important

    Edit:  as  PsiFighter37 said above

  21. 21.

    mad citizen

    We seem to have two threads going.  This one is newer, but I’m commenting on the last one: I’m not buying that the election would be close or a nail-biter sans virus.  Trump’s show is a shitshow through and through.  Got to believe people are tired of all of it.

    I (and my wife) voted today, pretty healthy line at the county courthouse.  Again, have to believe more people are coming out to stop trump than otherwise.  We’re trying to flip the IN-5 district from R to D since who knows when?

  22. 22.

    sdhays

    @TS (the original): Well, his opponent caught COVID-19 and was accused by his first wife of “abuse”, so compared to that…

    ETA: I haven’t been following closely as I am not a North Carolinian, but “abuse” is in double quotes because I don’t believe there are any specifics at the moment, so there’s a wide range of interpretations. But not good under any interpretation.

  26. 26.

    sdhays

    @mad citizen: I agree. Biden has been leading since last year and the 2018 election showed Democrats are fired up. I think people discount how much Dump-fatigue there is. People don’t like Donald Trump, and he won’t let people forget how much they don’t like him because he has to be the center of attention every. fucking. day.

    Even without COVID, I think he’d still be cruising for a comfortable, though hard-fought loss. We wouldn’t be tied in Ohio. Things wouldn’t look as good in the Senate. But he was in a very bad position in February, and COVID just accentuated all of the negative exponentially.

    Lying and being reviled are not helpful when running for reelection.

  30. 30.

    Summer

    Dear all, We just finished rehearsal so I’m late to the thread and missed the party, but thanks Anne Laurie for posting for me and the rest of the cast and crew. And thanks to all who we’ll see Sunday night. When we first imagined redoing the play (which was a ridiculously short time ago), we imagined it as one more way for people to celebrate communally a commitment  to make good trouble, to resist the chaos and to take heart for what is bound to be an unnerving few weeks. So I hope you can share this play with us.

    Thank you for the comments on this thread. I’ve been here for SO LONG in a quiet sort of way mostly, that it’s nice to feel known. Yes, SiubhanDuinne, it’s me!

    Cheers,

    Summer

  31. 31.

    Aleta

    (NYT) Recent Times/Siena respondents in Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa and Ohio indicate that they backed Mr. Trump by a 2.6-point margin in 2016, the same as his actual 2.6-point margin of victory across the Northern battlegrounds. Now, they back Mr. Biden across all six states.
    …
    So far, we’ve talked to 5,556 voters in six Northern battleground states.
    …
    Those who say they voted for minor-party candidates in 2016 have broken by 34 points to Mr. Biden. … Mr. Biden’s lead is largest among the former supporters of Ms. Stein, who say they back him, 59-9. Mr. Biden’s lead among the former supporters of Mr. Johnson is smaller, 38 percent to 14 percent, with this year’s Libertarian nominee, Jo Jorgensen, winning 29 percent of their support.

     

    (NYT) Last month, the Reuters/Ipsos polls counted as some of Mr. Trump’s best results in the battlegrounds. They weren’t even so bad for the president a week ago, after the debate. But the newest Reuters/Ipsos polls in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin show Mr. Biden up seven points in each state, representing a two- and one-point increase in his lead since their last polls, immediately after the presidential debate.

    …

  35. 35.

    sdhays

    @mad citizen: He should get around 9%, if for no other reason than he’s clearly not playing with even the partial deck he was born with, but I’ll be extra pleased if we can break the 40% floor.

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