This Happened Because We Didn’t Vote!

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Do you like the current events that inspired the drawing of these two editorial cartoons?

In the likelihood that you do not. Do you know how these cartoons came to be drawn?

They came to be drawn because not all of us exercised our power to vote in November 2016. Either because some felt Secretary Clinton was a sure winner and their vote did not matter or because she was not Bernie and she was not worthy to vote for or because people who voted for President Obama thought the ultimate Birther would look out for them or because the Comey letter ten days before the election made others feel that she was a walking impeachment waiting to happen, lack of voter turnout or protest votes for Jill Stein led to the Electoral College Victory of the candidate endorsed by the Ku Klux Klan.

This popular vote loser, allied with the obstructionist in chief (and a traitor for not going along with revealing Russian Meddling in the election) of the United States Senate Mitch McConnell changed the rules regarding Supreme Court Justice confirmation and Neil Gorsuch, instead of Merrick Garland, became an Associate Justice on the Supreme Court. Because voters in 2016 snubbed their nose at Clinton or just did not bother to show up, unions, women, customers, small businesses, voters in gerrymandered districts, and immigrants all had their causes set back with recent 5 to 4 Supreme Court Decisions. With today’s retirement of Justice Anthony Kennedy, the KKK endorsed candidate/popular vote loser and the obstructionist in chief will have an opportunity to seat a more conservative advocate on the Supreme Court, jeopardizing precedents like Roe vs. Wade and the Clean Water Act.

This is the second time in 16 years voters did not feel both major parties were not different. The first time, popular vote loser George W. Bush, with an assist from the hanging chads in Florida, a conservative block of the Supreme Court, and voters who decided to do a protest vote for consumer rights advocate Ralph Nader became President. How did that work out for the country? Just ask the surviving families of 9/11 or the soldiers from the wars in Afghanistan or Iraq or the people ruined by Bush-Republican Economic Policies in the Great Recession.

Now our country has a Chief Executive who exhibits strong Fascist-Authoritarian-Nativist tendencies supported by a Congress and court system that has no compunction about hollowing out social justice measures or basic civil rights. This is all because certain groups of voters rewarded Republican obstruction during two progressive administrations and put the poorly behaved bullies in power by not voting or wanting to be “pure” and not vote for a “compromise” choice.

It is important to realize that this can be remedied. It is important to remember that there are more people in this country that support a forward progressive agenda than a reactionary conservative one. We have the power to correct the misjudgments of the past and the excesses of the movement disguised as the Republican Party. Many have already realized this and have joined the movement to correct the imbalance affecting our country by volunteering or running for office with already positive results in elections over the last year and a half with 43 offices switching to the Democratic side of the ledger.

Much more work needs to be done in the coming elections (national, state, and local) and while there may still be some likely unfortunate rules handed down, we must never give up and lose sight that we have the power to bring the country back from the brink and make the United States that beacon of hope again.

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12 thoughts on “This Happened Because We Didn’t Vote!”

  1. Hillary never campaigned in states like California, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Oregon, and Washington and won those handily. You can blame the Clinton campaign for making mistakes but everyone, including the Trump team, thought she would win. As to the comment about blaming the voters, I think some blame is deserved because twice in 16 years, enough people (not a popular majority) who had once supported either Bill Clinton or Barrack Obama ignored the good conditions in the country, created by Democratic Administrations, forgot what horrible economic and in Bush II’s case international tumult Republican Administrations left Democrats to fix, and allowed two failed Republicans to eke out electoral college victories. That would not have happened if it was not for the actions or inactions of voters. That is a fact.

    • So, is the logic of your first sentence that because Hillary won in some (very blue) states where she didn’t campaign, it shouldn’t matter that she didn’t campaign in states where she didn’t win? I’m trying to understand why you would feel compelled to point that out in response to the comments Liza and I made. It doesn’t make sense. It seems like you’re saying that no matter how lamely HRC campaigned (or didn’t campaign at all), her loss is the fault of a handful of voters in three states, not hers.

      You might want to buy a copy of Shattered and read it.

      • Yes, I am saying that for the reasons I relayed and also the added reason that, honestly Clinton should not have had to campaign in what was thought to be reliably Blue States when, the KKK endorsed candidate broke virtually every rule of what a successful campaign looks like and still people, who voted for Barrick Obama twice, voted for him, the ultimate Birther. I am sorry but yes voters do bear some of the responsibility for why the KKK endorsed candidate is in the White House. Hopefully, it seems, as the closing paragraphs of the piece indicate, many people who chose not to be part of the process have decided to join and others are starting to realize they made the wrong choice in 2016. With enthusiasm on the Democrats/Progressive side surging, the elections in 2018 and 2020 should yield positive results.

        • Stop shaming people.

          Here’s two big reasons why HRC lost.

          I voted for Hillary WallStreet Kissinger, and I was cursing loudly while marking my ballot.

          Voting for her made me feel bad. Very bad. I should not feel bad about voting. She’s Wall Street owned, thinks war criminal Kissinger is a real cool dude, calls people “super predators”, and the way she treated the women her rapey husband abused is inexcusable.

          Inexcusable. It’s no different than what Trump and Fox news say about Stormy Daniels today.

          This isn’t fake crap like Benghazi, or a grandma not understanding how email works. Her past is demonstrably horrible.

          But Dems ignored all this just like the GOP ignored the pussy-grabbing tape and lying and racism of Trump.

          Exactly the same way. Exactly.

          And my second point – Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Bernie in 2016.

          The DNC will ignore those lessons, saying someone so far left can’t win.

          The same thing they’ve been saying for decades, while the GOP takes the House, Senate, White House, 33 state governments, school boards, dog-catchers…with candidates so far right that no one thought they could win.

          The Dems ran like cowards from Obama and the ACA in 2010 and they’ve been running scared ever since while Ryan and McConnell laugh. Real people are suffering, millions more live in fear.

          I realize it’s hard for people to admit mistakes, especially when the end result is Nazi’s in the White House, but HRC and the DNC are as much to blame for Trump as Russia and the media, and the voters are not the villains.

          But by all means, let’s name and shame the people we need to win next time, and everyone, please buy Hillary’s book, because it’s not her fault, it’s yours.

        • So, if you read back through everything you’ve written, you’ve said repeatedly what a horrendous candidate Trump was, and I agree with you. But that confirms that Clinton ran a horrendous campaign in order lose. She also ran a horrendous campaign in 2008. And she ran a poor primary campaign in 2016.

          The difference between 2008 and 2016 is how heavily the party establishment pressed its thumb on the scale. It was worse in 2016 than in 2008. And the worse that becomes, the greater risk of a disaster in the general. Should she have lost? No. But the party establishment placed itself one or two fluke events away from a disaster, and they got very, very unlucky.

          • The sweet irony is only in the United States that the person who won the popular vote by almost three million votes, won all the debates, and received virtually all the periodical endorsements (even the Republican ones) is faulted for running a horrendous campaign. Take care and have a great fourth of July Holiday.

  2. With all due respect…

    People did turn out for Hillary. She won the popular vote. It was the responsibility of the Democratic Party and her campaign to win the electoral vote.

    Hillary lost three blue states that she absolutely had to win: Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin.

    Why did Hillary lose these three states? Well, there’s been a lot written on this subject that is far more analytical of the facts on the ground than the generalities and accusations that have sprung up since the election.

    It is a gross oversimplification to blame the voters who should have voted for Hillary and didn’t for whatever reason. This is not how you win “next time”. This is how you lose.

    • With all due respect, I stand by the facts in the piece. Thankfully, most voters and nonvoters have realized what their actions or inactions have brought onto the country and we will be in a better position in 2018. We just need to convince the others that have not come to that realization yet that the Democrats and Progressives stand for what they believe and want.

          • Interesting article. Painful to read now, but interesting.

            I remember seeing an interview with an analyst from 538. This was maybe a couple of months before the election when things were looking good for Hillary. Florida and even Ohio were sometimes light blue in Nate’s model. The analyst said, “Pennsylvania is the key state for Clinton. The model shifts dramatically toward Trump if the Democrats lose Pennsylvania.”

            SMH.

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