CSotD: Quibbling over Dixie Cups while Con Edison burns

Mike Peterson Published: April 1, 2012 1 minute 3 comments

Toles
Tom Toles, with a retrospective of sorts that ought to scare some sense into those who would rather not vote at all than vote for a candidate with whom they don't agree on every item, or who doesn't do exactly everything they hoped he would.

Message to the Purists:
Someone is going to get elected, whether you vote or not.

And if you think that modifying the genes in an ear of corn, or cutting down trees in a forest, or building a dam at a spot you never heard of until they started building a dam there, is going to change things for the worse (and I agree that it well might), why do you not feel that way about appointments to a court that gets to decide if sick people get medical care, if women are permitted to make decisions about their own health, if corporations are to be permitted to fund campaigns?

Abbie Hoffman said of Earth Day, "Sure, I'll pick up the Dixie Cup. Who the ___ is gonna pick up Con Edison?"

I'm not telling you to leave the Dixie Cups scattered on the grass. I'm just asking you to look up and try to see the Big Picture.

And if you don't think Alito was a critical choice, let me remind you that he replaced Sandra Day O'Connor.

And that he was Bush's second choice for that chair.

Do you remember who his suggested false-equivalency meet-the-quota plug-in female replacement was, the proposed parallel to his father's similar false-equivalency meet-the-quota decision to replace Thurgood Marshall with Scalia's lawn jockey?

Paynemiers
(on which topic Tom Toles offered this, since Miers had announced she wasn't going to answer questions about her views, which was a preview, I suppose, of that long period when McCain kept Kodiak Barbie locked down to avoid scrutiny:)

Tolesmeirs
I know it's generally said that, in a democracy, people get what they deserve. But, come on, are you really proposing that we tank the whole country so you can feel good about your purity?

We'll help you pick up the freaking Dixie Cups, okay? Now stop all this weeping, swallow your pride, you will not die, it's not poison.

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Gabe

Is this an April Fools post or truly a STFU to purists? I would maybe have more patience if this was election day but do you really think citizens of a democracy should be quiet if there is a worse possibility? Shame on you.
Signed,
Someone who will end up voting for the guy who promised transparency and denounced illegal detainment only to attack whistleblowers and eliminate checks and balances over assassinating rather than merely detaining and torturing.

Apr 01,2012
Mike Peterson

You must have stopped reading less than a full sentence into it. I never said people shouldn’t criticize. I said they shouldn’t refuse to vote simply because the perfect candidate hasn’t emerged. Granted, I consider part of “perfect” to include “able to be elected,” but that, indeed, is something that would have to be judged closer to election time.
Meanwhile, I’m hearing a lot of purists — “true believers” being perhaps closer to the mark — say they aren’t going to vote, that the two parties are indistinguishable, etc etc etc. And they are working to persuade others that staying home shows a revolutionary attitude. That’s what I oppose — on April 1 and every other day.
And I know a lot of people who hold their noses while they vote. It’s a sensible move — both the holding your nose and the voting.

Apr 01,2012
Gabe

Yes, I stopped reading partway through the first sentence but still decided to comment…
If I were to read the entire article, it probably would come across as “purists refusing to vote” as a straw dog for those who are whining about Obama because you think Bush was worse.
I don’t know how many people that you’ve met who have actually voiced this opinion (and I would dismiss most online chatter just as I don’t think that society is as bad as youtube comments make it appear). But your article comes across very much as stop whining and deal with it. And you act like that’s because you’re thinking “big picture” when really it should be a concession that you’re focusing on yet another four years of increased wars, incarceration, and siding with big business because there might be a Supreme Court appointment.
Again, I’m not saying that I won’t vote for Obama but it would be nice if his campaign didn’t have to assume that they have everyone on the left in the bag already so they only need to move to the right to gain more votes.

Apr 01,2012

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CSotD: Quibbling over Dixie Cups while Con Edison burns

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Gabe

Mike Peterson

Gabe

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