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In reply to the discussion: My swan song, come get your grave dancing on, if that's your thing. [View all]Moonwalk
(2,322 posts)I mean, let me see if I've got this right. Because Bernie probably won't be the presidential candidate, you've had it with the Democratic party and you'll be not only leaving in protest, but not voting democrat in the presidential election.
Hm. You know, it's funny, but when I think of people who've had it, who have suffered enough to call it quits, I usually tend to think of black folk in recent years. The Republican party put justices on the supreme court who negated the law that allowed Blacks to vote unhampered. This permitted states to create bogus laws to keep minorities and the elderly from voting--all in hopes of restoring the "white supremacist" status quo. Yet there are blacks who will be taking off time from work that they can't afford, going through all kinds of hoops to get the right paperwork, and waiting hours in line just so that they can cast their vote for a Democratic president. That vote you so want to throw away. They'll go through all that because they know that the restored Supreme court could either uphold or end these repressive laws.
And then there's women. The Republican party put justices on the supreme court that undermined the right to an abortion, so that Republican-run states could enact bogus laws that put clinics out of business and made abortions difficult if not impossible to get. Contraceptives, too. Some states have laws that can put women who have abortions in jail. There are women who are now reduced to using hangers and poisons and anything else they can find to perform home abortions. What hope do they have if everyone who supports Sanders thinks as you do, and refuses to put a Democrat in the White House?
And then there is the LBGT community. Republicans put justices on the court that allowed big business to pour money into our elections. Thus gerrymandering them so that we have states with all Republican legislators. Of late, these have been creating anti-LBGT laws. Laws that make sure a woman whose driver's license says she was born male can't use a woman's restroom, can get legally thrown out of a hotel, a restaurant, or, if a teenager, a school. I think these very brave men and women will be in line to vote for a democratic president so that, when the supreme court finally gets its new justices, it won't allow these injustices to continue.
My point is this: don't tell ME why you won't be voting democrat this November. Or explain to ME why you'd rather risk putting a Republican in the White House than cast a vote for Hillary. Explain it to those who are having their voting rights taken away, their right to make their own health and family planning decisions taken away, and to those having their very citizenship taken away. I think that all these groups understand very well what will happen to them if a Republican wins the white house. And I think that even if the democrats are not as left as they'd (as we all) might wish, these groups know what real suffering can come to them, and to all of us, if the Republicans retain control of the Supreme Court.
One vote there can make all the difference. I think you should consider what a difference your vote could make, as well.