One of our Balloon Juice peeps read Betty Cracker’s post last week about the Republican attempts to change the law in several states to allow the legislature to override election results they don’t like, and he wrote to me with an idea that I will share with you later on in the post.
Here’s another good article on the subject: Republicans want to change state election laws. Here’s how they’re doing it.
In the comments on Betty’s post, and in Adam’s post the previous week, many readers were grateful for the posts, but seemed not to know what to do in the face of these strategies. I was one of them! Some were discouraged, some felt powerless, and some were looking to possible legislative changes on the federal level to prevent these strategies from going into effect. I am hoping that the DOJ can fight some of the changes, but can we count on Washington to save us?
I watched myself these past 5 years, as I counted on one institution after another after another to put a stop to the illegal, immoral, outrageous, undemocratic and autocratic actions of the previous administration, and to hold them accountable. Surely, I said to myself every time, these things should not be possible in a democracy.
To quote Stalin: “It doesn’t matter who votes. It matters who counts the votes.” I never thought that would be true in America.
Yet here we are.
Even while holding the House, the Senate, and the Presidency, the should-be-illegal, outrageous, undemocratic and autocratic actions continue, particularly in the states. Just like with abortion, the states are where most of the action is taking place.
Maybe we need something now, to play the role of the women’s marches that helped energize and activate us. We did win in 2018, after all, in no small part due to that activism.
So I want to share with you Capricorn’s idea, in his own words. I think it’s a great idea, and I can’t wait to see what you guys think of it, too.
I am a long-time Balloon Juice reader, and like many of you, I am alarmed by all the attacks on our democracy.
We obviously need to keep doing what we have been doing: registering people to vote, canvassing, writing postcards, getting the vote out at election time. I am not suggesting that the actions proposed below would take the place of all those things, but instead would be done in addition to our usual efforts, to help stop the laws that allow voting results to be overturned.
There are additional actions that have the potential to help stop the Republican attempts to change the law in several states to allow the legislature to override election results they don’t like, and I believe that Balloon Juice is uniquely positioned to be helpful in that effort.
The key fights on this are going to be in states where the Republicans have a trifecta, and if we don’t pay attention to this stuff now, by the next election it will be too late.
There are differing degrees of urgency in different states, so it seems like the strategic move would be to do some research first.
There are 23 Republican trifectas. To begin with, we could ask readers to check with their Democratic elected officials and other organizations to find out if Republicans are moving these bills in those states.
After that, or at the same time if we have enough volunteers, we could identify the states that are not Republican trifectas, but have strong enough majorities in both houses to overrule a veto. Then we could also look at the 12 mixed-fecta states.
That would allow us to target our resources.
We could use the information gained to construct an action matrix, and plan on making it a permanent part of the site through at least the 2024 election. The rows of the matrix – imagine it as a spreadsheet – are the states, and the columns are the moves being made by the Republicans in each state to alter/undermine election laws and election administrative procedures. The Republican trifecta states are likely the most critical, but “mixed-fecta” states are important, as well, particularly in swing states.
Where the changes to the election laws are moving, one go-to response could be to mount large, public, peaceful counterdemonstrations that call out the Republican tactics for what they are. That will not stop the bills from moving but the publicity will be inconvenient for the Republicans and it will tend to motivate the Democrats in Washington. The key is building some kind of public pushback.
Mounting these demonstrations is not a job for the Balloon Juice readership. Nor is it a job for Democratic officials and Party people; at the end of the day they are not built for this kind of work. We could make a special effort to reach out to the “boots-on-the-ground” people that are good at it. Stacey Abrams in GA for example, and the people around her. I have connections to various organizations and can help a little with this once the list of states is built.
We should follow the lead of the local folks. They will be the experts on timing, and tactics. Whatever help they need, we could help them organize it through Balloon Juice. In particular, if they’re trying to spin up big demonstrations they will need money for buses and for a million other things as well. As soon as they get off the bus, everyone looks for the porta-potty. Those cost money. PA system for the rally? Costs money. Permits for the march? They cost money too. You can’t build demonstrations on timelines as short as these without money, it’s absolutely essential.
This effort could be critically important, and time is of the essence.
Who’s up for this?
~ Capricorn
Balloon Juice is already funding candidates and organizing groups, and many of us are politically active in real life. This is one more way that we as a group could take part in the fight. It gives us one more front in the fight to keep our democracy.
We have already identified what the problems are; we talk about that every day. In this thread, can we talk about about what to do about this and what actions we can take?
If you’re interested, we have already thought through more details that we can share, but the first step is seeing if there is interest.
I worked for a boss whose style was Ready, Fire, Aim, which never led to the desired outcome. That’s why I particularly like Capricorn’s suggested approach of doing the research so we can focus on the most critical states first. That takes time and effort, but it seems like the focus we would gain from the research would make it worth the time.
What are your thoughts about this approach? Have you seen other group approaches that should be considered?
Are you up for this or some other collective effort on Balloon Juice?
schrodingers_cat
I second Teri Kanefield’s tweet
ETA: I put a link to a panel I had made with Yogi the Scrabble cat in the last thread, if you want to check it out.
Baud
@schrodingers_cat:
Seconded.
Omnes Omnibus
Like in 2020, my focus will be on WI – specifically defeating Ron Johnson. At the moment, I think that I can do is much good staying local as I can spreading things around.
WaterGirl
@Omnes Omnibus: Could you do the research on Wisconsin for the action matrix? You seem like a logical choice, if you have interest.
WaterGirl
@Baud: I hope that you are not thinking that I think this is hopeless. The whole point of this is that it’s not hopeless, but that there is plenty of work to be done.
Omnes Omnibus
@WaterGirl: What the hell is an action matrix?
Baud
@WaterGirl:
No. You are the opposite of people I’m talking about.
WaterGirl
@Omnes Omnibus: (from up top) maybe tl;dr?
There are 23 Republican trifectas. To begin with, we could ask readers to check with their Democratic elected officials and other organizations to find out if Republicans are moving these bills in those states.
After that, or at the same time if we have enough volunteers, we could identify the states that are not Republican trifectas, but have strong enough majorities in both houses to overrule a veto. Then we could also look at the 12 mixed-fecta states.
That would allow us to target our resources.
We could use the information gained to construct an action matrix, and plan on making it a permanent part of the site through at least the 2024 election. The rows of the matrix – imagine it as a spreadsheet – are the states, and the columns are the moves being made by the Republicans in each state to alter/undermine election laws and election administrative procedures. The Republican trifecta states are likely the most critical, but “mixed-fecta” states are important, as well, particularly in swing states.
WaterGirl
@Baud: Oh, good!
I loved this comment from cope the other day:
Are John and I yin and yang?
Capricorn
Hello all, I’m here for the discussion of this idea and glad to try to answer questions.
The “action matrix” is a spreadsheet — rows are states, columns are the specific initiatives Republicans in the states are taking to pervert the election laws. There are 23 Republican trifecta states and 12 “mixed-fecta” states where the legislation is likeliest to break out. So a lot of balls to keep eyes on.
Omnes Omnibus
@WaterGirl: I am still uncertain as to what an action matrix is.
WaterGirl
@Omnes Omnibus: For instance, Wolvesvalley has mentioned something they are trying to do in Pennsylvania, related to voting, which is very worrisome to her.
That would go in the spreadsheet for PA, along with the things that are happening in other various states.
The spreadsheet could also include names of groups that are fighting against those things, which we could possibly support.
Kathleen
WaterGirl
@Omnes Omnibus: Maybe a better word would be “action spreadsheet”. Is that better?
Capricorn
This is a large community of politically aware people — the idea was that if enough were interested, it would be possible to put the power of crowdsourcing to work.
Mousebumples
@WaterGirl: i think the GOP majority in Wisconsin’s legislature wants to do something but Gov Evers has veto powers. The GOP doesn’t have enough of a margin to override his veto.
I’m with OO though. You keep saying “Action Matrix” and “spreadsheet”… But I still don’t know what more you want than what I said above. ?
Kathleen
I’m also on a DNC call with Jaime Harrison, who’s talking about DNC commitment to work in red states. As Kay has been saying for many years, he wants Dems have to be engaged in communities all year long vs waiting to campaign during election season. He’s got great energy and enthusiasm.
VeniceRiley
I think in addition to voting rights groups and souls to the polls and such we need to involve the kids. That means MoveOn or some such organization. All together to get people to capitols on key dates as if a 2016 Trump rally was announced.
Kathleen
@Capricorn: Thank you for your idea.
Omnes Omnibus
@Mousebumples: We are obviously simple Chesseheads who are confused by much of modern life,
Mousebumples
@Omnes Omnibus: lol, the only solution is more beer and cheese! ?
Argiope
I think this idea has a lot of merit. How would the matrix updating work? Do you envision Juicers from the same trifecta states pooling facts/contexts and then sending them to whoever updates the matrix? I’m not the person in my community who really knows how things work at the state level (OH) and which bills are moving, but I know someone who does, so could tap that resource to help.
WaterGirl
@Mousebumples: What you shared is helpful. Does that mean that We are in great shape in Wisconsin?
Is there anti-democratic legislation in the works, even if we think/hope it couldn’t get past a governor’s veto?
Are there groups working in Wisconsin to help protect the vote, that we could include in our list, and support?
The idea is to gather all the information in one place, and then it becomes more obvious which states are most at risk and which actions would be the highest priority as we try to keep our democracy intact
Does that help?
Benw
I’m in!
I am, in fact, a spreadsheet jockey at work. Earlier today, when I was feeling useless, I found the wikipedia page with a summary of many of the new Republican voter suppression bills in the works:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republican_efforts_to_restrict_voting_following_the_2020_presidential_election
I’d be happy to fire up a google doc spreadsheet and condense as much info on each state into a digestible chunk as I can. Maybe then BJers with local knowledge could add specific contact info for various in-state groups so that volunteers here could reach out?
Omnes Omnibus
Does the Final Five Bill working its way through the WI legislature count? Potential for ranked choice voting.
terraformer
@Omnes Omnibus:
It’s a spreadsheet, with data arranged in (ascending or descending) order of importance in terms of that state’s impact on the national election.
As a fellow badger, happy to help rid ourselves – and the world – of one Ron Fvcking Johnson.
Capricorn
Imagine a “Wisconsin” row in the matrix and a “culture war” column for all states. The cell at the intersection of the two would note that the Republicans have just rolled out a bill to ban teaching of critical race theory in the state. You might also have a “redistricting” column, and there you’d note that the Republicans have rolled out a bill to delay it.
WaterGirl
@Omnes Omnibus: @Mousebumples:
I am totally on board with beer and cheese. Did the followup explanations help? Or should one of us try to explain another way?
elm
Does anyone have a reserve of hope or a bright spot to look towards in this?
Benw
@Omnes Omnibus: think of it like the BJ-fights-voter-suppression equivalent of a Brett Favre rifle into double coverage
WaterGirl
@Omnes Omnibus: I don’t know what that is. But yes, it seems to have an impact on voting, so I think that would be included. And maybe there are local groups that are active around that, and they could be included.
Kathleen
Jaimie Harrison just said what I’ve maintained – the Democratic Party is the last line of defense from fascism (paraphrasing). He said there is no “both siding” this.
Capricorn
@Benw:
Great! Haven’t had time to read the link you embedded but this is what I’d been hoping for. We can handle exchange of contact information through WaterGirl.
Now the next thing we need are individuals (or better, teams) in the states where the Republicans are on the march.
Omnes Omnibus
@WaterGirl: In WI, the ACLU is big on voting rights, of course. BLOC and Voces de la Frontera have been mention and even front paged here before. And Ben Wikler and the WisDems are pretty creative and committed – I mean they came up with the live read of the Princess Bride fundraiser.
Omnes Omnibus
@Benw: Favre is persona no grata. My mom is planning to burn her Farve jersey on the 4th of July because he is pro-Trump.
Omnes Omnibus
@WaterGirl:
Ranked choice voting.
WaterGirl
@terraformer:
That is a most excellent explanation. Perhaps we should use your language instead of ours!
WaterGirl
@elm:
I certainly do. Especially when I learn to say, “oh shit, Joe Manchin is going to derail this, maybe we should focus on another way to preserve voting rights”, and then I choose to spend my time on things we can do INSTEAD OF endlessly spinning about what a dick Joe Manchin is (he is) and how he’s either short-sighted or stupid or has been bought (he is definitely at least one of those).
featheredsprite
Very constructive post. Thank you to everyone with ideas.
I’m in. Very little money, very little energy.
But count me in anyway.
I’ve been through days of depression and despair but I am hopeful now. Maybe we should spread the word that discouragement can be walked through. There is life on the other side.
Rocks
Sign me up and let’s get going!
mdblanche
@schrodingers_cat: It seems like only last week Democrats won a special congressional election by an expanded margin thanks to enthusiastic Democratic turnout, and Republicans discouraged by “it’s rigged” rhetoric staying home.
WaterGirl
@Benw:
okay, now someone will have to explain that to me, if it matters that i understand it.
Capricorn
@Rocks:
OK, unless someone else has a better idea, if you’re down for this add a comment with your nym, your state, and any other information that you think will be helpful in forming up a team to work on this. I assume with the nym in hand WaterGirl can get at an email address that will allow us to set up a zoom meeting to build this out further.
Looks like we’ve got Rocks, featheredsprite, Benw, argirope (?). Who else?
WaterGirl
@Rocks: Is there a state or states that you’d like to adopt, and do the research for?
Benw
@Omnes Omnibus: your mom bops!
WaterGirl
@Capricorn: @Rocks:
That works, as long as the email people use for BJ is an actual email address that they check. If it’s not, anyone can send me email and let me know an alternative email address to use.
Baud
@Kathleen:
Thanks for the reports. Good message.
WaterGirl
@Capricorn: Also for people who don’t like to participate in zooms, they can be recorded, with audio and video, or just audio, for viewing later.
Or someone could even summarize what happens in written form for those who prefer written word to audio.
I wonder if zoom can make a transcript of a zoom. Does anyone know?
We could also have a zoom and a thread for discussion on BJ.
Benw
@Capricorn: okay, I can fire something up this week and send it to you via @WaterGirl:? Maybe then we can source local teams once there’s a clear ask like “put local groups’ contact info into this column” and “someone volunteer to call them and find out what they need”.
WaterGirl
@Baud: Mr. Lawyer Man, do you have any interest in adopting a state?
Capricorn
@WaterGirl:
Do we have anyone in the house with skillz in setting up wikis?
Baud
@WaterGirl:
Can I have the state of denial?
WaterGirl
@Omnes Omnibus: FYI, Voces de la Frontera Action is our upcoming group, most likely next week, to get the “Four Directions” treatment.
First a Q & A with 3 people from Voces, then a followup zoom for anyone who is interested, and fundraising if you guys like what you see. The post is close to ready – I just have to set up the date.
gene108
@schrodingers_cat:
Twitter’s weird.
If I spend too much time on it, I forget that the people on it represent a very small segment of the population, and I think I’m not alone.
I got pessimistic the last couple of weeks, but I’m coming back around to having to do work in 2022. I hope others get the frustration out of their system.
Benw
@WaterGirl:
When Favre was QB of the Packers, he was notorious for high-risk passes flung into lots of defenders. A gunslinger, as it were. So it’s a WI themed metaphor for something possibly ill-conceived but VERY EXCITING
WaterGirl
@Baud: I’m sorry Baud, you can’t have that.
(2001 voice)
Argiope
@WaterGirl: yes, Zoom can do that (Ok, it says it can–I haven’t tested it) if you have a Business, Education or Enterprise license with Cloud Recording.
H.E.Wolf
I’ll mention that it’s quite possible both to feel despair *and* to get a lot of work successfully accomplished on a daunting project.
This is known as the “pray to god and keep rowing to shore” method. :) And it’s very effective… as long as one rows.
Signed,
Someone who’s written > 2000 postcards to Democratic voters, 1 slow card at a time.
WaterGirl
@Capricorn: I do not know. Surely someone on BJ has mad wiki skills.
Bueller? Bueller?
WaterGirl
@gene108: Not to be obnoxious, but there is a lot of work to do in 2021, too. :-)
WaterGirl
@Benw: You are a good explainer.
Kropacetic
Splendid thinking. Now which way is the shore?
WaterGirl
@Argiope: Well, the license we have for BJ was able to do the video and audio recording, so that sounds promising.
edit: I saved that in a tab to look at tomorrow.
WaterGirl
@H.E.Wolf: That might need to be a rotating tag for 2021-2024.
Kathleen
@Baud: Meeting ended with “Big Gretch” (Gretchen Whitmer) who is so impressive. That Town Hall was uplifting. Jaimie Harrison is awesome. He used to work for Jim Clyburn and he’s very positive about potential victories in red states.
Mousebumples
@WaterGirl: I’m not sure that I’d say “great shape”. Evers is running for reelection in 2022, and we’ll probably have new maps to try to get more Dems elected.
And I think there’s another Supreme Court election in 2023, which would be an opportunity to gain another liberal justice.
The explanation helped a little, and while I totally get the idea of crowd sourcing, we may get more constructive responses if there’s a specific set of questions to answer? Or even work on filling out the spreadsheet with a weekly post to focus on a given question or topic around the country?
Personally, I’m donating to WisDems (monthly recurring), and as time allows, hoping to do more Postcards to Voters. (having a very active toddler + full time job leaves… not enough hours in the day…)
surfk9
I think this thread is great. I like to think about stuff that I can effectively do. For myself, I have joined the local Democratic club and am currently it’s treasurer. I also have a seat on the county Democratic central committee. In both groups we are working hard to build alliances that can be used for community action. It’s a topic of discussion at every meeting. I live in an area that is turning more and more purple in deep blue CA.
mrmoshpotato
And more cowbell!
steve g
I don’t get the interest in trifecta states. They are already voting all GOP; what difference will new election rules make? Unless you mean a state like Georgia, where they vote Dem for some national offices even though the state government is a GOP trifecta. I think you have to pick your battles more. There are some states that are not worth the effort this time around.
Spanky
@Omnes Omnibus: TBI will do that to ya.
(Favre, not your mother.)
Benw
@WaterGirl: thanks! Or maybe I just pick VERY simple metaphors ;)
Mousebumples
@Benw: I’d call it more high risk, high reward opportunity. I’m not sure that our actions are high risk, but the situation seems appropriate. Or maybe it’s more analogous to a Hail Mary?
WaterGirl
@Mousebumples: Those are some good ideas, thank you!
It’s always hard to start with a blank piece of paper, no matter what you are doing. I think once it starts to fill out, we’ll all get more confident about what we need and what we can do.
Omnes Omnibus
@elm: Yes.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@Benw:
I mean, I gotta admit it was always fun to watch and guess how it would all turn to shit.
Capricorn
@steve g:
The trifecta states are the ones where Republicans can most easily implement statutory changes giving themselves the power to override electoral outcomes on unproven allegations, should Democrats win more votes. Georgia and Arizona being the two examples most in the news. In those states there’s nothing to stop them institutionally, so if there are local people or organizations trying to do so, the group might want to consider contributing resources in support.
“There are some states that are not worth the effort this time around.” There are some states that the Republicans are going to carry, they’ll win them without legislative shenanigans. I’m not clear what, if anything, can be done about that.
WaterGirl
@steve g:
I could not agree more!
That is ultimately the purpose of what is being proposed – we can know where all the threats are, which are most critical, who we can pair up with to help stop them.
WaterGirl
@Benw: That’s part of what makes a good explainer! :-)
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
Debating – should I switch from a Rocky Patel Decade to Olivia Serie V and Redemption Rye, or go with Havana Perla and Redemption Rye?
John Prine on the stream…
Omnes Omnibus
@WaterGirl: Vida Loca, a long-time but occasional commenter, is involved with them. That’s where I first heard of the group.
Hoodie
@Capricorn: These are also states where there is a reasonable chance to turn a GOP rep seat or a Dem seat is in danger (e.g., suburban districts in TX, GA, NC, etc.) and/or a reasonable chance to elect a Dem to the Senate (e.g,. NC, GA). These all have the trifecta, but still have several very winnable seats that can be messed with by a GOP trifecta.
cain
I’m in! Let’s do this! I rather that I try and at least look myself in teh mirror and said I did what I could rather than yelling at clouds.
Faithful Lurker
My husband and I are in. This is a terrific idea. We live in FAR western WA state, so it’s easy to get comfortable with the blue scene all around us. Eastern WA is another matter and there are some scary folks over there. Also too, we’re old. But we do have money to donate. I’ll keep track of how this works out and see what we can do to help.
I love this idea.
WaterGirl
@Omnes Omnibus: I am hoping for Wednesday of next week, so pencil that in if you are interested. And I hope you are!
WaterGirl
@Faithful Lurker: So glad to hear that! Even if you’re in a solid blue state, you could do research for another state.
Omnes Omnibus
I am in, but, like my fellow Cheesehead, I think I need a little more info on what info you want. I know this is a working strategy session, so everyone is throwing ideas at the board and wondering WTF at the same time. I think it is a good concept though.
Benw
@Mousebumples: haha yeah definitely low-risk, some-reward?
Josie
@Benw:
I checked your link and the information on Texas needs to be updated before you enter anything. I can make a list of what was passed by the conference committee that sent the Democrats running away and send it to WaterGirl, if you like.
WaterGirl
@Omnes Omnibus: You’re in? Yay!
As you said, we gotta start somewhere.
CCL
@Benw: Bless you.
WaterGirl
@Josie: Awesome!
Capricorn
@Faithful Lurker: I don’t think it makes a big difference where you live in your state — the information I think we’ll need to begin with is what are the Republicans doing in your Legislature, and the sources for that will be your Democratic elected officials and Party activists. It turns into a networking / intelligence-gathering problem. The purpose of the spreadsheet is to organize the information that’s gathered, in a way that’s sensible to people who don’t have first-hand knowledge of your state.
zhena gogolia
@Benw:
That sounds good.
Omnes Omnibus
@H.E.Wolf: As long as one rows.
Geminid
@steve g: Individual Representatives in red states like Sharice Davids (KS-3) will need help. And some Republican Representives in Blue states, like my loathsome 5th Virginia Congressman, and Boebert of the CO 3rd, need to be knocked out. I think there are at least two California Republicans flipped back districts Democrats flipped in 2018. These will be good targets next year.
dc
Sister District works to get Dems elected at the state level: sisterdistrict.com/
We need to pay more attention to state governments. We=everyone who supports democracy.
hitchhiker
@Faithful Lurker:
Same. So far west we’re actually off the western coast, and yeah, it’s pretty easy to pull down the blinds and breathe deeply.
But we can’t. I’ve been recharging lately, and every time I visit my grand-twins who were born during the Jan 6 riot, I feel the steel in my backbone getting thicker. They deserve at least the same shot at living in a functioning country as I enjoyed.
Love to help with this, however I can. We can’t leave anything to chance.
WaterGirl
Everybody…
If you’re in, say so! If you have some ideas, you can share them here or send me email and I’ll make sure they get thrown into the mix.
Benw
@Josie: please do!
WaterGirl
@hitchhiker: That’s great, thank you!
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@Omnes Omnibus: For some reason, I thought you were a Masshole. I didn’t realize you were a cheesehead, which somehow seems worse (j/k).
Benw
@WaterGirl: okay, I’m going to go do dinner and bedtime stuff with my kids, so I’m out for a bit, but my plan is to coordinate with people over email via you to start with an online spreadsheet of states with RW voter suppression that need action!
This is so cool.
WaterGirl
@WaterGirl: If I haven’t said this to every person who indicated that they are in, or offered an idea, I should have.
Because that’s how I feel, even if I missed people.
WaterGirl
@Benw: I am so excited that you have jumped in!
Capricorn
Everybody…
I have to get off the conversation now, but kudos to all of you for your enthusiasm and thanks for your kind reception to this idea. I’m going to follow up with WaterGirl tomorrow to consider next steps. We already have a good beginning of a group who have expressed an interest in working on this and we’ll be in touch with you.
As WG mentioned above, please be sure the blog has a working email for you, that’s the only way we can get back to you. Let us know the state you’re in, and anything else that you think will be helpful in taking the next steps to set this project up.
sab
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: Where the fuck have you been for the last fifteen years? Omnes has been WI for as long as I have been here. You southern rubes astound me by your ignorance.
H.E.Wolf
@Omnes Omnibus:@H.E.Wolf: As long as one rows.
Indeed! And not in the British sense of the word.
H.E.Wolf
@Kropacetic:
@H.E.Wolf: Splendid thinking. Now which way is the shore?
If one needs a direction, then whichever way Black women are rowing. :)
Omnes Omnibus
@WaterGirl: I am not good at organized projects. Spreadsheets and charts and things aren’t my forte, but I will find a way to help. And if you say that, as a lawyer and former soldier, I should be good at organized projects, I’ll just note that I have always relied on my NCOs and personal assistants to keep me on track. Otherwise, I get bored or… Squirrel!
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@sab:
To be fair, the Countess says I never pay attention to anything that matters, so I’ve got that going for me, which is nice….
Time for another splash of Rye.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@Omnes Omnibus: So you’re saying that discovery deadlines are more like suggestions.
I can relate.
I might be one of those assholes that returns his admissions on time, but maybe just eventually returns meaningful discovery when begged and ordered….
Omnes Omnibus
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: My family haven’t been Massholes since the early 1800s.
Mary G
I’ll be the contrarian who feels overwhelmed at the thought of this and a little wary of other people ranking where I put my money, plus the very word “spreadsheet” gives me hives, because I got the first PC in my work building back in 1991 or whenever and had to deal with the manager having a fit because he should have had the first one, and when he got one, having to train his stupid ass how to use it, which is very hard when your student has no listening skills whatsoever, then having to train everyone on my floor when they got them, all the while maintaining my regular job tasks that normally took 50-60 hours a week. But that’s just me.
Omnes Omnibus
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:
I can meet real deadlines – but all deadlines aren’t real. And some things are boring. If you leave them to the last minute, they can suddenly become exciting. Or nice people remind that I promised to call so-and-so today and won’t let me leave the office until I try. I am good enough at what I do that people tolerate my eccentricities.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@Omnes Omnibus:
Quick professional query – have you guys had any success at killing live motion appearances for getting ministerial things done, like motions for hearing dates and routine garbage like status or case management conferences?
I may have secured some consensus in local family courts to do a local rule on a permanent basis, but not general civil courts.
Omnes Omnibus
@Mary G: Oh, my money is going where I decide.* But if this helps people, I will help.
*I understood when people said that they were going vote as Black women did, but I wasn’t handing control of my vote to anyone else. Now, as it happens, I went for Biden fairly early, but I did it on my own.
Omnes Omnibus
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:
I am not litigating these days.
Sure Lurkalot
Like BenW, I’m a spreadsheet junkie so if BenW needs any assistance, even grunt work like proofing, I would be thrilled to help.
I live in a democratic trifecta but it doesn’t mean that the Repubs aren’t proposing legislation…like (argh) proof of citizenship and repealing automatic mail ballots (Colorado is a vote by mail state, instituted by a Republican SOS, everyone loves it), good luck with that. I agree the concentration must be on other states but Repubs in democratic trifectas may propose ideas that others copy. So, I’m happy to gather what bills Repubs here have proposed, if it’s decided it may be useful.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@Omnes Omnibus: Lucky you. Trying to figure out what’s live and what is virtual is a big part of my work day.
WaterGirl
@Omnes Omnibus: Everything takes a village, which means all sorts of skills are needed.
WaterGirl
@Mary G: One year I was so excited, showing my niece my new organized closet, with baskets and all sorts of things. She said it made her nervous!
We are all so different, and that’s a good thing.
Omnes Omnibus
@WaterGirl: Things get piled in closets and on desks. You find them by remembering when you last used them and digging that far down in the pile.
WaterGirl
@Sure Lurkalot: Yay!
WaterGirl
@Omnes Omnibus: I have been there, too. Do not mess with my piles or I won’t be able to find anything!
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Omnes Omnibus: Yeah, I thought that was Vida Loca’s group.
BlueGuitarist
Looking forward to helping with this!
Omnes Omnibus
@?BillinGlendaleCA: See, I know things.
Sure Lurkalot
@WaterGirl: Feel free to share my email address for coordination. Like you, I go back and forth between “let’s get to work” and utter despair. So it will help to get to work.
Benw
@WaterGirl: thanks again, I’ll be in touch over email tomorrow
Omnes Omnibus
Alright, you guys have fun organizing your spreadsheets. I am going to go watch The Avengers (Steed/Peel).
WaterGirl
@Omnes Omnibus: ooh, where to do you watch them? I tried a few years ago, but none of the episodes were Emma Peel.
WaterGirl
@Sure Lurkalot: I will, thank you!
WaterGirl
Thanks everybody! I will check back in the morning for more comments.
StringOnAStick
I set up monthly donations to Marc Elias’ Democracy Docket, next is Four Directions and Fair Flight; I’m signing up to start doing postcards now too. I am interested in this BJ project, what a great idea.
I was pleased to see that all the R Wingers who tried to get on the local school board in our election in April all lost, and that was all thanks to the local activists who did literature drops so you knew who to vote for. I need to get in touch with the people who organized to do this and join them for the next campaign season, so it is time to get locally involved now that we’re settled from moving (a multi month process, and something we are not doing again; in this soil I will plant myself and grow).
I’m hoping that when OR gets a new House seat that it will maybe be possible to have someone other than a RW idiot (Bentz, though he did vote for the 1/6 commission) as my House member; I plan to get involved locally with that. We’re on the edge of deep red insanity here, but our newly adopted town and the state in general is solid blue; east of here is freaking scary though. That State of Jefferson or joining Greater Idaho crap is insane. Sure makes it easy to ID the crazies though!
Subsole
I say let’s do it. Brilliant idea, and I am all in.
Dr. Fungus
@steve g: I think we can ignore the reddest, most GQP-safe trifecta states and focus on the purple-est ones where the shenanigans are.
Do we want to include bi-fecta states with the highest activity in this crap?
Omnes Omnibus
@WaterGirl: Bought Season 4 on Amazon Prime. I’ll get Season 5 next. Those are the Peel seasons.
CaseyL
I would love to be part of this! I, too, live in the Peoples’ Republic of Western Washington – but I have heard that the RWNJs over in Eastern Washington want to emulate the GQP in deep red states and get rid of all VBM. (Which Washington state has had, without problems, for well over a decade.)
WaterGirl has my email, I think; but I’m happy to reach out again to make sure.
Jackie
@Faithful Lurker: I live in a county on the scary side – Benton. Loren Culp aka mini-Trump has turned his sights to primarying our congressman Dan Newhouse – who, surprisingly was one of the ten republicans to vote for Biden’s certification. I was so sick of seeing Culp signs EVERYWHERE during the General election last fall. Sigh…
RaflW
@elm: So my partner is a UU and a humanist minister. He’s spoken at his congregation a couple of times about Joanna Macy and active hope.
He quoted this from a book she wrote with Chris Johstone:
I’m interested in helping out in WI.
I technically reside in Minneapolis, but I spend a couple months a year (spread out) in the WI countryside in Walworth County (kinda near Madison and Milwaukee). I’m also in CO a decent bit of time each year, but it’s doing relatively well, nevermind terrible people like idiot bar owner and fail-upward specialist Lauren B.
Omnes Omnibus
@RaflW: Walworth County is basically at the heart of the beast in WI. That is GOP central. The fact that Walworth, Ozaukee, and Waukesha counties lie between Madison and Milwaukee has always intrigued me a bit. Why is that area a black hole of GOPness?
WaterGirl
@Omnes Omnibus: ooh, good to know. seasons 4 and 5. when I get around to doing that, I may have to ask you again which seasons have emma peel. Love her.
RaflW
@Omnes Omnibus: I will say that the vaccine rate around here freaks me out. I went to three big box stores yesterday, and mask use is way way down. Even as the county is at like 45% vaxxed. Idiots.
This is my first year spending more than a few days now and again with/near the in-laws (technically out-laws, since I’m not gay married to my partner). My erstwhile SIL and her fam live in the heart of the county, and feel like they may be the only Dems on their block. They’re immigrants to here — as in from Milwaukee, so they’re not inculcated in the MAGA.
My sense is Walworth is a blend of farm country, blue collar people who liked the homunculus former governor, and rich people on lakes (but this last group mostly part-timers and I bet vote in other counties — or states, esp IL.)
As to the whole MAGA-belt between, it’s great-sorting, isn’t it? You need a major metro for the economic opportunity, but you want the comfort of mostly-white sprawlburbia. Lots of commuters. MSP has a MAGA-belt across the three northern counties of that metro. It’s where Crazy Eyes Bachmann was from.
Omnes Omnibus
@RaflW: I have never had a desire to live somewhere like that. I want to be in a city or in woods/mountains. Suburbia/exurbia, no.
brantl
@Capricorn: Me, brantl, I am in michigan, am a political action neophyte and often on the road, but I will do what I can.
Nancy
I thought I sent a message that I’m interested in working with the Balloon Juice team but maybe didn’t hit the post icon. Long days and late nights will do that.
Nancy
@WaterGirl: I am interested in doing more than sending money to Fight Fair. I am in NY State and will have a little energy to spare.
Nancy
@WaterGirl: I am interested in doing more than sending money to Fight Fair. I admire Stacy Abrams and the energy and passion I see here.