Stacey Abrams: Tomorrow, we will file a major federal lawsuit against the state of Georgia

[diva77]

email from Stacey Abrams, Nov. 26, 2018:

Let me be clear: What happened on November 6th was anything but a free and fair election.

It was not fair to the millions of Georgians who were purged from the voting rolls.

It was not fair to the thousands who were forced to wait in line to vote for two, three, four hours because polling places were underresourced and unprepared. Or worse, to those who had no polling place available to them because more than 300 had been closed down.

It was not fair to the thousands of Georgians who had their voter registrations put on hold, or to those who did not receive their absentee ballots in time - or at all - despite having requested them far in advance.

For eight years, Brian Kemp oversaw the systematic dismantling of our democracy and of voting rights in Georgia. But make no mistake, what happened on November 6th will not happen again.

To that end, I am launching Fair Fight Georgia, an operation that will pursue accountability in Georgia’s elections and integrity in the process of maintaining our voting rolls.

Tomorrow, we will file a major federal lawsuit against the state of Georgia for the gross mismanagement of this election and to protect future elections from unconstitutional actions.

Georgia has always been at the center of the fight for civil rights. We have always been willing to stand up and speak truth to power. Now is no different.

We must continue to fight the battles that generations of Georgians before us have waged. We must never lose faith in our own strength.

These votes are our voices. We must win. And with your help, we can.

Sincerely,

Stacey Abrams

-------------------------------
Please donate to Fair Fight here: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/fair-fight-1?refcode=IE11262018-full

[dlk]

1. Go Stacy!

[hlthe2b]

2. ohh, I so wish I'd win the lottery so I could endow Stacey's efforts (and several others)...

Kudos, Ms. Abrams.

[msongs]

3. xlnt news, inspiration to us all...xcept third wayers. nt

[diva77]

8. am embarrassed to admit I'm not sure what third wayers are

[Fuzzpope]

10. Third Way

Repuke-lite in Democrat skin.

[Small-Axe]

12. It is an slur aimed at Democrats by the populist left.

Similar to corporate whores, plutocrats, and neoliberals.

[dflprincess]

26. It is a name conserva-dems gave themselves

It is not a slur invented by Democratic wing of the party.

[Small-Axe]

28. No, not conservatives but economic liberal progressives who wanted to resist the populist left.

It is used as a slur by populists.

[dflprincess]

34. Again, it's what they called themselves (see also "New Democrats" and the "DLC)

and they advocated more conservative economic policies while claiming they were "socially liberal" (as long as it didn't mean improving what passes for a safety net in the U.S.).

It may have become a slur when it became obvious that they were nothing but revamped "Rockefeller Republicans" who were no longer welcome in that party.

[Small-Axe]

36. No it became a slur when fringe left-wing populists of the JPR type tried to protray liberals...

as right-wingers.

Are you for real with this crap?

[dflprincess]

42. "Third Way" was used more by Tony Blair, while Clinton talked about "New Democrats"

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2003/feb/10/labour.uk1

In September 1998, Mr Clinton and Mr Blair held a conference in New York to officially launch their new ideology. Both said they rejected the neo-liberal belief that everything can be left to the market, but also saw the traditional left-of-centre faith in state intervention in the economy as outdated.

In April 1999 it appeared as if Bill Clinton's New Democrats and Europe's social democrats were on the way towards a new era of productive cooperation. A round-table discussion in Washington - entitled The Third Way: Progressive Governance for the 21st Century - included the US president (Clinton), the British prime minister (Blair), the German chancellor, Gerhard Schröder; the Dutch prime minister, Wim Kok; and Italian prime minister, Massimo D'Alema.

The following June, Mr Blair succeeded in launching a joint document: Third Way - Die Neue Mitte - with Gerhard Schröder. They both agreed that they had managed to reconcile continental social democracy and that their new ideology should guarantee power for Europe's centre-left for years to come.

Three years on, however, the outlook for the third way looks bleak. A Republican is in the White House and Mr Schröder has turned away from his earlier fascination with the Clinton-Blair outlook towards a more traditional leftwing stance.

So there's Bill associating himself with "The Third Way". How progressive it was, especially when you look at Clinton's welfare reform, is open to debate.

[Small-Axe]

43. Blair and Clinton are great liberals who dragged...

the UK and the USA out of a bad period of Thatcherite Reaganism.

Two great heroes. Both saw the threat of left-wing populism destroying liberal parties and extending right-wing rule.

They were far more progressive than the left-wing populist fringe they checked.

[dflprincess]

46. Two "great liberals" who called themselves "Third Way". nt

[Small-Axe]

48. The nineties are calling and want the thread back.

Third Way in the 21st century has devolved into a way for populist leftists to attempt to smear liberals.

I know that. You know that.

[dflprincess]

49. But they did refer to themselves as Third Way

Which was my point all along.

[Small-Axe]

50. And leftist populist now use the term as an attempt to slur liberals.

Not much fun to read this crap here. Frankly.

[Kaleva]

38. Bill and Obama are conserva-dems?

"On March 10, 2009, Barack Obama, in a meeting with the New Democrat Coalition, told them that he was a “New Democrat,” “pro-growth Democrat,” that he “supports free and fair trade,” and was "very concerned about a return to protectionism.""

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Democrats#cite_note-Obama:_'I_am_a_New_Democrat'-10

[dflprincess]

41. Yes, especially when compared to New Deal & Great Society Democrats nt

[Kaleva]

44. The New Deal coalition can never come back because it relied on Southern racists..

to gain and hold power. The Great Society was a program and set of goals but not a group of Democrats. LBJ was a New Dealer and his Great Society was an attempt to expand the New Deal.

[dflprincess]

45. I was thinking in terms of the programs the New Deal & Great Society pushed

not some of those who made up the coalition from 1933 to to 1965.

Nothing wrong with having a goal to expand social programs and develop a real safety net in this country.

[Kaleva]

47. Okay. I thought we were talking about the members of the groups.

[brush]

29. And #FiveDumb..., er ah...#FiveWhiteGuys.

[billh58]

55. Third Way

The Third Way is a position akin to centrism that tries to reconcile right-wing and left-wing politics by advocating a varying synthesis of some centre-right economic and some centre-left social policies. The Third Way was created as a re-evaluation of political policies within various centre-left progressive movements in response to doubt regarding the economic viability of the state and the overuse of economic interventionist policies that had previously been popularized by Keynesianism but at that time contrasted with the rise of popularity for economic liberalism and the New Right. The Third Way is promoted by social liberal movements.

- Snip -

Subsequently, Enrico Berlinguer, General Secretary of the Italian Communist Party in the 1970s and 1980s, used the term "Third Way" to advocate a vision of a socialist society which was more pluralist than the "real socialism" which was typically advocated by official communist parties, whilst being more economically egalitarian than social democracy. This was part of the wider trend of Eurocommunism in the official communist movement and provided a theoretical basis for Berlinguer's pursuit of a Historic Compromise with the Italian Christian Democrats.

- Snip -

The Third Way has been defined as such:

[S]omething different and distinct from liberal capitalism with its unswerving belief in the merits of the free market and democratic socialism with its demand management and obsession with the state. The Third Way is in favour of growth, entrepreneurship, enterprise and wealth creation but it is also in favour of greater social justice and it sees the state playing a major role in bringing this about. So in the words of... Anthony Giddens of the LSE the Third Way rejects top down socialism as it rejects traditional neo liberalism.

—?Report from the BBC, 1999, [18]

- Snip -

Clinton, Blair, Prodi, Gerhard Schröder and other leading Third Way adherents organized conferences to promote the Third Way philosophy in 1997 at Chequers in England. The Third Way think tank and the Democratic Leadership Council are adherents of Third Way politics.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_Way

The DLC produced the likes of Joe Lieberman (Project for a New American Century proponent), and the Clinton "Triangulation" policy (which Clinton later renounced).

The only thing in the middle of the road are yellow stripes and dead skunks.

[skylucy]

4. Hurray for Stacey Abrams!

[suffragette]

5. K&R

[guillaumeb]

6. Recommended. eom

[mikeysnot]

7. Nice!

Now if we had only done this in 2000 FL....

[stuffmatters]

9. Yeeees!

[Chipper Chat]

11. I would be so pissed if this made it to the Soopreem Court

And was struck down by Kavasuch.

[Haggis for Breakfast]

35. You mean Schlitz Kavanaugh ?

[Chipper Chat]

37. Sterling Goranaugh.

Along with Thomalito and Roberts a liberal or fair issue doesnt stand a chance. It's over.

[Small-Axe]

13. Go get 'em Stacey!

[smirkymonkey]

14. Hear, Hear!

Thank you, Stacy!

[FakeNoose]

15. Stacey Abrams is the DEFINITION of leadership

Go Stacey!

[saidsimplesimon]

30. Yes she is.

I expect to see and hear from her for a long time to come. She is someone the Democratic Party should stand with and support.

[Niagara]

16. K&R

[PeeJ52]

17. After this mostly wonderful election cycle...

I got just a little money left over to donate. Coming your way Stacey!

[klook]

18. Fantastic! ...AND there is still a chance that a Democrat can become Georgia's Secretary of State.

https://www.barrowforgeorgia.com/homepage

“I know John Barrow, I’ve served with John Barrow, and I trust John Barrow. John is a fighter for us. We need to do everything that we can to make sure that John is our next Georgia Secretary of State.” — Rep. John Lewis

For more info:
IndieDems: The Importance of Georgia’s December 4 Runoff Election
Daily Kos: Georgia's Dec. 4 runoff for secretary of state is crucial for stopping GOP voter suppression in 2020
Barrow for Georgia: Contribute

[CottonBear]

20. John was a county commissioner in Athens before he was our congressman.

I knew John when he was an A-CC commissioner.

He is a lawyer (Harvard Law). His father was a longtime judge in Athens.

John would make a fine SoS.

[klook]

22. Thank you! I started a thread in the Georgia group

reminding everybody about this crucial race:
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10462658

[CottonBear]

24. On a Sunday drive through rural, red North Georgia, I saw...

lots of really big (4x4, maybe bigger), red signs that read RUNOFF DEC 4, right next to the GOP candidate’s yard signs.

I saw two or three of these runoff reminder signs in each county that I passed through, including Pickens, Cherokee and Forsyth. The GA GOP is going to GOTV.

We Democrats must turn out in huge numbers if we want our candidates to win.

[sheshe2]

19. The GOP has no clue how they have motivated voters and candidates alike.

They set something in motion that they will regret.

Go Stacey and Georgia.

[volstork]

21. This woman has

enormous intestinal fortitude and a large quantity of bravery. It should not require those qualities to do the right thing, but I'm glad she has them.

I can't help but think what might have happened had Al Gore taken the same tack. We might not be in the mess that we are currently in.

[NoMoreRepugs]

23. Proud to be on the board with a $25 donation.

[Lucky Luciano]

25. Rock on Stacy! Righteous move!!

If she has success in her fight, she is presidential material!

[lindysalsagal]

27. Good. Now it's up to Georgia voters to show up and yell and scream for fair, free voting.

[Hortensis]

31. Yes. It wasn't fair to all citizens, who will be in big, big trouble

if their votes no longer count.

[KY_EnviroGuy]

32. Paybacks are hell, Kemp.

And yours is coming in boatloads soon....... ...... .......Go Stacy.....

Next, let's all check out that ActBlue link.......

(as soon as I recover from black Friday and cyber Monday, LOL)

[Scurrilous]

33. K&R

[B Stieg]

39. You. Go. Ma'am!

Ms Abrams is formidable. The State of Georgia is about to find out just how tough she is.

[Takket]

40. this is very good news..........

if she can make the public outcry for election reform, not just in Georgia but nationwide, after SCOTUS gutted the voting rights act, we could make a lot of headway to taking out country back. The dem House needs to be all over this and assisting Abrams in her efforts.

If she can make something happen now that gets us ALL out voting rights back at some point (with reforming the corrupt system the GOP had Kemp put in place being the template nation wide), then i would dare say her defeat due to election rigging in Georgia may actually wind up being more valuable to the country as a whole than if she had won.

[Honeycombe8]

51. I'm so glad to hear this? nt

[DFW]

52. This is a fight I can relate to

I asked them for a mailing address, as I refuse to use Act Blue, but I really think this is a cause worth supporting.

[oasis]

53. Kick for democracy.

[duforsure]

54. Yes

I sure like her. A very good candidate for many positions, smart, articulate, and honest. She has a very , very bright future. Exposing their election corruption will open up showing who rigs elections , the fake president and the gop.

[StevieM]

56. Brian Kemp is ready to take over from Kris Kobach as the leading opponent of democracy.

And let's not forget that John Kasich also set up a system in Ohio in which people were forced to wait on insanely long lines--at least if they live in urban areas.

[Moebym]

57. Go get them, Stacey! n/t