It was a run that lasted almost 233 years, Ben.

[Zolorp]

In the end, we couldn't keep it.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. I am getting really tired of these defeatist posts about the death of democracy.

It's dead only if we let it die. Maybe you're ready to roll over and give up but I'm not. There's still an election to win, and we can win it if we don't give up. So let's cut the drama and get to work.

[Hekate]

2. Thank you

[Dem2theMax]

4. Thank you for saying that.

It needs to be said every time a thread like this shows up.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

10. I will say it every time.

Some people want us to be discouraged. I don't want to hear any of that and I'll jump in every time somebody tells us it's over. I'm just getting madder. I'm mad at Trump and the GOP and I'm mad at people who tell us to give up. Fuck all of that.

[OliverQ]

5. How do you win an election that's going to be completely rigged?

Ask the citizens of Russia how well their elections work out for them.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

7. You un-rig it. You make sure that it's not so close that they can cheat.

Make sure it's a landslide.

[Zolorp]

9. They have all they need

40% is close enough to rig it and they will always have that.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

13. So you're giving up then.

You do that. I won't and I hope people with guts and determination don't either. Don't tell Adam Schiff and Nancy Pelosi it was all for nothing.

[Zolorp]

15. Nope.

But I live in an extremely red area of Kentucky.

I am purchasing firearms. The nuts here are going to consider this open season.

[sarisataka]

35. What is your plan

When the tanks roll on you?

[Zolorp]

37. My plan is to protect my family from the nuts that worship Trump around here.

If Trump's government decides I'm important enough to come after me I'm a dead man.

[Caliman73]

28. The do not have 40%

They have 27%. That is the percentage of voters who cast a ballot for Trump. 27% cast one for Hillary, and 2% for other candidates.

56% of voters who are eligible to vote cast their ballots. 44% of people who can vote, chose not to. THAT is who we have to wake up and get out to vote.

He has approval rates at around 40% NOT actual voters who will support him.

[Zolorp]

29. 42% of those who vote will always vote for him.

The 44% of people who can vote but won't still won't.

42% is close enough to rig it.

It's our only chance, but I am not counting on it. I am preparing for this thing to go completely south.

[struggle4progress]

38. We just work harder and harder until we win

[Brainfodder]

14. I think we have some debbie downer trolls among us.

I watched a little of CSPAN2's coverage and caught 20ish phone in calls, and the amount of disinformation that people believe or spread is absurd.

Trump's refusal to allow testimony is turned into:
The democrats are unfair and didn't allow any!

BS BS BS Wake me up when he aint lying every time he opens his WITC....wait, you say it!

[crickets]

36. Agreed, thank you!

The clothes rending "it's over!!" and "there's no point to the election; it's rigged!" posts are way over the top. This is a bad situation - true - and it's going to take a lot of work but it ain't over, and nobody should give up on an election before the voting even starts.

We are not quitters. We're Democrats.

[struggle4progress]

39. +

[panader0]

3. Don't surrender before the battle.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

6. I am really wondering where some of this defeatist bullshit is coming from.

Obviously there are some people who want us to give up after a single setback. Fuck that.

[panader0]

12. There will be many more revelations and shoes to fall before November.

This won't end well for the R's.
The number of times I've heard that the sky is falling is about as
many as the tRump nicknames.

[Andy823]

16. I have a pretty good idea

an influx of right wing talking points seems to be flooding DU. Everyday I see more and more doom and gloom posts. Same crap every election, but this year seem to have more.

[Hekate]

19. It's true that some of us old-timers are depressed, but a lot of these posts are from newbies...

Which makes me wonder why.

Thank you for your efforts -- they make a difference. I was way far down last night, and you snapped me out of it just now.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

21. Some of us old folks remember other crises.

[Hekate]

24. I just edited my post to say thanks

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

34. When I read these whiny posts about how it's all over, I think of

the people who were living in London during the Blitz and got bombed every night. I think about people like John Lewis, who was beaten up for participating in a civil rights march. Rosa Parks, Medgar Evers, MLK, Schwerner, Goodman and Chaney. Anne Frank. Raoul Wallenberg. The thousands of people whose countries faced horrific crises and stood up instead of giving up. Moping over your computer because the Senate refused to do its job just isn't the same.

[lunatica]

8. This Democracy has overcome far worse than this

Take some time out to refresh your memory about some truly dark times in our history. Ken Burns has an in-depth Civil War documentary in Netflix right now.

One bad Impresident isn’t going to destroy Democracy.

[Zolorp]

11. I've watched it several times

Love that documentary series, my absolute favorite of all time.

We have no Lincoln now, only an orange buffoon that was just handed the power to cheat at will in any election at any time.

[lunatica]

17. One orange Impresident is not going to destroy this country.

People like you and me would have to help him out, so what’s your choice? Mine is to get rid of his orange ass. Democratically. With my voice and my vote.

[Zolorp]

18. I think he is guaranteed a "win" now

Since he now has an open license to cheat as much as he likes, I think he's going to start having Barr arrest Democrats in October.

[lunatica]

22. Save him the trouble and just

arrest yourself if that’s what you think. You can get dibs on which cage he’d put you into.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

23. That's just nonsense.

[Zolorp]

26. Electing Trump in the first place was "just nonsense".

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

30. It happened and now we have to deal with it.

But not by whining on an Internet message board that all is lost, because it isn't.

[Zolorp]

32. This election is our one and only chance to change things

I think our chances are slim. Will still do everything I always do in elections.

But I hold no real hope that the game will not be completely rigged at it is completely over.

No president has ever been given the power to cheat in elections at will before.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

20. There was the Civil War, WWI and WWII,

the civil rights movement, Vietnam and the anti-war movement and many other crises. We survived those and we'll survive this. Illegitimi non carborundum.

[Zolorp]

25. For 231 years, the Congress has steadily abdicated its powers to the presidency

It's why we have not had a declared war in 75 years, but have fought multiple wars.

This is the last bit of power the presidency needed to become an outright dictatorship. This is the complete abdication of all oversight over the president.

The DAY AFTER the Mueller report, Trump made his call to Zelensky.

What calls will he be making tomorrow?

Who is going to stop him from arresting the Democratic nominee in October?

What is there left to hold him in check?

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

31. What are you going to do about it?

I know what I'm going to do, and it doesn't involve proclaiming that it's all over and we should just knuckle under. You can do that if you want, but I won't.

[lunatica]

27. Exactly!

Screw that crap.

[Kid Berwyn]

33. Not yet.

Let’s see how many get tossed in November.