There was definitely more to say than I addressed here, but there'll be time enough in the coming months for the rest, I'm sure.
The real site of grief today, for my US friends, is the election you *won't* get to have in November, thanks to your narrowed options for presidential candidate.
There are so many important economic, legal, and foreign-policy issues you should be seeing hashed out on the main stage.
But the 2024 election has already been stolen--from you.
https://onlysky.media/mclark/the-election-us-voters-wont-get-to-have/
@MLClark I don't think you're incorrect. I don't agree with everything but I'll go a step further to say the average voter, probably not reflected in the population here, just doesn't care that deeply about issues. We're the country that votes for the best looking kid for class president, to use an analogy. We have fallen victims to accepting the "lesser evil" without being able to articulate any complicated issue other than what personally affects our wallets as voters.
Thank you, SaltyVeruca.
There's a rhetorical move in articles like this; it serves to "call in" good-faith actors, rather than simply dwell on the bad.
Last year, while writing about how we were failing to take climate change seriously, someone wondered why I wasn't just writing an article telling everyone how stupid they were being.
Here, too, many think the US is getting exactly the election it deserves - and that kind of rhetoric is everywhere. So I went with the "call in".
@MLClark And I think that's a great "outsider's" take which you're entitled to have since our country affects everyone at some point. Maybe we do get the election we deserve and maybe we don't. I think there's responsibility on both sides: the manipulators and the manipulated, but the fact remains many voters feel the system is broken beyond their personal control. We certainly don't encourage voting from everyone. Voters rightly feel the system is rigged.
"We certainly don't encourage voting from everyone."
The sheer amount of time spent on voter registration and fighting to make sure your names haven't been removed!
Canadians can show up at the polls day-of, and swear an oath if they don't have ID (something that helps the unhoused especially). Otherwise, we're added to the register when we file our taxes:
One of the benefits of writing about world politics is learning how many local battles have been artificially constructed.