Free Press Election Reporting

#101 Gree-Gree

We start the GREE-GREE gathering #101 with a remarkable report from DEEPA DRIVER on the torturous treatment of JULIAN ASSANGE. Reporting from London, Deepa gives us a brilliant history of Wikileaks and its astounding impact on the world of internet journalism. She also fills us in on the horrific treatment being criminally imposed on its founder and the courageous willingness to bust official secrecy that he represents.

Dear Hon. Senators Rios, Quezada, and Alston:                                                                    Monday, May 30, 2022

HB2780 is coming before the Rules Committee at 1 pm on Tuesday, May 31. 

Our 95th Green Grassroots Election Protection (GREE-GREE) zoom begins with celebrations of the shut-down of Michigan’s Palisades nuclear plant and the ouster of Australia’s awful right-wing anti-Earth prime minister.  

TATANKA BRICCA embraces new labor union support for Green New Deal legislation as it proceeds in California.

We also honor Russian diplomat BORIS BONDAROV for his enormously courageous denunciation of dictator Putin’s fascist assault on the people of Ukraine. 

MIKE HERSH and STEVE ROSENFELD give us the rundown on key primary races, including Pennsylvania and Oregon.

CAROLYN HARDING updates the insanity of gerrymandering in Ohio and her own expulsion from the State House…also known as the Hall of the Living Dead.

LYNN BERNSTEIN and JOHN BRAKEY update their own expulsions from the parking lot (!) of the election center in Wake County, North Carolina, along with commentary from JOEL SEGAL.

JULIE WEINER and LULU FRIESDAT report on major confrontations over voting machines and other election issues in New York.

PAT MARIDA explains the latest pro-nuke push in Ohio.

State and nationally recognized election transparency and integrity advocates were threatened with arrest and prevented from observing routine election administration activities by Wake County election administrator Gary Sims, in violation of North Carolina State Election Law. North Carolina’s 2005 “Confidence in ElectionsAct”1 protects the rights of the public to observe election counting, stating: “Any member of the public wishing to witness the vote count at any level shall be allowed to do so.”

On May 14, Sims directed law enforcement to cite Lynn Bernstein, the founder of Transparent Elections North Carolina, and John Brakey, director of AUDIT USA, with trespassing. Sims threatened Bernstein and Brakey with arrest if they attended the public meeting at the Board of Elections on May 17. Bernstein was told by the law enforcement officer that she was banned from the premises “forever.” (Hear audio of the conversation with the law enforcement officials at this link: https://bit.ly/3LoclIU)

Our brilliant, intense, path-breaking hour-long exploration of the imminent demise of Roe v. Wade is led by the great Christian Nunes, President of the National Organization for Women.  

Christian’s incisive, uncompromising view of this latest Puritan attack on women sets the tone for an important examination of Calvinist fascism and its heartless autocracy, especially as they come with the race-based slaughter of 10 African-Americans in Buffalo.

As this 95th Green Grassroots Emergency Election Protection (GREE-GREE) zoom unfolds, we also discuss the INDIGENOUS ORIGINALISM of thousands of years of tribal law in which a woman’s ability to control her own body was never questioned.

In the course of our discussion we hear further from MARY BUTLER-STONEWALL, CHARLOTTE DENNETT, DENNIS BERNSTEIN, JOEL SEGAL, NEIL PENN, DR. RUTH STRAUSS, MICHAEL BRACKNEY and many more.

JULIE WEINER tells us about the fight over voting machines in New York, which has also had big news about Gerrymandering.

#92 GreeGree Zoom April 25, 2022

Violence v. Election Workers & Ohio Madness w. Nina Turner et. al.

Our action-packed GREE-GREE #92 begins with a devastating view from JOEL SEGAL of violence being perpetrated against poll workers, a direct assault on our democracy.

We hear from HAL GINSBERG of Our Revolution on the move to prevent 1/6 Insurrectionists from taking over Congress at the polls.

PAT MARIDA of Ohio fills us in on the state’s pro-nuke scam, while TATANKA BRICCA and RON LEONARD update us on the war against rooftop solar.

Then the legendary NINA TURNER tells of her race to represent Cleveland in the US Congress.

Ohio’s RACHEL COYLE explains the insane Gerrymandering disaster there, while NICOLE SANDLER and WENDI LEDERMAN do the same from Florida.We also hear from election protection greats JOHN BRAKEY and MIMI KENNEDY.

This is a completely jammed two hours.  Don’t miss it!
https://youtu.be/da3wUGaqy3I
 

With the great ANDREA MILLER and JOEL SEGAL our GREE-GREE gathering #91 dives into the realties of grassroots campaigning.

While the major parties will blow tens of millions on TV advertising, we saw in Georgia 2021 how effective “relational campaigning” can be.

Andrea reveals the realities of a Democratic Party dependent on a foreign-owned data company, and unwilling to do the nitty-gritty work of getting on the ground.

If a right-wing wipe-out is to be avoided, democracy centers and door-to-door tactics will be key.

TATANKA BRICCA, WENDI LEDERMAN and RON LEONARD then fill us in on the war against rooftop solar.  Anti-green moves in CA and FL are now at the cutting edge.

Join us to save both our democracy & our planet!!

https://youtu.be/CgstC82_I2M

Our GREEP zoom #87 leaps into the issue of Civic Duty Voting with the great MILES RAPOPORT, former Secretary of State of Connecticut.

Miles has served as president of Common Cause and Demos.  He is most recently the co-author, with E.J. DIONNE, of 100% Democracy being published this week by New Press.

Miles’s discussion of universal mandatory voting is groundbreaking and fascinating.  He’s a great presenter and his hour with us is utterly riveting.  

We then hear from MYLA RESON and election protection activists SUSAN YOUNG and TERRI BURKE about the major challenges facing voters in Texas.  Leading that agenda is a brutal race for Attorney-General, where a grassroots victory could be a game-changer nationwide.

We follow with an astounding dive into the unreal rabbit hole that is Ohio.  As we hear from RACHEL COYLE,  DAVID DEWITT and STEVE CARUSO, GOP fanatics have trashed public mandates to draw fair and balanced districts for upcoming elections for the state legislature and US Congress.  

At this 86th zoom session of the Grassroots Emergency Election Protection Coalition we are joined by activist Nicole Dvorak who has pioneered powerful new means of tracking the purchase of politicians by giant corporations.  Nicole’s work offers a roadmap for building the critical data base needed to expose exactly how our democracy is being destroyed by big money.

We also proudly host Nancy MacLean of Duke University, whose landmark Democracy In Chains digs deep into the destruction of our essential government structured by a greedy Uber-rich class of fascists and autocrats who threaten us all.  Nancy is interviewed by the great Tatanka Bricca, whose detailed knowledge of what plagues our electoral system sets a critical framework from a truly unique discussion.