Never underestimate the power of voter apathy. Thankfully it was low this year, but it can come back at any time.

If few folks vote- as in the Primaries - the nut jobs win! Which is why the more progressive folks need to stay involved! BTW my favorite bumper sticker of all time - Lobotomies for Republicans -It's the law!

Their other trick is to redistrict everything democratic....see Utah as a prime example, where the GOP legislature and the church tried their best to gerrymander Matheson out of existence and pave the way for super freak Mia Love, liar extroadinaire.

Because there are no Republican potheads?

Well Goldy, at least we're a little luckier here in WA with the proven incompetent wind bag Kirby running the party of voter repression.

Kirby's shown he really cannot lead a two car funeral procession.

20 years ago, there were many people who suggested that the reason why marijuana could not be legalized was because marijuana users weren't involved politically.

At the time, they were correct. Most of the stoners I knew in the 1990's didn't even bother to register to vote, nor did they know who their legislators were. As a result, politicians could get away with demonizing them, since this would garner support from people who didn't like stoners, and the politician stood no chance of losing votes from stoners themselves, who wouldn't be voting anyway.

Which is why I still cringe when some anarchist tells me they dont vote. Not voting not only deprives you of a voice, it also makes you a target.No matter what your political views are or how cynical you've become, not expressing that opinion at the ballot box is stupid.

This year, alot of people who previously thought politics was the epitome of un-cool got political. As a result, their lives are now better. And so are everyone else's.

Oh, and Goldy, you may want to update your post. Loser Kirby is not hoping Dems forget to vote he's said 'PEOPLE... forget to vote'

That was an utterly painful article to read. It really bothers me when people get the whole collapse of Rome wrong. They became Christian then fell apart. This is historical fact.

Actually, when Rome fell, it had been Christian for (much!) longer than the ole US of A has been in existence.

I'm so glad we're finally moving past the 1950's.

Thank the FSM that we legalized MJ if for no other reason than no more trying to explain to doctors that existential ennui is a medical condition.

That is why democrats should be pushing for mandatory voting. Voting booths open for a full week, and a paid holiday in there somewhere, voting at malls, and at churches, and wherever people go when there is no work, with a nice little penalty for those who don't vote. Make it so voting is 100% of the people.

At the same time, police are reminding people not to get so stoned they drive to Idaho.

Good advice!

13,

Mandatory voting is good. So are mail in ballots and declaring Election Day itself to be a federal holiday. The act of voting should also be cast as an expression of patriotism and our civic duty as members of a democratic society. Further, NOTA should be an option on all ballots for every candidate election.

@5 A Republican pothead is what is called a Libertarian.

I was once directly told by a Republican voter that Democrats/ liberals were unfit to govern and the sooner America became a one party system, the better.

Pointing out that this is how communist nations do it didn't elicit a response, sadly.

@6

Agree, he's been that way since cheering the Vietnam war with his YAF buddies back in high school.

@12

My personal favorite condition is "extreme incarceration anxiety syndrome"

Came here to say what 7 said, but they did it far better than I would have. Thanks, Tacoma Traveler.

@9 Rome fell because of the corrupting effect of slavery. Xtianity was a slave's religion (still is), and its theme of redemption led to a complete breakdown of the social order upon which the Empire was built. Nobles & slaves can't be equals and continue to exist.

@21 I honestly think it collapsed due to over-extending itself. I don't think adapting Christianty caused their collapse. It was a huge and complex system and its near impossible to boil it down to one factor.
I think it's really funny when people mis-use two common tropes related to the Roman Empire, their collapse and existence as a pagan state. Two eras that happened separately yet people who are terrible at history seem to confuse the two a lot.

10, 21, 22,

Edward Gibbon wrote a six-volume book about why Rome collapsed, spanning thousands of pages in total. You should read it. It turns out that, as convenient as it might be to lay the blame on any one factor, there was no silver bullet.

I kinda think that trying to sum up the collapse of the world's greatest superpower prior to the modern age in one paragraph is tad ambitious. Lets not oversimplify a complex historical event.

@23 Of course you can't boil down a thousand years into a paragraph. SLOG isn't really the venue for posting one of my old term papers. I'm trying to give folks some quick points to rebut the David DeWolf's they encounter.

My degree is in classical history, and Gibbon hasn't been seriously taught in decades. I've read some of it. He's an occasionally worthwhile secondary source, but basing your understanding of Rome on Gibbon is pretty silly. Read the original sources.

Oddly enough, I know a lot of Republicans, including most rock musicians my age, and a lot of them smoke pot. I always found that odd, pot-smoking rocker Republicans, but that's pretty typical for people in their 50's.