alternet--2020-12-16--A small-town voter drive reveals how decades of inequality shadow voter turnout in rural Georgia

Commerce Street , once the heart of downtown Hawkinsville , Georgia , is easily overlooked .
A visitor following state highways through the Pulaski County seat would glance at a row of faded brick buildings , awning-covered storefronts and dusty windows .
Parking and getting out feels like stepping into an old postcard .
In the sunlight 's glare and morning quiet , you might not know that Black businesses were once barred from the street .
Or that the Ku Klux Klan held some of its largest rallies in America nearby .
Or the street 's cluster of Black-owned @ @ @ @ @ @ @ quick assessments are out of sync with the rhythm of life and pace of change here .
Below buildings painted in pastels , antique-style streetlamps and blue banners labeling Hawkinsville as a `` Historic River Town '' are two barbershops , a Southern bar and grill , a Caribbean takeout restaurant , clothes and gift shops , a small accounting firm , and a tobacco vape store .
Most intriguing of all is what lies below the street 's largest sign , `` The Newberry Foundation . ''
The Hawkinsville African American Heritage @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a faded pine board saying `` COLORED ENTRANCE '' above its door .
Next to it is the Plough and the Pew Reading Room , a ballroom-size space with a dozen large tables and shelves of leather-bound books .
Its volumes range from Jet magazine , to the Journal of Negro Education , to The War of the Rebellion : A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies .
A block away is the county courthouse and its large Confederate monument .
On a recent Saturday before the December @ @ @ @ @ @ @ start of early voting , this crossroad of past and present rural Georgia was the setting for a voter registration drive for the upcoming Senate runoffs on January 5 .
That contest will determine which political party holds the Senate 's majority and with it , the fate of legislation proposed by President-elect Joe Biden .
While the biggest concentrations of Democratic voters surround Atlanta , voting rights groups believe that rural communities of color could tip the balance or cement Democratic wins , if they voted .
A small colorful caravan drove @ @ @ @ @ @ @ where the early unofficial results showed that 4,081 of its 5,687 registered voters cast ballots in the November 3 election .
Most were white voters backing Republicans .
Like the 1960s ' Freedom Riders , whose buses crossed the South to register voters , the registration drive had a similar task : engage and turn out voters .
The drive was led by Fenika Miller , a calm and focused activist who has been working for decades to empower nearby communities of color and women .
Miller runs Black Voters Matter 's middle-Georgia @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in front of the museum .
Its eye-catching red , green and black exterior announced the We Got the Power tour , with the words `` Black Voters Matter '' and `` Love '' printed on the side of the van .
Parked behind them was a purple Winnebago from Vote Equality , a group that promotes the Equal Rights Amendment .
It had come from Virginia to boost the drive 's visibility .
Both teams , mostly women , set up tables and chairs on a brick sidewalk .
They laid out @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with voting information .
They had gifts , such as T-shirts and other items saying , `` Black Voters Matter , '' `` It 's About Us '' and `` Vote Equality ! ''
to give to anyone registering or who pledged to talk to friends and family about voting .
Then they waited .
Mid-morning on a Saturday was not Commerce Street 's busiest hour .
A deputy sheriff arrived and pretended to be irked that he did not know about this event .
He was happy to stick around .
A @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the shade below the awnings .
They knew each other , were active locally and supported the cause .
Within 15 minutes , a tall , broad , affable middle-aged man with a professorial manner brought a tray of McDonald 's coffee and introduced himself .
He was Julius Johnson , the Newberry Foundation 's founder , museum 's creator , reading room curator and former U.S. State Department worker .
He returned from overseas with his family to Hawkinsville , his ancestral hometown , after his father died .
When I spoke @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I said I had come to town to see people working on voter outreach for the runoffs and not just report on it via Zoom .
`` You know , we have 159 counties in Georgia , '' he said .
`` And each county has different population numbers .
And if you look at the results of the last election , it will tell you a story in terms of voter participation , and that might be a starting point . ''
Miller chose Hawkinsville because of Pulaski County 's turnout numbers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ `` I caught that 1,026 Black people… [ were eligible to vote ] in this town , but over 800 still did not , '' she said , referring to the presidential election .
`` We have a lot of work to do here , in small towns . ''
Other organizers eyeing the Senate runoffs reached similar conclusions .
But they believed that overlooked rural voters of color could be an unexpected force in the runoffs , which are historically low-turnout races .
Johnson , who briefly introduced himself after serving coffee @ @ @ @ @ @ @ just run for Georgia 's state senate .
He received 31,000 votes but did not win .
Johnson listened to a summary of this runoff strategy .
`` There 's not a lot of time , '' he replied , cutting to the heart of the matter .
`` How do you activate those voters ?
One of the keys is to lean on the existing stimuli , like the churches , or this [ drive ] , or other efforts . ''
The challenge is turning out historically marginalized voters , he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a big registration drive , especially as pastors and ministers were delivering Sunday sermons online in response to the pandemic .
That meant that fewer people would hear announcements about voting .
Johnson said that he had invited some parents to bring their children to register and had urged younger people to bring older relatives .
That strategy seemed like scratching the surface .
Was that going to work ?
He looked up .
`` In rural Georgia , cultural norms and things are pretty entrenched , '' he said .
`` When @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , they are less subjected to the influences of the national sort of influencers .
They still have community .
They 're getting their information on their porches .
They get their information from their pastors , from neighbors at the supermarket , from the clubs they belong to .
They pretty much know the way they 're going to vote . ''
What Johnson was saying was important to understand , especially for Americans who want to help in the runoffs .
Rural Georgians , especially voters of color , were unlikely @ @ @ @ @ @ @ family , friends and faith leaders .
Distrust of outsiders is real .
He patiently answered more questions , responding with unusual candor and detail in a state where it could be hard to get past congenial conversation or curt talk when the subject turned to politics .
I asked to see his museum , which led to a conversation that unexpectedly revealed what many Black residents thought , but would not say aloud , about voting , race and power in middle Georgia .
Unlocking the Unspoken Johnson walked into the museum @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to recreations of iconic moments in the civil rights struggle .
He created the museum and the reading room because he was a collector and historian , he said , adding that he was working on a PhD from Howard University .
There was a need to preserve Black local history , create educational settings and have safe civic spaces `` for events like this , '' the voter drive .
`` We want to be a model for other rural communities because in the rural South there are n't many spaces for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ explained .
`` It 's not like in Washington , D.C. , or Massachusetts where you have coffee shops and bookstores .
In the rural South , the only public space where people talk is primarily at church or in their homes .
If they go to a restaurant , it 's really just to eat—they are n't there for analytical reasoning or anything like that . ''
In the few restaurants that were open on nearby streets , a handful of white diners were being served by Black employees .
Miller said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Johnson said that many people did not go out after dark .
`` There is n't protection . ''
The resistance to change was present and lingering .
Inside the museum , Johnson passed a large basket of cotton and stopped before a memorial on a mantlepiece .
He said that his full name was Julius Johnson Newberry and that this relic was his most prized possession .
It was a tombstone eight inches wide and eight inches high that did not have a name on it .
Its base read , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ '' This was his grandfather , seven generations ago .
Near the tombstone 's base were two dashes symbolizing chains from slavery .
At the top were two stars above a line of dashes and dots , signifying broken chains and that he died a free man .
In the 1870s , the Newberry family bought land from their former owners .
`` The worst 300 acres , '' Johnson said .
They cleared the stony soil and grew cotton .
White families with 19th-century roots in Hawkinsville knew the Newberrys .
`` @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said , referring to how the past shadows the present in this town and rural Georgia .
`` It 's very complicated because there is a lot of trauma .
There 's a lot of terror .
And in many respects , there 's love , too , among some large groups in the rural South .
I 'm speaking of African Americans… But we also have a growing Spanish-speaking population here .
They 've been terrorized [ by current authorities ] and stay hidden . ''
Johnson spoke of legacies that outsiders @ @ @ @ @ @ @ town 's separate cemeteries for white people and Black people ; family stories of how Black people who moved to the North were not permitted to unload their cars on Hawkinsville 's streets into the 1960s , lest the local Black residents see their relative poverty ; that Black people were whipped on nearby farms as late at the 1970s and 1980s ; the reason why many Black people still do n't swim in the nearby Ocmulgee River , as skeletons periodically surface or are dredged up .
`` There 's a lot @ @ @ @ @ @ @ these rural towns have not accessed the local power structure effectively to represent their interests , '' Johnson said , returning to politics and elections .
`` They 've been outsmarted by every trick in the book .
And while people are resilient , they 're fatigued .
And people have adjusted to a lot of the inequality that exists . ''
Johnson 's work for the State Department included trying to sway `` hearts and minds '' in Afghanistan .
Inequality could still be seen locally , he said , as most @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , law enforcement and education were held by white people .
Illiteracy was a real issue , he said , citing Vietnam veterans who could not fill out benefit forms .
So was race-based intimidation .
Those cultural currents and a rural economy with limited opportunities left many people of color contained , cautious and wary of outsiders .
Many people of color stayed in their lane and kept quiet .
`` It 's like once you 're identified to do something here , especially if a white person gives you an opportunity @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Johnson said .
`` And to stick with it means you stay in your place and do n't get involved in things that will jeopardize your income because jobs are hard to come by . ''
Johnson broke out of this mold .
His roots , higher education , federal service and efforts to redevelop Hawkinsville 's former commercial center were not openly criticized in a small county 25 miles from the interstate highway .
He confided that he did not have many close local friends .
The conversation continued in his office @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , where white lawyers , realtors and businessmen once worked .
He and the other Commerce Street merchants were underwriting the voter drive and had invited people .
He did n't expect many to show up .
But word would get around .
`` Most people have things to do on Saturday , '' Johnson said .
`` To ask them to come downtown for something like this is unusual .
We have reached out to a cross-section of people and we 'll see who turns up .
There 's a saying down @ @ @ @ @ @ @ asleep . '
So , although you do n't see the numbers , [ that ] does n't mean the numbers are n't seeing you . ''
Johnson 's openness and insights were surprising .
He explained what was widely understood but not often spoken in middle Georgia—and especially not spoken of to out-of-town journalists .
His dissection of the culture had a direct bearing on how rural voters of color could—or should not—be reached for the Senate runoffs .
His clear takeaway was that only known groups and people , relying on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ small wage , would likely be effective messengers to motivate people who did n't plan to vote .
As Johnson showed his visitors the rest of his building that he hoped would become a democracy center—a hub readymade for organizers—a younger man ran up the staircase and said , `` Mr. Way is outside and wants to see you . ''
Johnson smiled and quickly headed down to Commerce Street .
The Way Forward Sam Way , age 95 , wore a flannel shirt , pressed jeans , and a surgical mask and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ roots went back to pre-Civil War days .
His family founded nearby banks that were still open and owned vast tracts of farmland and forests .
Mr. Way , who is white , knew many leading Georgia politicians when Southern Democrats controlled the state , such as Jimmy Carter when he was governor and president .
And Georgia 's politicians knew him .
The handful of Black people sitting in chairs on the sidewalk stood to greet Way : Mary Colson , the only Black Board of Elections member ; Bernice Banks , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ago and this fall became the deputy chair of a newly revived county Democratic Party ; and Black Voters Matter 's Miller and her team .
Johnson greeted Way , who was surveying the colorful Black Voters Matter van and registration table and Vote Equality 's RV and its table .
`` We could use more of this , '' Way said , pressing a folded $ 100 bill into Johnson 's hand .
Johnson introduced Way to the Vote Equality crew as `` one of the founders of this town . ''
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ said that they had come from Virginia to help the voter drive .
Miller quickly organized a group photograph .
Afterward , Way was asked what people could do to help efforts like this voter drive .
`` The main thing you can do is identify people who live in this town who are not registered .
And then follow it up and make sure they get to the polls on Election Day , '' he said .
`` It 's that simple . ''
`` Was that hard to do around here @ @ @ @ @ @ @ It 's not hard , if somebody is dedicated to get out there and work with it , '' he replied .
`` Just like Stacey [ Abrams ] has done .
She 's just gotten everybody to organize in Atlanta .
Because 70 percent of the vote on November 3 was white in this county .
Only 30 percent [ of the vote ] was Black .
And yet the population is about 50-50 .
So that 's the challenge . ''
After Way left , the registration drive continued .
Miller @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by justified shifting to canvassing nearby streets .
But Johnson 's assessment had been spot on .
Not one of the dozen people who showed up to register to vote shared their full name or said much more than voting was `` a good thing . ''
Across the street inside Bryant 's Barber Shop , people felt a bit freer to talk .
It was a safer space , especially after Johnson 's introductions .
He praised Elgin Bryant as a `` quiet guy who touches everybody 's head in this town @ @ @ @ @ @ @ been slaves in Hawkinsville .
He was retired from work at a nearby military base and cut hair at his father 's old barbershop on weekends .
Bryant said he was pleased that Joe Biden had picked Kamala Harris as his running mate .
He was pleased that Georgia 's voters chose Biden .
People were paying attention , he said , especially younger people .
`` It 's a great thing .
I think it 's going to make people realize we need to get out and vote , '' he said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the younger generation 's really getting it .
The older generation , they kind of thought it did n't matter… Over a period of years , you know , a lot of Black people have gotten less [ than whites ] .
It 's time now .
This needs to change . ''
Shawn Nelson , a younger man and a truck driver in Bryant 's seat , was eager to talk .
He seemed genuinely excited about the runoffs .
`` The outcome of the January 5 election is going to have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ years , '' he said .
`` We need to get those two Democrats in and start making a change .
For health care , education… '' Nelson , too , wanted to believe that Biden 's victory meant change could come .
`` That 's big progress for Georgia , '' he said .
`` I 'm 40 years old and as far as I can remember , Georgia has been known as a racist state .
Even though it still probably is , I think with these Democrats that are getting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ look forward to seeing some change . ''
But back outside , the foot traffic had slowed as mid-afternoon approached .
Elizabeth Small , who was sitting in a chair by the Black Voters Matter table and ready to help anyone register , seemed flustered .
She was 79 , and still a poll worker .
She was not pleased with the Black turnout on November 3 and wanted to see more people show up for the registration drive .
`` As you can see , there are not enough Blacks here for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 's so important , '' she said .
`` Blacks need to participate more .
They are not here .
I do n't know where they are .
Because they should participate… But we do n't often get asked to participate . ''
Small admitted that she was frustrated .
`` Everything that you want to have happen takes too long , '' she said .
`` And the ones that you see today are the ones [ that ] are always present , for whatever , especially for the voter registration .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Right ?
Always the same few . ''
By 3 p.m. the registration drive was over .
The local newspaper did not show up .
The Black Voters Matter crew drove back to Warner Robins , a small city nearby .
The Vote Equality crew followed Johnson to his house .
The January 5 runoffs were more than a month away .
Voter registration would close on December 7 .
Early voting would start on December 14 .
While the national media has been concentrating on suburban Atlanta 's Biden voters who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ there are thousands and thousands of voters of color in rural Georgia who could play an outsized role—if they vote .
At first glance , Hawkinsville looks like it has barely changed in decades .
But its once-white business center is now filled with Black-owned businesses .
Looking toward January 5 , there is an election where its long-suppressed voices—like others across Georgia—could ring from coast to coast .
This article was produced by Voting Booth , a project of the Independent Media Institute .
Steven Rosenfeld is the editor and chief correspondent @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Independent Media Institute .
He has reported for National Public Radio , Marketplace , and Christian Science Monitor Radio , as well as a wide range of progressive publications including Salon , AlterNet , the American Prospect , and many others .

Commerce Street, once the heart of downtown Hawkinsville, Georgia, is easily overlooked. A visitor following state highways through the Pulaski County seat would glance at a row of faded brick buildings, awning-covered storefronts and dusty windows. Parking and getting out feels like stepping into an old postcard. In the sunlight's glare and morning quiet, you might not know that Black businesses were once barred from the street. Or that the Ku Klux Klan held some of its largest rallies in America nearby. Or the street's cluster of Black-owned businesses as a small-town triumph.
But quick assessments are out of sync with the rhythm of life and pace of change here. Below buildings painted in pastels, antique-style streetlamps and blue banners labeling Hawkinsville as a "Historic River Town" are two barbershops, a Southern bar and grill, a Caribbean takeout restaurant, clothes and gift shops, a small accounting firm, and a tobacco vape store. Most intriguing of all is what lies below the street's largest sign, "The Newberry Foundation."
The Hawkinsville African American Heritage Center is a Black history museum with a faded pine board saying "COLORED ENTRANCE" above its door. Next to it is the Plough and the Pew Reading Room, a ballroom-size space with a dozen large tables and shelves of leather-bound books. Its volumes range from Jet magazine, to the Journal of Negro Education, to The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. A block away is the county courthouse and its large Confederate monument.
On a recent Saturday before the December 7 registration deadline and the December 14 start of early voting, this crossroad of past and present rural Georgia was the setting for a voter registration drive for the upcoming Senate runoffs on January 5. That contest will determine which political party holds the Senate's majority and with it, the fate of legislation proposed by President-elect Joe Biden. While the biggest concentrations of Democratic voters surround Atlanta, voting rights groups believe that rural communities of color could tip the balance or cement Democratic wins, if they voted.
A small colorful caravan drove to the center of Pulaski County, where the early unofficial results showed that 4,081 of its 5,687 registered voters cast ballots in the November 3 election. Most were white voters backing Republicans. Like the 1960s' Freedom Riders, whose buses crossed the South to register voters, the registration drive had a similar task: engage and turn out voters.
The drive was led by Fenika Miller, a calm and focused activist who has been working for decades to empower nearby communities of color and women. Miller runs Black Voters Matter's middle-Georgia office, whose colorful van was parked in front of the museum. Its eye-catching red, green and black exterior announced the We Got the Power tour, with the words "Black Voters Matter" and "Love" printed on the side of the van. Parked behind them was a purple Winnebago from Vote Equality, a group that promotes the Equal Rights Amendment. It had come from Virginia to boost the drive's visibility.
Both teams, mostly women, set up tables and chairs on a brick sidewalk. They laid out registration forms, flyers, and cards with voting information. They had gifts, such as T-shirts and other items saying, "Black Voters Matter," "It's About Us" and "Vote Equality!" to give to anyone registering or who pledged to talk to friends and family about voting. Then they waited. Mid-morning on a Saturday was not Commerce Street's busiest hour.
A deputy sheriff arrived and pretended to be irked that he did not know about this event. He was happy to stick around. A few Black women quietly found seats in the shade below the awnings. They knew each other, were active locally and supported the cause. Within 15 minutes, a tall, broad, affable middle-aged man with a professorial manner brought a tray of McDonald's coffee and introduced himself. He was Julius Johnson, the Newberry Foundation's founder, museum's creator, reading room curator and former U.S. State Department worker. He returned from overseas with his family to Hawkinsville, his ancestral hometown, after his father died.
When I spoke with Johnson, he lit up when I said I had come to town to see people working on voter outreach for the runoffs and not just report on it via Zoom. "You know, we have 159 counties in Georgia," he said. "And each county has different population numbers. And if you look at the results of the last election, it will tell you a story in terms of voter participation, and that might be a starting point."
Miller chose Hawkinsville because of Pulaski County's turnout numbers, she explained while setting up. "I caught that 1,026 Black people… [were eligible to vote] in this town, but over 800 still did not," she said, referring to the presidential election. "We have a lot of work to do here, in small towns."
Other organizers eyeing the Senate runoffs reached similar conclusions. But they believed that overlooked rural voters of color could be an unexpected force in the runoffs, which are historically low-turnout races. Johnson, who briefly introduced himself after serving coffee, did not mention that he had just run for Georgia's state senate. He received 31,000 votes but did not win. Johnson listened to a summary of this runoff strategy.
"There's not a lot of time," he replied, cutting to the heart of the matter. "How do you activate those voters? One of the keys is to lean on the existing stimuli, like the churches, or this [drive], or other efforts."
The challenge is turning out historically marginalized voters, he said. It was too late for a big registration drive, especially as pastors and ministers were delivering Sunday sermons online in response to the pandemic. That meant that fewer people would hear announcements about voting. Johnson said that he had invited some parents to bring their children to register and had urged younger people to bring older relatives. That strategy seemed like scratching the surface. Was that going to work? He looked up.
"In rural Georgia, cultural norms and things are pretty entrenched," he said. "When you get down to these smaller counties, they are less subjected to the influences of the national sort of influencers. They still have community. They're getting their information on their porches. They get their information from their pastors, from neighbors at the supermarket, from the clubs they belong to. They pretty much know the way they're going to vote."
What Johnson was saying was important to understand, especially for Americans who want to help in the runoffs. Rural Georgians, especially voters of color, were unlikely to trust people outside their circle of family, friends and faith leaders. Distrust of outsiders is real. He patiently answered more questions, responding with unusual candor and detail in a state where it could be hard to get past congenial conversation or curt talk when the subject turned to politics. I asked to see his museum, which led to a conversation that unexpectedly revealed what many Black residents thought, but would not say aloud, about voting, race and power in middle Georgia.
Unlocking the Unspoken
Johnson walked into the museum. Displays of local history stood next to recreations of iconic moments in the civil rights struggle. He created the museum and the reading room because he was a collector and historian, he said, adding that he was working on a PhD from Howard University. There was a need to preserve Black local history, create educational settings and have safe civic spaces "for events like this," the voter drive.
"We want to be a model for other rural communities because in the rural South there aren't many spaces for civic interaction and engagement," Johnson explained. "It's not like in Washington, D.C., or Massachusetts where you have coffee shops and bookstores. In the rural South, the only public space where people talk is primarily at church or in their homes. If they go to a restaurant, it's really just to eat—they aren't there for analytical reasoning or anything like that."
In the few restaurants that were open on nearby streets, a handful of white diners were being served by Black employees. Miller said her canvassers went out in pairs—never alone. Johnson said that many people did not go out after dark. "There isn't protection." The resistance to change was present and lingering.
Inside the museum, Johnson passed a large basket of cotton and stopped before a memorial on a mantlepiece. He said that his full name was Julius Johnson Newberry and that this relic was his most prized possession. It was a tombstone eight inches wide and eight inches high that did not have a name on it. Its base read, "Mr. Charley Newberry, 1818-1880." This was his grandfather, seven generations ago. Near the tombstone's base were two dashes symbolizing chains from slavery. At the top were two stars above a line of dashes and dots, signifying broken chains and that he died a free man. In the 1870s, the Newberry family bought land from their former owners. "The worst 300 acres," Johnson said. They cleared the stony soil and grew cotton. White families with 19th-century roots in Hawkinsville knew the Newberrys.
"It's very complicated," Johnson said, referring to how the past shadows the present in this town and rural Georgia. "It's very complicated because there is a lot of trauma. There's a lot of terror. And in many respects, there's love, too, among some large groups in the rural South. I'm speaking of African Americans… But we also have a growing Spanish-speaking population here. They've been terrorized [by current authorities] and stay hidden."
Johnson spoke of legacies that outsiders would not know or recognize: The town's separate cemeteries for white people and Black people; family stories of how Black people who moved to the North were not permitted to unload their cars on Hawkinsville's streets into the 1960s, lest the local Black residents see their relative poverty; that Black people were whipped on nearby farms as late at the 1970s and 1980s; the reason why many Black people still don't swim in the nearby Ocmulgee River, as skeletons periodically surface or are dredged up.
"There's a lot of trauma here, and people in these rural towns have not accessed the local power structure effectively to represent their interests," Johnson said, returning to politics and elections. "They've been outsmarted by every trick in the book. And while people are resilient, they're fatigued. And people have adjusted to a lot of the inequality that exists."
Johnson's work for the State Department included trying to sway "hearts and minds" in Afghanistan. Inequality could still be seen locally, he said, as most of the leadership posts in county government, law enforcement and education were held by white people. Illiteracy was a real issue, he said, citing Vietnam veterans who could not fill out benefit forms. So was race-based intimidation. Those cultural currents and a rural economy with limited opportunities left many people of color contained, cautious and wary of outsiders. Many people of color stayed in their lane and kept quiet.
"It's like once you're identified to do something here, especially if a white person gives you an opportunity, you stick with it," Johnson said. "And to stick with it means you stay in your place and don't get involved in things that will jeopardize your income because jobs are hard to come by."
Johnson broke out of this mold. His roots, higher education, federal service and efforts to redevelop Hawkinsville's former commercial center were not openly criticized in a small county 25 miles from the interstate highway. He confided that he did not have many close local friends. The conversation continued in his office in Hawkinsville's first two-story brick building, where white lawyers, realtors and businessmen once worked. He and the other Commerce Street merchants were underwriting the voter drive and had invited people. He didn't expect many to show up. But word would get around.
"Most people have things to do on Saturday," Johnson said. "To ask them to come downtown for something like this is unusual. We have reached out to a cross-section of people and we'll see who turns up. There's a saying down here, 'Every shut eye ain't asleep.' So, although you don't see the numbers, [that] doesn't mean the numbers aren't seeing you."
Johnson's openness and insights were surprising. He explained what was widely understood but not often spoken in middle Georgia—and especially not spoken of to out-of-town journalists. His dissection of the culture had a direct bearing on how rural voters of color could—or should not—be reached for the Senate runoffs. His clear takeaway was that only known groups and people, relying on local volunteers or paying local people a small wage, would likely be effective messengers to motivate people who didn't plan to vote.
As Johnson showed his visitors the rest of his building that he hoped would become a democracy center—a hub readymade for organizers—a younger man ran up the staircase and said, "Mr. Way is outside and wants to see you." Johnson smiled and quickly headed down to Commerce Street.
The Way Forward
Sam Way, age 95, wore a flannel shirt, pressed jeans, and a surgical mask and walked with a cane. His Hawkinsville roots went back to pre-Civil War days. His family founded nearby banks that were still open and owned vast tracts of farmland and forests. Mr. Way, who is white, knew many leading Georgia politicians when Southern Democrats controlled the state, such as Jimmy Carter when he was governor and president. And Georgia's politicians knew him.
The handful of Black people sitting in chairs on the sidewalk stood to greet Way: Mary Colson, the only Black Board of Elections member; Bernice Banks, who moved back to town five years ago and this fall became the deputy chair of a newly revived county Democratic Party; and Black Voters Matter's Miller and her team.
Johnson greeted Way, who was surveying the colorful Black Voters Matter van and registration table and Vote Equality's RV and its table. "We could use more of this," Way said, pressing a folded $100 bill into Johnson's hand.
Johnson introduced Way to the Vote Equality crew as "one of the founders of this town." The women at the Vote Equality table said that they had come from Virginia to help the voter drive. Miller quickly organized a group photograph. Afterward, Way was asked what people could do to help efforts like this voter drive.
"The main thing you can do is identify people who live in this town who are not registered. And then follow it up and make sure they get to the polls on Election Day," he said. "It's that simple."
"Was that hard to do around here?" he was asked.
"It's not hard, if somebody is dedicated to get out there and work with it," he replied. "Just like Stacey [Abrams] has done. She's just gotten everybody to organize in Atlanta. Because 70 percent of the vote on November 3 was white in this county. Only 30 percent [of the vote] was Black. And yet the population is about 50-50. So that's the challenge."
After Way left, the registration drive continued. Miller felt that the trickle of people stopping by justified shifting to canvassing nearby streets. But Johnson's assessment had been spot on. Not one of the dozen people who showed up to register to vote shared their full name or said much more than voting was "a good thing."
Across the street inside Bryant's Barber Shop, people felt a bit freer to talk. It was a safer space, especially after Johnson's introductions. He praised Elgin Bryant as a "quiet guy who touches everybody's head in this town." Bryant's ancestors had also been slaves in Hawkinsville. He was retired from work at a nearby military base and cut hair at his father's old barbershop on weekends.
Bryant said he was pleased that Joe Biden had picked Kamala Harris as his running mate. He was pleased that Georgia's voters chose Biden. People were paying attention, he said, especially younger people.
"It's a great thing. I think it's going to make people realize we need to get out and vote," he said, cautiously optimistic. "I think the younger generation's really getting it. The older generation, they kind of thought it didn't matter… Over a period of years, you know, a lot of Black people have gotten less [than whites]. It's time now. This needs to change."
Shawn Nelson, a younger man and a truck driver in Bryant's seat, was eager to talk. He seemed genuinely excited about the runoffs.
"The outcome of the January 5 election is going to have an impact on the United States for years," he said. "We need to get those two Democrats in and start making a change. For health care, education…"
Nelson, too, wanted to believe that Biden's victory meant change could come.
"That's big progress for Georgia," he said. "I'm 40 years old and as far as I can remember, Georgia has been known as a racist state. Even though it still probably is, I think with these Democrats that are getting in office, I think we can look forward to seeing some change."
But back outside, the foot traffic had slowed as mid-afternoon approached. Elizabeth Small, who was sitting in a chair by the Black Voters Matter table and ready to help anyone register, seemed flustered. She was 79, and still a poll worker. She was not pleased with the Black turnout on November 3 and wanted to see more people show up for the registration drive.
"As you can see, there are not enough Blacks here for the event that's coming up that's so important," she said. "Blacks need to participate more. They are not here. I don't know where they are. Because they should participate… But we don't often get asked to participate."
Small admitted that she was frustrated. "Everything that you want to have happen takes too long," she said. "And the ones that you see today are the ones [that] are always present, for whatever, especially for the voter registration. It's always the same few people. Right? Always the same few."
By 3 p.m. the registration drive was over. The local newspaper did not show up. The Black Voters Matter crew drove back to Warner Robins, a small city nearby. The Vote Equality crew followed Johnson to his house. The January 5 runoffs were more than a month away. Voter registration would close on December 7. Early voting would start on December 14.
While the national media has been concentrating on suburban Atlanta's Biden voters who "tore down political fences," there are thousands and thousands of voters of color in rural Georgia who could play an outsized role—if they vote. At first glance, Hawkinsville looks like it has barely changed in decades. But its once-white business center is now filled with Black-owned businesses. Looking toward January 5, there is an election where its long-suppressed voices—like others across Georgia—could ring from coast to coast.
This article was produced by Voting Booth, a project of the Independent Media Institute.
Steven Rosenfeld is the editor and chief correspondent of Voting Booth, a project of the Independent Media Institute. He has reported for National Public Radio, Marketplace, and Christian Science Monitor Radio, as well as a wide range of progressive publications including Salon, AlterNet, the American Prospect, and many others.


alternet--2020-12-16--Betsy DeVos gave a disturbing message to department staff to undermine Biden on her way out: report

On Tuesday , POLITICO reported that outgoing Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is urging civil servants at the Department of Education to `` resist '' President-elect Joe Biden once she is gone .
`` Let me leave you with this plea : Resist , '' DeVos said during a department-wide conference call .
`` Be the resistance against forces that will derail you from doing what 's right for students .
In everything you do , please put students first — always . ''
DeVos , a billionaire who was long involved in Republican fundraising before her appointment and stated that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ build `` God 's kingdom , '' has been one of President Donald Trump 's most controversial Cabinet members .
During her tenure , she relaxed civil rights protections for campus rape survivors and students with disabilities , and drastically cut back efforts to forgive student loans for people defrauded by defunct for-profit colleges , an effort that eventually led to her being held in contempt of court by a federal judge .
According to POLITICO , Trump has tapped Phil Rosenfelt to serve as acting Education Secretary when his administration ends and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ department 's deputy general counsel and a longtime career employee , '' reported Michael Stratford .
`` He played the same role during the transition from the Obama administration to the Trump administration in 2017 , serving as acting secretary of Education from late January of 2017 when Secretary John B .
King Jr. left office until early February of that year , when DeVos was sworn in . ''

On Tuesday, POLITICO reported that outgoing Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is urging civil servants at the Department of Education to "resist" President-elect Joe Biden once she is gone.
"Let me leave you with this plea: Resist," DeVos said during a department-wide conference call. "Be the resistance against forces that will derail you from doing what's right for students. In everything you do, please put students first — always."
DeVos, a billionaire who was long involved in Republican fundraising before her appointment and stated that she wanted to reshape public schools to build "God's kingdom," has been one of President Donald Trump's most controversial Cabinet members.
During her tenure, she relaxed civil rights protections for campus rape survivors and students with disabilities, and drastically cut back efforts to forgive student loans for people defrauded by defunct for-profit colleges, an effort that eventually led to her being held in contempt of court by a federal judge.
According to POLITICO, Trump has tapped Phil Rosenfelt to serve as acting Education Secretary when his administration ends and DeVos departs.
"Rosenfelt is the department's deputy general counsel and a longtime career employee," reported Michael Stratford. "He played the same role during the transition from the Obama administration to the Trump administration in 2017, serving as acting secretary of Education from late January of 2017 when Secretary John B. King Jr. left office until early February of that year, when DeVos was sworn in."


alternet--2020-12-17--McConnell is nervous about Georgia — here's how Democrats can use that to their advantage

A deal for a new round of recovery funds appeared to be just around the corner on Wednesday , as signals emerged from Congress that Democrats and Republicans are coming closer to consensus on a new spending bill .
One quote from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell suggests why .
According to both CNN and Politico reporter Jake Sherman , McConnell told his colleagues on a call Wednesday : `` Kelly and David are getting hammered '' on the issue of direct payments to families The coronavirus pandemic has continued since the spring , and has in fact reached its @ @ @ @ @ @ @ argued that the federal government should send out payments once again to ameliorate the ongoing economic damage .
The first payments were sent in the form of $ 1,200 checks from the U.S. Treasury in the spring under the CARES Act .
Kelly and David , of course , refer to Sens .
Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue , the Georgia Republicans in tight runoffs with Democrats Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock scheduled for Jan. 5 .
McConnell resisted passing another relief package for months even after many of the CARES Act provisions @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 's worried about the Georgia races .
The two seats up for grabs could determine control of the Senate .
If Ossoff and Warnock both win , Vice President-elect Kamala Harris 's tie-breaking vote will give Democrats a de facto majority , essentially relegating McConnell to minority leader status .
The initial round of recovery checks in the spring were wildly popular , and McConnell seems to realize Georgia voters are paying attention .
Many in McConnell 's caucus are reluctant to spend much more money at all — not just on direct @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and aid to state and local government — but with voters already casting ballots in the Georgia runoffs , the pressure on the majority leader is real .
( The final bill will also likely include several hundred billion dollars of support for businesses , which the GOP is more comfortable with . )
That leaves Democrats with two big opportunities .
First , they can leverage McConnell 's anxiety to pressure the GOP to pass the much-needed recovery bill now .
They 're currently on this path already , though it 's @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 'll be at getting a solid deal in the end .
But the second opportunity , and one area in which Democratic leadership has really been lacking , is creating a clear message around the recovery package and using it to increase their chances of winning the Georgia runoffs .
Warnock and Ossoff have been focusing on the issue of direct payments in their Georgia campaigns — that 's why McConnell fears Loeffler and Perdue are getting `` hammered . ''
But in this situation , Democrats might end up becoming victims of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , under Democratic pressure , McConnell allows a decent recovery bill to pass ?
Do Perdue and Loeffler get a boost in approval heading into the runoffs , foreclosing the possibility of a Democratic majority and thus the prospect of any additional needed fiscal support ?
The truth is Democrats have been pushing for much more generous federal spending to addres the economic crisis for months .
It 's barely talked about anymore , but the House passed the HEROES Act in May , which would have totaled $ 3 trillion in additional @ @ @ @ @ @ @ families .
McConnell , on the other hand , did n't pass anything , and constantly demanded that Democrats lower the price tag substantially .
Eventually , Democrats came down to $ 2.2 trillion , but no deal was struck before the election .
Now , the spending bill that is anticipated in the coming days will probably cost about $ 900 billion .
Democrats need to make this series of events clear to the American people — especially voters in Georgia , who hold the fate of the Senate in their hands @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and having members of the caucus on a unified message — something that the Democrats are distinctively weak at , despite the crucial importance of message discipline .
If direct payments are included in the coming bill , they 're expected to be stingier than the first round .
Instead of $ 1,200 , reports suggest most individuals will get something more like $ 600 or $ 700 .
Democrats should make clear to the voters that the reason the checks are n't bigger is because of McConnell 's demands and that only @ @ @ @ @ @ @ will Congress have the power to do more .
The best outcome for the Democrats might actually be if the direct payments are left out of the final bill .
While these funds are important and would help families , they 're likely not as important as the funding for unemployment insurance or struggling businesses .
Household savings have actually increased substantially this year on average , so if funds are constrained — which they are , because of GOP insistence — it makes sense to focus the money where it is needed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ argue that , if they win both seats in Georgia , they 'll have the ability to pass additional payments once Biden is inaugurated .
Unfortunately , though , Democrats have n't been skilled at crafting the messaging on this issue to their advantage .
When , after all , was the last time anyone heard mention of the HEROES Act ?
But McConnell 's nervousness suggests Democrats have a real opening here — if only they can take it .

A deal for a new round of recovery funds appeared to be just around the corner on Wednesday, as signals emerged from Congress that Democrats and Republicans are coming closer to consensus on a new spending bill.
One quote from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell suggests why. According to both CNN and Politico reporter Jake Sherman, McConnell told his colleagues on a call Wednesday: "Kelly and David are getting hammered" on the issue of direct payments to families
The coronavirus pandemic has continued since the spring, and has in fact reached its worst heights yet. So many have argued that the federal government should send out payments once again to ameliorate the ongoing economic damage. The first payments were sent in the form of $1,200 checks from the U.S. Treasury in the spring under the CARES Act. Kelly and David, of course, refer to Sens. Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue, the Georgia Republicans in tight runoffs with Democrats Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock scheduled for Jan. 5.
McConnell resisted passing another relief package for months even after many of the CARES Act provisions expired, but it's clear he's worried about the Georgia races. The two seats up for grabs could determine control of the Senate. If Ossoff and Warnock both win, Vice President-elect Kamala Harris's tie-breaking vote will give Democrats a de facto majority, essentially relegating McConnell to minority leader status.
The initial round of recovery checks in the spring were wildly popular, and McConnell seems to realize Georgia voters are paying attention. Many in McConnell's caucus are reluctant to spend much more money at all — not just on direct payments, but also expanded unemployment insurance and aid to state and local government — but with voters already casting ballots in the Georgia runoffs, the pressure on the majority leader is real. (The final bill will also likely include several hundred billion dollars of support for businesses, which the GOP is more comfortable with.)
That leaves Democrats with two big opportunities. First, they can leverage McConnell's anxiety to pressure the GOP to pass the much-needed recovery bill now. They're currently on this path already, though it's yet to be seen how successful they'll be at getting a solid deal in the end.
But the second opportunity, and one area in which Democratic leadership has really been lacking, is creating a clear message around the recovery package and using it to increase their chances of winning the Georgia runoffs.
Warnock and Ossoff have been focusing on the issue of direct payments in their Georgia campaigns — that's why McConnell fears Loeffler and Perdue are getting "hammered." But in this situation, Democrats might end up becoming victims of their own success. What happens if, under Democratic pressure, McConnell allows a decent recovery bill to pass? Do Perdue and Loeffler get a boost in approval heading into the runoffs, foreclosing the possibility of a Democratic majority and thus the prospect of any additional needed fiscal support?
The truth is Democrats have been pushing for much more generous federal spending to addres the economic crisis for months. It's barely talked about anymore, but the House passed the HEROES Act in May, which would have totaled $3 trillion in additional spending, much of it directly to families. McConnell, on the other hand, didn't pass anything, and constantly demanded that Democrats lower the price tag substantially. Eventually, Democrats came down to $2.2 trillion, but no deal was struck before the election. Now, the spending bill that is anticipated in the coming days will probably cost about $900 billion.
Democrats need to make this series of events clear to the American people — especially voters in Georgia, who hold the fate of the Senate in their hands. That takes organizing, strategizing, and having members of the caucus on a unified message — something that the Democrats are distinctively weak at, despite the crucial importance of message discipline.
If direct payments are included in the coming bill, they're expected to be stingier than the first round. Instead of $1,200, reports suggest most individuals will get something more like $600 or $700. Democrats should make clear to the voters that the reason the checks aren't bigger is because of McConnell's demands and that only by stripping his title of majority leader will Congress have the power to do more.
The best outcome for the Democrats might actually be if the direct payments are left out of the final bill. While these funds are important and would help families, they're likely not as important as the funding for unemployment insurance or struggling businesses. Household savings have actually increased substantially this year on average, so if funds are constrained — which they are, because of GOP insistence — it makes sense to focus the money where it is needed the most. But Democrats could also argue that, if they win both seats in Georgia, they'll have the ability to pass additional payments once Biden is inaugurated.
Unfortunately, though, Democrats haven't been skilled at crafting the messaging on this issue to their advantage. When, after all, was the last time anyone heard mention of the HEROES Act? But McConnell's nervousness suggests Democrats have a real opening here — if only they can take it.


alternet--2020-12-16--GOP Sen. Loeffler weighs subverting democracy in craven effort to win Senate runoff

Georgia GOP Sen. Kelly Loeffler locked herself into an impossible political position Wednesday when she signaled she had n't ruled out objecting to the election results on Jan. 6 , when Congress meets to officially tally the votes from the Electoral College .
`` I have n't looked at it , '' Loeffler told reporters Wednesday , according to Atlanta Journal-Constitution journalist Greg Bluestein .
`` January 6 is a long way out and there 's a lot to play out between now and then , '' she added , while also refusing to acknowledge that President-elect Joe Biden won @ @ @ @ @ @ @ been bluffing in a nod to tantalizing Donald Trump 's rabid base , but walking back that potentiality will be next to impossible without thoroughly galvanizing the right wingers against her .
Loeffler 's Democratic challenger , Rev .
Raphael Warnock , was quick to respond , tweeting , `` Say it with me @ KLoeffler : @ JoeBiden and @ KamalaHarris won the election .
It 's disrespectful to Georgia voters to say anything else . ''
Warnock 's retort was also targeted at motivating the Democratic base to action on Jan. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Sen. David Perdue 's continued refusal to recognize the rightful winners of the state 's presidential contest : Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris , who will become the first woman and person of color to serve as the nation 's second in command .
Loeffler 's gambit comes just one day after GOP Senate Leader Mitch McConnell finally conceded Biden had emerged victorious .
McConnell 's acknowledgement came after Senate Republicans had underwritten Trump 's all-out assault on U.S. election for more than five weeks , but it still drew a rebuke @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Wednesday morning claiming he won the election `` by a lot . ''
`` Too soon to give up .
Republican Party must finally learn to fight .
People are angry ! ''
Trump added .
Following McConnell 's concession to Biden Tuesday , the GOP Senate leadership team had explicitly implored members of their caucus not to contest the election results during congressional certification on Jan. 6—a doomed bid that would require at least one GOP senator to join forces with a Republican representative from the lower chamber .
Loeffler clearly decided @ @ @ @ @ @ @ choice but to continue spinelessly paying lip service to his fascist fantasies and those of his supporters .
It 's not much a surprise , frankly .
Loeffler—who has repeatedly leveraged her Senate post to profit off the nation 's pandemic crisis—is nothing if not an opportunist .
The only real surprise these days is when Republican lawmakers take a stand in favor of our democracy instead of attacking it .
But doing that involves the type of integrity that virtually ensures someone will also have to renounce their membership in the Republican @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is that congressional certification takes place one day after the Jan. 5 runoff .
By then , she 'll have dropped Trump 's voters like a hot potato to get back to placing more impeccably timed stock trades for profit .

Georgia GOP Sen. Kelly Loeffler locked herself into an impossible political position Wednesday when she signaled she hadn't ruled out objecting to the election results on Jan. 6, when Congress meets to officially tally the votes from the Electoral College.
"I haven't looked at it," Loeffler told reporters Wednesday, according to Atlanta Journal-Constitution journalist Greg Bluestein. "January 6 is a long way out and there's a lot to play out between now and then," she added, while also refusing to acknowledge that President-elect Joe Biden won the race.
Loeffler may have simply been bluffing in a nod to tantalizing Donald Trump's rabid base, but walking back that potentiality will be next to impossible without thoroughly galvanizing the right wingers against her.
Loeffler's Democratic challenger, Rev. Raphael Warnock, was quick to respond, tweeting, "Say it with me @KLoeffler: @JoeBiden and @KamalaHarris won the election. It's disrespectful to Georgia voters to say anything else."
Warnock's retort was also targeted at motivating the Democratic base to action on Jan. 5 over Loeffler and her GOP counterpart Sen. David Perdue's continued refusal to recognize the rightful winners of the state's presidential contest: Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, who will become the first woman and person of color to serve as the nation's second in command.
Loeffler's gambit comes just one day after GOP Senate Leader Mitch McConnell finally conceded Biden had emerged victorious. McConnell's acknowledgement came after Senate Republicans had underwritten Trump's all-out assault on U.S. election for more than five weeks, but it still drew a rebuke from Trump in the wee hours of Wednesday morning claiming he won the election "by a lot."
"Too soon to give up. Republican Party must finally learn to fight. People are angry!" Trump added.
Following McConnell's concession to Biden Tuesday, the GOP Senate leadership team had explicitly implored members of their caucus not to contest the election results during congressional certification on Jan. 6—a doomed bid that would require at least one GOP senator to join forces with a Republican representative from the lower chamber. Loeffler clearly decided Trump's tweet had left her little choice but to continue spinelessly paying lip service to his fascist fantasies and those of his supporters.
It's not much a surprise, frankly. Loeffler—who has repeatedly leveraged her Senate post to profit off the nation's pandemic crisis—is nothing if not an opportunist.
The only real surprise these days is when Republican lawmakers take a stand in favor of our democracy instead of attacking it. But doing that involves the type of integrity that virtually ensures someone will also have to renounce their membership in the Republican party. Loeffler's only saving grace is that congressional certification takes place one day after the Jan. 5 runoff. By then, she'll have dropped Trump's voters like a hot potato to get back to placing more impeccably timed stock trades for profit.


alternet--2020-12-16--Rand Paul gets hammered after making bogus claim that the election 'was stolen'

During a Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing on Wednesday , Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky and fellow Republican Christopher Krebs — who formerly led a cybersecurity office at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security — expressed very different views on the security of the 2020 presidential election .
Krebs , during his testimony , emphasized that the election was quite secure , while Paul echoed the baseless claims of widespread voter fraud that President Donald Trump 's campaign and legal team have been promoting .
And Paul 's comments are getting a lot of reactions on Twitter .
Paul told @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Security Committee , `` If you 're saying that it 's the safest election based on no dead people voted… .
no people broke the absentee rules , I think that 's false .
And I think that 's what 's upset a lot of people on our side — is that they 're taking your statement to mean , 'Oh well , there was no problems in the elections . '
I do n't think that you 've examined any of the problems that we 've heard here . ''
Paul insisted @ @ @ @ @ @ @ election , in many ways , was stolen . ''
When Fox News ' Laura Ingraham tweeted Paul 's remarks , former Rep. Joe Walsh — a Never Trump conservative — posted : Here 's what other Twitter users have had to say in response to Paul 's comments :

During a Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing on Wednesday, Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky and fellow Republican Christopher Krebs — who formerly led a cybersecurity office at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security — expressed very different views on the security of the 2020 presidential election. Krebs, during his testimony, emphasized that the election was quite secure, while Paul echoed the baseless claims of widespread voter fraud that President Donald Trump's campaign and legal team have been promoting. And Paul's comments are getting a lot of reactions on Twitter.
Paul told Krebs and senators on the Senate Homeland Security Committee, "If you're saying that it's the safest election based on no dead people voted…. no people broke the absentee rules, I think that's false. And I think that's what's upset a lot of people on our side — is that they're taking your statement to mean, 'Oh well, there was no problems in the elections.' I don't think that you've examined any of the problems that we've heard here."
Paul insisted, "The fraud happened. The election, in many ways, was stolen."
When Fox News' Laura Ingraham tweeted Paul's remarks, former Rep. Joe Walsh — a Never Trump conservative — posted:
Here's what other Twitter users have had to say in response to Paul's comments:


alternet--2020-12-16--America's survival depends on bankrupting the Republican Party

It 's time to defund the GOP , and there 's precedent and strategy for the effort .
The need to cut the party 's access to both private and government money is seen in the reaction by some extremist Republicans to news like a New York State lawmaker 's proposal to make vaccination against COVID-19 mandatory .
Predictably , the far right is freaking out .
`` Freedom ! ''
they scream as they run around maskless , assaulting their fellow citizens with potentially virus-laden breath .
Large parts of the Republican base now join conspiracists in the misguided @ @ @ @ @ @ @ mind-control experiments and that public health measures like masks are `` un-American , '' while we 're being sickened and dying from the highest rates of COVID-19 infection and death in the developed world .
Republicans on the Supreme Court even say the founders of our republic and the framers of the Constitution would never go along with preventing churches and synagogues from holding superspreader events during a pandemic , but , like so many things GOP , it 's a lie .
In 1798 , President John Adams signed the first public @ @ @ @ @ @ @ medical care and hospitalization not just for the Navy but also for civilian sailors .
And both he and President George Washington had participated in quarantine events during epidemics in the summers of 1793 and 1798 , and both promoted inoculation against smallpox .
From 1790 to 1800 , Philadelphia was the nation 's capital .
When the yellow fever epidemic of 1793 recurred in 1798 , that city 's board of health , with no objections raised by President John Adams or any member of Congress , ordered a block-by-block evacuation of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Declaration and Constitution were still alive , and many were in Congress and on the Supreme Court .
None opposed the lockdown .
Churches not only could n't meet ; a few in the quarantine areas were closed down entirely for much of the year in America 's capital city .
From their bans on teaching sex education and evolution in our schools , to denying climate change , to this latest campaign against public health , far-right Republicans ' fight against science has damaged America 's standing in the world and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Paine , in his time , wrote about `` The Age of Reason . ''
Today we have `` The Age of Intentional Republican Stupidity . ''
And they do n't just embrace it for themselves ; they 're hell-bent on imposing it on every American , from schoolchildren on up .
They have rigged elections by making it hard to vote , seditiously tried to overturn the 2020 election , promoted racial and religious bigotry and violence , destroyed our public school systems , gutted our unions , and rewritten our tax @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Since the election of Ronald Reagan , Republicans have damaged America more in 40 years than our worst enemies could have dreamed of by other means .
These Republicans are not patriots ; they 're traitors to reason , science , education , human rights , democracy and now , unbelievably , public health .
They 're traitors to humanity itself .
The only way to deal with a death-dealing cult is to end it ; thus , we must embark on a campaign to defund the Republican Party .
Back in 1981 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Democratic Party , and actually pulled it off .
While the Republican Party had principally been funded by rich people and big business since the 1920s , the Democrats were largely reliant on the labor unions .
So Ronald Reagan , as part of his `` Reagan Revolution , '' figured the best way to destroy the Democratic Party was to destroy America 's unions .
His first shot was to destroy PATCO , the air traffic controllers ' union , and he did it in less than a week in August @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Republicans in Congress and conservatives on the Supreme Court , then embarked on a campaign to eliminate unions from the American landscape , thus gutting the Democratic Party 's ability to win elections .
It worked , and by 1992 , American union membership , and union 's ability to fund elections , had collapsed so severely that Bill Clinton and the Democratic Party turned to giant corporations and billionaires to win that election year .
Reagan 's plan not only kneecapped the Democratic Party for the next 40 years but also changed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it from President Lyndon B. Johnson 's Great Society party into Bill Clinton 's corporate-friendly Democratic Leadership Council/New Democrats , now in bed with big banks , insurance companies , etc .
Defunding the Republican Party may even force it to start focusing on the needs of regular people rather than just billionaires and corporations , which only adds to the urgency of the job .
There are just a few steps through the process , which include : • End `` Red State Welfare . ''
Kentucky gets $ 2.41 for every @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Most other red states are similarly `` taker '' states , so let 's fight for a law limiting states to no more than , say , $ 1.50 for every buck they sent to D.C. in tax revenues .
Call it welfare reform !
• End corporate welfare that gets recycled to GOP politicians .
This includes $ 700 billion a year to fossil fuel companies , and nearly $ 1 trillion a year we give to Big Pharma , as well as support for insurance companies ( like subsidies for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and `` Big Ag . ''
• End corporate monopolies .
Break up giant corporations and make America safe again for small businesses while rejuvenating local economies .
From airlines to tech to banking and retail , giant monopolies rip off working-class Americans and use some of that money to fund the GOP .
• Bring back Eisenhower 's 91 percent top tax rate , or at least something north of 50 percent .
America 's strongest economy was during the 30 years from 1950 to 1980 , with a top tax rate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Progressive taxation on the super-wealthy was openly supported by Republican presidents like Eisenhower , Nixon , and Ford .
With that tax revenue , we built highways , schools and hospitals , and put men on the moon , while the best way CEOs could avoid the tax was to use the money to pay their workers better wages .
Reagan cut that top rate to less than 30 percent , and the billionaires it produced now pour money into the GOP to keep it that way .
• Follow Europe 's example @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fortunes .
Average Americans pay a wealth tax every year—the property tax on their largest store of wealth , their homes .
Billionaires should pay a similar annual tax on their money bins .
• End campaign contributions from corporations , end super PACs , and limit billionaires ' ability to skew our politics with their money .
We did this in the 1970s after the Nixon bribery scandals , but the Supreme Court blew it up .
There are multiple ways around that , and the Democratic Party should make this job @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with America '' steps , along with restoring the ability of American workers to unionize , will not only revive the Democratic Party , but also restore America to economic greatness and give us a far more honest political system .
Thom Hartmann is America 's number one progressive talk-show host and the New York Times bestselling author of The Hidden History of American Oligarchy and more than 30 other books in print .
His online writings are compiled at HartmannReport.com .
He is a writing fellow at the Independent Media Institute .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ All , a project of the Independent Media Institute .

It's time to defund the GOP, and there's precedent and strategy for the effort.
The need to cut the party's access to both private and government money is seen in the reaction by some extremist Republicans to news like a New York State lawmaker's proposal to make vaccination against COVID-19 mandatory. Predictably, the far right is freaking out. "Freedom!" they scream as they run around maskless, assaulting their fellow citizens with potentially virus-laden breath.
Large parts of the Republican base now join conspiracists in the misguided belief that vaccine manufacturers are participating in mind-control experiments and that public health measures like masks are "un-American," while we're being sickened and dying from the highest rates of COVID-19 infection and death in the developed world.
Republicans on the Supreme Court even say the founders of our republic and the framers of the Constitution would never go along with preventing churches and synagogues from holding superspreader events during a pandemic, but, like so many things GOP, it's a lie.
In 1798, President John Adams signed the first public health care legislation—it was to pay for medical care and hospitalization not just for the Navy but also for civilian sailors. And both he and President George Washington had participated in quarantine events during epidemics in the summers of 1793 and 1798, and both promoted inoculation against smallpox.
From 1790 to 1800, Philadelphia was the nation's capital. When the yellow fever epidemic of 1793 recurred in 1798, that city's board of health, with no objections raised by President John Adams or any member of Congress, ordered a block-by-block evacuation of parts of Philadelphia.
Most signers of the Declaration and Constitution were still alive, and many were in Congress and on the Supreme Court. None opposed the lockdown. Churches not only couldn't meet; a few in the quarantine areas were closed down entirely for much of the year in America's capital city.
From their bans on teaching sex education and evolution in our schools, to denying climate change, to this latest campaign against public health, far-right Republicans' fight against science has damaged America's standing in the world and destroyed the lives of millions.
Thomas Paine, in his time, wrote about "The Age of Reason." Today we have "The Age of Intentional Republican Stupidity." And they don't just embrace it for themselves; they're hell-bent on imposing it on every American, from schoolchildren on up.
They have rigged elections by making it hard to vote, seditiously tried to overturn the 2020 election, promoted racial and religious bigotry and violence, destroyed our public school systems, gutted our unions, and rewritten our tax system to screw the middle class.
Since the election of Ronald Reagan, Republicans have damaged America more in 40 years than our worst enemies could have dreamed of by other means.
These Republicans are not patriots; they're traitors to reason, science, education, human rights, democracy and now, unbelievably, public health. They're traitors to humanity itself.
The only way to deal with a death-dealing cult is to end it; thus, we must embark on a campaign to defund the Republican Party.
Back in 1981, the Republican Party decided to defund the Democratic Party, and actually pulled it off.
While the Republican Party had principally been funded by rich people and big business since the 1920s, the Democrats were largely reliant on the labor unions. So Ronald Reagan, as part of his "Reagan Revolution," figured the best way to destroy the Democratic Party was to destroy America's unions.
His first shot was to destroy PATCO, the air traffic controllers' union, and he did it in less than a week in August of 1981. He, along with Republicans in Congress and conservatives on the Supreme Court, then embarked on a campaign to eliminate unions from the American landscape, thus gutting the Democratic Party's ability to win elections.
It worked, and by 1992, American union membership, and union's ability to fund elections, had collapsed so severely that Bill Clinton and the Democratic Party turned to giant corporations and billionaires to win that election year.
Reagan's plan not only kneecapped the Democratic Party for the next 40 years but also changed the party at its core, turning it from President Lyndon B. Johnson's Great Society party into Bill Clinton's corporate-friendly Democratic Leadership Council/New Democrats, now in bed with big banks, insurance companies, etc.
Defunding the Republican Party may even force it to start focusing on the needs of regular people rather than just billionaires and corporations, which only adds to the urgency of the job. There are just a few steps through the process, which include:
These simple "Progressive Contract with America" steps, along with restoring the ability of American workers to unionize, will not only revive the Democratic Party, but also restore America to economic greatness and give us a far more honest political system.
Thom Hartmann is America's number one progressive talk-show host and the New York Times bestselling author of The Hidden History of American Oligarchy and more than 30 other books in print. His online writings are compiled at HartmannReport.com. He is a writing fellow at the Independent Media Institute.
This article was produced by Economy for All, a project of the Independent Media Institute.


alternet--2020-12-16--'We have to stop this!': Ex-Trump official slams Republicans to their faces over election misinforma

'We have to stop this!': Ex-Trump official slams Republicans to their faces over election misinformation

Republican Christopher Krebs , who formerly headed a cybersecurity agency at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security , was among the witnesses who testified on Wednesday during a Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing that addressed alleged `` irregularities '' in the 2020 election .
During his testimony , Krebs only made it clear to Republican senators that he saw no evidence of the type of widespread voter fraud that President Donald Trump and his allies have been alleging — he also called out the extremists who have been threatening election officials .
Krebs discussed the voting equipment that was used @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was no reason to believe that such equipment swung votes to President-elect Joe Biden as some Trump allies have been claiming .
`` I 'm seeing these reports that are factually inaccurate continue to be promoted , '' Krebs told Sen. Ron Johnson and other members of the Homeland Security Committee .
`` That 's what rumor control is all about .
That 's what I 'm continuing to do today based on my experience and understanding in how these systems work .
We have to stop this !
It 's undermining confidence @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to criticize fellow Republicans who have refused to accept the election results and claim , without evidence , that Trump really won the election .
`` The citizens of the United States of America that are responsible for executing this sacred democratic institution of elections are being threatened on a daily basis , '' Krebs told senators .
`` I mean , you name it .
Whether it 's emails , whether it 's phone calls , whether it 's people showing up at your house — this is not an America I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ stop .
We need everyone across the leadership ranks to stand up .
I would appreciate more support from my own party , the Republican Party , to call this stuff out and end it .
We 've got ta move on .
We have a president-elect in President-elect Biden .
We have to move on . ''
Krebs went on to cite Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and other Republican officials in the Peach State as examples of Republicans who are `` putting country over party '' by acknowledging Biden as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ horrific threats as a result . ''
The former DHS official added , `` This is not America . ''
Krebs himself has been demonized by Trump loyalists for saying that Biden won the election fairly .
According to Krebs , the 2020 election was `` the most secure in U.S. history '' — and Trump fired him from his cybersecurity position at DHS for saying that .
During a recent appearance on Howie Carr 's radio show ( which simulcasts on Newsmax ) , Trump lawyer Joe diGenova lambasted Krebs and said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ went well , like that idiot Krebs who used to be the head of cybersecurity — that guy is a class-A moron .
He should be drawn and quartered .
Taken out at dawn and shot . ''
DiGenova later said that was merely being rhetorical and did n't mean to promote violence against Krebs .

Republican Christopher Krebs, who formerly headed a cybersecurity agency at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, was among the witnesses who testified on Wednesday during a Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing that addressed alleged "irregularities" in the 2020 election. During his testimony, Krebs only made it clear to Republican senators that he saw no evidence of the type of widespread voter fraud that President Donald Trump and his allies have been alleging — he also called out the extremists who have been threatening election officials.
Krebs discussed the voting equipment that was used in the election, emphasizing that there was no reason to believe that such equipment swung votes to President-elect Joe Biden as some Trump allies have been claiming.
"I'm seeing these reports that are factually inaccurate continue to be promoted," Krebs told Sen. Ron Johnson and other members of the Homeland Security Committee. "That's what rumor control is all about. That's what I'm continuing to do today based on my experience and understanding in how these systems work. We have to stop this! It's undermining confidence in democracy."
Krebs went on to criticize fellow Republicans who have refused to accept the election results and claim, without evidence, that Trump really won the election.
"The citizens of the United States of America that are responsible for executing this sacred democratic institution of elections are being threatened on a daily basis," Krebs told senators. "I mean, you name it. Whether it's emails, whether it's phone calls, whether it's people showing up at your house — this is not an America I recognize. And it's gotta stop. We need everyone across the leadership ranks to stand up. I would appreciate more support from my own party, the Republican Party, to call this stuff out and end it. We've gotta move on. We have a president-elect in President-elect Biden. We have to move on."
Krebs went on to cite Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and other Republican officials in the Peach State as examples of Republicans who are "putting country over party" by acknowledging Biden as president-elect and are "being subjected to horrific threats as a result." The former DHS official added, "This is not America."
Krebs himself has been demonized by Trump loyalists for saying that Biden won the election fairly. According to Krebs, the 2020 election was "the most secure in U.S. history" — and Trump fired him from his cybersecurity position at DHS for saying that.
During a recent appearance on Howie Carr's radio show (which simulcasts on Newsmax), Trump lawyer Joe diGenova lambasted Krebs and said, "Anybody who thinks the election went well, like that idiot Krebs who used to be the head of cybersecurity — that guy is a class-A moron. He should be drawn and quartered. Taken out at dawn and shot."
DiGenova later said that was merely being rhetorical and didn't mean to promote violence against Krebs.


alternet--2020-12-16--Sweeping new study shows 50 years of 'trickle-down economics' was a 'sham'

Neoliberal gospel says that cutting taxes on the wealthy will eventually benefit everyone by boosting economic growth and reducing unemployment , but a new analysis of fiscal policies in 18 countries over the last 50 years reveals that progressive critics of `` trickle down '' theory have been right all along : supply-side economics fuels inequality , and the real beneficiaries of the right-wing approach to taxation are the super-rich .
The Economic Consequences of Major Tax Cuts for the Rich ( pdf ) , a working paper published this month by the International Inequalities Institute at the London School @ @ @ @ @ @ @ David Hope and Julian Limberg of King 's College London , examines data from nearly 20 OECD countries , including the U.K. and the U.S. , and finds that the past five decades have been characterized by `` falling taxes on the rich in the advanced economies , '' with `` major tax cuts ... particularly clustered in the late 1980s . ''
But , according to Hope and Limberg , the vast majority of the populations in those countries have little to show for it , as the benefits of slashing taxes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ handful of super-rich individuals—not widely shared across society in the form of improved job creation or prosperity , as `` trickle down '' theorists alleged would happen .
`` Our research shows that the economic case for keeping taxes on the rich low is weak , '' Hope said Wednesday .
`` Major tax cuts for the rich since the 1980s have increased income inequality , with all the problems that brings , without any offsetting gains in economic performance . ''
In their study , the pair of political economists note that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ real GDP per capita and the unemployment rate , is not significantly affected by major tax cuts for the rich . ''
However , they add , `` major tax cuts for the rich increase the top 1 % share of pre-tax national income in the years following the reform '' by a magnitude of nearly 1 % .
Limberg is hopeful that the research could bolster the case for increasing taxes on the wealthy to fund a just recovery from the coronavirus pandemic and ensuing economic fallout .
`` Our results , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be welcome news for governments as they seek to repair the public finances after the Covid-19 crisis , as they imply that they should not be unduly concerned about the economic consequences of higher taxes on the rich . ''
Progressives have argued that America 's disastrous handling of the ongoing catastrophe is attributable to several decades of `` free-market '' ideology and associated policies that exacerbated vulnerabilities and undermined the government 's capacity to respond effectively .
According to social justice advocates , taxing billionaires ' surging wealth—akin to the `` Millionaire @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in Argentina—could contribute to reversing the trend of intensifying inequality plaguing the nation .

Neoliberal gospel says that cutting taxes on the wealthy will eventually benefit everyone by boosting economic growth and reducing unemployment, but a new analysis of fiscal policies in 18 countries over the last 50 years reveals that progressive critics of "trickle down" theory have been right all along: supply-side economics fuels inequality, and the real beneficiaries of the right-wing approach to taxation are the super-rich.
The Economic Consequences of Major Tax Cuts for the Rich(pdf), a working paper published this month by the International Inequalities Institute at the London School of Economics and written by LSE's David Hope and Julian Limberg of King's College London, examines data from nearly 20 OECD countries, including the U.K. and the U.S., and finds that the past five decades have been characterized by "falling taxes on the rich in the advanced economies," with "major tax cuts... particularly clustered in the late 1980s."
But, according to Hope and Limberg, the vast majority of the populations in those countries have little to show for it, as the benefits of slashing taxes on the wealthy are concentrated among a handful of super-rich individuals—not widely shared across society in the form of improved job creation or prosperity, as "trickle down" theorists alleged would happen.
"Our research shows that the economic case for keeping taxes on the rich low is weak," Hope said Wednesday. "Major tax cuts for the rich since the 1980s have increased income inequality, with all the problems that brings, without any offsetting gains in economic performance."
In their study, the pair of political economists note that "economic performance, as measured by real GDP per capita and the unemployment rate, is not significantly affected by major tax cuts for the rich." However, they add, "major tax cuts for the rich increase the top 1% share of pre-tax national income in the years following the reform" by a magnitude of nearly 1%.
The researchers continue:
Our findings on the effects of growth and unemployment provide evidence against supply-side theories that suggest lower taxes on the rich will induce labour supply responses from high-income individuals (more hours of work, more effort etc.) that boost economic activity. They are, in fact, more in line with recent empirical research showing that income tax holidays and windfall gains do not lead individuals to significantly alter the amount they work.
Our results have important implications for current debates around the economic consequences of taxing the rich, as they provide causal evidence that supports the growing pool of evidence from correlational studies that cutting taxes on the rich increases top income shares, but has little effect on economic performance.
Limberg is hopeful that the research could bolster the case for increasing taxes on the wealthy to fund a just recovery from the coronavirus pandemic and ensuing economic fallout.
"Our results," he said Wednesday, "might be welcome news for governments as they seek to repair the public finances after the Covid-19 crisis, as they imply that they should not be unduly concerned about the economic consequences of higher taxes on the rich."
Progressives have argued that America's disastrous handling of the ongoing catastrophe is attributable to several decades of "free-market" ideology and associated policies that exacerbated vulnerabilities and undermined the government's capacity to respond effectively.
According to social justice advocates, taxing billionaires' surging wealth—akin to the "Millionaire's Tax" passed earlier this month in Argentina—could contribute to reversing the trend of intensifying inequality plaguing the nation.