We’re gearing up here because CabinBoytheElder is having a birthday today. I wasn’t sure what he wanted as a present. Who knows with these millennials?
But I am 100% confident that he isn’t concerned with Hillary Clinton one way or the other. I don’t think anyone from his generation is at this point.
Millennials had best wake up and start getting very actively involved for what is at risk is their future. They still have a long time to work and elections decided quite a few items about life.
Anyone that chooses not to VOTE has lost the right to complain about the Government. I am sick and tired of listening to the whining of people that do not vote.
Anyone that chooses not to VOTE has lost the right to complain about the Government. I am sick and tired of listening to the whining of people that do not vote.
I don’t want to pick on you, but I hear this a lot, especially from older liberals who think the system works. It’s worth replying at length because IMO it’s a truly toxic opinion. Speaking as someone whose livelihood for several decades has revolved around civic engagement – and who has a perfect voting record, FWIW – it’s also bullshit. And it also comes from a place of enormous privilege, usually from someone who has the sort of class and educational background, and perhaps race and gender as well, where they just assume that their opinion matters.
Fairly or not, there are a lot of people who think voting is pointless. And who can blame them? Most non-political people pay attention to voting primarily during the presidential races. I’ve lived in…uh…about a dozen different states in my life, in all four time zones. Even if there were presidential candidates with a chance of winning who believed in a lot of the things I do – which has never happened, ever – not once during a presidential election have I lived in a state whose electoral votes were in question at the time. Nine presidential elections. Not once.
This is the norm in our country. If you don’t live in one of about a dozen states – except for Florida, Ohio, and maybe Pennsylvania or Michigan, they’re not even the more populous ones – if the outcome is in doubt in your state it means that nationally it’s a landslide and it’s over. And here on the West Coast, it’s usually decided before polls close regardless. And that’s in nine elections – for a millennial who’s only voted in one or two, the impression is even more skewed.
The real place voting and civic engagement matters is in local politics. And how would anyone know to care about those? TV news doesn’t cover it – they’re busy chasing fires and car crashes. Even if someone happens to read a newspaper, they have a fraction of the local reporters or coverage they once did. Most schools certainly don’t teach civic engagement or explain why it might be fun or interesting, let alone effective. Unless you and your friends happen to be affected by an issue, local politics won’t be on your radar. Ever.
And all this is beside the point. I participate in the economy. Therefore, I pay taxes. If I don’t have any meaningful say in how those dollars are spent – and most people, voters or not, don’t, because the incumbents making those decisions are very hard to remove from office if they want to stay there, and even if “your guy” is in office most people don’t have the time or interest to track budgetary committee meetings and go over line items – I forfeit my right to have an opinion if I didn’t cast a ballot? That is random, privileged, self-righteous bullshit.
Our system is broken in a bazillion different ways – the infusion of the kind of money most of us won’t see in our lifetimes being only one obvious example. But you, and many others, think that someone who chooses not to bother trying to influence a system they think is unaccountable and beyond their ability to influence has no right to complain that the system is broken?
Let’s try that logic in a few other settings where people perceive they have no influence:
“I don’t buy my favorite xxx any more because they’re cheaply made now and wear out or break immediately. Therefore, I have no right to complain that xxx’s wear down or break immediately.”
“Our local police department acts like it’s above the law. There’s no mechanism other than internal investigations for holding any officer accountable for illegal or criminal behavior, and those investigations always exonerate the officers, every time. But since I’m not an Internal Affairs cop, I have no right to complain about it.”
“I won’t set foot in an airplane because too many of them blow up. Therefore, I have no right to complain that too many airplanes blow up.”
That’s how you sound to the people you’re criticizing. Now, I happen to think that they’re wrong, but I guarantee your judgmental harrumphing – as though they’re the problem, not a political system that isn’t worth their time – isn’t going to lead any of them to want to join you in being more politically engaged. Quite the opposite. As AG would say, bet on it.
Applause
To say nothing of reducing political participation to just voting and elections…
Tupperware is always nice.
Mine also recently passed and my parents didn’t know what to get. And I’m not a help; I’d just tell them not to get anything because I don’t need anything (which is true).
Is it safe to assume that the Trump phenomenon, irrespective of other outcomes, has already demolished Jeb’s campaign? I would be pretty impressed if it hasn’t.
A plane ticket to Cancun.
Happy birthday to your boy, CabinGirl and BooMan!!
Here’s a couple of celebrations for your collective pleasure:
And, a fun gift for the heck of it (I don’t think your boy has one of these):
Bonus points for Kristen Schaal casting.
Give him a gift card.
I made him hand-knit socks that have traveled from coast to coast, up to Canada, and down to Florida while in the process. 🙂
Wonderful gift!!
it would appear that the great clinton juggernaut has diminished somewhat over the past couple of months.
when the party faithful start to express these kind of concerns this far out…well, you get the sense that all’s not well under the democratic tent.
l do believe, several commenters here, dataguy in particular, predicted just such a continuing fall-out from this particular faux pas.
bring on the second team…clinton’s choking early.
“when the party faithful start to express these kind of concerns this far out…”.
It’s worthwhile to keep some perspective and remain tethered to the reality-based community, isn’t it?
http://www.vox.com/2015/8/27/9214461/clinton-poll-lead
“A new Quinnipiac University poll shows Hillary Clinton coasting to a crushing victory in a three-way race against Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden, winning 45 percent of the vote, compared with 22 for Sanders and 18 for Biden.
And the good news for Clinton doesn’t stop there.
The poll shows Clinton beating Jeb Bush head to head.
The poll shows Clinton beating Marco Rubio head to head.
The poll shows Clinton beating Donald Trump head to head.
The poll shows Clinton winning in a landslide in scenarios where Trump runs as an independent.
The poll did not test Clinton against Scott Walker or other possible nominees.
So how did the media report this poll showing that if the election were held this week Hillary Clinton would win? Well, as bad news for Hillary Clinton!”
Those “party faithful” are picking an odd way to respond to their supposed electoral anxiety, desperately pushing for Biden to enter the race when, in his two previous POTUS campaigns, Joe failed to be competitive at all.
And it’s also worth noting that the email issue which is taking a lot of oxygen right now is going to be resolved one way or the other well before the 2016 election. Hillary will be testifying before the Making Up Bullshit About Benghazi Special Committee in October. That will be many months before the first Presidential primary, and more than a year before the general election. And, it appears very unlikely that the Justice Department’s non-criminal investigation will be drawn out into the primary season.
Finally, while Sanders is performing very well in polling in New Hampshire, a State which borders Vermont, Bernie is still running far behind Hillary in Iowa. For those who respond by saying “Well, sure, but Obama was way behind Clinton in 2007 as well,” the facts tell a different tale:
https:/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statewide_opinion_polling_for_the_January_Democratic_Party_presidentia
l_primaries,_2008
Barack polled within single-digit percentages of Hillary in Iowa from January to December 2007, and closed that small gap continually throughout the year. Meanwhile, here’s the mountain that remains for Hillary’s challengers in Iowa today:
https:
/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statewide_opinion_polling_for_the_Democratic_Party_presidential_primar
ies,_2016#Iowa
The closest poll throughout 2015 shows Hillary leading by 19 points over her closest competitor, with trend lines very slightly heading Sanders’ way, stressing the term very slightly.
most people don’t understand the email issue. even on this blog that’s the case, not to mention the general public. that an employee of the dept of state might use a private server for work related communications we would consider outrageous, but SOS? should not be tolerated. we expected no less of the Bush administration, but “both sides do it” doesn’t let Hillary off the hook. anyway, what I’m saying is, that article shows DNC anticipating problems down the road, with the email issue and her response to it. Also, don’t forget she did not disclose all the foreign donors to Clinton Foundation, breaking her agreement w. Obama. Our no drama president doesn’t get upset with much, but imo this is the kind of thing (I’d use the word betrayal) that would.