Your “Ugh – Two (More) Weeks of that ‘PATS NATION!!’ Garbage?” Monday Evening Open Thread

Anyone who thinks protests and marches matter is wrong and/or ignorant. They don’t. They never have and they never will. MLK’s civil rights march didn’t move Congress to act. The white boys murdered in Philadelphia, Mississippi did – a fact that the Freedom Bus organizers not only considered might happen, but it turns out EXPECTED to happen. They sacrificed people’s lives and safety for federal action. Schools were desegregated by protesters and marches – they were desegregated by armed U.S. Marshals and armed, federalized National Guardsmen. Millions of people have protested against government action in this country and never has that alone changed anything. It didn’t end the Vietnam War, Desert Shield/Storm, or OIF. Occupy Wall Street failed. BLM has failed.

Globally, there have been rallies and marches of groups well over 1 million people strong. I witnessed two when I was in Spain – one in Barcelona and one I stumbled into in Madrid – against ETA. Didn’t change anything. People have marched against autocrats like Putin and Mubarak and Erdogan. Nothing changed.

The only thing that can and does ever change is force. Most people equate that with physical violence. I am more interested in economic coercion, and more importantly, political manipulation. But no one wants to get involved in the machinery of electoral politics. Democrats have a flawless system to give mini-autocrats just enough power to otherwise shut the fuck up – people who are either so invested or have the time to bother. Most people don’t. Gerrymandering can’t be done on the basis of race, sex, or numerous other criteria because it’s unconstitutional. You know what isn’t? Gerrymandering based on political registration. And since most minorities are Democrats, and in the states where this is most ruthlessly applied, that’s basically enough to gerrymander the whites together and the blacks together, and the Supreme Court said that’s perfectly fine. But God forbid minorities change their political affiliations. God forbid anyone try any new or different strategies. There’s a reason why HRC lost using the same idiots that she used to lose the 2008 primaries – because they’re invested. They would rather hire people who are loyal than those who are smart. And they don’t care because they won’t suffer the consequences of Democrats actually losing. No one with any power in the state parties or the DNC will suffer, so they don’t care. They don’t want new people. They don’t want new ideas. They are okay with being “principled, civil, [fill in the blank bullshit term]” losers because that’s good enough. I’ve had enough. I’ve been telling everyone I know that they’d be better off becoming Republicans and trying to change that party from inside than sticking with the losers in the Republican Lite Party.

Which all goes back to my original point: NONE OF THIS MATTERS.

No one will do the hard work. The ones who will try won’t have enough support to matter, and Trump will be re-elected in 2020. Sure the Dems may get a few seats in 2018 because that is the historical trend during the midterms after a new President is elected, but they won’t take either house.

Fuck it. I’m done with this shit.