Thanks Joyce! I am still baffled at how the GA race ended up so close. Thank God Warnock won for a multitude of reasons but seriously...who could listen to Walker for 5 mins & decide he’s my guy?? It’s downright scary to me but I will take the judicial win today as a sign of hope!
Main reason people voted for Walker was their blind automaton hatred of Joe Biden and the Democratic Party. Inflation here has always been the lowest worlwide since Adolf Putin invaded Ukraine, but the right wing doesn’t (can’t, won’t) understand Russia’s disruption of the world’s oil and food markets. Add culture war tribalism and 60 years of voting GOP. But Georgia’s changing despite their desperate voter suppression.
From home in Colorado I phonebanked and wrote letters to GOTV for Warnock. Relief!!
One of the voters I reached phone banking said she is a lifelong Georgian and has never seen voting so difficult. It never used to be like this. In other words, the Republicans tried every kind of voter suppression they could get away with, and spent hundreds of millions of dollars. And they still lost.
This is a testament to how each little bit of volunteer time made a difference, and to what that voter also said: "The more they try to suppress us, the more determined we get!"
It also is a testament to changing demographics, that there are many more of us than there are of them. And more younger people voted this time than last time, partly because, and I heard this anecdotally, there are older people like their parents and aunts and uncles encouraging them to get out and vote. Everything I've been reading about Gen Z is really encouraging. Highly informed, values-driven, absolutely dedicated to justice and a livable climate.
Thank you for the good news. I wrote letters and gave money. Did Dior knocking outside of Seattle for races we were freaking out over. Joy Reid said it tonight on the election show, GA is still running on Jim Crow. Limiting polling places, hours, length of voting period.
My father, a Czech, was a young man under Communism. I heard about "brainwashing" at the dinner table. Do not discount the relentless drumbeat of Fox propaganda on the ill-educated people of this country. Democracy depends on literacy (as all of us on this list know!) but we've been dumbing down our nation since the advent of children's television programming and now that's two generations. (Much more to say on this but that will do for now.)
Thank you! I have been screaming about the brainwashing. It seems that people in the USA are not aware of the hidden messages and subliminal messages in Donald's video? Exposing is the best light on evil.
Continue to speak about brainwashing, because it is real.
"dumbing down our nation since the advent of children's television programming and now that's two generations." It's been longer than two generations. Plus, it's not television, nor the radio, that brainwashed the man who was convinced that President Lincoln was standing in the way of his freedom. It's gaslighting by those who desire the power to convince the public of x. Education begins and ends with access to information, and the ability and means to process it. Power brokers who are leaving lead in the water are more harmful to the dumbing down of America, than the access to television, radio, and the internet, which can augment or detract, depending upon the presentation and the presenter.
I join you disgusted and baffled that only a slim majority of voters in the state of GA preferred Warnock to the DF. I hear that there are the party voters who do not look left or right, but vote. That’s a sign of a failed education system whereby people can be fooled by celebrity candidates or celebrity-like candidates. Was the Apprentice just practice to be President and a playbook for would-be politicians.
I’m looking purely at the win for America and what a 51-49 senate will mean in getting important things done in the next two years. Ga is slowly turning blue and the momentum is building for all the people, not just Georgians.
I too am baffled by how close the race was. I did a lot of texting to black Georgians. Those who supported Walker often mentioned Warnock's stance on abortion and that he "supports the killing of black babies" so, I believe that much of the pro-Walker vote was the religious/ anti-abortion vote. The other two topics that Walker supporters often mentioned were the way Warnock treated his wife and evicting poor people from the church's housing. I am not in Georgia, so I didn't see the local ads, but some of the anti-Warnock ads obviously were effective. I agree with you, Dawn, how scary it is that a candidate such as Walker could get so much support. Thank goodness the Republicans didn't put up a strong candidate!
I saw multiple references to those allegations on Twitter, almost always coming from clearly right-wingers and trolls, so I guessed that those ads were out there but I haven't seen any of them either, or checked out the stories behind them. A local minister was classmates with Rev. Warnock in seminary. They've been friends ever since and have preached in each other's pulpits. She and her family were down in GA campaigning for Warnock before the general election and before the runoff. On the basis of that alone I've tended to dismiss the claims. Not to mention -- how bad would the obviously capable Sen. Warnock have to be before Walker started looking like the better choice?
The lies were rampant and not only about Rev. Warnock but other Democrat's running for public offices. How do we or what can we do to change this system of throwing all untruths against the wall to see what sticks? What I saw here in North Carolina was the Republicans lied by having the funds to crate videos of lies even about Judges. Another question is why are our elections allowing dark money? Money from Russia, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and such? Why are the rich and foreigners allowed to control elections? How to get all this money out of elections? Doesn't seem fair to me. We The People! Not we the rich and powerful.
Well, at the top of the list of reasons would have to be the current SCOTUS, but in general -- the U.S. system is woefully inadequate when it comes to putting checks on economic power, and that was true long before SCOTUS decided that when it came to making campaign contributions, corporations were people.
We must wonder how “anti-abortion” voters could’ve actually cast their votes for Walker. Really now, how poor judges of character and integrity would such voters have to be? If they were so severely anti-abortion, one might think they should’ve not voted at all.
Thank you for the first six months of Civil Discourse, Joyce. Today was a good day for justice and democracy. It’s a fitting day for a celebration of our first six months here. Here’s to so much more 🎉 ~ Colleen
Since we share the same name, I think of you as Joyce. You have been one of my leading lights during these years of overhanging threats to democracy and wholesale grift from the highest officials in our government. I cannot thank you enough for your grit, courage, and keen insight —along with the skills of a border collie to keep this flock from getting lost in the wilderness. Joyce, you are one true heroine. Thank you, and please carry on!
I haven't heard from any of our Alabama officials either. And I don't expect to. So very happy about Warnock in GA. What a great speech tonight. Now on to judicial confirmations!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This is my first day on Civil Discourse. I am a retired attorney with 30 years of experience in the state trial courts of Northern California. I am preparing to monitor SCOTUS' oral arguments in the Moore case on Wed. I briefly reviewed the authors of the numerous Amicus Briefs. I expect Justice Sotomayor to be asking a number of telling hypothetical questions testing the validity of 'ISL'. Good to be here.
I strongly recommend listening to the presentation between ex-US Solicitor General, NEAL KATYAL and the Justices or reading a transcript of the entire hearing. Neal's precise citation to the case law inluding Rocha & with detailed pagination references to various briefs was impressive to make an understatement. Neal also filed a detailed Brief. I would have to re-listen but, I believe Neal spoke directly with each Justice & the Chief Justice. Note, Neal's email for Case No. 21-2271: neal.katyal@hoganlovells.com. Also, try "Search-Supreme Court of the United States" via Google and/or at URL supremecourt.gov.
Justice Kagan presented a straightforward common sense analysis with the Big Constutional Picture. "KAGAN: And, in all these ways, I think what might strike a person is that this is a proposal that gets rid of the normal checks & balances on the way big governmental decisions are made in this country and you might think it gets rid of all these checks & balances at EXACTLY the time when they are needed most. [Caps added for her tonal emphasis] Because legislators, we all know, have their own self interest.They want to get re-elected. And so there are countless times when they have incentives to supress votes, to suppress votes, [ phrase repeated by Kagan] to negate votes to prevent voters from having true access and true opportunity to engage in the political process".
First, I did write down the text of Jusice Kagan's statement in Court today & will edit my prior comment above to reflect her verbatim words. Note, Mr. Katyal's Email: neal.katyal@hoganslovells.com
Stick around? I feel like we are sitting around your kitchen table chatting, or behind the scenes of a rock concert and seeing how the show goes on. Then there are the chickens, your family, hair, makeup… what do you do on the 8th day of your week?
Best 50.00 I spent all year, subscribing to your newsletter! Today was a good day for democracy and we can celebrate. Tomorrow we will fight on. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and wisdom with us.
Congrats Joyce on your 6 months hallmark sharing your expertise with us. It is a privilege to be here and be heard. Today was a powerhouse turning point for all Americans on the Warnock winI look forward to the dynamics ahead. Fasten your seatbelts. It’s going to be a bumpy ride for Republicans I dare say. Congress now knows the voters are paying attention. Rest well. Your contributions to the Rule of Law are held in very high regard. Thank you Joyce🇺🇸
Happy six-month anniversary, Joyce. I’ve been with you all the way, and you’ve made the journey so much better with your expertise and clarity. You are our “legal life jacket.”
Thanks Joyce! I am still baffled at how the GA race ended up so close. Thank God Warnock won for a multitude of reasons but seriously...who could listen to Walker for 5 mins & decide he’s my guy?? It’s downright scary to me but I will take the judicial win today as a sign of hope!
Main reason people voted for Walker was their blind automaton hatred of Joe Biden and the Democratic Party. Inflation here has always been the lowest worlwide since Adolf Putin invaded Ukraine, but the right wing doesn’t (can’t, won’t) understand Russia’s disruption of the world’s oil and food markets. Add culture war tribalism and 60 years of voting GOP. But Georgia’s changing despite their desperate voter suppression.
From home in Colorado I phonebanked and wrote letters to GOTV for Warnock. Relief!!
One of the voters I reached phone banking said she is a lifelong Georgian and has never seen voting so difficult. It never used to be like this. In other words, the Republicans tried every kind of voter suppression they could get away with, and spent hundreds of millions of dollars. And they still lost.
This is a testament to how each little bit of volunteer time made a difference, and to what that voter also said: "The more they try to suppress us, the more determined we get!"
It also is a testament to changing demographics, that there are many more of us than there are of them. And more younger people voted this time than last time, partly because, and I heard this anecdotally, there are older people like their parents and aunts and uncles encouraging them to get out and vote. Everything I've been reading about Gen Z is really encouraging. Highly informed, values-driven, absolutely dedicated to justice and a livable climate.
Thank you for the good news. I wrote letters and gave money. Did Dior knocking outside of Seattle for races we were freaking out over. Joy Reid said it tonight on the election show, GA is still running on Jim Crow. Limiting polling places, hours, length of voting period.
My father, a Czech, was a young man under Communism. I heard about "brainwashing" at the dinner table. Do not discount the relentless drumbeat of Fox propaganda on the ill-educated people of this country. Democracy depends on literacy (as all of us on this list know!) but we've been dumbing down our nation since the advent of children's television programming and now that's two generations. (Much more to say on this but that will do for now.)
Thank you! I have been screaming about the brainwashing. It seems that people in the USA are not aware of the hidden messages and subliminal messages in Donald's video? Exposing is the best light on evil.
Continue to speak about brainwashing, because it is real.
"dumbing down our nation since the advent of children's television programming and now that's two generations." It's been longer than two generations. Plus, it's not television, nor the radio, that brainwashed the man who was convinced that President Lincoln was standing in the way of his freedom. It's gaslighting by those who desire the power to convince the public of x. Education begins and ends with access to information, and the ability and means to process it. Power brokers who are leaving lead in the water are more harmful to the dumbing down of America, than the access to television, radio, and the internet, which can augment or detract, depending upon the presentation and the presenter.
I join you disgusted and baffled that only a slim majority of voters in the state of GA preferred Warnock to the DF. I hear that there are the party voters who do not look left or right, but vote. That’s a sign of a failed education system whereby people can be fooled by celebrity candidates or celebrity-like candidates. Was the Apprentice just practice to be President and a playbook for would-be politicians.
I’m looking purely at the win for America and what a 51-49 senate will mean in getting important things done in the next two years. Ga is slowly turning blue and the momentum is building for all the people, not just Georgians.
Exposing!
Putting everything in the Light.
Waking the people up.
Exactly!!
Failed education system is an understatement....fooled by fools I guess 😏
More going on with the voting system in Georgia. All will be revealed.
The light of the truth is on.
Voter suppression is how. Even though Warnock won, his margin would have been a lot larger had it been easier to vote
And, that's what I wish could be calculated, the missed votes... I hate that the win looks so skimpy.
Watch what will be revealed.
I couldn't believe the close race, either. So glad Warnock won.
I too am baffled by how close the race was. I did a lot of texting to black Georgians. Those who supported Walker often mentioned Warnock's stance on abortion and that he "supports the killing of black babies" so, I believe that much of the pro-Walker vote was the religious/ anti-abortion vote. The other two topics that Walker supporters often mentioned were the way Warnock treated his wife and evicting poor people from the church's housing. I am not in Georgia, so I didn't see the local ads, but some of the anti-Warnock ads obviously were effective. I agree with you, Dawn, how scary it is that a candidate such as Walker could get so much support. Thank goodness the Republicans didn't put up a strong candidate!
I saw multiple references to those allegations on Twitter, almost always coming from clearly right-wingers and trolls, so I guessed that those ads were out there but I haven't seen any of them either, or checked out the stories behind them. A local minister was classmates with Rev. Warnock in seminary. They've been friends ever since and have preached in each other's pulpits. She and her family were down in GA campaigning for Warnock before the general election and before the runoff. On the basis of that alone I've tended to dismiss the claims. Not to mention -- how bad would the obviously capable Sen. Warnock have to be before Walker started looking like the better choice?
The lies were rampant and not only about Rev. Warnock but other Democrat's running for public offices. How do we or what can we do to change this system of throwing all untruths against the wall to see what sticks? What I saw here in North Carolina was the Republicans lied by having the funds to crate videos of lies even about Judges. Another question is why are our elections allowing dark money? Money from Russia, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and such? Why are the rich and foreigners allowed to control elections? How to get all this money out of elections? Doesn't seem fair to me. We The People! Not we the rich and powerful.
Well, at the top of the list of reasons would have to be the current SCOTUS, but in general -- the U.S. system is woefully inadequate when it comes to putting checks on economic power, and that was true long before SCOTUS decided that when it came to making campaign contributions, corporations were people.
We must wonder how “anti-abortion” voters could’ve actually cast their votes for Walker. Really now, how poor judges of character and integrity would such voters have to be? If they were so severely anti-abortion, one might think they should’ve not voted at all.
The "I once was lost but now am found" narrative might have played well with the evangelical crowd.
More corruption is being exposed out of Georgia.
Georgia, is finding out how corrupt the voting system has become. All Donald inspired.
Thank goodness for the runoff.
Congratulations to Senator Warnock.
Voter suppression and the R after his name.
Thank you for the first six months of Civil Discourse, Joyce. Today was a good day for justice and democracy. It’s a fitting day for a celebration of our first six months here. Here’s to so much more 🎉 ~ Colleen
Since we share the same name, I think of you as Joyce. You have been one of my leading lights during these years of overhanging threats to democracy and wholesale grift from the highest officials in our government. I cannot thank you enough for your grit, courage, and keen insight —along with the skills of a border collie to keep this flock from getting lost in the wilderness. Joyce, you are one true heroine. Thank you, and please carry on!
Well said. I couldn’t agree more.
Something I've been thinking about regarding your contribution to the good of the world:
Wisdom Wasted
Years ago, while sitting for a long time
in a hospital waiting room, I listened
to two older men, strangers, tell each other
what they thought they had learned.
They saw the same processes repeated
in that hospital, families, schools, Boeing, Colgate,
growing relationships… building ableness to manage self.
They were serious, intelligent, and caring.
I thought, All that wisdom cached on the sideline.
Society has no way to let it influence
our path. We treat this vivid understanding
like we treat water… we waste it, we let it stagnate,
evaporate, we ignore its future vitalness.
Do old politicians poison the well with narrowness?
While the broad source of wisdom flows off,
not watering all seedlings with its experience.
Now, I’m reading comments on news articles, written
by average people, sharing their thoughts on real problems.
I see that same wise understanding. This may unlock an untapped resource. Are seedling receptive?
WOW!!!
What a great writer you are. I enjoyed reading your comments.
If there were a nutrition label for my daily information diet, three of the most important ingredients would be:
Joyce Vance
Heather Cox Richardson
Robert Hubbell
What a trio! For proper nourishment I make sure to get my RDA of these thoughtful and thorough servants of truth and democracy and the rule of law.
Congratulations on six months, Joyce!
Stick around? I’m here for the duration! Thanks, JV!
I haven't heard from any of our Alabama officials either. And I don't expect to. So very happy about Warnock in GA. What a great speech tonight. Now on to judicial confirmations!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This is my first day on Civil Discourse. I am a retired attorney with 30 years of experience in the state trial courts of Northern California. I am preparing to monitor SCOTUS' oral arguments in the Moore case on Wed. I briefly reviewed the authors of the numerous Amicus Briefs. I expect Justice Sotomayor to be asking a number of telling hypothetical questions testing the validity of 'ISL'. Good to be here.
I’ll look forward to your “take” Bryan!
I strongly recommend listening to the presentation between ex-US Solicitor General, NEAL KATYAL and the Justices or reading a transcript of the entire hearing. Neal's precise citation to the case law inluding Rocha & with detailed pagination references to various briefs was impressive to make an understatement. Neal also filed a detailed Brief. I would have to re-listen but, I believe Neal spoke directly with each Justice & the Chief Justice. Note, Neal's email for Case No. 21-2271: neal.katyal@hoganlovells.com. Also, try "Search-Supreme Court of the United States" via Google and/or at URL supremecourt.gov.
Justice Kagan presented a straightforward common sense analysis with the Big Constutional Picture. "KAGAN: And, in all these ways, I think what might strike a person is that this is a proposal that gets rid of the normal checks & balances on the way big governmental decisions are made in this country and you might think it gets rid of all these checks & balances at EXACTLY the time when they are needed most. [Caps added for her tonal emphasis] Because legislators, we all know, have their own self interest.They want to get re-elected. And so there are countless times when they have incentives to supress votes, to suppress votes, [ phrase repeated by Kagan] to negate votes to prevent voters from having true access and true opportunity to engage in the political process".
Thanks, do you have links?
First, I did write down the text of Jusice Kagan's statement in Court today & will edit my prior comment above to reflect her verbatim words. Note, Mr. Katyal's Email: neal.katyal@hoganslovells.com
Happy Anniversary Joyce, thanks for everything! 😎
Stick around? I feel like we are sitting around your kitchen table chatting, or behind the scenes of a rock concert and seeing how the show goes on. Then there are the chickens, your family, hair, makeup… what do you do on the 8th day of your week?
She Knits! 😀
Thanks! I've enjoyed your thoughts. They've helped me refine my own.
Surely mine too.
Best 50.00 I spent all year, subscribing to your newsletter! Today was a good day for democracy and we can celebrate. Tomorrow we will fight on. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and wisdom with us.
Thank you for your work & keeping the record straight! Yes, Dec 6, 2022 was a good day for law & voting! 👏🇺🇲
Congrats Joyce on your 6 months hallmark sharing your expertise with us. It is a privilege to be here and be heard. Today was a powerhouse turning point for all Americans on the Warnock winI look forward to the dynamics ahead. Fasten your seatbelts. It’s going to be a bumpy ride for Republicans I dare say. Congress now knows the voters are paying attention. Rest well. Your contributions to the Rule of Law are held in very high regard. Thank you Joyce🇺🇸
"Congress now knows the voters are paying attention." Good point, Tutone.
Happy six-month anniversary, Joyce. I’ve been with you all the way, and you’ve made the journey so much better with your expertise and clarity. You are our “legal life jacket.”
Tom J...Bluff Park
Thank you so much for starting this blog. I've learned so much from you and your chicken pics and videos are a great bonus!!!
Especially grateful since I don't have cable access to her on MSNBC.