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11/9 TGIF Happy Hour and Open Thread Weekend

The Progressive Wing Posted on by

To borrow from someone I like very much at TOP, we have some things to cheer about this week. The jeers we’ve mentioning today already, but I’m certain we have a few more to add.

I don’t drink alcohol-infused beverages these days, but I will offer a cocktail that I used to drink occasionally in college: a 39th Street whiskey sour.

Ingredients include whiskey, OJ, splash of lemon juice, and a little bit of confectionery sugar. Shaken not stirred. Served with a bit of shaved ice.

This is for toasting Bill Nelson, Andrew Gillum, Stacey Abrams, and Kyrsten Sinema defending their states’ voters’ rights. Not just their supporters, but everyone’s, in ensuring all votes are recorded accurately. I confess I didn’t expect Bill Nelson to fight back. He deserves some kudos for not folding. They are the sunshine gang.

Feel free to continue posting news, tweets, videos (including music videos) for our happy hour! See you in the comments!

I’ll start this with some parrot head music. #bringithome

6/15 Goofiness of States’ Rights

The Progressive Wing Posted on by

Ever wonder about states’ rights and how they impact democracy in general? This week, I had to get my driver’s license renewed. In some states, such as IL, you can obtain renewal online. But only if you (A) Don’t take any prescriptions that could affect your driving performance, (B) Can Afford the $31 Renewal fee, and (C) Under the age of 70. In my case, caveat A required a doctor’s signature to declare that your health is fit enough to drive. I am not unhealthy, but I do have borderline issues that require a yearly and semi-annual check up. In … Continue reading →

“Once I got those rights back … I made it my duty to be here.”

This will be the first election for thousands of Virginians who thought they’d never be able to vote

No one takes the right to vote for granted after that right has been taken away. And no one, arguably, rejoices in the right to vote quite like someone who has had that right taken away and then restored again.

“Just bubbling in those little bubbles” on the ballot, says LaVaughn Williams (featured in the above video recorded by Sam Levine of HuffPost), “gave me such a sense of power and excitement. I can’t explain the feeling that I feel right now. I’m just so elated and I hope that my vote makes a difference!”

Tuesday’s election for governor in Virginia is the second chance for as many as 168,000 people like Williams. These Virginians had their voting rights taken away for life, automatically, because they were convicted of a felony — then had them restored under current Gov. Terry McAuliffe, and now have a chance to vote for his successor.

HuffPost’s Levine has been posting Twitter videos of people who’ve voted Tuesday for the first time in decades, or ever. “I never thought that I would be in this situation right now,” Williams told him. “If you had asked me two years ago, I would have said no, I would never vote. But once I got those rights back, once I got that letter stating that I could vote, I made it my duty to be here.”

Trump’s ‘Election Integrity’ commission requests states to provide full voter roll data

The Progressive Wing Posted on by

Whoa. The request seems very intrusive – is it legal? “last four digits of social security number if available” and “Please be aware that any documents that are submitted to the full Commission will also be made available to the public.” Some are already worrying that they are preparing for voter suppression. I don’t know about that, but it’s not as though Kris Kobach has a good record in that regard! May 12, 2017: Kris Kobach, the ‘King of Voter Suppression,’ Will Lead Trump’s Sham Voter Fraud Commission. Be Afraid, Very Afraid. I sat down with Dale Ho, director of the … Continue reading →

Ruth Bader Ginsberg as Muse

The Progressive Wing Posted on by

In case you didn’t know, Ruth Bader Ginsberg has inspired fan art, from tattoos to T-shirts to music to GIFs and memes and posters, a book — “The Notorious RBG,” and now, an art exhibit at Los Angeles’s Skirball Center (in the works for 2018). Here are excerpts from the article about it by Cristian Farias, in the Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/ruth-bader-ginsburg-museum_us_57ee87dce4b024a52d2e95e1?section=&section=us_arts Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is gearing up for the start of a new term at the Supreme Court, which kicks off next week in Washington and may or may not promise a lot of thrills and chills. But far from the court’s marble corridors, in Los … Continue reading →

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