Tomorrow on the podcast, my friend Brian (in Sarah's absence-enjoy the vacation, Sarah!) & I briefly discuss the corporate fallout from Georgia's elections legislation. I have a little more I would like to say about this, with help from America's favorite pastime.
I've read so many "is it really voter suppression?" takes over the past few days. I would so much like to exit the Take Economy.
As we've said before, there are elements of this (big ole) bill that are desirable... Like allowing officials to start processing absentee ballots earlier.
There are elements that are undesirable--like restricting drop boxes to being located inside polling places and allowing them to be accessed only during polling hours.
There are elements that I worry will allow the legislature to seriously overreach, infusing the process with partisanship.
I can sit here in Kentucky, where I've never had to wait even an hour to vote, opining about how bad it is or isn't... That seems beside the point to me.
Georgia has a history and a present, with all kinds of relevant context. And it is plainly obvious that this legislation was passed because the voting public got a little too purple for the legislature's liking.
While a court might view the outcome on its face alone (and in comparison to other states), the public can and should look at the whole picture here.
And corporations are always going to be part of the public dialogue, transparently or opaquely. In this instance, speaking out publicly against a law that, in context, is pretty bad, makes sense. There's nothing particularly "woke" about "stop trying to make voting harder."
Anyway, a little more on that tomorrow + Sarah's super helpful interview with Doug Broughton about crypto currency and NFTs. See you there.
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January 6th Committee Hearing 7 - Chairman Thompson is gaveling in
"When I think about the most basic way to explain the importance of elections in the United States, there's a phrase that always comes to mind...we settle our differences at the ballot box." - Rep. Thompson
"When you're on the losing side...you can protest, you can organize, you can get ready for the next election...but you can't turn violent. You can't try to achieve your desired outcome through force or harassment or intimidation." - Rep. Thompson
Jacobson v. Mass is a Supreme Court case from 1905. Massachusetts had a law stating that the board of health or a city or town could “require and enforce the vaccinations and revaccination of all inhabitants thereof.”
The fine for noncompliance was $5. Physicians could certify certain children as “unfit subjects for vaccination.”
Agree with Branden that the language around this has been imprecise. It is a sweeping action, AND testing is an alternative to vaccination. And, there's a lot of other stuff in this plan that isn't getting much coverage:
The administration is using the Defense Production Act to increase the availability of testing. Rapid, at-home tests will be sold at cost for 3 months via Walmart, Amazon, Kroger. The administration is sending 25 million rapid tests fo community health centers and food banks.
The free testing program is expanding to 10,000 pharmacies. Basically, a lot of money and resources are being aimed at expanding the availability, convenience, and discipline around testing (editorial comment: hallelujah. I wish we had done this 2 years ago -b).
A few thoughts, as I take this in and reflect on how and why I used to vote for Republicans and will not again:
I'm overwhelmed by sadness that a combination of truly devastating events did not compel more than 57 people to do the right thing.
I'm grateful for those who did do the right thing today, even though it came at the very last minute--much too late. Even though they helped create this and could have done more to stop it. Even though some of them did the right thing when they didn't have much to lose.
I'm grateful for those who made the case for the right thing as though the case mattered. I believe it did, even without a conviction.