Disinformation and Division

in my life. You know, this week it was really interesting for the first time during hurricane coverage. Now we know that Hurricane Ida hit Louisiana in the worst possible way. Over a million people have lost power in New Orleans and surrounding areas as the storm continues to move in and around the south. That is, in Mississippi, as we know right now, it hit landfall as a category four.

What we know right when we're talking about all of these natural disasters, all of these storms, every time we get to hurricane season, fire season, tornado season, and what have you, is that when it is being covered right, we will talk about wind gusts and we will talk about damage, and we will talk about how much money it is going to take, and we will talk about FEMA. But do you know the one thing that we never

talk about, fucking climate change. We never talk about how the increase in damage and the increase that these storms are packing, right, the winds that they are packing, how they hover over warm water for long periods of time, how they are building enormous strength. We never talk about

climate change. And it's almost as if I feel like there has to be some unspoken or maybe spoken right commandment with meteorologists and whether people that we just are not allowed to mention it because it will be seemed too political, because the media has allowed us to have a two sides of both sides is um to literally every fucking issue, including one that is an existential threat

to our planet, which is climate change. There is nothing, folks, There is no other major issue other than, oh, I don't know, the collapse of our democracy, which I'll get to in a moment, that is more pressing right now than climate change. But for the first time, at least since I have been paying attention and kind of waiting for those two words to be mentioned when we are covering storms al Roker on MSNBC when he was reporting on Andrea Mitchell this week, said Andrea, and I cannot

stress this enough. This is climate change in action. This is a major climate change event. I damn near stop dead in my tracks as he said this, because I know and I've been watching Al Roker since I was a kid, and I believe him. I believe his reporting, I believe his passion, and I believe in his ability to bring events into people's homes. When he said this is a climate event, I'm like, this is the kind of coverage that we need, right. These are not just

regular hurricanes anymore. They are packing punches that we have never seen. And it showing us, right, a couple of things. It's showing us how fucking inept our infrastructure is to deal with these kinds of damaging storms which are becoming

the norm. It is showing us the fact that, again, what was very interesting in this coverage as well is another reporter, and forgive me because I can't remember their name, but also on NBC said this, the wealthy, those with resources were able to get out of harm's way before anyone else. Everyone else that did not have the ability to pack up their cars to fly out, to pack up their homes, maybe to go to family, or go to their second homes or what have you. Everyone else

was left in harm's way. They were left in you evacuation centers in stadiums like they were during Hurricane Katrina. But we are also looking at a catastrophe that is of capitalism, right, is of the way in which our racial wealth gap, our wealth gap in general in this country, will have those right that are left behind when we have these major events, those that can pack up their homes and can go elsewhere because they have the means to do so, and then everyone else that will be

left behind. Climate change is also illuminating those grave disparities that we have in income in this country. And I appreciated the honesty in the reporting of why these things things are happening. And again, this is the media's responsibility not to be neutral, right, but to offer people the truth and then context of that truth, right, because we always ask ourselves, well, why didn't so and so leave or why do you live in this area? Well, why do they live in areas that are prone to flooding

or prone to tornadoes or what have you? Because it's fucking cheap, and it's what they can afford, right, But then you have insurance companies that come in, they gouge these people, and then when they need to rebuild, insurance companies turn around and say, well, I think that that water damage in your home isn't due to the flooding, but is due to something else, And then they turn around and don't provide people with the resources that they

need in order to rebuild. What we also know is that these storms are increasing the amount of money that we have to pay, right our tax dollars to rebuild. So the ignoring of climate chains isn't just like just feeding into this threat, but it is also coming out of our fucking pockets, folks, because we can't prepare for things that we pretend don't fucking exist. And this is

what drives me insane. If at the end of the day, right, you're the Jim Crow Republican Party, and all you give a fuck about is money and cruelty, right or the not spending of money, or who gets more money so that you can ensure that those that are poor remain

on the bottom. If money is your end all be all, then why wouldn't it make sense for us to look at climate change as an economic threat as well as an existential one, right, and say that we do not have the resources each and every fucking season as these seasons get extended because our climate is getting warmer, which means that hurricane seasons and fire seasons are going to last longer than they have in the past, which means that they're going to cost more money, billions upon billions

upon billions of fucking dollars that our government does not have. And when I say that it doesn't have, right, it's because, well, we like to spend money and give tax breaks and spend money on military and things like that that don't actually benefit the rest of us on a regular basis. Right, So we know that maybe there is money, but we know that it's never going to be spent in the

right place. And what I'm saying is that every time these storms come around, we have got to pay attention to the rhetoric that is being used to describe them and what is happening to these people after the fact. And I got to tell you for the first time, I will say, right, Bravo Andrea Mitchell Show, Bravo MSNBC for actually calling a spade a fucking spade, and I hope that this is what we will see moving forward.

Coming up next is my conversation with the CEO of vote dot Org, Andrea Haley, who will talk to us about how the organisation is trying to push back against all of the misinformation and mis education about voting and where you can get the information that you need to make sure that you remain on the roles right and that you are able to vote in the upcoming midterm elections.

That conversation is coming to you next, folks. I am very excited to be joined by Andrea Haley, who is the CEO of vote dot org, the leading nonpartisan online voter information organization. Andrea, you know, this past weekend was the fifty eighth anniversary of the March on Washington, and you know eight years ago when it was the fiftieth anniversary, I had the wonderful pleasure of being on the mall for that, you know, that historic number marker. You know,

this past weekend we see voting rights marches happening. You know across the country. What part did vote dot org play in this historic moment? And also what are you reminded about with your work with this notable anniversary. You know, this year, vote dot org partnered with all of the voting marches across the nation. We were really you know, excited to be able to celebrate the anniversary and celebrate

how far would come. But of course we know how much work there's left to do, so we're out there registering people to vote. We pushed over one hundred thousand people and emails to learn about the marches to either attend or to um be able to you know, go online and watch if it couldn't attend in person one of the marches UM And so that is a lot

of the way that we've partnered in. We also provide QR codes and other things so that people at the marches can make sure that they're registered to vote, check their registration, UM, do all that and go to vote dot org. I think one of the the opportunities that we have now, building on this momentum, is to make sure that people know that there's something they can actively do right here, right now about the moment we find ourselves in. The moment we find ourselves in is really challenging,

it's very dire. But we have two pieces of federal legislation. The John Lewis Voting Rights Act and the For the People Act that will help address some of the inequities in our voting processes. And so what people can do is they can call their senator. They can go to vote dot org backslash action where we've set up a page where it makes it really easy to call your senator and say that your support voting rights and support the John Lewis Voting Rights Act and the Four the

People Act. You know, we are headed obviously into midterm elections in twenty twenty two. And for folks who believed, you know, they've cast their ballot in twenty twenty, what are the steps that you are telling them with vote dot org that they need to do in order to make sure that they are still registered right that they weren't vote a booted off the role, Like, can you walk us through that process? I voted in twenty twenty. I hit up vote dot org because I know that

there are new changes being made. I want to make sure that I am secure when I want to go cast my mid term ballot. What are the steps that folks are taking and need to take, you know, Kurtiscott King said that freedom was never really never won. Every generation has to fight for it on their own, and I think that that's the moment we find ourselves in.

So what people can do is they can make sure to fight for their vote, fight to make sure that they're on the voter rolls, that they're paying attention to what's happening in their state, and that they are able to participate in this upcoming election. Luckily, you know for our generation that we have new technologies accessible to us. So right there on your phone, it takes two seconds. You can go to vote dot org and you can

verify that you're still on voter roles. I personally do that every couple of months, just to make sure we have systems that are purging people. And you don't want to get surprised on election day. You want to know that you're on the roles and keep confirming it and fight to make sure that your voice is heard. So just go to your phone and do that. It really

takes a couple of seconds. If you are not registered or you've been purged from the voter rolls, votorg will tell you and then you can go ahead and go through the registration process. Right there on the site. We know that it's better to do all these things early and make your plans early to vote, and that that will mean that you will have increased participation. And so register on the site and then if you're you know, make a plan, think about how you want to participate.

Follow the laws in your state. You can just press you know, whatever state you're on, you're in vote org and we give you you know, the laws, what you need to know anything that's changing, make sure to just periodically check it. And especially as we you know, start to near these midterm elections. A lot of people out there, I think now our country is really divided into two groups.

It's people who believe we should have a healthy and thriving democracy, people who believe everyone should have their voice heard, people who you believe that people in communities should be able to have a say and who their leaders are. And then we have a group of people out there who don't believe in that, who believe in some more

you know, authoritarian kind of style of government. So it's really important that people right now fight to make sure that they can preserve their right to vote, because that's that's truly where we are. So you know, make sure verify or registration, make a plan, keep checking vote dot org, know what's happening in your state. And once you do all of that, make sure that you're the vote captain of your friends or family. I love that is that is the most I call all my friends and family.

I let them know what the rules are, what they need to do, you know, self, appoint yourself vote captain, and make sure that those in your community know how to participate, pay and know how to have their voice heard. What do you say to folks? And I'm sure you talk to people all the time, but what do you say to people who are losing faith in the system, who are like, well, what difference does it make? Andrea?

Why should I, you know, bother voting? Like, look a look at what they're doing, you know, to this country. Look at what they're doing to the polls. What do you say to those people that are seemingly losing some hope? I say, get mad, exhaustion and all of that. That's the point. The point of all of this is to wear you down to the point where you think, what does it matter? What does my vote? How does my vote count? And get you to give up. That's what

these bills are designed to do. That's what creating extra hoops for voters is designed to do. And you know, I say, like, there's a reason for that. The reason is that people want to take away your ability to choose what's happening in your own neighborhood, town, community, city, state, and nation. You know it. Giving up your own power is something that you never really want to do. And not voting doesn't mean that, you know, you just aren't

participating in the process. It means somebody else gets to actively dictate what happens to you, your friends, your family, and your community. And so I say, I would say, don't give up that power, get upset, make sure you're protecting the right to vote. And this is something that's really important. If it wasn't important, we know that people wouldn't be working so so hard to exhaust you out

of the process. There wouldn't be four hundred bills across this nation, you know, trying to separate people from their vote and from their voice. We know this is absolutely important. This is where true you know, power lies. And so we have to have the ability to fight back and to show up anyway and to show people that we are not tired, we are not going to stop. We're going to show up every single election cycle, and we're going to protect our right and our freedom to vote.

That is it for Today's Woke, a f daily podcast. To hear more from today's show, including my full interview with Andrea Haley, support me on Patreon at patreon dot com slash woke AF Power to the people and to all the people power, get woke, and stay woke as fuck.