I am a proud Minnesotan. Yes, I have a long and troubled history with my fair state, but there are many reasons I have lived here for most of my life.* For the most part, we have been a liberal state (with the notable exception of governor over the past twenty years or so), which did my blue heart good. However, in the past five years or so, a change has come to my state, and it’s not boding well for my future residency here.
It’s the same change we’ve seen played out in Ohio, Wisconsin, and Michigan (Florida is on its own. I don’t know what kind of batguano they’re practicing down there with that criminal governor of theirs) as the newly-elected governor of each state systematically strips the rights of the middle class and poor Americans, aided in a large part by the Republican majorities in Congress.
I’ve seen the dissatisfaction grow locally as well. I began to see Lipton Tea ‘Bagger signs in nearby neighborhoods. Handmade and poorly-spelled, there was no doubt about whom they held responsible for the current economic woes–Obama and other Democrats. Still, I was protected from the idiocy. My immediate neighborhood is mostly Democratic (though my neighbor is an old curmudgeon with a liberal = tax hikes kind of bumper sticker on his pickup). My rep is the awesome Betty McCollum, and when I move to the Northeast, I’ll have the equally-awesome Keith Ellison as my rep. And, of course, Senator Al Franken (can I get a what what?). Like I said, we have our pockets of batguanocrazy (6th District, I’m looking at YOU!), but for the most part, we’re pretty liberal. The growing of the Lipton Tea ‘Bagger mentality shocked me. It shouldn’t have, but it did.
Set that aside for a minute.
The GOP nationwide as well as locally ran on fiscal responsibility and making sure the dastardly Kenyan Mooslim Usurper in the White House did not hurtle us into the gaping maw of socialism. Spending freeze! Lower taxes! No death panels for granny! Blah blah blah blah blah. Democrats were dispirited and Republicans were fired up. Enough of that hopey-changey bullsheetrock! What America needed was a good shot of testosterone in the ‘nads, and the Republicans were the ones to deliver that shot. Across the land, many governments switched from Dem-controlled to Republican-controlled (and, of course, the House of our nation’s Congress was lost as well), and it was good. Conservatives were exultant as they crowed about their victory.**
Before they could do their “NO MORE TAXES” victory dance, however, a strange thing happened. The Republican Congresspeople who were bleating about, “Where are the jobs?” before the 2010 elections did not immediately set upon finding said jobs. No, they decided that in this time of great economic downturn and high unemployment rates, the thing that really needed to be done was to make abortion as difficult to get as possible. Yes. The party who believes in less regulation went nutso over their desire to regulate women’s uteri.
Indeed, the Republicans are so concerned with my ladybits (and yours if you are a lady), they can’t keep their minds off of said bits. They seem to be both fascinated by the ladybits and repulsed by them as well; they are even appalled by the names of the ladybits, as evidenced by the idiotic Republicans from the state of Florida. Every other bill they proposed seemed to be a bill concerning abortion. And, of course, they threatened to shut down the federal government over the very stupid idea of defunding Planned Parenthood simply to take an empty stance against abortions.
Now, everyone and her sister have been writing about this abortion-palooza. Let’s face it–it’s easy pickings. I am fairly confident that any of the ridiculous national bills, even if they pass in the House, will not make it to law. However, in states across the country, the Republicans are passing restrictive laws concerning abortion. These Republicans are true believers, and they are using their powers to chip away at the legality of abortion. The laws passed are monumentally stupid and are bound to be fought in the Supreme Court (though, given the makeup of said SCOTUS, I am fearful as to how many of these laws will not be struck down), but in the meantime, they wreak havoc on ordinary women who have little to no recourse to fight the draconian measures.
Women like Bei Bei Shuai from Indiana. She tried to commit suicide when she was 33 weeks pregnant. She failed. Her daughter was born and died after four days. Shuai had another breakdown, recovered, and then was arrested for murder and attempted feticide–of her daughter. The ACLU has intervened on her behalf, but as of now, she sits in jail awaiting a decision about bail and a hearing to dismiss motion later in the month.
For a long time, I have resisted calling the Christian zealots the American Taliban. What the Taliban believes in and practices is truly heinous. Before this current crop of Christian zealots took office (mostly Republican, but there are a few Democrats as well), I heard a lot of ugly noise from this crowd, but their actions hadn’t quite matched their words. With the passing of these hideous abortion laws and the creative interpretation of existing laws, however, they are taking one step closer to being what they claim to hate. I still will not call them the American Taliban, but I think they well-deserve the title of Christian Extremists. So, that is what I shall be calling them from now on.
Idaho recently passed a law that outlawed abortion after 20 weeks without including an exception for rape (or incest, emotional/psychological health of the mother, or severe fetal abnormalities) in it. In 1990, a similar version of this bill didn’t pass because the former (Democratic but still anti-abortion) governor objected to rape and incest not being included as reasons for exception. But, now, new governor, new rules. The new Republican governor is expected to sign the bill. There is a lot of pious bullsheetrock from the Republicans who passed it, but none more so than this bit of nauseating rationalization from Brent Crane (R-Anus Beretsville) as he talked to the legislators about the ‘hand of the Almighty’ being at work:
His ways are higher than our ways [Crane said]. He has the ability to take difficult, tragic circumstances and then turn them into wonderful examples.
First of all, Brent Crane, the hand of Almighty has no business feeling up my uterus. My body, my choice! Secondly, no matter what your personal beliefs about God, we have this thing called separation of church and state. Look it up. Plus, your state law is in direct contradiction to federal law, and in case you don’t know this, federal law trumps state law. Look that up as well. Thirdly, who the Fu Schnickens are you to decide that living, breathing women are to be used as examples for your little Sunday sermon? There are women who may agree with you; they can choose to have their babies. It should be their choice–not yours.
Forced birthers. It’s a term that has been floating around the blogosphere as a replacement for the misleading term Pro-Life or even the antiseptic term Anti-Abortion/Choice. Just six months ago, I thought the term a bit harsh. Now, I think it’s spot on. The American Christian Extremists have shown that their ideology is their god, and they have no mercy or compassion for actual people. They are taking us back to the days when a woman’s body was not her own at all and merely a vessel for carrying around a fetus, and we are helping them do it.***
Now. On to the title of the post.
“About fucking time,” I can hear you think. ****
Hey. I needed to set it up properly, so simmah down nah!
In 2010, the race for governor was very tight. Well, to me, it was very tight. Many Democrats were confident that Mark Dayton would win by a comfortable margin because Tom Emmer was a Lipton Tea ‘Bagger candidate incarnate. He was anti-gays, pro-business and anti-worker, anti-tax and anti-socialist healthcare, you know the drill. Some Democrats even decided to work with the third-party candidate, a sensible ex-Republican (yes, there are a few left), because they were dissatisfied with the party. You know that drill well, too, especially if you’re a Democrat. I sternly informed one Democratic friend that this was not the year to vote third party, not when Tom Emmer could be the result. There really WAS a difference between Democrats and Republicans, especially in 2010, and every vote counted.
I watched with nervous dread as the votes came in. Dayton was ahead, but Emmer was very close behind. The Republicans grabbed the House with a vengeance (and they are a majority in the Senate as well), and I couldn’t bear the thought of Emmer actually becoming governor. When I went to bed, Dayton was ahead, but only by thousands of votes. When I woke up, it was the same. As you all probably know, Dayton was declared the winner, Emmer demanded a recount, and it was off to the races to see who would come out on top.
Dayton did, by nearly 9,000 votes (out of over 2 million cast). Emmer conceded, and all left-thinking minds in Minnesota breathed a HUGE sigh of relief.
Now, why am I making you meander down memory lane with me? Because of this. It seems that the Minnesota Legislature is trying to pass its own version of a Forced Birth Bill that would ban abortions after 20 weeks except in cases of dire physical harm or death to the mother. They also want to block funding to Planned Parenthood, natch. The difference? Governor Mark Dayton, Democrat, who is pro-choice. Oh, and the fact that the Senate is pretty evenly split between Republicans and Democrats, which means it would be hard for the Senate to overturn a veto.
That’s it. The only reason we don’t have an abortion bill in MN, poised on the brink of passing, similar to the one in Idaho is because of 9,000 votes.
A local poll notes that 62% of voters think the Republicans have brought no change or made things worse when they (the Republicans) took over the MN Congress. The House was supposed to stay safely Republican in 2012, but now it’s up for grabs. The thought is that independent voters voted Republican this time because they were pissed off at the Democrats in charge last time and now are even more dismayed by the figgery that the Republicans are displaying this time around. I suppose it’s a good thing that voters are noticing that elections have consequences, and not necessarily ones they like. However.
A note to the local indies or whomever voted for the Republicans and are now dissatisfied with the Republicans’ performance: Do your dingdang research first. They are doing exactly what they said they’d do. It’s not like they were hiding their extremeness or misdirecting your attention away from it. No, they were letting their rightwingbatguanocrazy flags fly for all to see. That picture of the Madison protest I posted? It easily could have been Minneapolis if Emmer had been governor. And, some of the people who voted for Emmer would have been marching in protest, too, saying, “This isn’t what I voted for” as Emmer abolished minimum wage and gave massive tax cuts to corporations.
Except, it would have been exactly what you had voted for. Emmer never made any pains to hide his political ideology. In fact, he was pretty explicit about his plans if he were elected governor. So, to cry foul afterwards is really not acceptable. It’s up to the citizenry to educate itself BEFORE going to the poll so there will be no need for buyer’s remorse later. I know most people do not follow politics the way I do. I wouldn’t expect them to do that. However, there is no excuse for not knowing the basic positions a candidate holds BEFORE voting so that one can make an informed decision at the polls.
And, for the local Democrats who voted third party to teach the Dems a lesson: Knock it off. The time for intraparty fighting is during the primaries. After that, we need to unite and get the Democratic nominee in office–especially if the alternative is a Lipton Tea ‘Bagger candidate. If you are not down with that, then you are no ally of mine.
*Snow and sub-zero temps rank HIGHLY on that list.
**Victory in relative terms as people were fearing they may claim the Senate as well, and many of the Tea ‘Bagger backed candidates fell to the wayside.
***Another post for another day.
****Thanks for thinking a swear so I could type it. God, I miss my swears so much.
Yea and verily. You hit the nail on the head.
Thanks, girl. I put a lot of thought into it.
As a fellow pissed off Minnesotan, you had me until the diatribe against third party candidates. It’s true that liberals in this state ought to toughen up and start primarying conservative Dems. But they won’t until the DFL shows that it’s willing to become more responsive to shaking up its very rigid hierarchy. I have many friends who are trying to work within the DFL to reform it, but they haven’t had nearly as much success as another friend, Farheen Hakeem, when she scared the crap out of the Minneapolis DFL establishment by running as a strong Green.
Obviously I would not prefer a Tom Emmer administration to a duly shamed DFL party. GOD NO. I am very happy that Mark Dayton will be vetoing many of these disgusting anti-woman bills. But watch the aftermath of the vetoes closely and you will see that there might actually be enough pro-life DFLers for an override. Then what??
I suggest that shaming non-DFL progressives isn’t as helpful as reminding the DFL that they need to start taking women’s rights (and their votes, money, volunteer time, etc.) seriously.
Looking at her bio, I see Farheen keeps running for, and losing, progressively higher offices, instead of focusing on and winning a local office and building a track record of actually governing and serving constituents to prove that she’s worthy of moving up. And she was the Green 2010 candidate for Governor who, if she had drawn a few more votes, would have ushered Emmer into office. I don’t think she’s an example that actually supports your hypothesis.
These pro-life DFLers of whom you speak, I’m going to stick my neck way out and guess they mostly represent districts that lean GOP. If you can challenge them at the primary level and actually win the election with a pro-choice D instead of turning the district over to a GOPer, that would be terrific.
Shannon, first of all, it wasn’t a diatribe. Believe me, if it were a diatribe, you would know. Second, I’m not shaming anyone; I’m stating a fact. If you believe that voting third party to teach the Dems a lesson is a viable option in these times, then you are not my ally. I would rather have eighty-five percent of what I want from the Democratic Party than nothing from the Republican Party. You say you’re glad we didn’t get Emmer, but as Allan pointed out, had your preferred candidate received a few thousand more votes, we would have had Emmer.
I voted third party in 1996 to make a point after ensuring Clinton would win. I have wanted to vote third party since but haven’t because in reality, we have a two-party system. Especially in elections that are close, I am not going to use my vote to make a political statement when actual real results can be dangerous to the state.
I am an ardent supporter of women’s rights–for ALL women. Most people who vote third party are in the position to be the least affected by the laws the Republicans pass. How is helping poor women by splitting the vote and allowing Republicans to take office? It isn’t.
Pawlenty won twice because many Democrats voted third party to teach the Dems a lesson. He gutted the state. Emmer almost won, in part for the same reason, and he would have finished us off. It is a luxury right now to make a protest vote.
@ Shannon:
“Obviously I would not prefer a Tom Emmer administration to a duly shamed DFL party. GOD NO. I am very happy that Mark Dayton will be vetoing many of these disgusting anti-woman bills. But watch the aftermath of the vetoes closely and you will see that there might actually be enough pro-life DFLers for an override. Then what??”
Then you maybe realize that indifference or hostility to DFL’ers in general, spurred by progressive poutrage and Republican ratfucking, cost us both houses of the legislature last fall, and you begin to understand that elections do in fact have consequences.
And then you know that not voting, or going “Green” in protest, is not a realistic option. Wasn’t, isn’t, and won’t be. Full stop.
I met the Green candidate for Mayor of St. Paul a couple cycles ago. She had no answer for me when I asked why they were always aiming their campaigns at the top of the pyramids, especially when I used the analogy of trying to build a house from the roof-peak down rather than from the foundation up. And what, I followed, did they think they were going to accomplish with a chief executive and no legislative base to work from?
Again, no answer. No real grasp of the concept of governing, just a starry-eyed vision.
Governing is nasty, crappy, hard, complicated, frustrating work, and those are the good days.
Greens have ideals and very little in the way of practical measures in mind to do the things those ideals impel them toward advocating. The Independence Party, that misbegotten offspring of Ross Perot’s and Jesse Ventura’s quixotic campaigns, thankfully this year ran an essentially moderate Republican instead of a moderate Dem, or we’d be Wisconsin West right now.
What “protest voters” really do not grasp, and this is abundantly clear, is that the Republicans will be in lockstep every time out. When we fragment, for misguided principle or any other reason, they benefit and things get worse.
Burn that preceding graf into your heart.
The answer is more (and better) Dems, at least for now, not bringing some third element into the mix, especially one based, as so many third party campaigns are, on some misguided purity test.
TGwtP, you said it better than I did in my response. Excellent comment.
Hey, the system sucks. Power is concentrated in the hands of wealthy white men, no matter what party to whom they pledge allegiance. So what can we do about it?
One option, as you mention, is to challenge anti-progressives in the party. Unfortunately, this doesn’t happen often enough. You suggest that it’s because the areas would go GOP otherwise, and I say we let them go. Collin Peterson gobbles up much-needed resources from the Democratic Party, then repays that debt by voting to defund Planned Parenthood. If Peterson votes with the GOP, why shouldn’t he be on their payroll, instead?
The DFL’s bumbling on women’s issues cost them a seat in 15B by ten votes (http://www.mnprogressiveproject.com/diary/7918/mn-dfl-not-as-mean-spirited-as-the-other-guy-most-of-the-time). The winner, King Banian, has gone on to co-sponsor some odious bills, including overturning Doe v. Gomez. THAT crap is hurting poor women, not Farheen Hakeem’s candidacies. Running for office gives her a significant platform. When she speaks, the DFL listens.
We have the same goals, clearly. I think it’s possible to affect change from within AND without the system. I suppose my point is that we SHOULD be allies.
“Let them go GOP” is this year’s “Let them eat cake”. In the very comment where you shout that some mailers from the FDL cost Lewis an election (and not her own campaigning or the general GOP wave), and what horrible horrible consequences that has had for women, you can make such a statement. Yes, let them go GOP. Great solution.
“for the local Democrats who voted third party to teach the Dems a lesson: Knock it off.”
Too all Americans everywhere who continue to vote for Democrats and Republicans: KNOCK IT OFF. You and your parties have brought this great country to the very brink of ruin. Freedom and independence begins today with freedom and independence from the dictatorship of the Republican-Democrat two-party state.
And in the real world, those of us who care about actual people vote Democratic–the party in which at least some of the members care about real live people instead of just espousing ideology.
ETA: And, really. Let’s be excruciatingly honest. Most of the skullduggery, especially in the last ten years, has been instigated and installed by the Republicans. Both sides are NOT the same.
From all the available evidence, it is obvious that the primary “people” the Democratic party cares about are the corporate persons that constitute the banking industry, the insurance industry, the telecommunications industry, the military industrial complex and so on.
Checked out your blog, Mr. Poli-Tea Party. I especially enjoyed your outrage over the Daily Kos scolding a diarist calling for a third party.
Um, bright one, a private blog is not a public square and the Daily Kos administration is not the government, and they have the complete right to dictate the terms on which you can post or comment there.
Their mission statement is to elect more and better Democrats. Got it? If you don’t support that goal, you’re on the wrong blog. Being upset that they won’t let people advocate for the downfall of the Democratic Party is like being upset that the RNC doesn’t invite Cynthia McKinney to speak at their convention.
It appears when you say “check out” you don’t actually mean “read”. In the post to which you refer I explicitly point out that sites like Daily Kos are not the public square and have a right to exclude anyone they like. The point was rather that there is nothing “natural” or “organic” about support for the Democratic and Republican parties, as the apologists for the two-party state assert. Support for the parties is predicated upon discrimination, exclusion and marginalization of rational alternatives to the dictatorship of the two-party state.
@ d.eris:
“Support for the parties is predicated upon discrimination, exclusion and marginalization of rational alternatives to the dictatorship of the two-party state.”
Your supposed rational alternative leads to one-party dictatorship, and a very much less benevolent one. Had you ever considered that?
Have you looked at Wisconsin, Ohio, or Michigan in the last few months? That’s what happens when our half of the “two-party state” stays home or looks for “rational alternatives” and it’s not a pretty sight.
Sometimes, we have to play defense in life. This was one of those times, and we failed miserably, largely due to the “Let Barack do it” folks and people like you who think you’re teaching someone a lesson or making some needless point.
Grow up, maybe?
“Your supposed rational alternative leads to one-party dictatorship, and a very much less benevolent one. Had you ever considered that?”
Actually, the supposed two-party system has already ushered in a one-party dictatorship in numerous states all across the country which are completely dominated by one or the other faction of the political class.
Have you looked at the state of the country as such over the last months and years? The constant erosion of rights, liberties and even the very rule of law under the cover of “emergency” measures that never seem to be lifted, the endless expansion of the global warfare and corporate welfare state and so on. That’s what happens when you vote for Democrats and Republicans.
One of the primary features of “growing up” is establishing autonomy and independence. It’s long past time that Americans “grew up” and declared their independence from their abusers and enemies in the Democratic and Republican parties.
Got a question, for those of us that have ran, that have been elected, and are waiting for the DFL to grow a backbone or assume a progressive stance, why would we stick with such a weenie party? I am considering doing the same thing. The DFL does not stand up to their elected officials that go against party lines like the GOP does, and the waiver and every tough social issue out there.
I am waiting for Martin to take a stance and I have yet to see it, I am waiting to see the DFL take a stance and have yet to see it. Why would I as a woman, a pro choicer, a feminist, an environmentalist, a progressive want to stand with a bunch of spineless weenies?
How about, at least our weenies have hearts? Or how about if our weenies get strong support they can change? Or how about retaining control of the congress, even with weenies, is better than having them under GOP control?
If this isn’t enough, I’ll try and think up some more.
You are more than welcome to go stand with the party of Bobby Franklin, Rick Santorum, Mike Huckabee and their dominionist guru David Barton if you like…….
I understand completely where d.eris is coming from. I personally do not see any significant distinction between this administration and the prior administration. Of course, there are differences. But in critical truly ideological policy issues, he has not really been able to initiate change.
In fact, I had a similar discussion right here.
That being said, I would vote Obama over any 3rd party just to cock block the GoP and I just can not conceive of a candidate rising from the GoP that I would ever trust with the reins of power.
Now that I got that out of the way…
America’s political sickness lies not with the executive branch but with the legislative branch. Congress is full of bought and paid for proles who have LONG AGO set aside their constitutional duties for the gift of a corporate free ride.
If we, as the democratic base, primary challenge anyone, it should be the corporatist democrats in Congress. If congress did it’s damned job as the constitution defined it, we could elect Joseph Stalin and he couldn’t hurt this nation.
The way the congress is set up it is the majority party that runs all the committees. And it is the committees that set the agenda, decides what bills get to the floor and is responsible for the language in the bills. Among other things.
That is why it’s very important that we retain the majority in the Senate and take back the majority in the House.
And frankly, I think that anyone that says both parties are the same are unthinking idiots. Do you think that the new GI bill would have passed with a GOP majority? How about the Ledbetter act? How about the funding for SCHIP? And I could go on and on. Sure not all of our critters vote exactly the way we want, but there is still safety in numbers and controlling the committees is the safer way to go.
Maybe the media has to try and paint a false equivalency about the two parties, but any real person with half a brain is just stupid to think that. There is just too much proof that they are entirely different.
@ Kewalo:
“Maybe the media has to try and paint a false equivalency about the two parties, but any real person with half a brain is just stupid to think that.”
I don’t have a problem with “the media” doing that, at least not so much of one, after all, their mission, if you will, is to generate pseudo-controversies in order to generate viewers, thus ratings, and ultimately advertisers’ dollars as revenue. If you wanted to buy a primetime roadblock on every cable and satellite net in the US urging people to turn off their sets and read Tolstoy, they’d happily take your money.
What I have a major problem with is the self-styled progressives who think that anyone who isn’t to the left of Kucinich is a Republican, and therefore there is a (false) equivalency between the two major parties.
There is not.
Grow up and get over it, all of you, there is not.
Granted, I’m sure there are some paid Republican ratfuckers out there urging that false equivalency, as they clearly benefit from disenchantment on our side.
And there are the Libertarian Greenwald/Hamsher crowd, with their own diseased agenda, to be sure.
So what do we do?
Simple answer, more and better Dems. The more we get, the further we can push good ideas, set agendas, pass things, make change happen. Congress needs to get a lot deeper shade of blue for that, we know we can’t always depend on every Dem so the thing to do is make the marginal ones less important.
Like it or not, the two-party system is the hand we’re dealt. Complaining about that is like arguing about what color to paint the rebuilt house before putting out the fire.
TGWTP…I absolutely agree with you. I am just sick to death of people that say the two parties are all the same or that Pres. Obama is like Bush. It makes me want to vomit…literally.
I have to admit I do get pissed off at the blue dogs. But as long as we keep the majority with good committee assignments I think we should put up with them rather then hand the committee chairs to the GOP. I wish more of the loud mouths would really learn how government works.
And I’m certainly with you on getting more and better dems. God willing we’ll do that in 2012. (sigh)
Co-sign this. And again, many people who say there is no difference between this administration and the one before, the same people who say all the differences have been cosmetic, are the very people who are least affected by the changes that have been made during this administration.
Anyone who thinks the changes you mentioned plus healthcare reform and the repeal of DADT would have happened under a McCain/Palin administration is being willfully ignorant or simply does not care about aforementioned issues.
Im sorry, I thought we were talking about the MN DFL…. If you want to expand beyond that fine, but the article seemed to be focused on MN politics and parties…just sayin
The points Kewalo and others are making about control of the legislative branch apply at the state level equally. When Dems control legislatures, they may not accomplish as much as progressives would like, and they may have to horse-trade and make concessions with conservaDems and GOPers to get laws passed; but I’ll take those flawed and compromised laws any day over the straight up evil of a GOP controlled legislature any damn day of the week.
Don’t forget the city councils and county boards.
And school boards, too, since they seem to be under perpetual attack by creationists and other such lower life forms.
I’m sorry, I guess I missed this was about MN, I didn’t mean to change the conversation. But Allan and TGWTPT are right…this applies to all levels of government.
And TGWTPT..the GOP has been very clever in stacking the school boards. It’s just criminal what those anti-science, God spouting, evil people are doing to our kids education.
The problem is, the God-botherers and anti-science types don’t really get that they are being used.
Does anyone in Republican leadership honestly believe in their own BS? They know it’s useful swill for those who are not long on critical thinking skills. And with roughly 20% of adults in the US being functionally illiterate (last time I looked) they have enough of an audience to make it work unless we fight hard every time out.
(And isn’t that 20% number utterly shameful? How can we possibly think that’s anything other than criminal neglect?)
They give that angry, ill-informed pile of cannon fodder just enough to keep them interested and nothing more. Because if they ever got enough of what they wanted, they’d just go home thinking they’d won.
And if they ever do “win” this nation will not be worth living in.
“However, there is no excuse for not knowing the basic positions a candidate holds BEFORE voting so that one can make an informed decision at the polls.”
Absolutely! Why people just blindly vote for whomever jingles the shiniest bauble in front of them is something I will never, ever understand.
I will also never understand people who don’t vote.
And I will especially never understand people who vote for someone else just to “teach so and so a lesson”, even if they don’t particularly like the person they ARE voting for.
I must be living in a land filled with children in adult bodies.
@ d.eris, since I can’t nest another reply:
“One of the primary features of “growing up” is establishing autonomy and independence. It’s long past time that Americans “grew up” and declared their independence from their abusers and enemies in the Democratic and Republican parties.”
Sure, right, any time now. We’ll all declare our independence from the Democratic Party and the Republicans will vote in lockstep as they always do.
And then what?
Michigan/Ohio/Wisconsin nationwide?
What other hobbies do you have besides counterfactual reasoning?