They are going to turn out in massive numbers to vote in November and now we have nothing to worry about.
APRIL FOOLS!
And really, this joke is not funny. Truly, there are Americans who feel like their vote doesn't matter or their vote is not needed. They take for granted that no one is going to elect someone whose ideas are seriously crazy to represent us in government. They believe, without talking to any candidate, that none of the candidates are any good.
There are people out there who think we need to ignore those who profess bigotry, ideas against women, or other nonsense and stop paying attention to them so they'll go away. There are people who are outraged by some of the things they see and hear but they won't speak up because they are more worried about popularity than they are the populace.
All of these attitudes are foolish. Right now, we have a huge think-tank that's coming up with policies and then shopping them around to different states. Just look at how similar some of the bills about voting rights, women's rights, and discrimination are in different states. These organizations have almost unlimited resources with which to sell their ideas. What can stop them is education and ordinary citizens taking action.We can beat their money with our brains and with small investments of our time.
These crazy ideas aren't going to go away if we ignore them. The only way we, the people, can make sure our nation is moving in the right direction is to get behind it and push.
I took a quick look at my state's Board of Elections website to find the results of the 2013 election. My city has a population of a little over 50,000 people. 7,494 votes were received in the election for City Council and 4,049 in the race for mayor. What is turnout going to look like this November or in 2016 after voter ID and even more changes to voting laws go into effect?
Today, instead of playing silly jokes and pranks on people, I'm going to call out the real fools. These are the people who don't pay attention. These are the people who don't stand up to attacks on our rights. These are the people who care more about One Direction than the direction our country is moving. These are the people who will vote for the American Idol but not the American government. Either we sail together on a voyage of reason or we will all sink on a ship of fools.
I always vote knowing full well that my vote will make little difference. Our politicians are beholden to the wealthy oligarchs (Wall Street, Koch Brothers, Hollywood) who pay for their re-election campaigns. What do these oligarchs want in return? Well, at the very least, they expect that their candidates will not pass legislation that runs contrary to their corporate paymaster's interests. This is why nobody was prosecuted for fraud in the aftermath of the 2008 mortgage meltdown. This is why Obama did not pass meaningful legislation to regulate the banks. He says he did, but really it was just for show. That's why the banks are still too big to fail. Nevertheless, I will continue to vote because apathy never changed anything.
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