[quote=pri_dk][quote=Allan from Fallbrook]This is some cool shit going on.[/quote]
Allan, this cool shit has been going on for over 200 years.
But I’m having trouble understanding why some see this recent election as any more significant than any other.
Maybe we are all in violent agreement: Our democratic process is a marvel of human accomplishment. It is a blessing that we all enjoy and should never take for granted.
Some elections lead to massive upheaval (e.g. Presidential election of 1860). Some are part of a series of shifts in national sentiment (congressional elections, 1994). Sometimes that sentiment shifts back in a few years.
Every election contributes to a change, sometimes suddenly, sometimes gradually. Like you mentioned, Jefferson said something to the effect that every election is a bloodless revolution by design. They are all important in some way because they are all part of a beautiful process that, despite it’s quirks, is masterfully designed and has proven itself to work for centuries.
Given that, I just don’t see why this particular election is a big deal. Perhaps history will prove otherwise, but I really think we are letting the media over-hype this. Yes, there are issues at stake. But, relative to our history, the current issues today are pretty ordinary.[/quote]
Pri: For me, this election is important for two reasons: (1) The voting public is showing what an engaged electorate, focused on specific issues, is capable of, and (2) People got off their asses, in the dead of a Massachusetts winter, and made a change.
For all the talk about Obama, and the bailouts, and failed policies, and Congress and all the rest of it, we are now seeing a truly populist movement take hold. And while I don’t think everything coming out of this is going to be good (populist movements have proven dangerous before and in many ways), much of it is and for the simple fact that its driven by individual voters.
No, I’m not talking about the Tea Party movement, or hyping this election up like the MSM/punditocracy/chattering classes are. Rather, I’m talking about a truly American phenomenon: One person, one vote and spread across this entire country and effecting change. Too many of us have forgotten why America remains such an amazing place. And, in spite of the Leftists like Obama and Brian telling us we’re not all that special, the fact is we are. American exceptionalism is a fact, like it or not, and all we need to do is take our country back, one vote at a time.
