Tuesday, January 6, 2015

Why American democracy is broken



Shocking, isn't it? But we let this happen. Progressives can still win, when we bother to vote. All too often, though, progressives - especially young progressives - can't be bothered.

Republicans wouldn't have been able to gerrymander election districts if we hadn't voted them into office in the first place. The Supreme Court wouldn't have been able to make asinine decisions, as they did in Citizens United and Hobby Lobby, among others, if we hadn't elected Republican presidents to appoint the crazies.

And even the advantage rural states have in the Senate can be overcome. Heck, it was overcome, in 2008 and 2012. The Senate is only in Republican hands because we couldn't be bothered to vote in 2014 - not, at least, as reliably as the elderly supporters of the GOP.

Yes, American democracy is broken. Republicans rule as a minority party. But we let it happen. We let them do it. Even after the complete and utter disaster that was George W. Bush, we still let it happen. Even after Republicans dragged their feet and deliberately sabotaged the economic recovery, we still let it happen.

How much worse does it have to get before Democrats will actually bother to vote? Democrats lost in a landslide in November, yet increases in the minimum wage passed easily even in red states. We are not a minority. But, apparently, we just don't care...

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