I voted enthusiastically in 2008 and out of loyalty in 2010 but I will stay home in 2012

[ORDagnabbit]

if we are still in Afghanistan
if we are still in Iraq
if we dont Un-exempt those four governments from the Child Soldiers Prevention Act that Obama just exempted
if we are still providing support firstly and mostly to blue dog democrats
if we are still minimizing and actively fighting against progressive democrats

you can bet the other 29 million who stayed home this election who had voted for Obama and the dems in 2008 will do the same...

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

1. Then welcome President Palin and Senate President McConnell

....to join Tan-Man.

[ORDagnabbit]

4. sorry fear wont drive my vote. The Dems have the ability to make the decision to change or not...its

up to them

no more republican lite for me.

[BzaDem]

17. But that's where you're wrong. Fear WILL drive your vote. It's just a question of when.

Eventually, you will capitulate and RUN to the polls to elect Republican lite. It's just a question of how much pain you have to go through before you capitulate. For Nader voters, the answer was a few years of Bush -- 90% of them capitulated and voted for pro-war Kerry in 2004.

It's not a question of if. Just a question of when. You'll eventually come crawling back, whether or not you admit it now.

[CBR]

52. And your threats won't drive anyone else's... nt

[readmoreoften]

6. It's no different than having President Concede-to-the-Right-Ever-More

In fact, the population will fight the right eventually if there isn't a phony "left" that redefines "the right" as "center."

The Democrat's constant rightward shift of the center is what's allowing people like Palin to seem reasonable in the first place.

[emulatorloo]

12. 1. Palin doesn't seem reasonable. 2. the media is "mainstreaming" these kooks, not Obama or the Dems

I have no idea why the media decided to "mainstream" these fringe nuts. We've always had nuts like this.

[sendero]

31. who cares?

They are not much different than what we have now. Sure, they are stupid, but stupid is as stupid does as the saying goes and what we've gotten for the last two years is just stupid.

And listening to the press conference today I'm pretty sure Obama STILL DOES NOT GET IT.

Too bad.

[Drale]

2. All those things are still going to be as they are now

because nothing is going to happen in government for the next 2 years except that every week Rand Paul and his Tea bagger ass-hats will introduce legislation that will disband the government and let corporations take over everything.

[Leopolds Ghost]

49. We will still be in Iraq. US policy is long term occupation of Iraq's oil fields.

That's Hillary Clinton's stated rationale for supporting the Iraq war -- protecting long-term access to resources.

[emulatorloo]

3. Please do we have to start this shit today. Smells like "FlameBait"

You have 2 years before you are "required" to issue this pronouncement.

[ORDagnabbit]

8. I think we do... 29 million people who voted in 2008 for change stayed home yesterday. We need them

back in our camp and the only way to do that is for real progressive agenda instead of vote for me the other guy kills kittens.

[Iggo]

19. 29,000,000 and 1, including you.

Not voting sends no one a message.

It's just lazy citizenship.

"Look at me. I'm doing something." Well no, you're not. In fact, you're doing nothing.

[elocs]

44. "Lazy citizenship", now that's a good definition.

Just think, all of those people who didn't vote could proudly claim they nobly did it on purpose.

[sandnsea]

27. The "only way" is to stop fucking whining

NOBODY wants to be part of a whinefest movement. I can't even stand to go to my local Dem Club meetings because of the incessant whining.

If you want a progressive agenda, then fight FOR one. I don't care what you put on the agenda, just be FOR it. And stop goddamn whining.

[jezebel]

5. Wahhh, wahhh, wahhh. I'm taking all my toys home. nt

[Name removed]

10. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[curious one]

7. very bad idea.

with the outlook of next 2 years, wars will be going on, and nothing will change except we will be worse off and in need of a real change.

[lonestarnot]

9. Whateva.

[ORDagnabbit]

11. yep.. 29 million whateva's this election...how many next one if we dont change the dem party?

[lonestarnot]

13. whateva.

[Iggo]

14. I'll never stay home on election day.

Never.

[elleng]

15. very smart

not

:thumbsdown:

[blondeatlast]

16. Gosh. nt

[BzaDem]

18. I don't believe you for a second. You will eventually RUN to the polls to elect whatever Democrat is

on the ballot. You may deny it now, but that doesn't mean you have any credibility.

Nader's voters said the same thing in 2000, before they capitulated and voted for pro-war Kerry in 2004.

[mitchtv]

43. didn't you already say that?

try and keep up!

[nadinbrzezinski]

20. Only one thing wrong with this

and no stay home if you want...

We seem to have developed two different electorates.

One for presidential elections, much younger, and one for off year elections.

FUN

So those who staid home last night, might surprise you by actually getting their assess to the polls.

Now if we could get them to just vote... out of civic duty.

[HughMoran]

21. Ultimatum # 112431134.5

It just doesn't work any more - sorry.

[Rex]

22. NOT ME. I will vote until I get recalled by the big factory in the sky!

Until my old bones won't move anymore...I WILL VOTE D TICKET UNTIL THE TICKER FINALLY QUITS!

WHY?

BECAUSE I CAN.

[Name removed]

23. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Karia]

24. You should ALWAYS vote

1. Because you CAN.
2. Because the Republicans WILL vote.
3. Because even if the candidates are awful, the lesser evil IS the lesser evil.

[Historic NY]

25. Goodbye......with the repukes there now it will not happen.

[MadMaddie]

26. And so it begins

I got chewed out in another thread because I dared mention that people sat out this election.

Not sure if you heard the news ....the Blue Dogs are gone.

Absolutely no lessons have been learned today.

[Historic NY]

37. Yes a few are gone...one state elected a Rep. Senator the first since the civil war.

Midterms are about your state more so than the POTUS. If you don't vote your actually hurting your states representation. This will be costly for those state where the statehouse changed to more red, come redistrictng. Republicans will make sure they keep getting the votes they need by redrawing the boundary lines. You see the rules of whole the game change from your hometown to Washington DC. By not voting for yourself & your state undoing those consequences could take years to overcome. As it has been said elections have consequences and were going to experience them.

[stevedeshazer]

28. They've won.

Way to go, take your ball and go home.

NEVER give up.

[Name removed]

29. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[the redcoat]

30. Fine, you can stay home if you can explain how that will fix things. nt

[anakie]

32. If you dont vote

you lose your right to complain.


peace

[GreenArrow]

38. No, you don't.

.

[leftstreet]

39. Representatives have to represent nonvoters also

It's a democracy, not a bowling league

[BzaDem]

42. That doesn't mean they will.

Good luck with that.

[leftstreet]

45. What a strange response

Yes, technically they're required to represent their constituents

They don't just get to waltz off to DC with a mandate from the last 10 latte liberals or tea party asshats who voted that year

:shrug:

[onenote]

33. Gee, 10 million voters who cast votes for Kerry in 2004 stayed home in 2006

and yet we picked up 31 seats in 2006. In 2008, 13 million more votes were cast for Democratic candidates than in 2006, but we only picked up 21 seats.

In other words, you 29 million stayed home argument is kinda lame.

[treestar]

34. Then you won't have a say, will you?

[scentopine]

35. Agree - when mainstream political parties force you to choose

between two rich but horrible people, civil disobedience is the right thing to do. You can only continue to beat up the people who bust their asses working for the party and living hand to mouth for so long.

What happened to Grayson and other progressives is exactly what happens when you have centrists at the helm. Disaster.

We need third party. Progressives will suffocate in democratic party. Democratic leadership cannot be trusted to govern for the people.

The democratic centrists here worked hard at tearing away the dignity of liberals. Let them enjoy the fruits of their labor.

For most people daily life continues to be a nightmare of escalating health care costs, energy inflation, college tuition inflation, and reduced opportunities and choices.

If you woke up today and didn't know Obama was president - you'd read the headlines and see war and death and destruction in Iraq and Afghanistan with no justice for the perpatrators,

You'd see torture being given silent approval as shown via wikil leaks. I'd see oil drilling and massive nightmare of pollution and impending cancer and disease.

You'd see record bonuses for bank CEOs and a brand new plan to fire yet another salvo of cash at rich people for QE2 and trickle down.

You'd see republicans being courted at the white house and liberals being trashed.

You'd see teachers being humilated with minimum wage and demoralized and public schools turned over to corrupt corporations with CEOs raking in cash in a huge scandal of privatization.

There would be more set backs for gay rights, Condi Rice consulting on foriegn policy issues and you would swear Bush was elected to a third term.

That's the god honest truth. There is nothing worse in this land than a centrist.

Republicans say in language everyone can understand that they are going to screw you. And they very methodically and deliberately screw you.

Centrists say they are sensible and realistic, get you relaxed, and then they very methodically and deliberately screw you much harder.

So, chill out, put the pony in the stable and let the Centrists systematically and deliberately destroy America in ways Republicans can only dream of.

[NYC Liberal]

36. Then you don't get to have your complaints taken seriously.

If you're still around here after the 2012 election, and you didn't vote, then I suggest you start all of your posts with "I didn't vote this past election, but..." and see how seriously you are taken.

[CakeGrrl]

40. How nice to casually discard one's right to vote. Too bad it

can't go to someone who appreciates it.

[unkachuck]

41. K&R....n/t

[texastoast]

46. Wonder how that's working out for those 29 million?

:eyes:

[Iggo]

50. I know, right?

We sure showed us.

[Ikonoklast]

47. Please hold your breath 'til then.

The rest of us have work to do.


Oh, and you only can speak for yourself...the rest of the Democrats don't really care what you might do.


But, good luck with the poutrage thingy.

[HuckleB]

48. Have you spent any time in the new Wilderness Areas in Oregon?

Thank you, President Obama and the Dems!

[SidDithers]

51. Any chance you won't talk about this pledge continuously for the next 2 years?...nt

Sid

[gkhouston]

53. Can I plant you in my garden? They were out of fertilizer at the hardware store. n/t

[Coventina]

54. What is up with this crap today?

So let me ask you:

Are you willing to do anything beginning TODAY to:

Get us out of Afghanistan
Get us out of Iraq
Un-exempting the four governments
Supporting the liberal wing of the party
???????????????????????????????????????????

Because guess what? Your are just as responsible as anyone else and to sit there and say you are not going to vote unless everything is to your satisfaction is: LAZY, IRRESPONSIBLE, & IMMATURE

[Brickbat]

55. Talking about not voting can get you banned here, apparently.

At least, that's my take on it.

[CBR]

56. ...

[67 Mercury]

57. This was a wake up call for the people

Before getting to the meat of this, let me pause for a moment, to offer a word in defense of righteous anger. There is a certain legitimacy to raw anger. Anger is a correct & reasonable first response to injustice. By itself, it is an inadequate response to injustice. But it is an excellent foundation on which more constructive responses can be built.

And, on the other hand, the most paralyzing & crippling response towards great injustice, is docile acceptance. THAT is what the American political system & their apologists are all about — getting you to somehow resign yourself to corporatists & warmongering imperialists, who however (like Obama) are skilled in the use of ‘uplifting’ language.]

OK, now the meat. We are at a time in our nation’s history where the political system is breaking down. It is no ordinary time. Mechanisms that have sufficed since the 1930’s are now failing.

There is zero chance that our system can be fixed through the officially-approved mechanisms. Whether overtly recognized or not, there’s a war going on — the US ruling class against all the rest of us. It’s essentially a class war. The rulers want you to remain a Democrat, because the D’s are a ruling-class institution, whose job is guiding the Dem half of the populace in paths that are safe for the rulers. To remain a Dem voter, and to swallow whatever slop the party dishes up, is to passively assent to this arrangement.

Therefore, your primary focus should be on resisting & criticizing the system, not on adapting yourself to it. You should be talking with your friends & family about the very real things that are wrong. You should be trying to make whatever contribution you can to elevating political consciousness. Accepting the slop of the Dem Party is the opposite of all that: it deadens political consciousness, & only makes your enemies stronger.

Voting for candidates only works when there are decent candidates — but that’s not our situation. We betray ourselves if we fail to recognize that.

Well, looking at it historically, the “solution” has to be a break from the officially-approved mechanisms. It must have the form of a broad movement based on the interests of the bottom 80-90% of the population, rather than on the interests of the top 1%. It has to be what they call “radical” politics — something that big business and the media are definitely not going to like, any more than they like Kucinich or antiwar protestors.

The 2 parties are really just a mechanism of social control. They’re not a way for “the people” to express their will; they’re a way for rulers to control the people — partly by making them believe that they (the peeps) have some say (which they don’t). Building a movement to oppose this takes time. But its sine qua non is political consciousness — the type that socialists understand & try to cultivate; and that the big-business parties & media try to suppress & eradicate.

[TomCADem]

58. Another Latinos for Reform Leftist Urging Progressives To Stay Home

Empowerment through inaction. Self inflicted voter suppression.

[cbdo2007]

59. I don't believe you - you'll still vote.

Obama will go out on tour and get everyone motivated again in 2012.

Anyone who posts on a Democrat website is much too involved emotionally to just let it slip them by.