<\/p>\n
Steve Muhlberg\u00ader\u2019s blog Muhlberg\u00ader\u2019s Ear\u00adly His\u00adto\u00adry<\/em><\/a><\/span> linked to this mov\u00ading pho\u00adto arti\u00adcle<\/a><\/span> in the Dai\u00adly Kos<\/em>. For decades I\u2019ve argued with peo\u00adple who thought they are being clever by not vot\u00ading, and who sub\u00adse\u00adquent\u00adly won\u00addered why they woke up in a world con\u00adtrolled by reli\u00adgious wack\u00ados and sleazy haters of free\u00addom. Well, it\u2019s because they nev\u00ader showed up at the polls, and the haters of free\u00addom made sure their min\u00adions did. The lame log\u00adic behind the \u201cdon\u2019t vote, it only encour\u00adages them\u201d notion was basi\u00adcal\u00adly that, if your only weapon is a bow and arrow, and you are being hunt\u00aded by a some\u00adone with a gun, you should throw away the bow and arrow. The Demo\u00adc\u00adra\u00adt\u00adic Par\u00adty may not be a shin\u00ading bas\u00adtion of rea\u00adson and free\u00addom, but at the moment, the dif\u00adfer\u00adence between it and the Repub\u00adli\u00adcan Par\u00adty is rough\u00adly equiv\u00ada\u00adlent to the dif\u00adfer\u00adence between the post-WWII democ\u00adra\u00adcies and the Sovi\u00adet Union. Remem\u00adber the nitwits who, back then, liked to talk as if the two were \u201cmoral\u00adly equiv\u00ada\u00adlent\u201d? His\u00adto\u00adry has turned them into jokes. Right now the last thing in the world a sane human being can claim is that the Demo\u00adc\u00adra\u00adt\u00adic and Repub\u00adli\u00adcan par\u00adties are moral\u00adly equiv\u00ada\u00adlent. The con\u00adtrast is stark and irrefutable.<\/span><\/p>\n For\u00adtu\u00adnate\u00adly, in the Unit\u00aded States, a younger gen\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtion seems to be shak\u00ading off their tor\u00adpid paral\u00ady\u00adsis, and is actu\u00adal\u00adly con\u00adcen\u00adtrat\u00ading on get\u00adting out the vote<\/em>, rather than think\u00ading up new and clever ways to appear blas\u00e9. This revival of com\u00admon sense comes at a des\u00adper\u00adate\u00adly need\u00aded time, because, quite apart from the mas\u00adsive assaults on Amer\u00adi\u00adcan free\u00addom they\u2019ve under\u00adtak\u00aden while in pow\u00ader, the Repub\u00adli\u00adcan Par\u00adty elite have made it per\u00adfect\u00adly plain that they will attempt to rig the elec\u00adtion with vot\u00ader sup\u00adpres\u00adsion, elec\u00adtoral fraud, and any sleazy trick they can think of. The incred\u00adi\u00adbly sleazy cam\u00adpaign tac\u00adtics deployed so far are just the tip of the ice\u00adberg. Decades ago, one of the prin\u00adci\u00adpal the\u00ado\u00adrists of the Neo\u00adcon\u00adser\u00adv\u00ada\u00adtive move\u00adment bla\u00adtant\u00adly pro\u00adclaimed that the few\u00ader peo\u00adple vot\u00aded, the more pow\u00ader his crowd would have, and that the last thing Repub\u00adli\u00adcans want\u00aded was for the Amer\u00adi\u00adcan peo\u00adple to exer\u00adcise their demo\u00adc\u00adra\u00adt\u00adic rights.<\/span><\/p>\n Here in Cana\u00adda, the strate\u00adgic elec\u00adtion called by the Con\u00adser\u00adv\u00ada\u00adtives failed to give them the major\u00adi\u00adty gov\u00adern\u00adment they craved, but left them a lit\u00adtle more solid\u00adly in pow\u00ader as a minor\u00adi\u00adty gov\u00adern\u00adment \u2014 thanks to the low\u00adest vot\u00ader turnout in gen\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtions. It seems that we should be look\u00ading the the U.S. for a lit\u00adtle inspi\u00adra\u00adtion. For a change, they are on the ball, and we are asleep at the switch.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Steve Muhlberg\u00ader\u2019s blog Muhlberg\u00ader\u2019s Ear\u00adly His\u00adto\u00adry linked to this mov\u00ading pho\u00adto arti\u00adcle in the Dai\u00adly Kos. For decades I\u2019ve argued with peo\u00adple who thought they are being clever by not vot\u00ading, and who sub\u00adse\u00adquent\u00adly won\u00addered why they woke up in \u2026<\/p>\n