All In: The Fight for Democracy

Just a heads up that this documentary is currently being review-bombed currently across multiple platforms by bots and people who have not actually watched the documentary.

This documentary is really well done. It goes over the entire history of the right to vote within the United States from beginning to current events. It goes over the right to vote for women and for African Americans. It also goes over the times when we have stepped backwards on that right, such as the Chinese exclusion act, that have caused harm to that right.

It's an extremely eye opening documentary that tries to explain why the right to vote is something worth continually monitoring and continually fighting for to ensure fair and honest elections.

Other people reviewing this documentary are trying to say it's biased in some way; I disagree. I think that it does a pretty good job at explaining suppression events that have happened and how it's a concern for anyone regardless of their political views. The events they show are wrong regardless of the party involved. The documentary tries to shine a light on that fact to encourage more people to use their right to vote.

Just watched "All In: The Fight for Democracy" and it's an excellent recap of the GA gubernatorial election (Stacey Abrams vs. Brian Kemp) and it does a great job of tying current day voter suppression efforts to their historical origins. Check it out! #VoterSuppressionIsReal

"The consequences of anybody here, not turning out and doing everything you can to get your friends, neighbors, family to turn out, the consequences of you staying home would be profoundly dangerous to this country, to our democracy." Barack Obama

That a particular party might like to suppress the votes of its opponents makes some sense in the winner-take-all mantra of any race, but that racial and ethnic suppression does happen is always a shock to those who believe the process of democratic election is sacrosanct. Directors Lisa Cortes and Liz Garbus' insightful documentary All in: The Fight for Democracy dispels any notion that America's elections are pure and unadulterated.

As the centerpiece of this study that covers the history of election fraud and questionable practices up to 2020 in Wisconsin, the Stacey Abrams run for Georgia governor in 2018 best expresses the frustrations of Democrats who perceived the Republicans were throwing up roadblocks from difficult qualifying questions to delayed polls. Abrams fought to the bitter end with only a few thousand votes outstanding and her awareness that she would never win.

Perhaps most dismaying is that Brian Kemp won by 25 K votes among 4 million while over 100,000 were disqualified for not having voted enough previous times. I am personally disappointed that my home state of Ohio has the same illogical suppression.

Abrams' Republican opponent, Brian Kemp, won with the advantage of these "hoops" that minority voters had to jump through, often answering questions like "Who is the clerk of the Superior Court?" He was the Secretary of State in charge of the election process while running for governor, illegal in some states but not Georgia. Such obvious conflicts of interest throw negative light on elections everywhere. However, the co-directors show how voter suppression was common throughout the history of the "Republic." Progressives and moderates have been fighting to suppress the suppression for centuries.

Early on this informative doc shows other manipulative tactics such as gerrymandering, poll taxes, and demands for government ids to keep away the poor, resulting in making the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments impotent legislation. What the doc does not do is to present a fair assessment by conservatives about why they favored the suppressive legislations. The other side should always be allowed to defend itself in even benign docs like this.

If for nothing else, this important documentary emphasizes the need to vote early, check on the vote's being processed, and exalt in a flawed but fair election. We'll see.

Much of the documentary covers familiar ground - the abolition of slavery, the progress during reconstruction, and then the restriction of opportunities to vote by means both legal and illegal. In that regard, the documentary repeats a host of documentaries already out there - such as "13th".

What makes this documentary worthwhile is that it sticks to a basic point: it doesn't matter if you're republican or democrat, we should all agree on the basic principle of democracy - one person, one vote, and that all people in good standing should be able to vote. If you accept that premise then it's important to defend it, no matter your political views. Democracy is not a single, simple pure thing. It's messy. Various elites seek to capture the process. Preventing that is not easy.

The film's greatest strength is its moving portrayal of the cost of democracy, It's not just about turning up to vote on the day - it's also about making sure you get the chance to do that. That's takes effort, but that's the price of freedom.

Again, whatever your political views, make sure you have the chance to vote - it's your duty.

Stop what you're doing and watch this. Never has a doc been more timely and vital.