Don’t wait four years. There will be important off-year elections in 2017 and then a hugely important mid-term election in 2018. If you have a chance to vote - take it. Voting every four years is like being a 25% citizen.
Chances are your local governments are up for election this year.
On Long Island where I live, my town and county are run mainly by Democrats, thank God. We have triple AAA bond ratings and relatively honest office holders.
The town neighboring mine has been run by Republicans for decades. The town supervisor was recently forced to resign after his arrest for bribery. The town, even though wealthy, has a junk bond rating due to the graft and waste.
The other county (heavily Republican) has been under state financial agency control for years now because they simply could not run their own affairs. The GOP county executive is under indictment.
The responsible office holders are up for election this year. It is important. Don’t miss an opportunity to have a say. I will be working for good government by supporting the people for town board and county legislature that I believe will do the best job. You should too.
Even in the pit, putting words in someone’s mouth is a dirty move. I addressed this exact topic upthread, here and here:
I have returned to this point a few times, that sorry just isn’t good enough. More than that? It might be good enough. But maybe not.
The OT came up wrt to stonings. I think the story of Esau is a better reference. Here in America we are endowed with an historic inheritance in terms of our Constitution, our culture, our wealth and position in the world. The right to vote is rare in history- as powerless as some of us sometimes feel, there is at least that, at a minimum.
But no, apparently 49% of the eligible population lacks the sense of appreciation to make use of even this basic power. Does it matter whether or not Esau was sorry to have squandered his inheritance? Or was it gone regardless? Is it significant that in this case it is in exchange for nothing at all, whatsoever? That is useless and unproductive- Telemark, retract your false criticism of my argument! :mad:
Ha! That’s the million dollar question, no, k9? And nice job framing it in terms of pragmatism with me.
Is “Dem strategy” the goal I am trying to accomplish with my posting here? Or is it something else? I have already covered this territory as well: constantly translating every utterance into partisan-strategyese makes a person come across as a PC cop, whether or not that is accurate or even fair. I personally abhor nonvoters. It is up to the DNC to find some way to deal with my views, as I am not willing to adapt to them at this point. Capiche?
And I will apportion my ire as I see fit, thank you very much. I have far more ire for nonvoters than I do for any Trump or Stein voter. In America, you get to vote for your favorite candidate! We all call each other morons for our choices for what? 18 months now before the event, but once election day comes, you better cast your vote. The system breaks down if you don’t, and then fucked up shit follows, and it is the fault of the nonvoters at that point, who have just begun to receive my ire.
In closing, do you believe that I am sincere in my opposition to nonvoters? Or does it seem as if I am posing in such a way that I will curry favor with this or that faction? Which seems more likely to you?
What seems most likely to me is that you keep missing the point: your position does nothing to change the current situation in which 49% of eligible voters don’t vote. You keep writing these long posts, but can’t seem to get your head around that basic fact.
And that proves you don’t actually support the cause. You’ve converted someone, yet you still want to attack them. Everyone has pointed out how bad it is to the cause, but you don’t give a shit. Just as long as you get to hurt other people.
I put that little story there for a reason. Right now, you are not acting like someone who supports the cause. You’re vindictive, rather than trying to make things better.
If you aren’t trying to make things better, then you’re no better than the people who didn’t vote, who also didn’t make things better.
Great post – important general plea, backed up with some interesting local detail. Thanks for the reminder – I consider myself a responsible voting citizen, but even folks like me sometimes neglect to vote in off-years. (We never miss a midterm, though.)
It was bad enough that he failed to vote. It would be worse if we shamed him to the point of not voting again. I’d rather have him realize that he made a mistake and then try to correct it. Perhaps all it takes is another 100,000 or so ‘Idle Thoughts’ non-voters to make the difference in 2018.
The only real emphasis I’d like to add here is for Idle Thoughts to do more than just vote in presidential elections. Even among those who voted in 2016 and 2012, there are far too many who fail to vote for mid-terms elections in between, which are no less important to the future of our country. 2018, not 2020, is critical to the future of the country, as are the many local elections. Donald Trump was made possible – intentionally or not – by decades of local activism, which included a strategy of political obstructionism. If people think voting in 2020 is the answer, they’re seriously deluded.
I get why posters like Farnaby are disillusioned with democracy – it doesn’t guarantee a just result. But the fact is that any political system rewards those who are most ambitious and competitive. In an authoritarian regime, the competitors are a handful of strongmen fighting with each other. In a democracy, it’s larger groups of people. The republicans, the conservatives have been motivated to vote while progressives and the politically apathetic have taken their status as a first world nation for granted. Time to get off the bench and into the game. I’m glad the OP is doing just that.
I don’t think so. You’re looking for reparations for damages on something you weren’t owed. You’re blaming non-voters for not performing what you consider a mandatory civic duty that doesn’t exist. No one owes you anything. You aren’t owed a bigger check, you aren’t owed someone’s vote, you aren’t owed an apology for being called out on a nonsensical line of argument.
As I said before: we all oughtta be participating in the political process more than most of us do. Idle Thoughts, you have confessed. I don’t give a crap about Hail Maries, but for your penance, I give you 500 phone calls to your representatives per year for each year that you didn’t vote. Make two calls a day Monday-Friday, and you’ll be fine.
Just stay watchful. The Repubs and their buddies the Russians have learned that fake news (theirs), whisper campaigns, hacking, and vote splitting all work. Expect it to keep happening. Don’t get fooled.
And if the son of a bitch starts spouting about flags and Gawd and keepin’ us safe, be doubly watchful.
It all starts with local elections. If progressives spend their time focusing solely on Trump, nothing will change. There has to be a progressive movement that’s enlightened and somewhat academic on one hand but doesn’t talk down to working class folk on the other.
Idle, I’m ignoring everything because you are a FOAF and I like our mutual friend. Were I one to have an opinion, though, you are an idiot, but I don’t care enough to tell her.
I can’t believe all the guff Idle Thoughts gets in this thread, especially since he has firmly repented and vowed to become a voter. His Location is Arizona which isn’t really a swing state. Strong congratulations rare in order, not words like “idiot.”
Suppose the Tragedy of November 8th wakes up a few million more Americans. Is it possible that Nancy Pelosi will become the Speaker of the House in 2018? Wouldn’t that be a spectacular triumph for the Forces of Reason? (Realistic? — Let’s band together, preach at every opportunity, fight for it and find out.)
Jaysus, with the responses of many in this thread, you’d think that Idle had single-handedly brought about the end of teh US and democracy in the-world-as-we-know-it!
Fnark…Idle, go well and VOTE next time! And enjoy your lunch!
