Voting: A Matter Of Conscience? Patriotic Duty? Self Defense? #DoitforQ?
(Brunette here.) Even a few short years ago, I’d have insisted I’d never vote again. Too much corruption in government; crooked politicians not even worthy of a “lesser evil” vote; rigged elections and voter fraud . . . I was probably as thoroughly disillusioned with politics as it’s possible to be. Years ago, I’d even written an essay or two against voting — although I always recognized it as a matter of conscience, and once got rebuked for writing a piece sympathetic to voters despite my personal stance.
On the other hand, I’ve tried never to balk at challenging and when need be, changing my opinions — after all, you know what they say about opinions (“They’re like @$$holes, everybody has one”). I’m prone to changing opinions whenever I decide circumstances warrant. Being consistent can mean being consistently wrong — an unfortunately common approach these days, particularly among those who pride themselves on being educated. My father, who had a PhD, once said that “An education is something most people are willing to pay for, and not get.” I skipped the debt and have never regretted it. 😉
Anyway, I’m sure there are others who are wrestling with the voting conundrum, much like myself. Dang it, after all my years of certainty I’d never vote again, I’ve now gone ahead and sent in my registration. It took a lot of internal struggle and much soul searching to do so . . . but I did it. Why? Well, I didn’t vote for Donald Trump in 2016, wasn’t registered to vote, and for many years I’d simply tuned out politics to the best of my ability. So I’m doubly grateful for all those good people (AKA “deplorables”) who DID vote for Trump.
There’s not a lot I can do to help Donald Trump drain the swamp; but voting for any good MAGA candidates on the ballot is something I can do . . . and perhaps persuade one or two fence sitters to join me. Please note, I’m not telling anyone else what they should do, just offering my own perspective for anyone who finds it helpful. There are probably lots of people like me who burnt out after suffering through Obama, the Bushes and Clintons, and because of the corrupt nature of politics, vote fraud, etc. Can you blame them? Now Q has promised to protect the vote — see “Your Vote Counts” graphic above. I trust Q. 🙂
Some time ago, during a dinner party, a lawyer friend — and fellow Trump supporter — commented that (as a well-to-do middle aged white family man) he’d felt directly in the cross-hairs of Obama’s policies. I intuitively grasped his meaning, even though his circumstances and mine are very different . . . I felt similarly. And I’m sure he was right: Directly in Obama’s cross-hairs, as a freedom loving American and critical thinker, with an able grasp of Austrian economics. I asked him if he’d been following the Q drops; he said he hadn’t been but knows people who do. Maybe he is now. 🙂
Frankly, I tried to ignore Obama: His (real or fake?) birth certificate, religion (Christian, or Muslim?), even Michelle’s (Michael’s?) true sex . . . how is that stuff any of my business? But: Hindsight being 20/20, there were so many red flags — how on earth did Obama get elected to the highest office in America? What were his qualifications, and why do all his records seem to have been sealed? Who paid for his Harvard education, why does no one seem to remember him being at Columbia? Why did American discourse deteriorate so severely under the Obama administration? Why is anyone not on the far left suddenly deemed racist, homophobic, misogynistic, etc., when that’s obviously untrue?
People of my generation were (generally speaking) raised to be “colorblind.” It worked well enough for me, that it got me into trouble once. The most talented painter in my high school art class was an African American — I asked him, “How do you make skin color?” I meant, of course, that I knew there was a formula for mixing pigments to approximate skin tones, which I wanted to learn . . . but I could tell right away that I’d caused offense; he stiffened and turned away, and never spoke to me again. I’d meant it as a sort of compliment, not to be hurtful in any way. It became a valuable life lesson for me: Never take offense where none is intended.
I try to remember that lesson, anytime I feel my hackles rising . . . and try to avoid awkward phrasing that could be taken the wrong way. Over the years I’ve often regretted not immediately apologizing to him — but somehow I sensed the damage had been done, and a clumsy apology might only make things worse. Honestly too, I felt a little shocked that he’d interpreted a silly — if terribly worded — question as intentionally hateful; only in retrospect did I understand how it must have sounded to him.
My train of thought made an unscheduled stop with that recollection; however, it felt analogous to today. It seems the political left has gone totally off the rails since Donald J. Trump got elected. The left appears determined to take offense at the slightest provocation, real or imagined. Any accusation made by them (however contrived) must be taken absolutely seriously, regardless of any evidence (or lack thereof.) Any apology made in good faith is just fuel for their vitriolic outrage; the loony left is teaching the right — and sensible people in the middle — that apologies are counterproductive: They’ll be used AGAINST you.
But any criticism directed at the left, regardless of how justified, or how measured, is an attack met with howls and shrieks and even threats of violence. Leftist controlled social media platforms censor conservative speech (increasingly that includes anyone in the middle, too) and viewpoints. The dinosaur Fake News outlets plod toward their ultimate destruction, as nimbler startup projects that will replace them begin to take shape. Trump and Q are re-making America in ways that will eventually become obvious . . . and I suspect one unstated goal is to make the left liberal again. 😉 (Amen to that!)
Lots of sane people formerly on the left are walking away — check out Brandon Straka’s Walkaway movement here — Vin and I had our own walkaway moments decades ago, though our East coast families remain mired in leftism. We love them, although it’s hard to talk about much beyond pets and the weather. Let them do the talking is the safest strategy, even if it involves a bit of tongue biting . . . as it inevitably does. 😉
As far as the regressive left goes, I’d have to concur with Twitter favorite Imperator Rex (among others.) Come November, vote them into oblivion or electoral extinction. Not out of hate, but out of love for America and for them as Americans. Their hearts may be in the right place, but most seem to have their heads in the sand or the clouds or other places I won’t speculate on. Let’s make certain America doesn’t go the way of the dodo — and thank God (odd as it sounds, LOL) for Anthony Weiner. Strangely enough, when all the truth is told, he may be among the least of the despicable characters. He played an unenviable part, for sure. But darn effective . . . 😉
If you’re still scratching your head as to “Who is Q,” Imperator Rex addresses the more pertinent question of what is Q, here — I could quibble with a point or two, but it’s a magnificent summary. (One important distinction; Q’s been posting on 8chan, rather than 4chan — where the first Q drops appeared — for many months.) Although Rex doesn’t seem to follow the Q drops closely, I have tremendous respect for the fact that he perceives the brilliance and significance of Q’s crucial role in The Great Awakening, unlike some others who casually dismiss Q. @stormisuponus did a fantastic 10 minute video based on an older thread by Rex, “How America Was Almost Destroyed By Criminals – and How They Lost” for those of you who dislike Twitter, but would like an introduction to Rex. 😉
Some readers might fault me for not voting all along; others might accuse me of somehow “selling out.” With all due respect, I choose to be guided by my own principles, and refuse to remain prisoner to positions I’ve held in the past. I won’t quarrel with decisions you make according to your conscience; kindly return the favor. 🙂 And for those who grumble that Q is causing MAGA people to sit back and “Trust the plan,” that’s untrue . . . I’m sure I’d have registered to vote for Trump in 2020, but not so sure I’d have made the effort in time for the mid-terms it’s harder to get excited about. Thanks largely to Q, for that.
WWG1WGA!
September 15th, 2018 at 5:36 am
An interesting admission, this, as I just registered to vote myself for the first time in many years, having realized long ago that Mencken was (almost?) always right. Whether or not I actually hang a chad this year, I view registration as the only way I can resume my fight for jury nullification; and if a candidate, initiative, or other issue causes me to hold my nose and jump in the voter pool, it’s an added little benefit. Warmest regards to you and Vin!
September 15th, 2018 at 5:49 am
“Never take offense where none is intended.”
Never take offense even if it’s intended. It usually says more about them than about you, the latter being proven multiple times daily by the idiocy of the left.
As for voting, I’ll never vote again, unless, maybe, in referenda. I know the temptation, which is why I call ‘democracy’ ’emotional blackmail’.
Where I live we have the direct vote system, so maybe a vote has a different ‘value’ towards the end result than in the US system.
But here it works like this:
In general elections, a party needs about 65.500 votes per seat in parliament. So if I vote, my infuence is 1/65.500st of a seat, i.e. 0.0015%. There are 150 seats.
As my voting or not voting has no effect on the voting behavior of others, the difference between the two is negligible, and thus, the idea that it woukd nake a difference whatsoever is an illusion.
As my voting *does* count towards the turnout, which is always used to legitimize the existence of government, the choice is easily made.
I won’t vote.
And that’s assuming elections are fair, which I can safely say is *never* the case. Elections are rigged, always and everywhere, like last week was obvious in Sweden again.
But that’s part of the ‘game’. If you participate in the game, you accept those (crooked) rules. If you accept the rules of the game, and you lose, there’s no complaining; as one of the players you are co-responsible for the outcome, as your participating was a voluntary choice, accepting the possibility of losing.
In a normal game, if I don’t play, the outcome should not affect me. I can neither win nor lose. That is the *big* difference with the elections ‘game’, which causes people to feel pressured to participate, as they feel the need to make a difference, which, as outlined above, is fiction.
Hence my designation ’emotional blackmail’.
I will not budge; I won’t play. People holding power over other people is a BadIdea(tm) in general, and the impression that it would somehow be legitimate makes it a lot worse.
This is not to tell you you made the wrong choice or anything, you are your own boss. It’s just that whenever I struggle with the vote/not vote issue, I think of the reasoning above and leave it behind me.
Cheers.
September 15th, 2018 at 9:51 am
Hi, Rene — (Vin, here) Your calculation is legitimate. We’ve given it serious and ongoing consideration; The Brunette adhered to it, I believe, for a decade.
Its strongest leg of support is that plebiscites have been held invalid when “voter turnout” falls below 20 percent. (Of course, that’s generally counted as a percentage of “REGISTERED” voters. In fact, many elections see the participation of only a minority of those who would be theoretically eligible to participate — and the Powers That Be blithely insist THEY’RE legitimate — except when the vote unaccountably and unacceptably goes for knuckle-dragging, Neanderthal “Populists” who agree with the Dalai Lama that Europe is for the Europeans and that all these “refugees” should go home and repair their OWN countries, of course.)
L. Neil Smith’s best novel envisions an alternative world much changed for the better because a single word was inserted in our Declaration of Independence: government by “the UNANIMOUS consent of the governed.”
On the other hand, out of slightly more than 100 million votes cast in the Year 2000 U.S. presidential election, George W. Bush won the presidency over Al Gore because 537 more residents of the state of Florida voted for Bush than voted for Gore. Five hundred and thirty-seven. If 538 people had stayed home, or if 270 had voted differently . . .
In 2016, it’s been calculated that out of 130 million votes cast, Donald Trump won an unsurmountable, unchallengeable Electoral College victory over Hillary Clinton — despite the fact Hillary piled up a massive popular-vote majority of more than 2 million in California alone (most of those votes probably having been cast by illegal aliens with no conceivable legal right to participate) because somewhere between 70,000 and 80,000 people decided to vote for him instead of her in the three supposedly “solid Democratic” states of Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, one of which (Wisconsin) Hillary never even visited, because it was considered to be “in the bag.”
( https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/12/01/donald-trump-will-be-president-thanks-to-80000-people-in-three-states/?utm_term=.b8a5ad3ce927 .)
America — to some extent, the world — dodged a bullet because 80,000 people decided not to stay home, despite being told over and over again by pollsters and television pundits that the race was already decided, that Trump the Clown never stood a chance. . . .
I feel some gratitude toward those 80,000 voters, most of whom probably went against a blue-collar, working-class family tradition of voting Democrat that dates back to Franklin Roosevelt in the 1930s, who (like young Enzo the baker, standing alone with Michael Corleone in the hospital door) showed enough courage and spunk and contrariness to leave home, go wait in line on a chilly November Tuesday, and cast a vote for a candidate and a cause which they had been assured was laughable, ridiculous, hopeless . . .
— Vin
September 15th, 2018 at 11:39 am
Hi Vin,
“Its strongest leg of support is that plebiscites have been held invalid when “voter turnout” falls below 20 percent. (Of course, that’s generally counted as a percentage of “REGISTERED” voters.”
True. Actually, I’ve read about elections that were only deemed valid at a minimum turnout 0f 50%, can’t remember where that was. But when re-elections three times in a row didn’t make that 50% mark, the requirement was simply dropped and the results declared valid. Power comes from the barrel of a gun.
While 50% is already sketchy, your 20% doesn’t have a snowflake’s hope in hell to be viewed as legitimate by anyone. Which is good, as it reveals the true purpose of this folklore.
As for registered: anyone of the age of 18 years or older, holding a Dutch passport, is eligible to vote here. We don’t need to register, we get the ‘voters-pass’ sent home automatically. So that’s already a big difference from the US situation. In Belgium it’s even worse: voting is mandatory, unless you can prove you were out of the country at the day of the elections. That’s how important turnout is to the powers-that-be.
As for my calculation: the crux lies here: “As my voting or not voting has no effect on the voting behavior of others”…
I am not responsible for, and have no effect on, other people’s voting behavior, or even their behavior in general. They will vote, or not vote, regardless of my decision.
In your example, “If 538 people had stayed home”, that’s always going to be a hypothetical situation. The rational thing is to take the factual outcome, and then examine how your vote would have changed that outcome. It wouldn’t. That number would’ve become 537 or 539, depending on what you did or did not do, and that’s about it. No difference.
I can guarantee you that this holds true for all elections you ever did (not) participate in.
It’s that emotional, irrational ‘If’ consideration that makes people vote, which is why it’s emotional blackmail.
I share your feeling of gratitude that the decision fell ‘the right way’, or at least not the worst way of the available options, but the fact remains that the result would have been exactly the same whether you and/or the Brunette would have voted or not.
In the end we’re just passengers, forced to ride the collectivist waves.
September 15th, 2018 at 11:58 am
Afterthought:
“I share your feeling of gratitude that the decision fell ‘the right way’, or at least not the worst way of the available options”
This concerns the 2016 elections. We know Bush was bad, and Gore would’ve been bad. I’m sure 9/11 would’ve gone through anyway, as would have the Patriot Act.
Can’t really say who would’ve been worse, both are tremendous hypocrites, but Gore likely was the worst Agenda21 disciple. For others, of course, not for himself.
As for Trump: his latest 180 on Syria is not a good thing, and I can only think that he’s not doing that voluntarily. The Deep State still has a very big say in what’s happening. Let’s just say I’m aware that he may in theory be the most powerful man on earth (why not Putin?), but that his options are limited by the powers around him.
Still, he’s done a lot of stuff that his predecessors only talked about when convenient, but never dared act upon.
September 15th, 2018 at 1:18 pm
“he’d felt directly in the cross-hairs of Obama’s policies.”
GMTA. I’ve remarked many times that I’d so much rather have a loose cannon that occasionally discharges in my direction than an evil idologue who keeps a laser sight trained on my forehead 24/7.
September 15th, 2018 at 4:40 pm
John, nice to know I’m not alone! I do expect to vote, as NV is a swing state . . . we were so disgusted that it went blue in 2016, mainly because of Clark County. I waited too long to pay serious attention to the Trump campaign, and regret that in hindsight.
Of course, so much of politics is local — Sheriff, etc., ballot initiatives — it’s more likely that a vote can make a difference there. The downside is, having to pay attention to that stuff . . . but being registered is more of an incentive to keep up with local issues. 😉
Our warmest regards to you, too!
September 15th, 2018 at 6:51 pm
R — Your objections are legitimate; I shared them for ~15 years. And probably would, still, were I not in America in this unique time — “What a time to be alive!” 😀
Trump is a different sort of president. The Sun Tzu, Art of War president. If he’s got you fretting about Syria, chances are the real action is happening elsewhere; North Korea, Iran, trade with Mexico and Canada, and so on . . . it’s a mesmerizing and exhilarating show to witness, as Trump runs circles around his deep state adversaries. As I believe he is, and will continue to do: “Appear weak when you are strong, and strong when you are weak,” etc. It’s sheer genius. Simply incredible! 😉
You haven’t mentioned Q; perhaps you think I’m silly to be so excited about Trump and Q — I’m sure others feel that way and have been kind enough not to say so. But the Trump and Q show is like nothing else . . . I think it’ll be studied thousands of years from now, I’m absolutely astonished to be witness to it, and am sad so many others don’t or won’t see what’s happening under their noses. Ah, well . . .
And ultimately, Trump represents a return of power to “We the people” — a return to a system of government that, as Thoreau said, “That government which governs best, governs least.” I’m glad that you credit him for things he has been doing — there’s much more that will only become apparent with the passage of time, I am sure.
Q, for those who pay close attention, offers a sort of window into the mysterious doings behind the scenes of the transformative Trump administration. Like a ray of light, gradually illuminating a dark space, those who turn toward it are perhaps like the people in Plato’s cave, that are no longer held captive by flickering shadows on the wall. “Dark to light,” as Q says . . . I am overjoyed, overcome, ecstatic.
Is it possible that I’ll someday feel foolish? Always possible, but I’d have to feel foolish tomorrow about having done what I felt was right today. So, unlikely. You do you, and we appreciate you just the way you are. 🙂
September 15th, 2018 at 7:13 pm
Speaking of Overcome: A favorite song/band for Q, with love & gratitude:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ew_U2ittDVw&list=PLAFD0B6134F2074A2&index=25
(Anyone on Twitter, please feel free to share, it might get noticed there, no need to credit the source; I was so thrilled for @2runtherace today — still have tears in my eyes — but not sure I’d want that much attention.) 😉
Q, U are loved. 🙂 THANK YOU, so much! I AM overcome . . . praying for you, thanking God; unlike you, I never knew this day would come, and I’m delighted to see it. 😀
September 15th, 2018 at 7:17 pm
I had not shown up for an election in a while, so I went ahead and voted for Trump in the Republican Primary and then as president. DJ is no civil libertarian, but I liked his message and it was such a joy of seeing him troll the press like the little sorry incompetent bitches they are all the time. DJ has given us a gift by de-legitimizing the national media as liars and poop bags. And his wife is hot to. What other president has done that for us?
September 16th, 2018 at 2:20 am
Hi Brunette,
Yes, you got to be true to yourself.
Maybe you’ll feel foolish about it later on, but you could always feel foolish later on for *not* following your instincts.
There’s no way of knowing ahead, so you stick what you feel is right.
No, I haven’t mentioned Q, as I don’t quite know what to make of him(?). Even on Gab (I stopped with Twitter), people are ridiculing him, and I think that’s a mistake. I don’t think it’s just trolling. Like you, I feel there’s more to it, I’m just not quite sure what. Maybe I should spend some more time on it to get a better view, but lots of times there’s just some cryptic renark or a statement that does not appear to relate to anything.
Mind you, for Americans those statements may make sense, but outside of America we don’t get all the ‘news’, so we can’t connect all Q’s dots. At least I can’t.
I can see why you are excited about something brewing which appears to be pro ‘We the People’ (and mental sanity in general), and I do not think Trump is stupid, far from it. He is being fought by both houses, Dems and RINOs, which says something. He has the support of Rand Paul and, to an extent, Ron Paul, which is saying something too.
The collectivist train is running for the abyss for quite some time now, and currently only its driver intends to make it change course. Let’s hope he succeeds; he’ll need all the help he can get. If you feel voting for him is such help, by all means, follow your gut.
Warmest regards,
René.
September 17th, 2018 at 8:22 am
Belief comes first.
It forms the filter through which all perceptions must then pass.
Only after this do people even attempt to integrate perceptions in understanding.
It is self-evident that all Western nations are de facto Leftist Theocracies that share two main sacraments: Equalism and Altruism. They are Leftist because all are instances of the Gnostic Heresy, the urge to use the coercive power of the state to move Mankind toward some formulation of “perfection” (the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth, or Utopia, or whatever.)
This means that we all were raised from infancy steeping in this cesspool. Democracy is inherently leftist, embalmed with the notion that every man should be King-in-part. As George Carlin notes, think of the person of average intelligence, realize that half of people are more stupid than THAT, and further realize that they have the same input into the political system as DO YOU! And realize that in so-called “free countries” of the West, the single most invasive industry in existence is committed to manipulating all those legions of idiots to the express benefit of those who actually RULE.
Politics is downstream of this Leftist Theology. It is the Original Sin of this false religion. But thinking one can stand aside from the battle is akin to belief that one is morally superior to the robber by not fighting the robbery.
Politics is religious warfare. Mass graves are filled with those who thought the moral superiority of Conscientious Objection befitted them.
September 17th, 2018 at 6:11 pm
Hi, René,
Too bad you gave up on Twitter, but I suppose I can understand: It’s totally addictive, and increasingly tilted toward the TDS left. But I’ve found some great minds there, and it’s an easy place to lurk . . . unlike Gab, which I haven’t found lurker friendly at all. 🙁
People who ridicule Q? I don’t understand them, nor do I really want to. I absolutely agree they’re making a mistake to do so. Vin doesn’t follow Q like I do, but it’s not that he’s disinterested: Q requires genuine effort and a substantial investment of time, but that investment is its own reward. Essentially, perhaps, what we take away from Q is what we bring. And really, why should people who bring nothing take anything away from Q, and the anons who work so hard (and unselfishly) toward the Great Awakening?
Unfortunately, many Americans are still spellbound — hoodwinked, snookered — by MSM and other propaganda. I’m sure it’s far worse for people outside the U.S., where news is based on the worst American sources (CNN, NYT, WaPo, etc.) so of course it’d be difficult to make heads or tails of the Q drops. Aside from going directly to the Q drops and studying them, that is.
That’s why I recommend certain accounts on Twitter: people like Lisa Mei, Praying Medic, 2runtherace, and others, mine the 8chan boards for nuggets of info & insight to share with the rest of us.
But really, IMO, the best basic introduction to Q is to wrap your head around the MAGA agenda (“the Plan”) — and for that reason I’ve recommended links to a few short videos, most notably (in case you haven’t watched these before):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2qIXXafxCQ&app=desktop (6 min.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vw9N96E-aQ (13 min.)
I’m not exactly happy that my vocabulary now includes terms like “pedovore,” “spirit cooking,” and “duper’s delight,” but a refusal to face the evils of the world won’t lead us to a brighter future, but an unimaginably darker one. That’s why the great awakening is needed — evil had taken control to a point where humanity could have become permanently enslaved, apparently the globalists’ goal. Darn right, I’ll pick a side in that fight!
It’s well-nigh impossible to follow Q long and remain an atheist; once you’ve gazed into the abyss, evil becomes all too real and perilous to ignore. Obviously organized religion is NOT the solution; religious systems have sheltered the worst of pedophile offenders and abusers, and treated their faithful shamefully. Personally, I have never trusted anyone who presumed to get between me and God. God is not the problem! (Nor is Jesus. “The kingdom of God is within you.”) 😉
Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn’s impassioned plea (to Americans) not to abandon our Judeo-Christian roots rings true — the very basis of our American system of law and the U.S. Constitution (as those were designed to be, and I’m confident that’s what the Trump administration wants to return us to — to replace “the swamp”.)
Anyway, in the end I am certain you’ll be glad you didn’t join the braying (m)asses who ridicule Q and Trump supporters. It says a lot more about them (as you pointed out, WRT taking offense) than about Q. Or Trump. Or you, or me . . . 🙂
Much love! <3
Brunette
September 18th, 2018 at 6:10 pm
Deter Naturalist, great comments and much appreciated.
“This means that we all were raised from infancy steeping in this cesspool.” Indeed; it’s hard not to be angry at “leftists” . . . but as you say, we’re all more or less steeped in the Western culture, like so many fish in water. For those who discover they’re not well suited to the water, we’re compelled to grow legs and crawl out onto new territory, and adapt to it as best we can. (Maybe that’s where Darwin’s theory comes from?)
Arguably there is much to value in Western Civilization, but perhaps, most (if not all) of that derives from those who (metaphorically) grew legs and arose out of the swamp of their day. Not an easy thing to do; those videos of crabs trapped in a bucket and trying to pull back any potential escapees come to mind. Our fellow humans often seem to delight in trying to stymie attempts at self-liberation. Success can feel terribly lonely, unless one learns to love solitude. 🙂
“Belief comes first.” — Not sure if I’m reading you correctly; can only speak from my own experience: It seems to me I reached a stage where I realized I had to ‘excavate’ that strata of my being, and uproot some entrenched, long-established notions in order to progress toward understanding. It took a long time to get that far, though, and I still wonder how much progress I’ve really made. 🙁
“Politics is downstream of this Leftist Theology. It is the Original Sin of this false religion. But thinking one can stand aside from the battle is akin to belief that one is morally superior to the robber by not fighting the robbery.
Politics is religious warfare. Mass graves are filled with those who thought the moral superiority of Conscientious Objection befitted them.”
Very well said! That pretty well describes the reality of the situation; abstaining from the battle — or the vote — can feel like the principled thing to do, until suddenly you realize the battle is taking place on your front lawn and the vote is whether the wolves will be dining at your place tonight (or not.) Not hard to figure out what to do, then — fight, and vote like your life depends on it. 😉
September 22nd, 2018 at 7:48 am
I have long believed voting does not matter from many angles.
Math says it is useless.
“It does not matter who votes. What matters is who counts the votes”.
There is not a tankers damned bit off difference between elephants and asses once they are in office. Look what happened to all of the so called Tea Party candidates. Sucked into the swamp.
I did not care one wit about Ron Paul in 08 or 12. If monkeys Had flown out my ass and he “won” , it would have made no difference. The Swamp Abides. He would have done nothing, Ron was neck deep in the swamp too long adding earmarks to the budget left and right.
Tricky Dick-vs-Humpty…. Trick Dick-vs-McGovernment …. Carter-vs-Fudd ….. Carter (remember when he was the worst president in history? Ah good old days) -vs-Reagan…. Reagan-vs-Mondale…Butch-vs-Dukakis…. Butch-vs-Hilary and her bitch -vs-Perot…Hilary and her bitch-vs-Blob Dough-vs-perot… Dark lord-vs-Gore… Dark Lord-vs-Kerry…. Songbird-vs-Obummer …Obummer-vs-Mittens ….
All the same. All big gov’t lovers. All Freedom haters.
I was batting 1000 so far.
And finally ….Trump-Clinton (for a 3rd term)… Oh shit what happened? There is actually a difference here. What the hell happened? I was not sure if it was because he was moderately acceptable or she was so evil.
I did not vote or believe The Orange One would make a difference.
He has. Just exposing the Fake News is the greatest thing any president has done in my life. Making Libtards heads explode has been a wonderful bonus. He fights back from odd angles, exposing hypocrisy all the time.
It was that Trump is moderately acceptable and she is so evil.
I tend to judge a man by his enemies. Everyone I loathe hates Trump. Few people I like or love hate Trump (in fact only one, she dislikes his rudeness and hair). Some just tolerate him and laugh. That tells me something.
I was wrong. I change my mind when I have better information.
He ain’t perfect. He spends money like a drunken Republican. Trump has not pulled the troops out of foreign wars. He has not drained the Swamp.
He has cut taxes, whacked Obummer Care, nominated constitution tolerating judges, NOT started any new wars, started peace talks in Korea, cut regulation, and a host of other things, most importantly showing how corrupt and evil things are in DC.
So I don’t hate him. That is indeed high praise for me.
So once in my life voting may have possibly a little bit mattered.
I do not count the time John Kyle (with an E) won the state congressional district I lived in by one vote. He was the same as the other candidate.
Gregg
PS. Did you ever notice we use the same word for our government lawmakers as the Karma Sutra uses for “Fuck”? Tells you all you need to know about the process.