225 Comments
User's avatar
James Martin's avatar

Please make this post "free" so it can be shared far and wide. Local elections matter most, as they sow the seeds for the bigger ones. We just saw a prime example.

Jenna McCarthy's avatar

You’re not the first person to ask that… I wonder if other paid subscribers will be bothered if I make it free? Like you’re losing your special perk? I’m going to pin this comment and see what other folks say! Thank you.😊

Juju's avatar

I don’t know how ANYONE can be so petty to be upset with you making a powerful article free. We either support you for who you are, period, or we only care about privileges and perks. The latter is shallow. You can still have one day a week for the paid subscribers, but occasionally open an article up to everyone when it’s powerful and needs to be heard. We are smart enough to appreciate the “why”. Well, the less petty among us are.

Farmer Liz's avatar

This is an outstanding post! I agree that it should be opened up so it can be shared far and wide… it’s such an important topic nowadays but maybe post it for everyone closer to November? Just my two cents.

Joni Lang's avatar

Yes, please make it available!

KimD's avatar

Nope I'm a paid subscriber. Make it free!

Positively Paying It Forward's avatar

For me, it's a simple answer......

Delay.

Make some of your posts (importance determined by the peanut gallery) available after 24 hours..........

Or even better, offer some as repostings for free over the weekend.

If the goal is to offer paid subscribers something of 'extra' value (at $.30 cents per day, why don't people just step up? <Really, would you date someone that truly is THAT cheap?**>) slowly move two weekly postings to 'paid only' and then tease the 'free seats' gallery to hopefully/eventually stepping up.

We clearly know that there are other bloggers that post free content (and yes, we all have a budget) but choose what's best for you Jenna, as this is your only source of income................and a girl's got to take care of the cats and buy some hats!!.

**"Hey, let's go on a coffee date and read/share some Substack posts together. I know you mentioned a nice little warm and comfortable coffee/pastry shop on the corner of 'Walk & Don't Walk', but I prefer we hitch up at 7-eleven and YOU can buy the extra large cup size <<here we are talking about cup size again>> and I'll pour some of your coffee into my own brought from home container. Then we can stand outside, a little ways away from the homeless crowd and read free Substack posts. Won't that be fun?"

"Oh and don't forget to grab me a bunch of the free flavor containers they have."

Jenna McCarthy's avatar

LingOL! Thanks PPIF. Appreciate the input (and laughs... and support... and hats and socks and rugs and IYKYK)! ;)

Positively Paying It Forward's avatar

Next time, I’m in Texas, whenever that is, you can buy me a cup, er, scratch that, a tin, glass, vase, bucket, or a can of coffee. Anything but a cup. Lol.

Positively Paying It Forward's avatar

And if you do take me to 7-Eleven, be sure to put in my phone number when you pay so I can get the points. After seven dates like that, I can actually afford the eighth one. lol.

Tonee norman's avatar

Though I certainly like feeling special, I think this is more important than my feelings..please,share with everyone!

SadieJay's avatar

Please share it with everyone! And, unlike free government cheese...this article is The Real Deal and won't clog your arteries. You could make all the posts free and I would not care. I support you and every single one of your posts, whether it is labeled 'free' or 'comes with terms and conditions'.

Jenna McCarthy's avatar

I appreciate you, SadieJay! :)

David Records's avatar

Agree!

Juju's avatar
2dEdited

I was JUST coming here to say the same!! It’s brilliantly written, concise, and powerful. Maybe in the near future when she takes a day off she will repost it and open it up to everyone. ❤️

Mary Ann Caton's avatar

Making this post public would be a public service and, man, do we need that right now!

Jenna McCarthy's avatar

I made it public! Feel free to share widely and thank you for the support!🥰

SteveO's avatar

Jenna. Great article. But please hear me out. I agree in spirit with you. Your statements are very correct on the surface. But,,,, when the major metropolitan blue areas control the voting machines and postal service the reality is, a conservative vote really may not matter, no matter how many.

Take this as an example. I lived in Maine most of my life. And it was conservative until the last 15 -20 years. Then they poorly worded a referendum question about Rank Choice Voting and we never had a republican again. I went to the Town Clerks office in Kennebunk and talked to Merle and asked him what type of voting machine ES-2000 and is dictated by the state. It is owned by Dominion and we all know where that leads. Ever since electronic came into play the once conservative town became liberal amazingly.

And the state imported thousands of Somali's and other illegals into our cities and allowed them to vote on the sly, with mail-in and non verification.

I moved here to WV and we/they actually check your ID, and two people verify your eligibility. I feel confident voting here in WV. But I lost that confidence in Maine.

So the moral of my story is that people with two thinking brain cells really have a causal pattern to see and it is depressing.

Meddling Kid's avatar

Steve, I think she’s pointing out that if turnout was 80% in a blue city instead of the very motivated 10%, you’d more likely get a mainstream liberal rather than a moronic socialist. We already know some areas are lost for getting any sort of conservative elected.

SteveO's avatar

Only if Trump does not get the mail-in problem and the ID problem fixed. Many blue areas are only blue through cheating and once an official gets elected they bring on other socialist and take over the system. Not because they have greater numbers or ideas the voting is rigged from then on and the republicans act like it is against them to play hard ball.

David Nelson's avatar

And there, the way of NY, but for the practice of "eternal vigilance," goes WV--which I'm embarrassed to report still has to explain why it enabled Robert Byrd's lard-ridden career.

KC & the Sunshine's avatar

SteveO, if a conservative vote doesn’t matter, I mean, if the numbers don’t matter, what is the point of dragging Somalis in? Not being snarky. Sincere question.

Juju's avatar
2dEdited

I think it’s for the illusion of there being more support for their candidates. They still cheat. And most of those illegals don’t vote themselves but have votes cast in their names.

Graphite's avatar

As well as the dead... and those who moved away 18 years ago... the list goes on...

SteveO's avatar

That is a great question. Because the dems were doing poorly without the imported votes and Obama helped satisfy that. I grew up about 30 miles from Lewiston Me. We were all French Catholic and voted in JFK Democrats (which would be modern soft republicans) but things drastically changed when the imports began arriving. They did nothing and got everything and the dems squeezed them in to vote and the cities turned blue.

Mary Ann Caton's avatar

And this is why those who purposely opt out of voting because "it's all corrupt," or "my vote doesn't count," are culpable in explaining why the commie nut jobs are winning. Voting is quite simply an obligation. No human system is perfect, but some are better than others, and everyone who is qualified to vote should. Sitting out elections whether on purpose or due to laziness only makes matters worse and helps diminish the Republic. Thomas Jefferson had a lot to say on this subject.

David Nelson's avatar

If we do our duty, and someone perverts the effort, it's on them, not on us.

If we shun our duty, and someone perverts the effort, we share the blame.

To do one's duty,

though done in vain.

Better than to not

and share the stain.

--America's undiscovered, unappreciated, uncompensated poet-lariat [as in the rope], David Nelson

Voting is like my Dad's peach orchard that he planted "too far north" which caused him to be ridiculed by his neighbors. Indeed, his peaches froze 3 years out of every 5, but "Those TWO years?" he said, "make ALL the difference."

Sheila's avatar

Love this! And yes, 2 out of 5 years of peaches is absolutely worth it!!!

David Nelson's avatar

In those two years, he had to put lumber supports under the limbs because he refused to knock off even a single peach to lighten the load. And can? Man, he canned peaches like a house afire when he had them.

Mary Ann Caton's avatar

We lost our peaches 2 years running due to frosts that killed the blossoms.

David Nelson's avatar

That's when the neighbors stopped by to remind Dad why he should never have planted peaches so far north. He'd just go open up a jar and eat in front of them, nodding his head.

KC & the Sunshine's avatar

As a GA peach, I endorse this comment.

David Nelson's avatar

Loved 'em so much, I married one!

Marlene Swann's avatar

“That’s increasingly how American politics works. Radicals sweep elections not because they’re a majority. They dominate because radicals vote. Everybody else complains on Facebook.”

And there it is.

Meddling Kid's avatar

So socialists don’t like Santa, who DOES bring us presents, but do like a different bearded guy, who promises to bring all sorts of presents but never does and never could?

Make it make sense for me.

Make it make sense how “acquiring the means of production” doesn’t somehow mean stealing the golden goose and then starving it to death because you don’t understand what it eats.

Justin's avatar

Darn it Jenna. This is one I wanted to share far and wide to get a number of conservative folks off the couch, but this is the paid episode. (I know you've gotta eat.)

Great article!

Jenna McCarthy's avatar

You can just forward the email… ☺️

David Nelson's avatar

BRILLIANT!

Justin's avatar

Done. I hope you gain a few new subscribers. Thank you Jenna! (and yes, I removed the "unsubscribe" link at the bottom.)

Kitt Lo's avatar

How about if the "paid subscribers" are allowed one share per month regardless of paywall to get people tuned in, Jenna? (It's early yet, so I'm not ready to unravel whatever logic there is that might bring a conclusion of either "good idea" or "not so much.")

Meantime, I confess to decades of believing my vote didn't matter, so I didn't vote. I didn't even pay attention to the issues. But the plandemic changed all that. I'm embarrassed it took me this long, and hopefully better late than never. (Three Hail Mary's and our father and I'm good?)

KBB's avatar

I forward Jenna every morning to my hubby, so we're essentially sharing a paid subscription. I doubt Jenna would object to that. On rare occasions I forward a particularly pithy post (paid or free) to a friend, but I would never presume to provide any friend's email address to substack without their permission. Jenna would not likely abuse that but others definitely would and my friends would certainly not appreciate having their inboxes filled with unwanted stuff thanks to me!

Anne Emerson Hall's avatar

I have forwarded notes or articles to friends and family from time to time. I use the “copy link” function. Is Substack capturing their information when I do that? Yikes.

Jenna McCarthy's avatar

I don’t know how they could possibly access that but I am not the tech savviest gal on the planet…

David Nelson's avatar

How about "blanket permission" for anyone to share an article to a specific individual thought likely, or even possibly, to represent a new paid subscription? "Anyone" because some people who (think they) can't afford a subscription could (likely) well have at least one friend who could, and enabling that subscription is "kind of" payment... Just NOT ALWAYS and NOT ALWAYS to the SAME INDIVIDUAL.

CraigN's avatar

Copy, paste. I know that takes a wee bit more effort, but isn't that what this article is about. Maybe Jenna loses some revenue or maybe, just maybe it gets some people off their asses and pocketbooks to subscribe. Just sayin'.

Justin's avatar

I know. I could. I try to respect her copyright. (Jenna, forgive me if I fall into temptation.)

Jenna McCarthy's avatar

I genuinely appreciate your thoughtfulness... and I actually don't mind people forwarding my paid content. I'd rather pick up a few more free subscribers than try to gatekeep everything! It's always bittersweet putting ANYTHING behind a paywall because I do like reaching people... Thanks again! :)

David Nelson's avatar

And I say again that I think you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar. I think it makes you look penny-pinchy. Your #1 motivator for new subscribers is that People genuinely Love You--or actually love their idea of who you simply MUST be... But the one works against the other. "There must be a better way..."

Jenna McCarthy's avatar

You think the paywall makes me look penny pinchy??? Open to all the ideas! If I could get thousands more free subscribers, some of them would naturally pay as many of you did before I had the paywall… But the paywall converts unfortunately and I really like doing this and want to keep it as my job…

Joanie Higgs's avatar

I don't think it makes you look penny-pinchy (and glad to know I can forward the emails and will let them know it's to my paid sub, which elevates the value in their minds).

For me, your writings are as rich as are Jeff Childers' whom I can't afford, while your monthly rate is doable.

Julie Young's avatar

I don’t think it makes you look penny-pinchy— just real/authentic.

CraigN's avatar

Maybe someone can help here. If you cite the author and present their words with quotation marks, does that eliminate any copyright infringement? I have little knowledge about copyright laws.

Justin's avatar

In a nutshell, you're not allowed to substantially copy the works of another. Yes, attribution is proper in any case, as as to not promote someone else's work as your own. You can copy a small part (how much is subjective) for academic, review, and attributable purposes. Copying the entire amount is seen as theft and copyright infringement.

Nancy in NC's avatar

I think I've voted in 90% of every primary and general election for about 55 years, and I've seen things go from bad to horrible. Even those few decent people who get elected start to believe their own importance, and forget every campaign promise. I think that's what makes people apathetic.

John Wright's avatar

To be motivated to vote, there needs to be a candidate worth voting for.

I'm more inclined toward continuing to build a community of decent people and an alternate economy.

Jenna McCarthy's avatar

But... but... did you read my piece? A PERSON is going to be in that office. There are always, ultimately, at least a few LESS AWFUL people. Pick any liberal cause--men in women's sports, DEI, open borders, wealth distribution, voter ID, reparations--and ask yourself if there is in fact a LESS AWFUL version... ;)

John Wright's avatar

It's really hard to get motivated to vote for "less awful".

I voted with my feet and moved to South Dakota. Unfortunately I picked the wrong place to move to (but moving was still overall a good choice). That contributes to my current apathy and desire to "drop out".

I'd also say I tried to do my part when I ran for US Congress. Unfortunately the corruption of the system nauseated me.

Kay's avatar

Amen, Jenna. If people think voting doesn’t matter, they need to consider where we’d be if Kamala had been elected. Is Trump perfect? No. Was he “selected”? Well, if he was, why did he ride into office on such a gigantic wave of support from ordinary people? Why do the mainstream and even people in his own party hate him so much? Why the assassination attempts? Are dark forces trying to fool us? Maybe they are, but we’re still better off than we would have been without him. All we can really see is the present, however clever future projections might be. Maybe tomorrow the whole world will blow up. In the meantime, though, I’m going to vote.

Jenna McCarthy's avatar

AMEN to ALL of this!!!

🌱Nard🙏's avatar

Don’t knock alphabetizing your spice rack. It is imperative!

Jenna McCarthy's avatar

I organize mine by frequency of use (they're in rows inside the cabinet doors)... and let me tell you, if someone puts the nutmeg where my crushed red pepper should go, THE WHOLE HOUSE IS GONNA HEAR ABOUT IT hahahahahaha.

Karen Bandy's avatar

You know what makes me crazy? When my husband sorta puts away the mixing bowls and doesn’t stack them.

We had a lot of mis-matched heavy bowls that still stacked, but he was too careless to do it so I bought a set of those lightweight blue and white enamel bowls and shoved the old ones to the back and Voila!

Training made simple (it only took 40 years 😉🙄).

KBB's avatar

Your husband puts things away? Impressive. Mine loads the dishwasher every night and starts it at bedtime (bless his heart), but he could never unload it because he has no idea where anything goes beyond the plates, bowls, and wine glasses.

Jenna McCarthy's avatar

Hahaha actually same. Sometimes I will say, “let me know if you ever want a tour of the kitchen and I can show you where everything is…” 😂

Karen Bandy's avatar

🤣

James's avatar

We were together a few months, and a couple of days before her birthday, I made her a chocolate cake, and invited all of her closest friends to give her a surprise party;

After I made the cake, it took her 3 days to clean up the kitchen, there was chocolate behind the fridge and stove even; I got kicked out of the kitchen and am not allowed to make anything except toast and oatmeal hahahahaha; that was almost 50 years ago, and I don't go in the kitchen hahahahahaha!!!

Karen Bandy's avatar

Yet, look, 50 years later, and you don’t have to cook! 🤣

Karen Bandy's avatar

He does, we both load the dishwasher and unload too. He sorta likes to cook so he has to know where stuff is. Before you get jealous he makes horrible messes and has to be told when it's a cleaning day, I swear he does not see dust! 🤣

James's avatar

Man is made from dust, I don't vacuum because I don't want to vacuum up my relatives hahahaha!!!

Graphite's avatar

We don't have any dust in our house... well not that I've noticed anyway - Hahaha! I am a stickler for cleanliness - I vacuum the whole house at least every 6 months whether it needs it or not!

John Wright's avatar

Dust? Isn't that so small it's nearly invisible?

Karen Bandy's avatar

Not in the high desert. It’s so thick you’d think your mahogany furniture is ash colored.

CraigN's avatar

Dishwasher? At our house that would be my lovely wife and I. We alternate washing and drying.

🌱Nard🙏's avatar

They just don’t seem to understand the concept of nesting. Maybe it’s a mama bird thing!

John Wright's avatar

They have to nest upside down... I don't want stuff falling into my bowls. Just because they are in the cabinet does not make them immune to stuff getting inside them. They are much safer when upside down!

Karen Bandy's avatar

Who’s safer, you or the bowls? 😉

John Wright's avatar

Both?

The bowls are safer since they have less risk of being knocked over. I'm safer because I don't accidentally ingest whatever pollution might have settled in them.

I'm not sure about everyone else, but I tend to use the same items daily while other items may sit for months (years?) between uses.

Karen Bandy's avatar

There’s no other explanation 🤣

Or we could be like Maxwell Smart … it’s illogical.

James's avatar

Yes, but he talks to his shoe! hahahahaha

Karen Bandy's avatar

Shoes are good listeners 😁

Richard schoenenberger's avatar

That would be me…and I do hear about it.

Juju's avatar

I’m this way with all my cooking utensils. I have 4 separate drawers of them by type/utility, and when I can’t find my egg separator or my favorite cookie spatula, or my avocado knife, the house becomes Armageddon. I never know which one of them misplaced it, and neither do they, so I can’t prevent future terror. 🤣

Graphite's avatar

Explain to you husband that it is like putting a medium flathead screwdriver back in the pliers drawer in the toolbox! :-)

Juju's avatar

Exactly!!!! 🤣

Heather B's avatar

I was going to say that too. No one in my house understands though.

Ginny Moore's avatar

🤣🤣🤣

John Wright's avatar

An organized kitchen is a productive kitchen!

Marcia Beauchamp's avatar

Exactly! Spot on, as usual. This new direction on the left is really creeping me out, TBH. Now I’m reading EKO’s new piece on Joe McCarthy and what he knew. As EKO has said, we owe Joseph McCarthy an apology. 🙁

SteveO's avatar

Eko is extraordinary he is so thorough with his understanding of everything. He is amazing. One thing I must say is that a lot of what he writes about I do not research myself but it fits into my world view. McCarthy I have read about but not the details as he presented.

Vee's avatar

+1 for Anthony Burkett too.

"Then why does every political machine in America spend literal fortunes trying to get people to vote? Why do unions, activist groups, PACs, billionaires, volunteers, campaigns, and every cable news network on Earth care so much about turnout?"

Because it's part of the propaganda machine that needs to convince you and all of our neighbors that these people are being elected and not selected. We can't have legitimate elections without legitimate voting machines and/or a process for counting the votes.

Our opinion matters, but it matters more in what we think, the conversations that we have, the things that we do with our time. Saying no to toxic shots and telling all of your families, friends, and complete strangers to say no and to not participate is much more powerful than voting in tweedle dee or tweedle dumb.

Massive non-compliance is much more powerful than thinking we can vote our way our of corporate fascism. Voting hasn't worked since Eisenhower warned America about the military industrial complex, so why do people think it's going to work now with rigged machines and a government that is actively trying to kill us?

Jenna McCarthy's avatar

I respectfully disagree. I GET WHAT YOU ARE SAYING, but at the end of the day, A BODY is going to be in that seat making decisions for you, whether you like it or not. I can't fathom not wanting ANY say in who that body is. Do you genuinely think nothing whatsoever would be different if Kamala was POTUS? I shudder to think.

Vee's avatar

Things would have maybe been slightly different in terms of gender ideology and men playing in women's sports? But what else do you think would have been different?

There would still no be accountability for the clot shots, the vaccine injuried and killed would still be silenced, war with Iran would have still happened, and the technocratic control grid would still be actively put in place with the major rollout of datacenters for AI surveillance.

Jenna McCarthy's avatar

So you agree that SOME things would be different! Do you have daughters? The men out of girls' sports wouldn't be enough to get you to vote, even if you know OTHER THINGS might still suck? I'll take slightly-less-sucky over overwhelmingly-sucky all day long. ;)

Anthony S Burkett's avatar

The fact that "Men competing in Women's Sports" is even an issue that requires being brought to a vote, is proof positive in and of itself that voting is a contrived vehicle for collective nonsense... that stupid-ass shit was the brain child of a psychotic element of society that has buggers for brain cells.

luluweaver's avatar

Well said. I’ve maintained that people lost their brains by advocating to allow men in women’s sports. ESPECIALLY mothers of daughters who compete in sports. What in the world were they thinking? That’s like fighting against your own daughter! I get riled up every time I think about it. Dark stain in our history.

SadieJay's avatar

And the fact that it is even a THING?? I was going to say it is stupid, but I really think it is evil. It is a sorting hat to see who the Useless Eaters really are...IMHO

Anthony S Burkett's avatar

I should have said "collective insanity", because that's what it truly is.

Vee's avatar

Absolutely! It's only a matter of time until more people see through this nonsense for what it is.

Vee's avatar

I do have a daughter and it drives me crazy that men are competing against women. It's ridiculous that it was ever allowed in the first place.

Well that's the trick isn't it? We happily eat up the breadcrumbs and ask for more while they actively eat the loaf and poison the crumbs that they are leaving us.

The Great Santini's avatar

And yet we have a Supreme who can’t tell the difference between male and female. Still got confirmed.

Anthony S Burkett's avatar

Just goes to show that the entire political spectrum... from the Executive, to the Legislative, to the Judicial... is so full of shit that it's breath would knock a buzzard off of a shit wagon at 10 paces.

Anthony S Burkett's avatar

Jenna, we're arguing on a matter that is as individual in belief structure... and as complicated... as religion... jmo

David Nelson's avatar

... and thus, DOES have a definitive, right answer, for the one willing to investigate. ;^)

Anthony S Burkett's avatar

Your belief structure defines your "relative" right answer... nothing more.

David Nelson's avatar

Could be your absolute belief in relativism denies the reality of absolute truth.

Anthony S Burkett's avatar

David, I don't have a belief in absolute relativism, and I don't know why you would accuse me of that... you have mistaken me in so many respects. In my opinion Absolute Relativism is BULLSHIT! It is the philosophical position that there are no absolute truths or universal moral standards, asserting that truth and ethics are entirely relative to the perspective, culture, or context of the individual or group. This view implies that no single moral code applies to all people at all times, and that conflicting beliefs are equally valid within their respective frameworks... which is, again I say just to be clear, BULLSHIT!

Now, if you were to accuse me of being a proponent of absolutism, which holds that certain moral principles are universally binding regardless of cultural or personal circumstances, then you would be closer to pinning an appropriate tail on my attitude and belief structure.

And with regard to "Belief Structures"... that's Exactly what they are.. "Beliefs"... with no tangible connection to objective fact than that which their individual paradigm and dogma conscript to them.

Phxrising8's avatar

Then how did Trump get elected in 2024? Your argument doesn’t make sense.

Juju's avatar
2dEdited

It IS possible to get enough people to come out to vote such that it DOES overwhelm any cheating taking place. That is exactly what happened. Plus they were extra vigilant with overseeing election in key swing states and quick to file lawsuits. Many things helped, and they were exhausting and expensive efforts that can’t be done for every single election, but need to be. As it was he should have won by an even wider margin than he did, but the cheating padded the counted votes. Still it really was too big to rig.

I’m certain they have been busy devising ways to keep it from ever happening again … evil SOBs

John Wright's avatar

Yes! Massive non-compliance is far, far more effective than voting. Voting became obsolete when TV became common.

Brian's avatar

Right. Like during COVID-19. How many shots did you get?

John Wright's avatar

Zero!

Far more effective to refuse to comply than to attempt to vote our way out of that pressure.

Brian's avatar

Vote in Biden or worse. Be required to do things such as get injected with experimental drug. Refuse to comply. Go to prison.

Given that voting is really not that difficult, why not do both? Maybe then you can avoid having to engage in noncompliance and going to prison…

Ginny Moore's avatar

My friend recently won his seat on city council by 7 votes. He is a Libertarian and that is SUPER rare (for now…). When the votes are counted legally, every vote matters very much.

Bad ass as always friend! 🤬🍑😘❤️

Jenna McCarthy's avatar

👏💪🎉

KatWarrior's avatar

Absolutely fabulous post! Five stars 🌟! Hilarious and dead fecking serious is hard to achieve, Jenna! Bravo 🎉

“too busy alphabetizing their spice racks or trolling Pinterest for air fryer recipes to fill out a form.”

That statement above, literally created two mutually exclusive emotions. Impulsive laughter because it’s absurdly funny, and a sort of anger that went from a simmer to a full on boil in less than 5 seconds.

Bullseye 🎯. Apathy is a serious problem in almost every aspect of life. People seem to lack purpose of any sort. Resilience is non existent, so forget about it! Motivation has been dumbed down to scrolling Pinterest, Etsy, or eBay!

Carville is or was a rabid Blue Dog Democrat, and he basically said FAFO!

Roberta Stack's avatar

I’ve voted in every election since I turned 18 in 1971. I do understand when people choose not to vote, as many have told me that none of these elected officials make a difference in their lives. It’s hard to convince them otherwise.

From the Beach...🌞🇧🇷🏖️🌊🐬🌎😎's avatar

Colorado, too, Jenna. Barista from Ethiopia.

At least AOC made it to a 🍻 bar! 🤠

Anthony S Burkett's avatar

I have to hand it to you, Jenna... that was a damn good rant! And one that I could not only have found no fault in a scant 4 or 5 years back... but one that I would have 100% agreed with back when I believed in our political system... the problem is... now I don't believe in it... at least in the current form that it has been transformed into... one that's rooted in $$$$$$$$$$$ and elitist policies. The game is rigged, the system is corrupt and the doors are closed and locked from the inside... if you're not part of the system, you won't get a part to play... and that goes for the newly minted so-called Social Democrats in NY... What this is is an extensional crises (a poly crises per Jeff Childers) within the Democratic Party... one that will either spell the Party's doom or rebuild it from its apparent current ashes... and what this apparent slide toward the aspiration of Communism has accomplished is a rallying of forces... Hell's coming to breakfast for the Democrats' fringe left movement... and it's coming from within!

Here's a forecast for you... Here-to-fore, the former fringe element colloquially known as "The Squad" was not taken seriously by the Democratic leadership, in my estimation that was a strategic error, one based primarily in the belief that the Party could control its fringe element... now that error has become transparent in a most dramatic fashion... and the gloves are coming off within the Democratic hierarchy... This has been a HUGE Wake-up call to the powers that be, and I believe that the fringe element, "Squad, et.al." is going to be eaten alive by the political machine that is the Democratic Party... We'll see if I am anywhere near the truth in my estimation... and if I am mistaken, then all I can say is do what I have done... move to the country, grow your own food, get to know the Amish, buy lots of .22 LR, and learn how to make whisky.

David Nelson's avatar

Anthony, I sure as hell wish you'd TEST that theory of yours, and RUN FOR THE LEGISLATURE! I know your background, and you'd be a strong contender, and I'd MUCH rather have a representative who "distrusted the system" as much as I do.

Anthony S Burkett's avatar

Well, John! I appreciate your thoughts, and your support... Thank you, Brother!!... but they'd shoot me! LOL!!!

Juju's avatar

“The game is rigged, the system is corrupt and the doors are closed and locked from the inside... if you're not part of the system, you won't get a part to play….” And that’s true of half the republicans too, the RINOs, as we recently saw as they literally locked Scott Pressler out of John Thune’s event. The enemy within …

Anthony S Burkett's avatar

It's the "UniParty"... each of its two hands feed the wildlife that comes crawling to it for a treat.