You know what they say about cornered rats, right?

Next year, profoundly corrupt and universally loathed Brian Kemp will attempt to defend a governor seat he stole from Stacey Abrams in 2018.

And he’s very likely to lash out in “innovative” ways (again)—that is, assuming Kemp survives inevitable primary challengers.

I canvassed for Stacey, enthusiastically, cuz I’m not a fan of sycophantic, willfully genocidal political operatives; I am, however, a HUGE supporter of dedicated public servants whose mission is to improve how government works.

Buckle your seatbelts low-and-tight because it’s about to get supremely ugly in Georgia. I’ll do what I can do break it down.

Paired-down lawsuit still huge

Voting-rights suit via Fair Fight came as a result of Georgia’s 2018 gubernatorial election and is years in the making. Since filing, U.S. District Judge Steve Jones (Obama appointee) has thrown out parts of Fair Fight Action’s allegations. What remains, however, could still change the way we vote in Georgia next year. From AJC’s Mark Niesse:

The plaintiffs will attempt to prove that the state’s voting practices infringe on fundamental rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. If they’re successful, Jones could order changes to voting in Georgia before the 2022 general election.

Article doesn’t address what those changes could be but literally an ape making voter calls would be an improvement over—again, profoundly corrupt—Georgia repubs’ “policy” of slash-and-burn suppression.

Profit-media doesn’t report hard truths

Quick analysis of other stuff AJC didn’t include:

– Kemp’s previous, very public meltdown was in the form of a stunt-lawsuit days before 2018 election that media treated like a stroke-of-genius. Similar to Wikileaks’ dumping emails, their suit was just a way to distract from their own theft. (Writer’s note: exploiting court system as a nakedly partisan political tool should be a felony.)

– In 2017 SoS Kemp purged 560,000 voters from the polls; Georgia repubs later failed to add 53,000 voters who tried to register. Abrams “lost” to Kemp in 2018 by fewer than 55,000 votes.

RELATED READING: GEORGIA IS VOTER-SUPPRESSION ‘GROUND ZERO‘

– Just this year Raffensperger’s office casually deleted more than 100K voters from the rolls in Georgia. Intrepid journalist and Twitter pal Greg Palast has been covering GQP’s operation relentlessly.

– Kemp’s “Exact Match” voter law is like “partial birth abortion” or “critical race theory”: a name fabricated in GQP warehouse in Tucson to invent outrage over nonexistent things.

– Georgia republicans’ new voting law gives them corrupt ability to replace election officials, specifically in Fulton County and elsewhere. Stick a pin there cuz that one will get ugly and spur lawsuits, too. (Already has.)

What to watch for in 2022

Cartoonishly unconstitutional voter purges are “six to 10 times more likely to impact voters-of-color” as Niesse writes. In 2022, events in Georgia MUST be extrapolated nationally; you’ll recall Kris Kobach’s “Crosscheck” program had the same disenfranchising effect—and GOP tried to make it national-party policy.

All of Kemp and Georgia repubs’ hysterical voter suppression is happening under (and likely as a result of) looming cloud of Fulton County DA Fani Willis’ investigation into election felonies by Trump and his operatives, including Lindsey Graham and Mark Meadows.

In 2022, you will see Georgia Qpubs fighting each other as to who can be most MAGA-terrible. They will do that while a small sub-cult believes conspiracy theories and other nonsense. Stacey Abrams will be running for Governor as GOP fight each other like a bag of diseased rats in heat—infighting concurrent to Fani Willis’ high-profile investigation from 2020 that includes RICO prosecutors.

Fair Fight’s lawsuit kicks off in February, which will be an awkward backdrop to Georgia governor race. And by “awkward” I mean juicy!

Just bummed we don’t got more popcorn.

Updates as events warrant. Meantime have a look at Abrams’ sublime announcement. 🔵

UPDATE: Like 2 seconds after I published I saw this statement from titular head of GOP Crime Mafia boosting Stacey Abrams and slamming Kemp. We didn’t even need to wait until 2022!

 

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Will Pollock is a perpetually cranky New York City escapee based in Midtown Atlanta. He’s a freelance multimedia journalist, media analyst and author of two books (award-winning Pizza for Good & Leaving Triscuit), with more on the way.

In 2001, Will earned his Masters from The Medill School of Journalism, graduating with highest honors from the magazine sequence. As permanent member of Journalism’s National Honors Society, he’s been active in monitoring, writing and blogging about media and journalism ever since he graduated.

Obsessed with good storytelling and journalistic excellence, Will uses snark, humor and reason to distill dumb shit and make it fun. He’s a seeker/maker of non-consensus news, and helps you cure crankies by finding the nut in every story.

As for-profit media continues to fail us, it’s more important than ever to find reliable sources. Authentic storytelling exists—you just have to look for it. On this blog you’ll get ideas, not ideology. Sass with class. Reporting with rapport. Evidence with a touch of evil. You get the idea.

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