Welcome to Buster's Blog

Irregular commentary on whatever's on my mind -- politics, sports, current events, and life in general. After twenty years of writing business and community newsletters, fifteen years of fantasy baseball newsletters, and two years of email "columns", this is, I suppose, the inevitable result: the awful conceit that someone might actually care to read what I have to say. Posts may be added often, rarely, or never again. As always, my mood and motivation are unpredictable.

Buster Gammons















Sunday, November 2, 2014

The Disgust Election


Why are so many people so apathetic about the upcoming mid-term elections that they simply won't  bother to vote?  Why do some people feel their votes don't matter?  Why are some folks calling this the "Seinfeld election" -- the election about  nothing?

NY Times columnist Timothy Egan puts much of the blame on the five conservative justices of the Supreme Court.  Excerpts from his 10/26/14 piece:
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This fall, voters are more disgusted, more bored and more cynical about the mid-term elections than at any time in at least two decades.  It's so bad  that Sen. Mitch McConnell is paying people to show up at his rallies and pretend to be excited.

You can trace the revulsion to the 2010 Citizens United case, in which the Supreme Court gave wealthy, secret donors unlimited power to manipulate American elections.  The decision legalized large-scale bribery -- OK, influence-buying -- and ensured that we would never know exactly who was purchasing certain politicians.

At the same time, this court has given approval to efforts to keep the powerless from voting.  In Texas, Republicans have passed a selective voter ID bill that could keep upwards of 600,000 citizens from having a say in this election.  

You can vote in Texas with a concealed-handgun ID, but not one from a four-year college.

We Americans have long boasted of having free and fair elections.  Thanks to this Supreme Court, they are neither.
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Historically, apathy and low voter turnout always favors the regressive, right-wing element.  Don't let the bastards hold you down.  Vote!

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