Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Too often we hand the biggest microphones to the cynics and the critics who delight in declaring failure.

Jesus, Mary, & Joseph how is that election even close?

Motto for the House: Flip 5 and lose none.

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

with the Kraken taking a plea, the Cheese stands alone.

If you’re pissed about Biden’s speech, he was talking about you.

I’m pretty sure there’s only one Jack Smith.

There is no compromise when it comes to body autonomy. You either have it or you don’t.

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

Every reporter and pundit should have to declare if they ever vacationed with a billionaire.

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

It could be worse. Vance could have said “post-menopausal sows.” Waiting for that audiotape to surface.

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

If senate republicans had any shame, they’d die of it.

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

They are lying in pursuit of an agenda.

“But what about the lurkers?”

White supremacy is terrorism.

Following reporting rules is only for the little people, apparently.

Let there be snark.

Red lights blinking on democracy’s dashboard

This fight is for everything.

Putting aside our relentless self-interest because the moral imperative is crystal clear.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Live Bloggers for the Four Directions Zoom at 7:30 Tonight?

Live Bloggers for the Four Directions Zoom at 7:30 Tonight?

by | 23 Comments

This post is in: 

Mercedes Krause, who is running in Nevada Congressional District 2, is going to be joining Bret Healy for our Zoom tonight with Four Directions at 7:30 Eastern.  She will share what’s happening on the ground in Nevada, and Bret will fill us in on the other states:  Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, and Wisconsin.

In case you missed the announcement yesterday, this will be the first of three zooms where we get the scoop about various states from the organizations we have been funding.

Tonight at 7:30:  Four Directions

Next week on 8/17 or 8/18:  Voces de la Frontera

The week after that on 8/24 or 8/25:  Voting Access for all

A few people who wanted to attend the zoom tonight can’t make it, so I’m putting out a call for some live blogging volunteers.  We had some amazing live bloggers for our Adam Schiff zooms, and I’m hoping some of you will volunteer again.  Or that some new folks will step forward.

If you are up for live blogging tonight, please let me know in the comments and also send me an email message so I can send you the zoom.  

Last time we had 4 or 5 live bloggers – no one can catch everything, and everyone has a different voice, so this way you get a fuller version of what’s being said.

In case you would like to know a bit about Mercedes ahead of time:

Mercedes Krause is a mother of 3 daughters, and has been an educator and union activist for over 20 years.

She is a proud dual-citizen of the Oglala, Lakota Nation born and raised in Nevada,

Mercedes has continuously stood-up with community members working to make a more just and equitable Nevada. Mercedes is an Emerge Nevada graduate and a graduate of Advance Native Leadership.

Mercedes also currently serves the state in several capacities:

As a commissioner on the Nevada Minority Affairs Commission (Education Committee Co-chair)

Co-founder of Indigenous Educators Empowerment which serves Indigenous educators, educators, and students in Nevada

Chair of the Nevada Native Caucus

An inaugural member of the Superintendent’s Advisory Cabinet for the Nevada Department of Education,

On the board of the Nevada State Education Association, the Nevada Minority Health and Equity Coalition – Native American Steering Committee, the ACLU of Nevada, and the Nevada Democratic Party.

Also, if you would like to attend the zoom tonight and haven’t already sent me email – send me an email and I will sen you the zoom link!

Hope to see a good turnout – I am excited to be hearing from folks on the ground.

Update: No one volunteered to live blog, so no live blogging!

Reader Interactions

23Comments

  1. 1.

    SiubhanDuinne

    I am really looking forward to tonight’s Zoom with Four Directions and to the Zooms you’ve scheduled for the next two weeks. Thank you so much for keeping these great initiatives going, WaterGirl! Hope to see a lot of Juicers this evening.

  4. 4.

    Nancy

    I truly wish I could live blog. I’m recovering from an attack of vertigo and I can’t think straight yet.

    Regrets.

  5. 5.

    SiubhanDuinne

    Open thread, so I’ll mention this: Was just checking out Wonkette and saw that they referenced our very own NYT Pitchbot.

    If the New York Times,Politico, Roll Call, and CNN all say Joe Biden has had a pretty darn good couple of weeks — almost all of it while isolating at the White House due to a COVID infection, which was then followed by a rebound infection — then we say it’s damn well time for the POTUS to go out and catch the monkey pox.
    Wait, no, we are not the New York Times Pitchbot; strike that last clause.

    I love that DougJ is becoming almost mainstream. If Wonkette can be considered mainstream.

  7. 7.

    Doc Sardonic

    Vertigo can be the damndest thing. I had a solid 18 months of it after I had my gall bladder out, apparently one of the anesthesia components and I did not get along. After that 18 months the vertigo vanished into thin air, only to show itself periodically in odd circumstances now, like elevators, escalators or step stools. But never on a ladder.

     

    ETA: Also occasionally on airplanes, but since I don’t fly currently, no problem.

  9. 9.

    Sure Lurkalot

    @SiubhanDuinne: The Columbia Journalism Review has this article about the media and the search:

    The maddening coverage of the Mar-a-Lago search – Columbia Journalism Review (cjr.org)

    Where this was noted about the WaPo and NYT coverage:

    These two stories—and, in particular, the headline on the first and subheading on the second—quickly drew the ire of media critics: the former for insinuating that the search was, as the media professor Jay Rosen put it, “unduly politicized” and that Garland had thus U-turned on a commitment not to be unduly political; the latter for equating the risks faced by Garland and Trump when the latter is the one under investigation, and for neglecting, as Rosen also put it, to consider the risk to the country should Trump be suspected of wrongdoing but allowed to escape consequences.

    These were just two articles of many, of course, both at their own papers and across the wider media landscape. But the criticism seemed to reflect a much broader frustration with the sweep of coverage as a whole since the search. (The NYT Pitchbot Twitter account, which has shot to viral fame by satirizing lame headlines in the Times and elsewhere, has been working overtime.) 

  10. 10.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Sure Lurkalot:

    Good for the CJR! I used to read them regularly a decade and more ago, but haven’t paid much attention to them recently. I should remedy that.

    Same goes for NPR’s “On the Media,” which was mostly excellent. But my local NPR station dropped it in favour of … some crap program, I don’t remember … so I haven’t listened to it in years.

  11. 11.

    The Golux

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    Same goes for NPR’s “On the Media”…

    You should be able to download recordings of the shows.  Our local NPR affiliate, WNPR, carries that program.

  18. 18.

    AJ of the Mustard Search and Rescue team

    @WaterGirl: Really glad it was a success, bummed that I couldn’t make it.

    Weirdly I found out yesterday that bunch of college friends were having a mini zoom reunion and I was nose to the grindstone all day so I forgot this was tonight.

  19. 19.

    H.E.Wolf

    Not live-blogged, but I did take some notes on the 1-hour Zoom session.

    About 16 jackals attended, plus Mercedes Kraus, a Native American woman who is running for Congress in NV-02, and Bret, the Political Director for Four Directions (abbreviated 4D).

    Mercedes’ campaign website: https://mercedes4nevada.com/

    Mercedes spoke for the first 20 min. or so, Bret for the rest of the hour (with some Q&A included).

    Mercedes excerpts:
    – We do things in an intergenerational way – the kids are there with [wide] eyes] – elders are there too.
    – Important to connect – to create and sustain relationships in other states with members of the Native community.
    – Elections are won by margins of 2-3% and that is the % that is the native community. [27 tribal communities,
    64000+ native persons in NV.]
    – Environmental issues are so important, and our Native community is known as stewards of the land.
    – Abortion (reproductive rights) will be a big issue this year.
    – (voter) registration and participation: Elko & Washoe counties are big.
    – Elders can ask: what are you [a politician] going to do? It [politics] is about making things better.

    Stay tuned for Bret excerpts.

  20. 20.

    H.E.Wolf

    Bret excerpts:

    Difficulties:- [in response to a question: Tenar?] League of Women Voters an important asset to 4D as non-partisan voting advocates – filed amicus curiae brief for Navajo Nation voter-repression suit in 2020.

    – “Mercedes said, and it rings true: [there’s a] fear of being seen in public as supporting Native and/or progressive candidates.”

    – mythology of so-called ‘ballot mules’ – conservatives are “weaponizing that fiction”. WI has restricted [availability of] ballot boxes on a partisan vote.

    – conservatives suggesting/inciting citizen stakeouts – it brings a climate of fear/intimidation and there may be a lot of that in 2022.

    4D’s responses to difficulties, including:

    – MI tribes are engaged: Midwest Alliance of Sovereign Tribes and key native leaders convening in WI – Oct. 2022
    – Native [-sponsored?] candidate forum in Atlanta GA in Sept. 2022 – Bret will provide further info to WaterGirl, at SuibhanDuinne’s request.

    OJ and Barb (4D founders, husband & wife) en route to AZ – meeting w/ Navajo Nation members in AZ to amplify voter efforts there.

    – tactics to push back – asking non-Native hanger-around-ers, what are you doing here on the rez?

    – tribal sovereignty card is one that can be played

    – [in some states] 4D can help provide assistance at the polls, in the voting booth- every US elected official at nat’l level owes obedience to treaty obligations w/ tribes

    – HinTN asked: is the tsunami of candidates straining 4D resources? Bret: 4D does not funnel $ to candidates, because 4D is 501(c)(3) non-profit and therefore barred from so doing.

    – WaterGirl asked: what is 4D doing with our $ [raised at/by Balloon Juice]- AZ putting early $ to work- GA: full time state director since last fall – thank you Balloon Juice – incl. vaccination efforts on Lower Muskogee Creek tribal landWI/MI: [sorry, I didn’t note specifics]

    General:- staff time and travel to meet w/ tribal leaders- forum/event costs [GA 100K]- digital tech- outreach to candidates- costly but important investments for the final 90-day period before the 2022 midterms- training local activists and tribal leaders how to counteract the voter repression/intimidation efforts against Native voters, incl. reporting to the press when intimidation occurs- Balloon Juice fundraising (with double matches) has meant that 4D is more able to scale up to this larger number of states in 2022 – previously was mostly in AZ and in the Jan. 2021 runoff Senate elections in GA.

    Overall: challenging political circumstances throughout the country at this time, HOWEVER: Four Directions, the Native American communities, and Balloon Juice are going to be active in the fight.

    Quoted Nancy Pelosi: “Just win, baby!”​

  22. 22.

    Nancy

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:

    Thanks for checking.

    My case appears to be due to inner ear nerve damage that also caused complete hearing loss in one ear. I’ve had tests of my heart and MRIs to rule out tumors, etc.

    Your response demonstrates one of the many reasons I treasure being part of this group.

    My ability to form sentences seems to have improved. improved.

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