You know whose job it was to say "no" to this shit? Voters back in 2016. And 2014. And 2010. The Left needs to dispense with the notion that participating in an imperfect system is a betrayal of their principles.

Yes, and the left also needs to stop being disenfranchised by voter suppression laws. And don't give us any BS about how it isn't happening.

It's happening but it's by no means the biggest factor. The biggest factor is the Left having its collective head up its collective ass, and if you disagree, please explain the Left getting shellacked in 2010 when there was only a 41% turnout rate and no voter suppression.

Just because this takes attention away from your pet issue doesn't mean it's not a real problem. There's plenty we can do to encourage turnout but fighting suppression is a completely different type of battle. One does not cancel out the other.

Besides, as voter suppression becomes worse, it will become harder to tell which losses are from voter turnout and which are from votes being denied to people who DID turn out. And if the Democrats' response to those people is "FUCK YOU, YOU SHOULD HAVE VOTED HARDER," then they're not going to be encouraged to try again even if we remove the barriers.

"There's plenty we can do to encourage turnout but fighting suppression is a completely different type of battle."

Oh really? Is there some meaningful form of "fighting suppression" that doesn't involve voting the voter-suppressing assholes out of power? Because I tried snarky Facebook posts and the Republicans didn't crumble.

Yes, there is some meaningful form of "fighting suppression" other than what you mentioned. It was even featured in this video! It's called litigation.

There's also protest (of various kinds). So yeah, get out the vote is great and all, but it's not the only thing.

Well litigation is not particularly an option for me since my vote is not suppressed and so I do not have standing. And litigation after letting the bastards into office is a poor substitute for, you know, keeping them out of office in the first place. There is also the small matter of how litigation doesn't always go the right way, for example how the Voting Rights Act was gutted in 2013 by the Supreme Court.

Protest is a joke compared to using the vote, for those of us who still have it, which is most of us. Even Teabaggers know to vote. What is wrong with the Left that they insist on being dumber than Teabaggers?

Who hates "the left" more, Bort or Glenn Beck?

I hate Lefties who don't do their part, which is a very important distinction between Beck and me. Beck is delighted when Leftie dumbfucks stay home on Election Day; I find it infuriating that they won't do the one small thing democracy requires of them, and then they blame everyone but themselves for bad government.

If the Left were not stocked with shitheads top to bottom, the Republicans' 2013 disenfranchisement efforts would have resulted in a 2014 progressive voting wave that would have scattered the Republicans to the winds. Instead 2014 saw a 37% turnout rate, the lowest voting rate since 1942. The Left is shit, and will remain shit only until they decide not to be.

What gets me are all the feeble excuses people come up with to claim the process is too hard. "You have to register to vote! You might have to vote before work or after work or during lunch! Until voter registration is automatic and I can vote over the Web, the system is broken!"

I barely qualify as a functioning human being, and even so I still manage to vote in every election. If Republicans are putting up actual obstacles to you casting your vote, fine, you have a legitimate grievance. But that's not most people, not even close.

My point was you can't claim "It wasn't voter laziness, it was voter suppression!" when you never even made an effort to get off your ass and vote every single election.

Other variations on why the country is fucked and Republicans will continue to rule:

"Both parties are the same! Bought and paid for corporate fronts, maaan!"

"Democrats are a band aid solution. True change will only come once my non-voting forces things to get so bad that there's a revolution"


The 2nd is especially hilarious. You're too lazy to vote once a year, but you're going to volunteer at the forefront of a bloody revolution?