I believe I've mentioned the media narrative that certain parties (* ahem * GOP) are trying to promote. And if you believe that nonsense, you'll believe anything.
Other people are trying to push the "common wisdom" of voter apathy (and, sadly, there's some evidence to back that up).
And they'll try anything, up to and including trying to push the false narrative that you shouldn't vote to "send a message to Washington."
Let me tell you what happens if the Republicans gain a solid majority. First, they continue to do nothing - that's your tax dollars getting wasted by Republicans who want to prove that government doesn't work.
The more things change, the more they stay the same. On the eve of midterms elections that could make him House Speaker, John Boehner announced, "This is not a time for compromise." His lieutenant Mike Pence (R-IN) echoed that line, declaring that with a new Republican majority "there will be no compromise" with President Obama and the Democrats. Of course, with their record-setting use of the filibuster, unprecedented obstruction of presidential nominees, and unified no votes on almost every major piece of legislation, the past performance of Congressional Republicans is a guarantee of future results.On the other hand, what can happen if they don't get a stranglehold on the government?
Well, we can get this oligarchical Citizens United ruling changed. Can DADT get canned? A little more difficult - but Obama can just do it unilaterally in his second term. Comprehensive immigration reform? Not going to happen under a Republican.
Now, go to this website (apparently set up by Tony Soprano), find your polling place, and do it! Don't let the idiots win.
Thanks, Nameless. The Soprano link was useful -- it turns out my effing voting place has changed this year.
ReplyDeleteNow y'all, after you vote (or even before), you may enjoy (if that's the proper word) reading Dmitri Orlov's take on American voting habits (if that's the right term), A Survey of Unlikely Voters.
Here's a taste:
It is election season in the United States, and if you tune in to any of the local news programs/comedy shows you are likely to get an earful of commentary, opinion, conjecture and wild speculation on what the “likely voters” are likely to do. Allow me to save you the trouble: they are likely to go and vote. Who they are going to vote for doesn't matter: without exception they are going to vote for an American politician: a lawyer or a businessman, someone belongs to one of a few available political categories, all of them misnomers designed to confuse the public. There are those who call themselves conservatives, and who are in fact not conservatives at all but free market liberals. There are those who call themselves libertarians, but who have somehow forgotten their anarchist-socialist roots and are in fact also free market liberals. Then there are the “liberals,” who are also free market liberals but aspire to being nice, whereas the rest of the free market liberals are nasty. But nobody here wants to be called a “liberal,” because in this topsy-turvy political universe it has become little more than a term of abuse. It takes a long time to explain this nonsense to visitors from abroad, and when you round out the explanation by saying that these distinctions don't actually matter—because no matter what these politicians call themselves they are all state-capitalists who have been exhibiting quite a few fascist tendencies of late—the visitors inevitably feel that you have wasted their time.
But if you try to explain this nonsense to a domestic audience, it will be you who will feel that your time has been wasted. US voters are easy marks for political tricksters, and it is probably something that just can't be helped. The neatest trick is getting them to vote against their class interest.
I performed my civil duty. I voted. Won't mean a thing, of course. Tea-bagging rabble lined the roadway leading to the polling place. It felt like driving through a gauntlet. Lucky for me, no signage on my car. I drove past them totally poker faced.
ReplyDeleteElizabeth, you are right. Its is always the casino capitalism motive, and there is very little we can do to overturn Citizens United. Despite my vote, we are witnessing the demise of democracy.
(BTW, there is a real nice condo for sale on the Atlantic coast of Florida.)
I voted! In the red enclave where I live I am not expecting a victory for sanity and intelligence but still, I have made my voice heard for what it's worth.
ReplyDelete