Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

You’re just a puppy masquerading as an old coot.

T R E 4 5 O N

And now I have baud making fun of me. this day can’t get worse.

You are so fucked. Still, I wish you the best of luck.

Not so fun when the rabbit gets the gun, is it?

Republicans are the party of chaos and catastrophe.

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

75% of people clapping liked the show!

The low info voters probably won’t even notice or remember by their next lap around the goldfish bowl.

They fucked up the fucking up of the fuckup!

rich, arrogant assholes who equate luck with genius

Yeah, with this crowd one never knows.

So many bastards, so little time.

The republican ‘Pastor’ of the House is an odious authoritarian little creep.

There are consequences to being an arrogant, sullen prick.

She burned that motherfucker down, and I am so here for it. Thank you, Caroline Kennedy.

Speaker Mike Johnson is a vile traitor to the House and the Constitution.

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

Hey hey, RFK, how many kids did you kill today?

Impressively dumb. Congratulations.

The press swings at every pitch, we don’t have to.

“Loving your country does not mean lying about its history.”

Jack be nimble, jack be quick, hurry up and indict this prick.

A democracy can’t function when people can’t distinguish facts from lies.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Who Loves Big Gretch?

Who Loves Big Gretch?

by | 85 Comments

This post is in: 

Who loves Big Gretch?  Not the song, the governor!

This is a multi-part post, and I’ll come back to that in a minute.

First off, thank you everyone for what we just did for the Native vote in Wisconsin!  And for the Native vote in Arizona!

Omnes said it best on Thursday, I think:

If I have my sums and times right, this blog has been responsible for raising over $150,000 for Four Directions in two months. That is something that will do a lot of good and something we should be proud of.

Could we a big round of applause for WaterGirl? One for the double match people. One for the Balloon Juice angels? And, finally, one for everyone who donated and/or publicized this effort. Well fucking done!

Well, his math was good, but his timeframe was slightly off.  We were responsible for raising over $150,000 for Four Directions in just one month.  In three weeks, to be exact!

You will see that the thermometer below is just an image of the thermometer, not a clickable link, which brings me to part two of this post.

We are done with high-dollar fundraising until February.  I’m sure DougJ will be putting up thermometers for various groups or candidates in the meantime, but nothing where we’re trying to raise a high-dollar amount for a certain cause in a particular timeframe.

?

And now for more exciting news about Wisconsin.

Mousebumples ?returned from her week-long trip with some angel match money that we no longer needed because we had met our goal while she was gone.  I had a bright idea – we were just 2,147 away from $28,000, and I thought that if we raised an even $30,000 we could see if the external double-match donors might be willing to double-match the extra $5,000.

If so, that would mean $15,000 more for the Native vote in Wisconsin, made possible by the $2,147 from Mousebumples ?.  I felt that we could make the ask to the double-match folks if we hit $5k extra, but I didn’t feel we could do that when we were $3k over our goal.

*Reminder: we have a $1k angel paper check that doesn’t show up in the thermometer.

We decided to try to leverage the $2k that Mousebumples had available, and Four Directions jumped at the chance.  We are now waiting to hear back from Four Directions about whether the donors will jump at the chance.  Fingers crossed!

Who Loves Big Gretch?

?

As I mentioned, we are done with high-dollar fundraising until February.  But what if we could do for Michigan what we did for Wisconsin?  Which was offer to raise $25k (with a double-match) in time for the state to be part of their early money / early planning decisions in December.

I asked whether our “credit” with Four Directions might be good enough for them to be able to include Michigan in their early money / early planning decisions in December, even though we wouldn’t start raising money for that until February. (Remember, Michigan is only on their list as the first runner-up for 2022, not as one of the 4 key states.)

And they said yes!

This could be a game-changer for Michigan, just as our efforts this month have been a game-changer for Wisconsin.

So…  Who loves Big Gretch? The Michigan legislature can’t be trusted.  Who wants to make sure she’s still governor in 2024?  Who wants to help remove some of the obstacles that are there at every turn for Native folks?  Who wants to help give a voice to Native people in Michigan?

Are you guys up for a big effort starting February 1 to give Michigan a great-big present in time for Valentine’s Day?

If you are, Four Directions will start looking for double-match donors for us and will include Michigan in their early planning and decision-making in December.

Reader Interactions

85Comments

  4. 4.

    guachi

    After I retire from the military next year I will be a MI voter eventually so this matters to me personally. Plus, the anti-gerrymandering referendum is, unlike the failure in OH, actually working. So money to MI actually has value.

  6. 6.

    Old School

    Well done, everyone!

    Pretty soon, Republicans will start saying the Democrats are in the pocket of Big Balloon Juice.

  7. 7.

    WaterGirl

    Oops!  This wasn’t supposed to post until I heard back one way or another on the possible double-match of the extra $5k we raised!  Oh well.

    I would still love to hear from you guys whether you would be up for a similar push for Wisconsin MICHIGAN in February?

    If Four Directions would be including Michigan in early planning – based on our plan to do this, when they aren’t in a position to be in Michigan early otherwise – I really need to know whether the BJ peeps feel like they would be invested in doing this for Michigan, too.

    In February.

  10. 10.

    WaterGirl

    @Old School: This kind of effort takes everyone.  Double-matchers that Four Directions finds for us.  BJ angels collectively donated 1/3 of the $30,000 and that brought in the other $20,000 from the rest of us.

    Donations big and small got us to $30,000 for Wisconsin.  Which means $80-$90,000 for Wisconsin.  (Depending on whether the double-matchers are willing to match the extra $5k that we raised.)

    Even if they don’t (but my fingers are still crossed) I suspect our $30k makes it easier for Four Directions to find double-matches for us in the future. “They not only met the match every time, but the last time they exceeded it by $5,000.”

  12. 12.

    SiubhanDuinne

    I have a lot of Michigan memories — some very happy, some not so much — but I would definitely want to see us able to make a positive difference there come February. So, yes, I’m in.

  13. 13.

    WaterGirl

    @AJ: If BJ peeps are up for doing this for Michigan in February, we could always make the thermometer now and have it available somewhere on BJ, but not do any posts about it or a big push until February.

  15. 15.

    WaterGirl

    @SiubhanDuinne: I am really appreciating seeing these replies.  A whole lot of people on the “Michigan culture” Medium Cool thread have ties to Michigan or memories of Michigan growing up.  I was kind of surprised by how many there were!

  17. 17.

    H.E.Wolf

    If Four Directions can find a double-match for us, I’d be thrilled with a February fundraiser for MI.

    Per this website, the Native American population of MI was 139,000+ at the time of the 2010 Census. https://www.aaanativearts.com/native-amerian-tribes-by-state Scroll down for a list of MI tribes (federally recognized, state recognized, etc). [Note: this is a shopping site in the Pacific NW, so evaluate it accordingly.]

    Inter-Tribal Council of MI: https://www.itcmi.org/​

  24. 24.

    MazeDancer

    Any state for which Four Directions can find Double Match, say “yes”.

    Everything they do is the biggest possible combat we could fund to GOP voting shut down. Every voter they bring in is a guaranteed hard core Dem. And if they’re new voters, that’s longterm gravy.

    Have no idea where they come up with these Double Marchers, but bless them.

    More blessing upon everyone who contributed monetarily and energetically.

    And especially bless the BJ Angels and WaterGirl.

    Couldn’t be more grateful to you all.

  25. 25.

    dnfree

    Here’s a question.  As you know, I’m doing a monthly contribution to Voces that I plan to continue at least through the election.  Would it be any help to this effort if I and maybe some others set up a monthly contribution to Four Directions aimed at MI?  If I started now they’d get a year of contributions, but how would it get credited to Balloon-Juice if there’s no thermometer?

  26. 26.

    There go two miscreants

    Count me in on this. And I really appreciate all the work WaterGirl puts in on the fundraisers. I feel that contributing here is more likely to make a difference. And the open discussions here are such a welcome contrast to the many “send money! OMG we are losing!” emails I get from various campaigns and candidates.

  28. 28.

    WaterGirl

    @dnfree: Okay, it does seem like there is interest in this.  Yay!

    If that keeps up in the comments, we can create the thermometer now, and put it somewhere visible on BJ, just without a big push because of the holidays.  (And also fundraising fatigue.)

    If we did that and you set up a monthly contribution through the MICHIGAN thermometer, all your monthly contributions would go into that.

    Four Directions can also change your existing monthly contribution to MICHIGAN behind the scenes, but I’m not convinced that those would show up in the Michigan thermometer to be matched.

    So it might be best to cancel your current monthly and then set up a new monthly donation through the new MICHIGAN thermometer.

    But yes, we can get the thermometer going right away as soon as I see that there’s a lot of buy-in for the Michigan effort.

  33. 33.

    wonkie

    YES!!!! Love this. Also if folks are a bit tapped out, there are ways to get involved in GOTV by writing postcards. In Jan I will mailing 300 post cards to Ohio. I sent one hundred to VA (results disappointing but I will perserve!) I am planning to sign up for GA. I sent several hundred there for Osskop and Warnick and want to do it again

  34. 34.

    Joy in FL

    My little contributions are drops in the bucket, and I will gladly continue to drop them in the bucket for Four Directions for Michigan.

  37. 37.

    Mo Salad

    Lifelong westside suburban Detroiter here, ready to save my state.

    I’m ready whenever you guys are, today, February, whatever.

    I understand that others may be burned out and tapped out, but a good portion of us do have wherewithal.

    If there was a way that we could set a tone such as “Don’t feel guilty about sitting this one out, we are doing this to concentrate and multiply the efforts of those who can give more frequently”, we should do it.

    I’m no potential angel, but I can sneak in another $50 every week or two without it being too much of a flex.

  38. 38.

    Bard the Grim

    I’m originally from MI, and am sad to see how many militia nuts and other crazies it has now.  Count me in.

  40. 40.

    Old School

    @James E Powell:

    Who is our candidate?

    Well, presumably Tony Evers will be running for reelection as governor.

    For Senate, there are a number of announced candidates, but who knows who will come out of the primary at this point?  And it still isn’t known whether Ron Johnson will run for reelection.

  41. 41.

    laura

    Count me in! Cousin Tom and his bride Nine live in Detroit. We gave them Gramma’s ashes as a wedding gift, so she lives there to. Happy to send some love to MI in Feb. Many thanks to you Watergirl for doing the heavy lifting.

  42. 42.

    WaterGirl

    @Mo Salad:

    If there was a way that we could set a tone such as “Don’t feel guilty about sitting this one out, we are doing this to concentrate and multiply the efforts of those who can give more frequently”, we should do it.

    I really do try to set that tone anyway, so I am all for that.

  43. 43.

    FelonyGovt

    Congrats to WaterGirl for her tireless efforts. And thanks to the matchers and the donors. We are really making a difference! I can’t manage much but I would be in for Michigan in February.

  44. 44.

    WaterGirl

    @Mo Salad:

    I’m no potential angel, but I can sneak in another $50 every week or two without it being too much of a flex.

    I don’t know… if you could sneak your $50 every week and set it aside, it seems like you could be the last angel for $500 right before Valentines Day.  (10 weeks from now).

    Angels can even be $250.  Any amount that can help other donations be multiplied by 6 is a big Joe Biden deal. :-)

    Remember, the seed for the whole angel matching thing was MomSense offering up $100 to match 10 donations of $10 each!

  46. 46.

    WaterGirl

    In case anyone wants to know the longer view…

    One of the BJ peeps asked about the plans going forward, and this is what I dashed off to him.

    1. see if BJ wants to do this and do the small amount of work that would get this going, which is make the thermometer, put it up, make the commitment to Four Directions Michigan

    2. move ahead with the introduction to the Fair Fight Action CEO  – I asked Four Directions if we could do this after we finished with WISCONSIN, more than an email introduction, so I can get hooked up with the Fair Fight Action folks

    3. my hope is that the Fair Fight CEO can hook us up with some boots-on-the-ground organizing groups in TEXAS and elsewhere (not associated with particular campaigns) so I can start conversations with them about what they need and what we could possibly to fundraising-wise.

    It really does take some time to reach out to new organizations, have a couple of conversations to get a feel for who they are and how we might be able to help, figure out what we might want to do to help, and then to get it going.

    Because all of that takes time, this MICHIGAN venture wouldn’t delay things much time-wise before we could get to TEXAS.

  48. 48.

    Ksmiami

    @WaterGirl: I live in Dallas and I really think while we can make some inroads, there are waaay better uses for time and money. Tbh I’m not even donating to Beto because it’s unlikely to be a good outcome. Please consider more investment in Az, NV, PA, MI, NC and OH esp wrt to Senate and to voting rights. Texas is the equivalent of Fetch.. it’s not going to happen at least for a few years

  49. 49.

    WaterGirl

    @Ksmiami: In 2010, Stacey Abrams started organizing in GA.  If we want future Georgias, it makes sense to invest in places where we are helping to invest in organizing infrastructure.

    It’s infrastructure week everywhere!

  50. 50.

    Miss Bianca

    @WaterGirl: Out here in Colorado, you can’t throw a rock without taking out a bunch of fellow Michiganians (yeah, I say that instead of “Michiganders.” Very 19th-century of me). So yeah, we are legion.

    That Medium Cool post made me feel positively nostalgic for the place, which is weird considering that the common crack among transplants out here is…”Michigan…it’s a great place to be from.”

    Hell, I’m even reading a UP-based mystery now. Whoever recommended Cold Day in Paradise, thank you…I’m enjoying it so far.

    ETA: Happy to hear about Four Directions money going to Michigan. I shudder to see what’s happened politically to my home state. Both my Michigan-dwelling brothers are extremely Trumpy RWNJs. It’s very discouraging.

  52. 52.

    Amir Khalid

    OT: the jury has reached a verdict in the trial of the three men accused of murdering Ahmaud Arbery. Travis McMichael the actual shooter, guilty on all nine counts; his dad Greg, guilty on eight of nine counts; neighbour William “Roddy” Bryan, guilty on six of nine counts.

  55. 55.

    Bard the Grim

    @Miss Bianca: I’m even reading a UP-based mystery now.

    Pardon being off-topic, but if you like urban fantasy/magic along the lines of the Dresden Files (but much better written and with a sense of humor, and set in the Midwest and especially the UP), I recommend the Libriomancer series by Jim Hines. I’m mostly a hard science fiction guy, but have been hooked by Lois McMaster Bujold’s fantasy works, too. If you like her, you’ll like Hines.

  60. 60.

    ExpatDan

    @watergirl seriously TWO posts on this thread espousing my Big Gretch love are eaten? Why should I bother…

  61. 61.

    WaterGirl

    @ExpatDan:  I don’t know why or how you ended up getting banned.

    I’m sure it wasn’t intentional, and I un-banned you, so you should be fine going forward.

    Please don’t take it personally.  I believe Gin & Tonic and Martin were both accidentally banned at one point, so you are in good company.

  66. 66.

    Madeleine

    Quick answer—I’m in. When the time gets closer, I could give some info about the perfidious Michigan Repub dominated legislature, if people are interested.

  68. 68.

    WaterGirl

    @Madeleine: Since we are close to the holiday season, and it’s sure to be enraging, I might have to fortify myself with some Puerto Rican Eggnog (aka Coquito).

    But i think it would be great if you can share Michigan information as we get closer!

  69. 69.

    WaterGirl

    I’m seeing enough enthusiasm here that I have told Four Directions that this will be a go for us in February if they can find the double-match.

    I have also asked DougJ to make a Michigan thermometer, which we’ll put in the bottom spot in the sidebar (instead of at the top where we often put it) since we won’t be doing active fundraising for Michigan until February.

  72. 72.

    Mike S (Now with a Democratic Congressperson!)

    @WaterGirl:

    I would still love to hear from you guys whether you would be up for a similar push for Wisconsin MICHIGAN in February?

    If Four Directions would be including Michigan in early planning – based on our plan to do this, when they aren’t in a position to be in Michigan early otherwise – I really need to know whether the BJ peeps feel like they would be invested in doing this for Michigan, too.

    In February.

    I certainly will contribute some more!

  74. 74.

    Mo Salad

    @WaterGirl: I don’t know if I can get my money brain to work that way and just sock it into savings. I much more enjoy the spur-of-the-moment $50 contribution and the feedback from seeing it triple doubled immediately. Come February, I could see myself looking at that $500 in savings and saying “Shit, that’s real money!”

  75. 75.

    VFX Lurker

    I live in California now, but I moved here from Michigan. I have friends and family who still live in Michigan. I will contribute when the fundraiser goes up.

    Once again, thank you for making it easy for us to help.

  77. 77.

    WaterGirl

    @Mo Salad: I just got confirmation from Four Directions that as they look for a double-match, we won’t get caught with any money we raise for Michigan before that NOT counting as part of what will be matched.

    And I have asked DougJ to make the thermometer.  So as soon as he gets that done, you can donate into it knowing that if they find a double-match person, that money will be matched.

    They have two months to find a double-match for us, so I can’t imagine they won’t succeed at that.

  79. 79.

    Mousebumples

    Excited about the potential for Michigan, and anxiously waiting for news on the bonus Wisconsin match.

    Thanks for all you do, WG!

  80. 80.

    KayInMD (formerly Kay (not the front-pager))

    I’ve been cooking (and receiving houseguests) for the last 2 days, just sat down for a moment to catch up. I’m in. It will be part of my Christmas spending plan. Couldn’t be a worthier Christmas gift for a certain someone on my list!

  84. 84.

    WaterGirl

    The Michigan thermometer isn’t at the top of the page because we’re into holiday season, but it will stay there in the sidebar until we start actively fundraising with posts.

  85. 85.

    WaterGirl

    One more thing.   Four Directions is looking for a double-match for us for Michigan.  No guarantees, of course, until they get that locked down, but they did confirm that any matches they do arrange for Michigan will match all donations in the thermometer, from the first contribution.

    Four Directions – Michigan

    Goal Thermometer

Comments are closed.