(Permanent Musical Accompaniment To This Post)

Being our semi-regular weekly survey of what’s goin’ down in the several states where, as we know, the real work of governmentin’ gets done, and where there’s music in the cafes at night and revolution in the air.

CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA—Having just arrived here in the home office of American sedition, I probably will not go on as long a semi-regular tour as usual, but America remains quite the target-rich environment. For example, let’s begin in the small town of Juliette, Georgia, where, as the Atlanta Journal-Constitution tells us, there’s a whole David and Goliath thing going on. Wherefore art Juliette? It’s up in Monroe County around Macon, and it plays host to a lagoon of coal ash, which rarely turns out well for anyone. The pond is leaking, and Juliette’s tap water is turning into a chemistry set, and local citizens are up in arms.

On Monday, about 70 residents of the Monroe County enclave came to the state Capitol with “Save Juliette” T-shirts, bottles of discolored water, and a petition signed by 2,000 residents that they delivered to Gov. Brian Kemp. They’re demanding legislation that would require the coal ash be stored in lined landfills, as household trash is. At Plant Scherer, 16 million tons of coal ash sit pits without liners that would prevent toxic waste from leaching into the groundwater that feeds the wells.



This sounds like a reasonable bit of local political activism. Drinking water is not supposed to look like melted concrete, after all. However, the local residents soon found themselves deluged with curious phone calls that seemed designed to pollute the political discourse and yes, I saw what I did there, too.



On Tuesday evening, via text and email, residents were hit with a survey that, after querying residents about top Republican officials, asked a series of questions that appeared to be intended to dampen enthusiasm for more environmental restrictions. One asked whether they would be more likely to vote for legislators who feel this issue has been “safely handled for over a century and believes the legislature should focus on local issues that matter to Georgians.” Another warned that environmental costs could “result in less activity at the plant.”



Here’s what people talk about when they talk about how the money power finds every crack and crevice in society through which it can transmit its rot. These people in this small place need water to drink. A coal company grimes up the water supply and then tries to bail itself out with some high-priced consultant’s trick. And it very well may work, because people get worn down. Break the money power or nothing gets done anywhere, in places small and large.



Chris England and the Alabama Democratic Party have some issues. Albert Cesare AP

We skip on over to Alabama, where one part of the state’s Democratic Party is suing another part, which is the most Democratic Party thing I’ve ever heard of. From the Montgomery Advertiser:



Montgomery Circuit Court Judge Greg Griffin dismissed the suit from former Alabama Democratic Party chair Nancy Worley in a one page order Thursday, ruling that he lacked jurisdiction to decide an intraparty dispute. The ruling came as something of a surprise. At a hearing last week, Griffin indicated he was inclined to believe he had jurisdiction over the case. The judge did not spell out his reasons for dismissing the case...The decision means Alabama Democratic Party chair Chris England, a representative from Tuscaloosa, will continue as chair for now. England had the backing of Jones in a leadership contest last November.



The dispute stemmed from an August 2018 gathering of the State Democratic Executive Committee (SDEC), where Worley won election as chair. Worley's opponents challenged the results, saying that some members seated during the vote did not have the proper credentials. The Democratic National Committee (DNC) the following February ordered new leadership elections, and directed the party to revise its bylaws to provide greater representation for Hispanics, Asians, Native Americans, youth, LGBTQ+ individuals, and those with disabilities.

That directive led to a months-long standoff between Worley and the DNC. Worley accused the national party of sending conflicting or confusing directives. The DNC accused Worley of dragging her feet and missing deadlines. In August, the DNC stripped Worley and vice-chair Randy Kelly of their credentials. The following month, the DNC set an Oct. 5 deadline for the party to adopt new bylaws, or risk losing representation at the Democratic National Convention scheduled in Milwaukee later this year.

And the Democratic Party sends yet another one-car funeral over a cliff. I’m glad that the Doug Jones faction seems to have won, because the election-night party at his HQ when he won that special election always will be the most joyful and hopeful political event I’ve ever attended, and because he is back to being a longshot again this year, which has not kept him from being true to the righteous spirit with which he sent the church bombers to prison.



Students at the University of Oklahoma have a particular set of demands. Collegiate Images Getty Images

And we conclude, as is our custom, with news out of the great state of Oklahoma. From high in the air over Europe, Blog Official Ambassador To The World Friedman of the Plains brings us the tale of campus unrest. From The Oklahoman:



Organized by the Black Emergency Response Team, students sat outside of interim President Joseph Harroz’s office with signs demanding action and calling for the resignation of OU Provost Kyle Harper. One of the signs said “‘Sorry’ does not undo years of historical trauma.” Demands from the group also include a semester-long class focused on diversity, and a new multicultural center that will feature meeting spaces for marginalized students, common areas, study rooms and a Popeyes restaurant.



Students said they will be sitting at Evans Hall until their demands are met. The Black Emergency Response Team said many members would go on a hunger strike. “To the upper administration: there will be no meetings,” said Miles Francisco, co-director of BERT, in a demand letter. “You either meet our demands or you starve us of our freedom. Join us.”



The demands seem reasonable to me. And engaging in a hunger strike in order to obtain a Popeye’s franchise is really sticking it to The Man from all sides, I’d say.



This is your democracy, American. Cherish it.

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Charles P. Pierce Charles P Pierce is the author of four books, most recently Idiot America, and has been a working journalist since 1976.

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