Since my days as a high school teacher of American Politics in the late-1970s/early 80s, I have been astonished by the indifference of American citizens toward voting and jury duty. I gave extra credit for a student who showed me a voter registration card.
I asked that if they learned anything in the class it was the importance of those actions.
Sadly, in post World War Two America, the highest percentage of those eligible who voted was 62.8% (1964), the lowest was 51.7% (1996), with an average over 70+ years at about 60%.
Years when less than 2/3rds voted is pathetic; when only a bit more than half of those eligible voted is heartbreaking.
I bring this info up to put in reality that if 1/3 of eligible adults don't even bother to vote, why in the world do we think that they would care that our democracy could be...(to paraphrase the GOP dingbat Grover Norquist). "The goal of the MAGA-Trumpist Cult is to shrivel democracy, to get it down to the size where they can drown it in the bathtub."
Add the 20% of ReTrumplican'ts to those indifferent citizens means that almost half of America wants or doesn't care if our democracy dies.
I am terrified at perhaps having to handle a weapon for the first time in 50 years after leaving Viet Nam. I see it only as a last resort, but at 70 years old, I may actually have a righteous cause to fight for this time.
Since my days as a high school teacher of American Politics in the late-1970s/early 80s, I have been astonished by the indifference of American citizens toward voting and jury duty. I gave extra credit for a student who showed me a voter registration card.
I asked that if they learned anything in the class it was the importance of those actions.
Sadly, in post World War Two America, the highest percentage of those eligible who voted was 62.8% (1964), the lowest was 51.7% (1996), with an average over 70+ years at about 60%.
Years when less than 2/3rds voted is pathetic; when only a bit more than half of those eligible voted is heartbreaking.
I bring this info up to put in reality that if 1/3 of eligible adults don't even bother to vote, why in the world do we think that they would care that our democracy could be...(to paraphrase the GOP dingbat Grover Norquist). "The goal of the MAGA-Trumpist Cult is to shrivel democracy, to get it down to the size where they can drown it in the bathtub."
Add the 20% of ReTrumplican'ts to those indifferent citizens means that almost half of America wants or doesn't care if our democracy dies.
I am terrified at perhaps having to handle a weapon for the first time in 50 years after leaving Viet Nam. I see it only as a last resort, but at 70 years old, I may actually have a righteous cause to fight for this time.