Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

This isn’t Democrats spending madly. This is government catching up.

The gop is a fucking disgrace.

Republicans are the party of chaos and catastrophe.

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

Wake up. Grow up. Get in the fight.

“When somebody takes the time to draw up a playbook, they’re gonna use it.”

Perhaps you mistook them for somebody who gives a damn.

Boeing: repeatedly making the case for high speed rail.

“Until such time as the world ends, we will act as though it intends to spin on.”

JFC, are there no editors left at that goddamn rag?

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

Text STOP to opt out of updates on war plans.

In my day, never was longer.

When you’re a Republican, they let you do it.

Everybody saw this coming.

When tyranny becomes law, rebellion becomes duty. ~Thomas Jefferson

If you’re gonna whine, it’s time to resign!

That meeting sounds like a shotgun wedding between a shitshow and a clusterfuck.

If you don’t believe freedom is for everybody, then the thing you love isn’t freedom, it is privilege.

Republicans got rid of McCarthy. Democrats chose not to save him.

There are consequences to being an arrogant, sullen prick.

They punch you in the face and then start crying because their fist hurts.

You know it’s bad when the Project 2025 people have to create training videos on “How To Be Normal”.

The line between political reporting and fan fiction continues to blur.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Well On Our Way: 6 – 8 – 18 – 36 – 54 – 7 – 75

Well On Our Way: 6 – 8 – 18 – 36 – 54 – 7 – 75

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Well On Our Way: 6 - 8 - 1 - 18 - 36 - 54 - 7 - 75 - ♾️

We have had 6 Balloon Juice angels ?, and angel #6 ? has added his match amount in the Four Directions Wisconsin Native vote thermometer!

In 8 days, with big boosts from our angel donors, we have raised $18,000, including 1 paper check from angel #1. ?

That’s a lot!  Thank you so much to our Balloon Juice angels ?, to everyone who has donated, and to every person who has provided support and encouragement.

Our external match amount is $36,000 so far, for a total of $54,000.

With $7,000 more in Balloon Juice donations, we can raise a total of $75,000 to give the Native vote a major boost in Wisconsin.

?

Enough about numbers!

?

Our efforts will help give a voice to a people whose collective voice has long been denied.

Because of what we’ve accomplished already, Four Directions now has firm plans for early action in Wisconsin that they did not have before – that they could not have without us and without the double-matchers. $54,000 for early planning, early hiring, early organizing.  We should celebrate that!

Just $7,000 more gets us to our goal of $25,000 for early efforts in Wisconsin – $75,000 with the double-match – and with that amount Four Directions can ramp up their Native vote efforts more quickly and more broadly.

We can do this!  We can help remove the obstacles.

We’re 3/4 of the way there – and there are nearly 2 weeks left in November – let’s keep up the momentum!

Every dollar you donate is double-matched.  Just multiply your full donation amount by three, and that’s how much goes to the Native vote effort for Wisconsin.  You are welcome to list your donation in the comments to inspire others, but every dollar with no upper limit gets multiple by 3.

FOUR DIRECTIONS – WI
Double-Match Fundraising

Goal Thermometer

Anyone want to share why this particular effort is important to you?

Reader Interactions

82Comments

  1. 1.

    rosalind

    if still possible to donate by check, who do i make it out to and where do i mail? thx (unable to donate the other ways at present…)

  2. 2.

    WaterGirl

    @rosalind: Yes, you can donate by check!

    If you do, please list Balloon Juice on the check or in an accompanying note so that your donation can go toward the $25k goal

    And if you would, please list the donation amount of the check so I can track that so it can help us reach the goal.  Letting me know by email or in a fundraising thread would be fine.

    Address:

    Four Directions Native Vote
    P.O. Box 731
    Chamberlain, SD 57325
  3. 3.

    Woodrow/asim

    In for $70, because my ancestors out-organized shit that was a hell of a lot worse than gerrymandering.

    Nothing worth doing, is easy.

  4. 4.

    WaterGirl

    @Woodrow/asim:

    Nothing worth doing, is easy.

    Thank you for that.  As Obama used to say “if it was easy it would already have been done.”

    I just added the block quote comment as a rotating tag.

    edit: intentionally encouraging a sense of helplessness or hopelessness on your own side is enemy action.

  5. 5.

    Yutsano

    I’m in a bit of a lean period while I try to get some back pay restored. Hopefully that decision won’t take until the new year. Once I have some kind of answers there I can relax some and start throwing around some scratch. New project in the next year is apartment, so I’ll be needing funds there. But again we’ll see.

  8. 8.

    rodwell

    Donated another $25.  The reason being that I lived in New Jersey, so my money can have more of an impact.  I am supporting Andy Kim (NJ-3) although he is not my representative because he will be in a tough fight and need support.  More importantly Congress needs good people like him if we are to go forwarded.

  9. 9.

    WaterGirl

    @skerry: Thank you!

    In the next few days, I’ll be putting up a post about Voces de la Frontera.  Not to ask for funds (!) but to share information about the field organizer they were able to hire with our funds and what the organizing plans are.

    If BJ peeps are interested, we can have a Q&A with the new field organizer and others in Voces, and a zoom.  I’ll share some details so folks can let us know if they are interested in the blog Q&A and/or the zoom with Voces.

  11. 11.

    WaterGirl

    @rodwell: Andy Kim is good.  He showed his true colors on Jan 6, just as many on the other side did.

    But in his case, he was an inspiration.  And I don’t mean an inspiration to engage in violence.

  17. 17.

    Patricia Kayden

    “From all the information we’ve learned, I believe my brother to be a co-conspirator in a coup attempt against the United States government. So I think expulsion is actually the most appropriate next step,” says Jennifer Gosar, younger sister of Rep. Gosar t.co/ib3mHnhxId— MSNBC (@MSNBC) November 18, 2021

  19. 19.

    Omnes Omnibus

    Come on, kids.   Let’s do this.   WI is close and getting Native American voters out is something that can really make a difference here.  If we do this, we are that much closer to making Manchin and Sinema just another couple of senators instead of the arbiters of our fate that they are now.  Go ahead and hate donate if that works for you.

  21. 21.

    UncleEbeneezer

    We are never in a financial situation to donate, so just want to say major thanks to all of you who can and do! You all ROCK!!!

  22. 22.

    MomSense

    In for $10 in addition to my recurring donation.  I’m in a bit of a pickle having missed a lot of work.  I wish it could be more and I’m so grateful to our jackal angels for stepping up the way they have.
    It is an honor to be a small part in lifting up our Native American family especially when their voices and their wisdom and knowledge are exactly what is needed for our life on this earth.

  23. 23.

    SiubhanDuinne

    Okay. Another $25.00 from me.

    This so refreshing after some of the less than encouraging comments in the last couple of threads. Thank you, WG.

  24. 24.

    sixthdoctor

    Threw in 50. Because Republican politicians are assholes. This has been my reasoned editorial. Edited only to correct the spelling of “editorial”.

  25. 25.

    Almost Retired

    OK, I’m in again for another $100. These BJ campaigns are both inspiring from a moral standpoint, but brilliantly targeted from a strategic standpoint. Take Wisconsin, for example. It’s a salvageable state, politically. And if we target the Native American (Four Directions) and Latinx (Voces) voters, it won’t take many votes to make a difference. This just seems like the best, smartest and most strategic use of my political donation budget. Same with Four Directions in Arizona. The Native American vote could absolutely tip that State. So I find these campaigns a very realistic and efficacious use of our contributions in this cycle. I can’t fix Texas this year, but the Native American and Latinx communities in Wisconsin and Arizona could damn well make an immediate difference.

  30. 30.

    WaterGirl

    @Almost Retired: Thank you for all of that!

    They think there are about 235,000 unregistered Native folks in AZ.

    There really isn’t a good feel for what that number is in Wisconsin, because organizing the Native vote in Wisconsin isn’t nearly as far along as it is in AZ.

    With this effort in Wisconsin, I kind of feel like we are helping to start the process for the Native vote in Wisconsin just like Stacey Abrams did for communities of color in GA 10 years ago.

    In addition to building infrastructure, we can likely get enough Native voters registered and voting in WI to tip the state.

    So this will help building infrastructure in WI.  Four Directions does the same relational organizing with the Native vote that Voces does with Latinx voters.

  31. 31.

    rodwell

    @WaterGirl:  Yes Watergirl, Andy Kim was an inspiration on how good people will can be on January 6th.  This is why I believe we will prevail.  There are just so many good people in Congress on our side.  I watch the Paul Gosar debate on C-Span.  The difference between the Democratic and Republican speeches was so stark.

  33. 33.

    WaterGirl

    @MomSense: I feel the same way.

    Six Balloon Juice angels for Wisconsin, truly amazing!  Between our angels for Voces and our angels for Four Directions AZ and Wisconsin, and all the people who helped meet the matches, it really is an honor to be part of this.

  41. 41.

    H.E.Wolf

    @MomSense: It is an honor to be a small part in lifting up our Native American family especially when their voices and their wisdom and knowledge are exactly what is needed for our life on this earth.

     Amen to that.

  47. 47.

    dkinPa

    Just donated another $25.  For all the good people out there who deserve better.  And for what Sixthdoctor said . . . because Republican politicians are assholes.  Thanks for doing this, WaterGirl!

  48. 48.

    WaterGirl

    Okay, I am going to bail on this post until morning.  I was up at 2:40 this morning playing catch-up for the clients I got behind on because I didn’t do much the week I was down with the bug.

    So I’m heading for bed even if it is just 7pm.

    So please allow me to pre-thank everyone who pitches in and contributes to the cause!

    Thanks so much, everyone.

  49. 49.

    WaterGirl

    @dkinPa:  Thank you.  Who knew hate donating was so popular?

    And now I’m closing the computer for real.

    Steep, I will check back in the morning to see what a single-period post is worth to you!  :-)

  52. 52.

    Another Scott

    In for some more.

    “Spend the angels money!!” :-)

    Thanks for doing this, everyone.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  54. 54.

    Dan B

    Help!  PayPal is fubar.  It can’t find ActBlue or Four Directions.  It wants an email.  Could I get an email for ActBlue please.

  55. 55.

    Another Scott

    @Dan B: Might be a state issue.

    ActBlue Support:

    Why can’t I use PayPal every time I donate?

    We know PayPal™ is a popular donation method, which is why we’re proud to offer it on ActBlue whenever possible! However, we cannot offer it for some groups that use ActBlue due to specific state campaign finance laws that are outside of our control. Unfortunately this is not up to us or the individual groups that use our platform.

    Is that a possibility in your state?

    :-(

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  57. 57.

    Dan B

    @Dan B: I sent a request to Act Blue.  Their sign up, at least on Mobile is useless.  They gave categories for me to sign up as a Candidate or several types of organization like 501 C3.  No individual option.  Sigh.

  58. 58.

    Steeplejack

    @Dan B:

    Click “Contribute” on the ActBlue thermometer at the top of this page and then select PayPal as the payment type when you get to the ActBlue page. I just did it about 30 minutes ago.

  67. 67.

    Steeplejack

    @Dan B:

    I just checked the mobile version of the site on my (Android) phone, and the ActBlue thermometer graphic is just before the last sentence of the post.

  69. 69.

    Leslie

    Another $25 from me because, as noted above, these are extremely practical and efficient ways to target our spending. And because empowering the Native American vote is a profoundly right thing to do. And because helping members of other marginalized groups vote is a small step in the direction of justice.

    And also, f*** negativity and doomsaying.

  71. 71.

    persistentillusion

    In for $25 again.  This is important work and it’s helping lift the doom cloud from my personal sky.  Thanks.

  72. 72.

    Martin

    Man, I wish the House would call me to testify on Navarro. I have no factual knowledge of how badly he fucked over the country working for Trump, but I could go on forever as a character witness. Just a colossal fuckwit and massive asshole.

  77. 77.

    stinger

    @frosty: No kidding! It was stuck at 16,050 for more than a day. Now there’s only $5K and “pocket change” to hit the target!

    This is a great place.

  80. 80.

    evodevo

    Chipped in $25 – I donate via Balloon Juice almost exclusively nowadays…I like the targets…

  82. 82.

    WaterGirl

    Wow, you guys.  You totally outdid yourselves.  How wonderful to wake up to this.

    We are already halfway to the $7,000 more we needed to meet our goal!

Comments are closed.