Geechie
Geechie's JournalDisenfranchised voters
About 3.5 million Floridians were disenfranchised this past election – and we’re not talking about convicted felons.
They are “No Party Affiliation” voters – people who don’t want to register as Democrat or Republican. They are Florida’s fastest growing political group – more than a quarter of the state’s registered voters.
Florida law locks them out of primary elections, including the races for key leadership roles (governor, U.S. Senate) this past August.
Because the state employs a “closed primary” system, independent and No Party Affiliation (NPA) voters are banned from participating.
more at [link:https://www.floridaphoenix.com/2018/11/21/more-than-a-quarter-of-florida-voters-are-disenfranchised-and-its-not-who-you-might-think/|
In Florida's Republican-majority Legislature
A Progressive Speaks
[link:https://www.floridaphoenix.com/2018/11/20/in-floridas-republican-majority-legislature-a-progressive-speaks/?fbclid=IwAR3byJl0aXHffkhJyjh25s_bv5X4vgbavaWjBhS2oGfmmIl02qMmLIC6LoY|
With a solid majority of Republicans gathered together Tuesday for an organizational session of the new, post-election Florida Legislature, a progressive grabbed a rare opportunity to take the floor.
He was state Rep. Kionne McGhee, a 40-year-old Miami-Dade County attorney and college adjunct professor who has served in the Legislature since 2012. On Tuesday, he officially took his position as Minority Leader for the House Democrats, and he used his platform on the House floor to talk about some of the issues that Democrats fought for in 2018, though none of them will likely come to fruition in 2019: tighter gun control, better teacher pay, fighting discrimination and providing health insurance for more of the state’s needy families.
McGhee told the 120 assembled lawmakers in the Florida House of Representatives how he grew up the hard way, that he was labeled as mentally retarded and dyslexic as a child, how he lost a brother and father to gun violence, and lived in the dark at times in a housing project because his family couldn’t afford the electricity bill.
Florida Phoenix
Here's the best thing to come down the pike since the St. Pete Times:
[link:https://www.floridaphoenix.com/|
"The Phoenix is a nonprofit news site that’s free of advertising and free to readers. We cover state government and politics with a staff of four journalists located at the Florida Press Center in downtown Tallahassee. We have a mix of in-depth stories, blog posts and social media updates on the latest events, editorial cartoons, and progressive commentary. Reporters in many now-shrunken capital bureaus have to spend most of their time these days chasing around after more and more outrageous political behavior, and too many don’t have time to lift up emerging innovative ideas or report on the people who are trying to help solve problems and shift policy for a more compassionate world. The Florida Phoenix does those stories."
We need this kind of REAL journalism now, more than ever!
Want to understand
a big part of the reason Florida is as fucked up as it is?
Highly recommended reading: FINDING FLORIDA / The True Story of the Sunshine State
by T. D. Allman
Over the centuries, Florida has been many things: an unconquered realm protected by geography, a wilderness that ruined Spanish conquistadors, “god’s waiting room,” and a place to start over. Depopulated after the extermination of its original native population, today it’s home to nineteen million. The site of vicious racial violence, including massacres, slavery, and the roll-back of Reconstruction, Florida is now one of our most diverse states, a dynamic multicultural place with an essential role in 21st-century America.
[link:https://g.co/kgs/vMWxnt|
Spooky Bingo
Something really spooky happened yesterday. I was talking with a friend about the number of hate crimes of late that were perpetrated by the same kind of guy. I suggested we make up Bingo cards with all the typical traits, plus some atypical ones (e.g., Muslim) for ... I don't know, a mocking sense of fairness?
As soon as I had my 24 squares made up (one free space in the middle, remember), the news came out about the MAGAbomber being almost from central casting. Almost all his attributes were included on my card.
It's funny-not-funny because my friend said that I should keep the card to myself and not share it because it would promote more divisiveness and anger. My response was that if I can't do fun and creative things with my anger it'll boil over. Now I just don't know what to do besides share this story with you.
Anybody want the list? I'll post it in a reply, but you can probably make up your own. I'm gonna go bang my head against the wall now.
How To Find Out If Your Vote Was Counted
Now that the vote-by-mail ballots are coming in, here's how to find out if yours counted in Florida.
Go to this page,
[link:https://dos.myflorida.com/elections/contacts/frequently-asked-questions/faq-voting/|
and fill out your information, verify several times that you are not a robot, then there will be a page with this text near the bottom:
"Access Ballot and Precinct Information available through your county Supervisor of Elections’ website." Click on the link, and that will take you to your supervisor of elections page, where you can request to see the status of your ballot. My county's page has a box you can click, maybe other counties have other setups, but as you can see it's not a very simple process, but it's a walk in the park compared to how it used to be when we weren't alerted to the high risk of election fraud.
Kudos to all the election officials working to keep elections fair and safe!
Nicolae Ceausescu
Listening to the news about Trump the last few months, I've thought his delusions of grandeur, paranoia, fake credentialing, downright disregard for human beings, all reminded me of someone in recent history who gets overlooked in all this talk of Hitler & Mussolini. This story reminds me of how people's cowardice and fear let someone like this rise to the top.
[link:
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Member since: Thu Nov 2, 2017, 03:10 PMNumber of posts: 864
