Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

If ‘weird’ was the finish line, they ran through the tape and kept running.

Accountability, motherfuckers.

Stamping your little feets and demanding that they see how important you are? Not working anymore.

They’re not red states to be hated; they are voter suppression states to be fixed.

Republicans don’t lie to be believed, they lie to be repeated.

Let us savor the impending downfall of lawless scoundrels who richly deserve the trouble barreling their way.

Republicans don’t want a speaker to lead them; they want a hostage.

I have other things to bitch about but those will have to wait.

Republicans do not pay their debts.

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

The lights are all blinking red.

The frogs are rarely mistaken.

“Let’s not pretend [Trump] wants to engage in high-minded discourse.”

Anyone who bans teaching American history has no right to shape America’s future.

The media handbook says “controversial” is the most negative description that can be used for a Republican.

And we’re all out of bubblegum.

A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

Let the trolls come, and then ignore them. that’s the worst thing you can do to a troll.

Ron DeSantis, the grand wizard, oops, governor of FL.

People really shouldn’t expect the government to help after they watched the GOP drown it in a bathtub.

We will not go quietly into the night; we will not vanish without a fight.

There are a lot more evil idiots than evil geniuses.

Every day Vance writes another chapter in the book called “Worst VP Pick Ever”.

You cannot shame the shameless.

You are here: Home / Political Fundraising / Four Directions: I Should Have Asked DougJ for Song Lyrics

Four Directions: I Should Have Asked DougJ for Song Lyrics

by | 15 Comments

This post is in: , ,

DougJ asked if I would put up a fundraising thread for Four Directions.

Four Directions (ballot access for Native people)

Goal Thermometer

They are doing good stuff in GA too, and the money we give them goes a long way.

In case you missed it, this is a great story passed on to us from gkoutnik at the end of October:

A few days ago, Doug put up a fundraising post for Four Directions, a GOTV organization “dedicated to getting Native Americans to the polls.” I thought it was a good idea (everybody votes!) and donated, and then the link appeared in comments the next day. I thought it was still a good idea and added a little more.

Yesterday I got a phone call from Lewis Cohen, Finance Director for Four Directions, thanking me for the donation. Then he said, “Let me ask you what may seem to be a strange question, but… where did you hear about us?”

Turns out they had a big spike in donations, mostly from some place called “Balloon Juice.” They had no idea who we were or how we found them. I described BJ as best I could (that was interesting) and he again expressed his gratitude.

Their motto seems to be: “Advancing equality at the ballot box across Indian Country.” So – thanks, folks, from Indian Country.

Let’s make Mitch McConnell irrelevant.

Open thread.

Reader Interactions

15Comments

  1. 1.

    mali muso

    Got an email from them a few days ago and had been meaning to act, but I do like to add to the Balloon Juice total, so thanks for posting the thermometer!  Done and done.

  2. 2.

    WaterGirl

    Related to Georgia, I just posted this at the bottom of the previous thread.

    There is a new podcast about Georgia from Crooked Media.

    Gaining Ground: The New Georgia

    I have only listened to the first episode, but New Georgia and Stacey Abrams started the big organizing push in Georgia in 2014.  Here’s their blurb on the podcast:

    The future of democracy as we know it hinges on the outcome of two Senate races in a state that shocked the nation by turning blue for the first time in nearly three decades.

    Georgia is the center of the political universe after organizers from John Lewis to Stacey Abrams spent years battling some of the country’s most brutal voter suppression with a young, diverse coalition that’s finally ready to take power.

    Visit the frontlines of the most pivotal Senate contest of our time as two of Atlanta’s own – journalists Rembert Browne and Jewel Wicker detail what made this historic moment possible and talk to the key organizers, strategists, and voters who are hoping to see years of hard work change the South forever.

    I think a lot of us are coming to the realization that we are going to win elections by organizing 365 days a year, starting right after the previous election.

  3. 3.

    Llelldorin

    I described BJ as best I could (that was interesting) and he again expressed his gratitude.

    If only that call had been recorded, we’d have a viral video ready to go that would’ve been a great fundraiser.

  4. 4.

    CaseyL

    @Llelldorin: Count me in as someone who would happily have ponied up to hear that conversation!

    (And, yes, even though the thermometer is all filled up, I contributed anyway.)

  7. 7.

    West of the Rockies

    Honestly, I thought Four  Directions was a boy band.  Glad I read past the headline.

  8. 8.

    Elizabelle

    I’m in with a small donation.  Love to donate (en masse) with Balloon Juice.  Thank you, WG and Doug J.

  9. 9.

    mali muso

    Here is what the email I received said about their efforts in GA.

    We’ve been on the ground in Atlanta for a month now, knocking on thousands of doors in the Atlanta metro and targeting Native American voters across the state.

    In fact, between December 8th to 18th alone, our door-to-door canvassers knocked on 9,263 doors, talked directly with 2,456 self-identified Native voters, and secured pledges to vote from 2,188 Native voters – or 89% of the Native voters that our team talked with.

    You already know that First American voters made the difference this year in states like Arizona, Nevada, and Minnesota. Despite every deliberately placed obstacle to suppress the First American vote, we showed up in record numbers to cast our ballots. Your support for our on-the-ground operations resulted in over 12,000 new registered Native voters as well as record turnout on November 3rd.
    That’s why we’re continuing our focus on achieving another record Native showing at the polls among the more-than 100,000 Native Americans of voting age across Georgia. We’re using every tool at our disposal — door-to-door canvassing, phone-banking, and physical mailers like the ones below.

    [photo of mailer highlighting Deb Haaland nomination with specific instructions on how to make a plan to vote]
    Supporters like you have made this possible — it doesn’t happen without you. Now, we’re going non-stop until the polls close on January 5th.
    If we can raise the necessary funds, our canvass teams will work to connect with every Native American household in the Atlanta metro area 5 times between December 26th and January 5th.

  10. 10.

    CaseyL

    @WaterGirl: When I worked for the Clinical Law Program at UW School of Law a few  years ago, one of the clinics I supported was Tribal Criminal Defense & Family Advocacy.

    It was easily one of the most interesting, most dynamic, and just plain best groups of people I’ve ever worked with.  I hadn’t even known Native Americans had their own legal system; if I had known, I would have assumed it was little different from the Wypipo legal system.  (I could go off in a big tangent here, but won’t. Suffice it to say that “Restorative Justice” is a quintessentially Indian Law concept.)

    Anyway, one funny-as-in-interesting wrinkle is, I kept hearing the legal teams refer to “Indian Law,” “Indian Court,” and “Indian Country.”   It startled me, since “Indian” is, SFAIK, very much a non grata term. So I asked the attorneys about it, and they said the tribal community uses that terminology, and they follow that lead.

  11. 11.

    Origuy

    I donated and followed them on Facebook. Here is part of one of their latest posts:

    The Lower Muscogee Creek Tribe of Georgia has confirmed % voter participation in the Georgia Senate Runoffs. “Voting is very important to make sure that we get out and vote and let our voices be heard,” Principal Chief Marian McCormick shared with us, “We must stand together.” The Lower Muscogee Creek Tribe is one of two state-recognized Tribes in Georgia with a turbulent history of treaties dishonored and lands stolen.

    The Lower Muscogee Creek Tribe is recognized by the state, but not by the federal government.

  14. 14.

    Ruckus

    When I get home from work today I will add a small amount in.

    I’m pretty maxed out with political donations this year, what with being off work for 2 months, but with shitforbrains II in the senate we really need GA to go our way.

  15. 15.

    J R in WV

    We’ve been contributing to Four Directions for quite a while now. The Navajo Nation is beautiful country, and the Dine people are a great group of people , friendly, creative and artistic, but at times visiting there can hurt, because they have been (like most Native Tribes) mistreated for centuries, and suffer a great deal on that account.

    So helping out an organization that helps get out the Native Peoples vote seems like a no-brainer to us. Thanks to everyone who participates in this fund-raising drive!

Comments are closed.