Brand New Day

In 2014 the US saw the worst voter turnout in 72 years. Ya know what that gave us? Yes, we got a Republican House and Senate who felt their job description, in its entirety, was Say NO. Say it anytime the President proposes ANYTHING.

From Jim Wright of Stonekettle Station's Facebook page:

Yeah, about that: Democrats, liberals, progressives, undecideds and undeclareds, EVERYBODY who stayed home and handed the House and Senate to extremist lunatics? Those people are just as much to blame for the mess we find ourselves in as the Republicans currently clogging up Congress like constipated turds in Mitch McConnell's lower intestine .

Maybe more so.

This shouldn't be a surprise. The Tea Party fanatics TOLD us what they intended. They intended to drown government in the bathtub. They intended to stymie the President, and therefore the will of the majority of Americans, at every turn. They fully intended to cut off their own noses if necessary in order to spite their own faces, they'd claw out their own eyes if that's what it takes. They SAID so.

And liberals stayed home. They stayed home because they were "disappointed" with Obama. Boo hoo. We didn't get everything we wanted. What's the point?

And the extremists took first the House and then the Senate.

Yup.

There was one useful lesson: When voting is made easier, more people vote. Colorado switched to a mail ballot system this year, and it had the fourth-highest turnout in the nation, substantially larger than in 2010. (It had a highly competitive Senate race, but did much better than many states with equally hot races.) Oregon, which also votes by mail, had the fifth-highest turnout, and Washington State, with a similar system, did better than the national average, though it had no major statewide races. (source)

There’s a start. Another great tactic would be to make voting day a national holiday—a paid vacation day. It’s THAT important. It should be done. Amongst developed nations, the US falls WAY far down near the bottom in terms of voter turnout. Yeah, we come in at 31 out of 34.

WE”RE NUMBER 31! WE”RE NUMBER 31! WE”RE NUMBER 31!

Somehow that doesn’t have a sweet ring to it. KnowutImean?

And it looks like, this primary season is no different.

In primary after primary this cycle, Democratic voters just aren't showing up. Only 367,491 people cast a ballot for either Clinton or Sanders on Saturday. That's down 16 percent from the 436,219 people who came out in 2008 for Clinton and Obama. Factor in the 93,522 people who voted for John Edwards back in the day, and you can see the scope of the problem. Democrats in 2016 are only getting about two-thirds of the primary votes that they received eight years ago.

Republican turnout in the South Carolina primary, by contrast, was up more than 70 percent from 2008.
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Sanders' pitch, of course, is his insistence that progressive energy will bring out high numbers of enthusiastic voters that an old party insider just can't compete with. It's a good pitch. But so far, it isn't happening. (source)

How in holy hell do we expect to elect a sane, not-Trump, not-Cruz candidate if we don’t fucking get out there and VOTE?!

If we want a better, more sane/less insane, intelligent, nation where equality for all is the name of the game and citizens versus mega corporations rule, well boyhowdy, we gotta get out there and vote.

Today’s a primary—go vote for the candidate that you feel is best qualified and able to steer this faltering ship of state.

Do it for me and the sad kitten if for no other reason.

K?