Southern Progressives

Moving to the left one post at a time

December 18, 2024

National News:

Congress unveils funding deal with more than $100 billion in disaster aid

The bill will provide more than $100 billion in emergency aid to help states and local communities recover from Hurricanes Helene and Milton and other natural disasters.

apnews.com/article/congress-budget-government-shutdown-farmers-disaster-relief-4c6ae1e0033637bb6398b00c4799ba0d?utm_source=copy&utm_medium=share

The Judge We Could Have Had

“Our country faces an incoming tsunami of bigotry, hatred, and discrimination.

open.substack.com/pub/joycevance/p/the-judge-we-could-have-had?r=2cuzj&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email

State News:

Tennessee governor appears ready to mobilize National Guard, state officers for deportation • Tennessee Lookout

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee will use state personnel, likely National Guard troops, to back Donald Trump's plan to deport millions of immigrants.

tennesseelookout.com/2024/12/18/tennessee-governor-appears-ready-to-mobilize-national-guard-state-officers-for-deportation

Local News & Arts:

Due to Christmas, the Good Faith Clinic will be open Thursday, December 19 at 3:30 p.m. for refills and at 4:00 p.m. for doctor visits. The Good Faith Clinic is free primary health care for residents of McMinn and Meigs counties, ages of 18-64, who do not have any form of medical insurance, including TennCare. The clinic meets on the campus of Christ Community Church at 18 S Congress Parkway in Athens. NORMALLY: The Good Faith Clinic is open the 2nd, 4th, and 5th, Tuesday of each month.

• UT Extension's SNAP Employment and Training Program: Skill Up Tennessee is a program that helps SNAP participants gain the skills and training they need to get a job. If you currently receive SNAP benefits and are NOT receiving TANF cash assistance, you may qualify for benefits including Gas cards for Transportation, Uniforms, Equipment, Tools, and Supplies, Testing fees and Textbooks. Visit tiny.utk.edu/ SkillUpTn to see if you are eligible and to preregister.

Indivisible:

Does losing this election mean the American experiment with representative democracy is over? In this chapter, we’ll try to address this central question. Our argument is this: the doomsaying wasn’t wrong, but our democracy is not dead, at least not yet. We believe democracy in America may not survive the Trump era, and we believe that whether it survives depends on what we do next. 

In the immediate aftermath of a loss, blame flies freely, and solid analysis is in short supply until full data is available. The process of developing and analyzing real data from a national election -- especially digging into how different demographic groups voted -- takes weeks or months. In the meantime, anyone with an ax to grind shows up to explain why their approach would have won. If you want that kind of analysis, you can get it in plenty of places. Instead, in this chapter, we’re going to try to focus on what we know happened and what it means. You should expect this analysis to sharpen and revise in time.

Political Cartoon:

Seniors:

Ask a Sober Oldster #18: Ana Marie Cox

"No matter what you feel, there is another feeling that will come after it. Sometimes, that might be worse! (Painful honesty!) But a lot of the time, it gets better."

oldster.substack.com/p/ask-a-sober-oldster-18-ana-marie

Coalition Calendar: (click on the calendar)

Bill Freeman is Southern Progressive Newsletter

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