Voting isn't enough

[Cyrano]

The stench and danger of political corruption is nothing new. America has seen it at the local, state, and federal levels many times in the past.

But this is the first time we've seen the total corruption of an entire political party from top to bottom.

Fox "news," for all practical purposes, is an arm of the Republican Party in general, and Trump specifically. Republicans also have the benefit of radio stations and online sites that spew their hate and propaganda every hour of every day.

And they also have the power to gerrymander entire states, deny the "wrong" people the right to vote, "scrub" voter's rolls, and even make voting results from "certain districts" disappear.

Above all, the entire Republican Party is enabling the most dangerous, ignorant, corrupt person who ever sat in the White House. They're allowing him, by their silence, and in some cases their active assistance, to destroy democracy.

Our votes mean nothing if the outcome can be rigged. So what else can we do?

Here's what we can do. We can publicly denounce anyone, anywhere, who votes for any Republican candidate for any office. Each and every one of us must make our voices heard. Even if we're speaking to a GOP family member, an acquaintance, or a "friend."

We need to shame those who vote for Republicans. They need to be made aware of the damage they are causing with their "party loyalty." And they need to be exposed as aiding and abetting a political party that is doing its best to turn our country into an authoritarian nightmare.

It's up to us to stop it. No one else can. Each and every one of us know people who vote for, and thus enable Republicans. And we must speak up now while we're still "allowed" to speak up.

Sorry to be asking so much. It can cause hurt feelings, and in some cases irreparable damage. But, yes. I'm asking a lot of everyone. After all, there's nothing at stake except our way of life, and all of our freedoms.

[Eko]

1. Sorry but no.

We are not that party. We don't shame people, we are the good guys so we need to act like it.

[msongs]

2. in 1933 germany social democrats were the "good guys". guess what happened

to them

[Eko]

6. And you think

the social democrats would have stopped Hitler's rise to power by shaming him in 1933? Not to mention the "good guys" entered the war in 1941 and helped bring down 3 "bad guys". The question shouldn't be should we be "good guys?" but what kind of "good guys" do we want to be and if we don't want to be "good guys" doesn't that make us the bad guys?

[Eko]

7. Shall we shave the heads of them

like the french did when we liberated them and they called out the collaborators? Shall we make them dig their own graves?

[PaulX2]

3. Been Onnit For Years

Republicans are scum and only traitors vote for them. Every single person in my sphere knows I am not afraid to say it.

The sign on the back of my car says "Eternity How Long Republicans Will Burn" and I don't care if I pissed them traitors off in the least.

They deserve worse.....

[BigmanPigman]

4. I have been doing this my entire life.

I am a proud Dem and my values are part of the reason I am a Dem. My family consists of 4 generations of Dems and that says it all. I would not even date someone who was a GOP fan. That is the make or break issue (along with religion) for me and who I decide to be friends with. It is all about respect, fairness, morals and values.

[elocs]

5. When people of good conscience are not vigilant and do not vote, bad things happen.

A good citizen has a moral duty to vote but too many in America and even on the Left abdicate that responsibility. In poor nations that get the right to vote for the first time we see people walking sometimes for miles, risking their lives and safety, to cast their ballots for the first time even when there in no great choice for them. As bad as things appear to us here in the U.S. there are still too many who are too comfortable and lazy to be bothered to get out and vote even if their polling place is a short distance away.
Laws and policies are made, lives are saved and changed as a result of those who choose to get out and vote. Every election will have a winner that is determined by those who show up to vote, not by those for whom no excuse is too small not to vote.
A single vote is like a single raindrop and alone it means little but when joined by others it has the potential to become a Blue tidal wave.
Having the right to vote is both an honor and a responsibility for each of us and even if a choice is only between bad and worse the rational person will do what they can to prevent worse from prevailing and get out and vote. As flawed and imperfect as our electoral system can be, voting is the tool we can use for change and to build a better future, bit by bit, brick by brick.
Voting may not be enough but it is the first, most simple, and greatest step we can take on the path.