Democracy Happy Hour – February 21, 2024

Democracy Happy Hour, Feb 21, 2024 - Meeting Recordings:

• Speaker View Recording:  
  https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/play/jotxXDxN9kBj_lXEaxL6zoER4ZYyKbHBgIjwQgF7agNU4OLTOC0yNW-fBU96ynpOBGmulPZc3QRrpC-x.9eIxxakwnF1aR6sP

• Gallery View Recording: https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/play/pLpCzUs3GlITY7RXpwuf9Sd7eAtvRgjSGOyjatWz-ZOkF0TcfSfM5wFnYxBX-3fpOMzfQ4Hhthn5VnYl.TRtuUwf7Ffr4q1ms

• Chat file (will download directly to your computer): https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/sdownload/YkSrcL2AG4cYlN1od3rFO6LhmhSml1UJOHtHbGuQVNgyLfskaOzFW5U-qNxHar_uQ2xjhWqCFQAM3XaI.34x-oxMrQ-K1H73K

FDF Links:

• Fix Democracy First - https://www.fixdemocracyfirst.org/
• Fix Democracy First - Donate @ https://www.fixdemocracyfirst.org/donate

Democracy Happy Hour Upcoming Topics/Schedule:

• Feb 28 - Section Two of the 14th Amendment: A Never Enforced Provision of the Constitution  with Jared Pettinato & Todd Drezner
• Mar 6 - Discovering Truth: How to Navigate between Fact & Fiction in an Overwhelming Social Media World with Tim Love
• Mar 13 - Empowering Youth in Our Democracy Through Project-Based Civics with Generation Citizen

ACTIONS & EVENTS:

• WA Poor People's Campaign March To Stay Alive In Olympia – March 2^nd @ 12 pm PT - https://actionnetwork.org/events/wa-poor-peoples-campaign-day-of-action-in-olympia

• PPC video: https://vimeo.com/906790864/fab17ecfe1?share=copy

• LWVWA ACT via Zoom – Mondays @ 10 am through Mar 11, 2024 - https://lwvwa.org/event-5491947

• Citizen Connect - https://citizenconnect.us/

• Respect Voters - https://www.respectvoters.org/

• Civic Learning Week – March 11-15 - https://civiclearningweek.org/

• Trust for Civic Life - https://www.trustforciviclife.org/

Reclaiming Our Democracy: Every Citizen's Guide to Transformational Advocacy Links:

• Reclaiming Our Democracy: Every Citizen’s Guide to Transformational Advocacy -https://reclaimingourdemocracy.com/

• Civic Courage - https://civiccourage.org/

• Sam Interviews:

• NPR’s Here and Now.  (January 9, 2024) - https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2024/01/09/reclaiming-our-democracy-sam-daley-harris
• NPR’s 1A.  (January 22, 2024) - https://reclaimingourdemocracy.com/1a-012224/
• NPR’s Think.  (January 8, 2024) - https://play.prx.org/listen?ge=prx_140_49d68107-0114-4810-889f-ee15941b23e4&uf=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.kera.org%2FKERA-Think
• TV interview on The Laura Flanders Show which is aired on select PBS stations. (January 21, 2024) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulpL5dwjVm0&t=1s

Democracy in the News Links

Trump asks Supreme Court to keep Jan. 6 trial on hold, citing 2024 election - https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/02/12/trump-immunity-supreme-court-appeal-jan-6

Special counsel asks Supreme Court to let Trump’s D.C. trial proceed - https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/02/14/trump-immunity-appeal-supreme-court-special-counsel

Special counsel urges Supreme Court to deny Trump’s request for delay in immunity case - https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/14/politics/special-counsel-supreme-court-trump-response/index.html

Supreme Court poised to allow Trump to remain on Colorado ballot - https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/02/08/supreme-court-oral-arguments-trump-colorado-ballot/

Trump's New York hush-money case will start March 25. It’s the first of his criminal trials - https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/02/15/trump-hush-money-new-york-criminal-case/863122fa-cbbf-11ee-aa8e-1e5794a4b2d6_story.html

Judge orders Trump to pay $355 million for lying about his wealth in staggering civil fraud ruling - https://apnews.com/article/trump-civil-fraud-verdict-engoron-244024861f0df886543c157c9fc5b3e4

A $450 Million Blow to Trump’s Finances, and His Identity - https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/17/nyregion/trump-civil-cases-millions.html

Special counsel: No charges for Biden in classified documents probe - https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/02/08/biden-classified-documents-special-counsel-report/

AI and misinformation: what’s ahead for social media as the US election looms? - https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/feb/10/social-media-ai-misinformation-election-2024

Feds deliver stark warnings to state election officials ahead of November - https://stateline.org/2024/02/14/feds-deliver-stark-warnings-to-state-election-officials-ahead-of-november/

AI misinformation a ‘whole new area’ for elections officials to deal with - https://www.route-fifty.com/digital-government/2024/02/ai-misinformation-whole-new-area-elections-officials-deal/393962/

Tech giants pledge action against deceptive AI in elections - https://www.npr.org/2024/02/16/1232001889/ai-deepfakes-election-tech-accord

FCC makes it official: AI-generated voices in robocalls are illegal - https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/02/08/fcc-ban-robocalls-ai/

Groups urge Congress to crack down on AI misuse in elections - https://www.axios.com/2024/02/07/ai-misuse-election-congress-2024

Election officials go on offense to prevent disruptions of 2024 vote - https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2024/feb/09/election-officials-go-on-offense-to-prevent-disrup/

America’s election chiefs are desperate to stick together in 2024 - https://www.politico.com/news/2024/02/16/nass-secretaries-state-election-bipartisanship-00141840

Bipartisan Support for Early In-Person Voting, Voter ID, Election Day National Holiday - https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2024/02/07/bipartisan-support-for-early-in-person-voting-voter-id-election-day-national-holiday/

The Faux Election Integrity Group Backed by Leonard Leo, “Honest Elections Project,” Lists “Ban Rank Choice Voting” and “Block ZuckBucks 2.0” as Its Top Reforms to “Safeguard” American Elections - https://electionlawblog.org/?p=141075

Honest Elections Project - https://honestelections.org/

Over 23.5 Million Independent Voters Are Disenfranchised in 2024 Primaries, Study Finds - https://ivn.us/posts/over-235-million-independent-voters-are-disenfranchised-2024-primaries-study-finds

Judge ends challenges to Florida election law he admits targets Black voters - https://www.orlandoweekly.com/news/judge-ends-challenges-to-florida-election-law-he-admits-targets-black-voters-36151947

Conservative group tells judge it has no evidence to back its claims of Georgia ballot stuffing - https://apnews.com/article/georgia-elections-true-vote-ballot-stuffing-199113b47bc2df79c63fdf007cd23115

Georgia election board votes down proposal to limit absentee voting - https://www.ajc.com/politics/attempt-to-restrict-absentee-voting-fails-at-georgia-election-board/DKRSRPTNF5F2BLJXHJBSPBNZX4/

U.S. Supreme Court rejects case on Kentucky felon voting rights - https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/politics/2024/02/20/u-s-supreme-court-rejects-case-on-kentucky-felon-voting-rights/72672820007/

Judge: Louisiana legislative districts dilute Black voting strength, violate the Voting Rights Act - https://apnews.com/article/voting-rights-act-louisiana-legislature-black-districts-faec83c9a1cdd7ce925c3cad62469aa3

Federal judge orders Louisiana to redraw legislative districts - https://www.courthousenews.com/federal-judge-orders-louisiana-to-redraw-legislative-districts/

Unenrolled voters get to cast ballots in Maine primaries, but little sign of mass registration changes - https://www.centralmaine.com/2024/02/13/unenrolled-voters-get-to-cast-ballots-in-maine-primaries-but-little-sign-of-mass-registration-changes

Missouri Supreme Court upholds state Senate district map drawn by judicial panel - https://missouriindependent.com/briefs/missouri-supreme-court-upholds-state-senate-district-map-drawn-by-judicial-panel/

Democrat Tom Suozzi wins N.Y. special election to replace George Santos - https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/democrat-tom-suozzi-wins-ny-special-election-replace-george-santos-rcna138548

Tribal voting rights victory shakes up legislative seats, 2024 election - https://www.inforum.com/news/north-dakota/tribal-voting-rights-victory-shakes-up-legislative-seats-2024-election

WA - Supreme Court hands Latino voters a victory in racial gerrymandering case - https://www.rawstory.com/washington-state-gerrymandering/

Wisconsin governor signs new state legislative maps into law, ending a GOP gerrymander - https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/wisconsin-new-state-legislative-maps-rcna139477

Alabama Supreme Court rules frozen embryos are children, imperiling IVF -  https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/02/19/alabama-supreme-court-embryos-children-ivf/

Shock, anger, confusion grip Alabama after court ruling on embryos -  https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2024/02/20/alabama-supreme-court-ivf-embryos/

Federal appeals court won’t revisit ruling that limits scope of Voting Rights Act - https://apnews.com/article/voting-rights-act-arkansas-appeals-court-bca3e88da4561e5ae494115fc7ccf8cb

Supreme Court won’t review sanctions against pro-Trump lawyers who filed frivolous 2020 election suits - https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/20/politics/sidney-powell-lin-wood-supreme-court/index.html

How judges in D.C. federal court are increasingly pushing back against Jan. 6 conspiracy theories - https://www.cbsnews.com/news/january-6-federal-judges-conspiracy-theories/

Clarence Thomas has 30 days to resign if he wants millions from John Oliver - https://www.washingtonpost.com/style/2024/02/19/john-oliver-clarence-thomas-supreme-court-offer/

Rightwing mega-donors drift back to Trump as election rematch looms - https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/feb/18/donald-trump-megadonor-campaign-republican?

Donald Trump Is the Oil and Gas Industry’s Top Choice for President - https://news.yahoo.com/donald-trump-oil-gas-industry-110000032.html

Trump leadership PAC racked up $4.8 million in new legal bills - https://www.politico.com/news/2024/02/20/trump-legal-bills-january-00142355

Megadonors flocked to pro-Haley hybrid PAC in final weeks of 2023 - https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2024/02/megadonors-flocked-to-pro-haley-pac

Lobbying Is a Waste of Valuable Resources - https://fee.org/articles/lobbying-is-a-waste-of-valuable-resources/

New York launches small donor matching program for state candidates - https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2024/02/new-york-launches-small-donor-matching-program-for-state-candidates/

Some on the Right Flirt With a Voting Method the Left Loves - https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/08/us/ranked-choice-voting-elections.html

United States continues to be a ‘flawed democracy’ in annual study - https://thefulcrum.us/ethics-leadership/democracy-index

Teachers are limiting lessons on political, social issues, report finds - https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2024/02/15/teachers-limit-political-social-issues-lessons

GOOD NEWS Websites:

Politics & Government Good News - https://www.goodgoodgood.co/impact/democracy

Good News Network - https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/

Sunny Skyz - https://www.sunnyskyz.com/good-news

ABC Good News - https://abcnews.go.com/alerts/good-news

Daily Good - https://www.dailygood.org/

The Happy News - https://thehappynewspaper.com/