Tony StarkNov 21, 2021

Republicans will not be satisfied until Republican candidates can choose their own voters...and votes for other candidates are punishable by fine, imprisonment, or nullification.

Their authoritarian fight for control and one-party rule continues unabated. Not an American bone or value in their collective bodies. This isn't democracy. #VoteBlue if you'd like to keep one.

"Your ability to vote in 2022 will largely depend on where you live, as lawmakers in 25 states have made it easier for people to vote while those in at least 19 states have made it more difficult, per the Brennan Center for Justice."
https://www.axios.com/new-voting-laws-for-2022-1f949332-8176-4b13-b657-af8f6a92fb8a.html

New laws in 19 states will make it harder to vote in 2022

States where voting is already difficult have enacted stricter laws.

Show threadDr Lorxus, TruthfinderNov 23, 2021
@TonyStark I'd be a lot more jazzed to #VoteBlue if the candidates I'm to vote for had any interest in actually protecting voting rights, or indeed materially improving my life in any way at all.
Show threadTony StarkNov 23, 2021
@lorxus
There's not enough specificity there for me to answer.
Show threadDr Lorxus, TruthfinderNov 23, 2021

@TonyStark There literally can't be enough specificity to satisfy you, then, because the problem is systemic, and trying to get people to "just vote harder" isn't going to work.

It literally doesn't even matter who my local Democratic candidates are - if the DNC doesn't bother to force through voting rights protections *as a whole*, then none of this matters, and they haven't, to date, so much as made more than token efforts to.

Show threadTony StarkNov 23, 2021

@lorxus
Ok, I was hoping for a legit conversation but if you don't want to have one, that's ok. You're reading one post out of probably thousands I've made or boosted.

There are 2 Democrats standing in front of eliminating the filibuster which would allow any voting rights bill to pass since absolutely zero Republicans are for it. So it's 2 people, not a whole group.

And there are many levels to elections besides federal. State-level Dems have done quite a bit to protect voting.

Short of holding Sinema and Manchin down and beating them (which still won't work) there is no simple pass. I'm sure you know that.

If you want to have a discussion, I'm in. If you're here just to insult me, find someone else.

Show threadTony StarkNov 23, 2021
@lorxus
As for specificity, I am asking what you're talking about, a specific bill or issue. There's 0 telling what you mean from your post.
Show threadDr Lorxus, TruthfinderNov 23, 2021

@TonyStark Sure! Here's the bare minimum in voting rights protection that would satisfy giant chunks of the voting public:

-Aggressive messaging by the DNC to push for voting rights protection, along the lines of the proposed John Lewis VRA.

-Associated party-internal pressuring on Sinema, Manchin, and whoever the hell else feels like stepping up and personally blocking an entire major nation's worth of basic human rights.

-Widespread redistricting reforms to prevent racial *and* partisan gerrymandering, effectively partisan-biased ID laws, and partisan "poll watchers".

More broadly:

-Some immediate student debt jubilee, even a token amount.

-Federal cannabis legalization, because if the GOP gets that, the Dems are permafucked.

-A minimum wage that people can actually live on.

-Universal health care free or nearly free at point of service, like every other industrialized nation has.

Show threadTony Stark
@lorxus
It's a good list. I don't know where you live and believe me, I am NOT asking, but not showing up to vote won't get any of those things done and again, lots to choose from as successes on that at the state level right now.
Nov 23, 2021 at 11:00pmWeb
Show threadDr Lorxus, TruthfinderNov 23, 2021

@TonyStark Not showing up to vote won't do it. Showing up to vote very clearly *also* won't do it. Telling me or anyone else that all we need to do is go out and vote when *whether or not my vote even meaningfully counts* is an utter non-starter.

The failure here is in assuming the DNC and/or you can get *anyone* to do *anything* between the devil of gerrymandering/criminalization of voting support/arbitrarily tossing ballots and the deep red sea of the DNC *literally not even making good faith attempts to make anyone's life significantly better*. Issue 2k checks! Cancel student debt! This isn't hard.

Show threadTony StarkNov 23, 2021

@lorxus
That's not something I've ever said. Clearly you are angry but I'm just a person.

I've never said anything of the kind.

It's too bad that you don't want to engage nicely as I'd enjoy amplifying your messages but 2 FU's is 2 too many.