People with political opinions that can’t be expressed without neck-vein popping rage aren’t totally new to me; it’s just that they used to be a small sliver of humanity, usually found on the steps of university buildings, as gadflies in city council meetings, or convening fringe political parties deeply concerned about fluoridation and a return to the gold standard.<\/p>\n
Sadly, they’re much more common now. I tend to see the Democratic version, because my social circles are composed of urban professionals – the cohort keeping the Democratic Party alive (like the pudgy – but well dressed! – man in the elevator today who talked about “DumbFuckistan. You know, the people between the coasts who fell for Bush’s bullshit.” – that’s a verbatim quote, by the way). I see my share of the other wing on my shooting lists and in other areas of the Right that I visit, places where Hillary is busy wiping the fingerprints off the gun she used to murder Vince Foster.<\/p>\n
So What? you ask. Other than making the political precincts depressing places to visit for normal human beings, why does this matter?It matters because the glue that holds us together is starting to crack, and there is one narrow and specific place where we ought to be able to restore it and make it better.<\/p>\n
It’s about voting.<\/p>\n
On some level, it’s the vote that keeps us together. We believe in the overall fairness of the umpire’s calls, in the system where losers shake winners’ hands and plan for next time.<\/p>\n
Or we believed it.<\/p>\n