Please help turn America BLUE!

Halloween was great fun, and I am so thankful that our neighborhood organized such a fun, safe way for the kids to still enjoy the holiday. Making Ol’s Han Solo belt and holster was a delightfully escapist project, and he was truly thrilled with the outcome. Pics at a less important time.

The election. It’s pretty much here. I know you’re freaking out, terrified, furious, disgusted, scared, exhausted, eating poorly, sleeping worse, drinking too much, and just getting by minute to minute. Me too. But there are still voters out there who MUST be reached. The GOP is doing all it can to suppress the shit out of the vote.

Look at Harris County, Texas, for example. That’s where Houston is. Harris County is the 3rd largest county in America. It is huge. And the GOP is filing suit after suit attempting to disenfranchise voters who have cast their ballots already. Governor Abbott himself said that drive-through voting sites were absolutely legal. Now?

Thank god for Marc Elias and Democracy Docket who have counter-filed suit after suit and have so far protected these votes.

Don’t believe me or these blue-checked Twitter accounts? Read this new article from a Republican lawyer who spent “four decades in the Republican trenches, representing GOP presidential and congressional campaigns." In his words:

Nearly every Election Day since 1984 I’ve worked with Republican poll watchers, observers and lawyers to record and litigate any fraud or election irregularities discovered.

The truth is that over all those years Republicans found only isolated incidents of fraud. Proof of systematic fraud has become the Loch Ness Monster of the Republican Party. People have spent a lot of time looking for it, but it doesn’t exist.

As he confronts losing, Trump has devoted his campaign and the Republican Party to this myth of voter fraud. Absent being able to articulate a cogent plan for a second term or find an attack against Joe Biden that will stick, disenfranchising enough voters has become key to his reelection strategy.

So, what can we do? If you are a lawyer, please, PLEASE volunteer your time and expertise to help ensure that everyone can exercise their right to vote. Need a way to do that? Look no further. Democracy Docket NEEDS YOU!

Hate phone-banking? Me too. Pull up your big-girl/big-boy undies with me and make calls. I’ll be dialing into PA tomorrow and beg you to help with similar efforts. Need a way to do that? Look no further. NOPE Neighbors NEEDS YOU!

So do: WisDems, SwingLeft, Indivisible, and so many more. Look specifically for ways to help in NC, PA, WI, MI, MN, GA…

Please do something. Call, donate, drive voters, bring voters in line a pizza. Doom scrolling can use up a lot of time. I know! But don’t wake up on 11/4 and regret inaction.

Vote BLUE like your lives and our country depend on it. They do.