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It's me again. Vote.
5 years ago
General
So. Tomorrow is Election Day, or particularly this year, the day we start to count the votes. I am hoping that most of you have already either mailed it in or voted early, and more importantly that you followed all instructions to make sure your ballot will be counted. It's quite important this year, since it seems like this will be the election to determine whether or not we have any form of democracy at all for future elections.
Framing the debate like this seems apocalyptic. And probably way too overblown. It's just an election, right? Doesn't matter who you vote for, they're all the same, you may be saying right now. I don't think that's true. I don't think that's ever been true, but there are certainly some politicians that are counting on you to think that.
There is a not-insignificant portion of this country that does not vote. According to Wikipedia (link), only 55% of the voting aged population voted in the election in 2016. Now there are a bunch of factors that lead a person not to vote, and it doesn't help that some people are entirely disenfranchised by certain political actors (Republicans) that don't want a lot of people to vote. Regardless, here we are again, and I am here to make a late breaking appeal to those who are registered to vote and have not voted yet: Vote for Biden. And, for that matter, vote for Democrats.
I hate that this country is pretty much a two-party system, since it seems that only two parties have the machinery and organization to elect people up and down the ballot. I don't know whether it's interest in putting up people for the smaller offices or if they're just all vanity projects, saying you ran for president even though you had no chance of winning. I don't know. But, we work with the system we have. At present, if you're at all interested in civil rights, in the right of people to determine their own bodily autonomy, in more people being able to participate in this democratic experiment, then there is only one choice. Vote Biden, and vote Democrats down the ticket.
If, however, you are appalled at what Trump has done, with the kids in cages and with the 545 children whose parents were not able to be located, if you are tired of this virus running rampant across the country and filling up hospitals with sick patients, with constantly grim notices of death tolls rising, then vote Biden, and vote Democrats down the ticket.
If you want the system to be fairer, if you want everybody to have a shot at making a success of themselves, if you feel that the elite have too much power, then vote Biden, and vote Democrats down the ticket.
If you care about other people at all, vote Biden, and vote Democrats down the ticket.
I said before that if you voted for Trump in 2016, that I got it. I can understand. If you vote for Trump in this election, then I get that, too. It's obvious to me that you're more concerned with owning the libs than any coherent policy strategy. I understand that you're not concerned with your fellow person, but only out for yourself. You do not care about, or choose not to see, the suffering of others. And if you have voted, or are planning to vote Trump in this upcoming election, than I don't want you consuming my creative endeavors. Unwatch me. Block me. Go away.
Framing the debate like this seems apocalyptic. And probably way too overblown. It's just an election, right? Doesn't matter who you vote for, they're all the same, you may be saying right now. I don't think that's true. I don't think that's ever been true, but there are certainly some politicians that are counting on you to think that.
There is a not-insignificant portion of this country that does not vote. According to Wikipedia (link), only 55% of the voting aged population voted in the election in 2016. Now there are a bunch of factors that lead a person not to vote, and it doesn't help that some people are entirely disenfranchised by certain political actors (Republicans) that don't want a lot of people to vote. Regardless, here we are again, and I am here to make a late breaking appeal to those who are registered to vote and have not voted yet: Vote for Biden. And, for that matter, vote for Democrats.
I hate that this country is pretty much a two-party system, since it seems that only two parties have the machinery and organization to elect people up and down the ballot. I don't know whether it's interest in putting up people for the smaller offices or if they're just all vanity projects, saying you ran for president even though you had no chance of winning. I don't know. But, we work with the system we have. At present, if you're at all interested in civil rights, in the right of people to determine their own bodily autonomy, in more people being able to participate in this democratic experiment, then there is only one choice. Vote Biden, and vote Democrats down the ticket.
If, however, you are appalled at what Trump has done, with the kids in cages and with the 545 children whose parents were not able to be located, if you are tired of this virus running rampant across the country and filling up hospitals with sick patients, with constantly grim notices of death tolls rising, then vote Biden, and vote Democrats down the ticket.
If you want the system to be fairer, if you want everybody to have a shot at making a success of themselves, if you feel that the elite have too much power, then vote Biden, and vote Democrats down the ticket.
If you care about other people at all, vote Biden, and vote Democrats down the ticket.
I said before that if you voted for Trump in 2016, that I got it. I can understand. If you vote for Trump in this election, then I get that, too. It's obvious to me that you're more concerned with owning the libs than any coherent policy strategy. I understand that you're not concerned with your fellow person, but only out for yourself. You do not care about, or choose not to see, the suffering of others. And if you have voted, or are planning to vote Trump in this upcoming election, than I don't want you consuming my creative endeavors. Unwatch me. Block me. Go away.
Obama's horrible policy of drone strikes
Tell me another one. Also the media is generally so thirsty to be above it all and strive for some sense of objectivity through casting blame on both houses that it blows up right-wing bullshit narratives so that they're huge, gigantic stories. Tell me another one.
Pretty sad if ya ask me.
I mean, no, the right doesn't have the entire arena of joke-making, because if they did the world would be a sadder and much more unfunny place. I say because I had absolutely no context for your "where are the cages joe" thing and assumed -- perhaps wrongly, feel free to correct me -- that this was a specifically right-wing meme to deflect from the utter horror that is the kids in cages, and how messed up the policy was to steal children away from their parents, parents who were trying to seek a better life for themselves and their children, who were fleeing violence and death where they came from.
I however dont think they them jumping borders into my country should give them all the rights and freedoms my country gives Soil born citizens. Refugee status doesnt give you automatic citizenship to the country you flee too and it should never be that way but sadly some places do that.
They should have been taken back over across the border to mexico with some supplies and medical supplies and left it at that.
There is a reason that mexico keeps tryin to funnel the refugees here because they too dont want to deal with the economic drain illegal aliens have on a country they arent from.
You can be humanitarian and uphold the laws that designate who the citizen of my country and who isnt.
Im not voting for biden because he is just a puppet, a shell, the sacrificial lamb the democrats have because they dont have any other choice.
Trump is only entertaining to me not exactly my candidate so i aint voting them either.
And i dont want to hear how "we dont have any other choice! you gotta vote this or that" im cynical and i will keep being cynical about these fat cat politicians who never had to work a day in their life or suffer a day in want or need of food.
More to the point, immigration is a net good, and the system at present is busted. Why can we not allow the people in who wish to be here, work here, pay taxes here? Also just... what the fuck happened to "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free"? Why can't we become a land of opportunity that people arrive at in order to find themselves in America?
> Soil born citizens
What an interesting turn of phrase you use there.
> the economic drain illegal aliens have on a country they arent from.
Okay but are they, though? Here (link) is an article stating that immigrants, in fact, are a net good on society. After all, they come here seeking jobs. So they'll get them, and pay taxes, taxes they don't immediately benefit from, particularly with regard to social security, unless they become citizens. Immigrants are good for the country, and they do jobs Americans don't want to do.
> Trump is only entertaining to me
I'm so glad you think the suffering of me and people like me is entertaining to you. Now take your cynical ass out of here.
The fuck.
Are you talking about.
Never been better for PoC? Tell that to George Floyd. Tell that to Breonna Taylor. Tell that to the numerous other Black and People of Color that have been abused by police, enabled by Trump's rhetoric of "please don't be too nice" to people being arrested for possible crimes. Or, you know, people who in the eyes of the law, are innocent until proven guilty.
> biden is the candidate of wall street and billionaires.
The fuck are you talking about? Trump isn't for the little guy. When he was a business guy, he had a reputation of stiffing people he contracted for their work and dragging it out through litigation. He's rich, has been rich, and probably isn't as rich as he claims he is because he has certainly lied about his assets.
> Not to mention joe and his family have been bought by several countries like russia and china and the ukrainians.
Citation needed.
>Not to mention democrats are handling the virus worse than the republicans governors.
And what about Kristi Noem, governor of South Dakota? She's followed Trump's instructions, and left her state open. And now what does she have to show for it? Her state's hospitals are full to bursting, new cases are at an all time high with no signs of slowing or stopping. Yeah, they didn't get hit when the disease was ravaging other parts of the state, but when they did, particularly after the Sturgis motorcycle rally that was held with no social distancing and masks barely encouraged, their virus shot up. Meanwhile, cases in New York, where the virus had it's heyday in the beginning, are only trending up very slightly recently.
> I'm tried of democrats being the party of racism, global elites and anti-America ways
Finally, what the absolute, utter fuck are you talking about?
TRUMP is the one who has called White supremacists "very fine people" after Charlottesville, and the Republicans have largely been silent. TRUMP is the one calling on the Proud Boys, a gang of actual thugs that like to beat up defenseless people to make themselves feel hard, to "stand down and stand by". TRUMP is the one openly calling Covid-19 the "China virus" and whose administration has used the terms "kung flu, and Republicans responded by trying to make "China virus" a thing.
Zipping down to the relevant portion, Trump is asked if he's putting the "alt-left" (not a thing) and white supremacists on the same moral plane. Trump deflects, and spouts some nonsense about people on the left violently attacking people on the right. Prompted by another reporter's question, he says that there's blame on both sides, which after another reporter's question, he brings home with there being "very fine people on both sides." Which means he was talking about the two opposing sides in the Charlottesville incident, which were a group largely made up of white supremacists and neo-Nazis with their tiki torches, and a group that was not that.
I watched more of the clip and while yes, Trump does eventually get around to actually saying that Neo-Nazis are bad, he did try to say that there were some good ones a few seconds before, so no points on Crowder's part.
> As for floyd, maybe he shouldn't of overdosed on fenfen. Brionna should of not been dealing drugs and her boyfriend shouldn't of fired at the cops.
Cool. Now you're victim blaming. So I guess if Floyd hadn't overdosed on drugs, then he wouldn't have had to be held down with a knee to the back, restricting his airwaves, causing him to cry out in pain and ask for help, for eight minutes and 45 seconds. As for Taylor, she was in bed. Police showed up at her house to serve a warrant for her ex-boyfriend, who was a drug dealer. Also, her current boyfriend is a legal gun owner, and according to a timeline from the local paper, (link) the boyfriend fired one shot at the ground, notably after police busted down the door. Police opened fire and shot and killed Breonna.
> Also comparing south dakota's current spike in cases isn't fair comparing it to the deaths in NY.
Here's what I'll give you: New York made lots of mistakes. A lot of mistakes. The nursing home thing? I don't know that it was necessarily to the extent that you claim but you know what? Let's take it as read. New York fucked up a lot, but you know what they did? They learned from their mistakes. They were transparent, they were up front, they got the virus under control, and gradually started opening up again. If things get bad again, I trust that the governor and public officials in the state to do what needs to be done to make sure that they don't face the same spike as before. However, I'm citing South Dakota because of a thing called linear time: that spike is happening after New York's. Now, what Noem could do is follow the example set after New York: there is ample evidence that masks help halt the spread of disease, that you can do rigorous testing and tracing and isolating to make sure that the people who have the disease don't spread it to the rest of the population. Governor Noem is doing... none of that. In fact, she seems to revel in doing nothing, touting the supposed freedom of South Dakotans to get the virus. It is common knowledge that big, public gatherings are havens for the virus to freely spread, particularly when masking is very limited and social distancing almost non-existent.
> finally proud boys don't start fights with the left. They show up to peacefully protests and antifa shows up and starts violence.
what the fuck are you talking about. what do the proud boys protest against? women not being submissive enough for them? fuck outta here with that shit.
> as for biden being bought, just look into hunter's emails.
Imma stop you right there. That bullshit about Hunter Biden's emails? There's a reason the only outlet that went forward with that story -- bylined in part by a former producer to the Sean Hannity show -- was the Rupert Murdoch owned New York Post. Fox News only picked up the story after the Post did. Rudy Guliani tried to shop it at different outlets but they asked too many questions for his liking and tried to vet it.
More to the point, Biden released 22 years of his tax-returns. You think if there wasn't any hinky shit in there, somebody -- particularly in the right-wing aligned press -- wouldn't have found it already?
> trump has hurt his business by becoming president
Bahahahaha. 1) citation needed. 2) Aside of the millions that has been spent on security -- in terms of lodging and such -- whenever Trump goes on one of his outings to his own country clubs that he owns, didn't Trump try to get the G7 meeting at one of his own properties in Doral, Florida? And the only reason he reconsidered was because the uproar over something so brazenly corrupt was so loud that even he couldn't ignore it?
Actually, I'll give you that Trump has hurt his businesses by becoming president. Since he still owns those properties and they still bear his name, his commensurate popularity has tanked business at those properties. You know, before Covid took down most of the economy, particularly the hospitality sector.
Whatever great accomplishments people think he may have (I'm not going to argue if they are real or not):
His tax cuts for the middle class will expire.
His health plan to replace "Obamacare", which he had four years to complete, does not exist.
I wouldn't call his role in the pandemic "mismanagement", I'd call it "ineffectual". He did nothing. The decisions about how to cope with it were made by businesses, school districts, and governors. People who say "Oh it's all political, it's all political: no party can contribute enough to a casino to make it shut down and lose out on all the free money people dump into their pockets for a month. No party can do that. It's stupid to think that the owners shut their businesses down because they watched CNN and got scared. It's stupid to think that schools shut down because they hate Donald Trump. So back to the first sentence: ineffectual. He isn't a leader, he just stands off to the side and tries to make smart or funny remarks, like he's a comedian.
Watch him at rallies: he acts like he's trying to be a stand-up comic, going for laughs and applause.
Districting and the Electoral College pretty much removes the ability of independents who prefer to vote by whom they feel is best for a given job from having any impact whatsoever on an election. And that's without gerrymandering getting involved.
There needs to be some reform in how we hold elections, I'm just afraid that by opening that can of worms, those in power will use it as an opportunity to remain in power, instead of produce healthy reform to outdated systems.
I am absolutely down for election reform. Ranked choice voting would be rad.
These days, that's an outdated concept. With mass media and the internet, everyone can have access to all the information necessary to make an informed vote, with the caveat that it also makes it easy to muddy the waters with false information to confuse the issues. Voting by district is an outdated concept, you can now handle a direct vote system which would more accurately represent the interests of the voting population.
It's a simple concept, really. You vote for the individuals whom you, specifically, are going to be represented by. So, you vote for your congressional rep, your senator, and of course, your president (and especially make sure to vote on state and gubernatorial issues, as they actually have a greater impact on day-to-day running than voting at the federal level!). So half the state would be in one senatorial race, and the other half would be in the other one for that state. That sort of thing. Everyone votes on the Pres, since his office holds sway over the whole country. Done and done.
Of course, being that it is too simple to cheat, I doubt it'll ever happen, but hey... a guy can dream.
Either way, I'm pulling for the D when it's my turn in the booth.
*hugs...
V.
If you want to comfort me, go into the ballot booth and vote for Biden
V.