... and the more I consider throwing up my hands and staying at home on election day.Heaven forbid [via] that the Republicans win on Nov. 2!
They might escalate in Afghanistan and fake a withdrawal from Iraq.
They might pass a bogus health reform law written by the insurers, thereby entrenching them in the system for many years to come.
They might put EFCA (labor rights reform) on a back burner.
They might step up deportations of undocumented workers.
They might expand the military budget to an all–time high.
They might retain Bush’s apparatus of repression, including torture and assassination of US citizens by White House fiat.
They might keep Guantanamo open and tighten the blockade of Cuba.
They might threaten war with Iran.
They might cave in to Israel and the Israel lobby, and neglect Palestinian rights.
They might throw billions of our tax dollars at mega-bankers, but do little or nothing for ordinary homeowners.
They might tolerate a 10 percent unemployment rate, with jobless rates double or triple that for youth of color.
They might start overthrowing lawful elected governments in Central America.
They might start raiding the homes of leftwing antiwar activists.I count my lucky stars for leaders who understand that the Republicans are the ultra right, and we must all vote Democrat to isolate the main enemy.
But I'll vote anyway. It's good exercise to go to the polling place, and it will entitle me to give me an extra slap to Democrats who will say darkly, "I'll bet you didn't even vote" when I criticize Obama.
Come to think of it, listening to Democrats warn about the horrible things the Republicans will do reminds me of an old joke from the USSR a friend told me in the 1970s. It's an elementary school classroom in the Soviet Union, and the teacher is telling the children how miserable people are in America: they suffer from racism, poverty, disease, and so on. While in the glorious Soviet Union, everyone has useful work, enough to eat, a comfortable place to live, free medical care, and everyone is equal!
A little girl bursts into tears. "What's the matter?" the teacher asks. "I want to move to the Soviet Union!" the little girl cries.
The application of this joke to the coming elections may be left as an exercise for the reader. But there's something else as well. To an American, the joke is funny, because everyone knows that the American standard of living is second to none! That's why communism failed! That's why people from all over the world want to move to America, where we have freedom and a great medical care system and amber fields of grain to feed the world and the streets are paved with gold! And that's why I don't just want to vote for a Democrat -- I want to move to America!