Does the huge majority of Americans see what is happening to their country?

[kentuck]

I have to think that they do.

I think the Republicans are going to be in for a big surprise on Election day. That is my sincerest hope.

I believe the American people understand the disastrous road we have taken and will choose to go a different direction.

I have to believe...

[SHRED]

1. Most do however...

...will they vote?

[bdamomma]

2. hopefully yes

https://www.alternet.org/trump-anxiety-disorder-psychologist-warns-president-making-americans-sick?src=newsletter1097020

read this:

snip of article:

While psychologists have speculated from afar about President Donald Trump's mental instability, a psychologist said his manic episodes and the need for constant attention is making Americans anxiety-ridden and in need of mental health care.

According to a psychologist who spoke with Politico, Trump's distinctive brand of "provocation, brinkmanship, and self-drama," is leading to what she calls "Trump Anxiety Disorder" that is affecting even those who don't follow politics.

[Chickensoup]

3. Yes. However main stream media is having

problems making up their mind
that they have a responsibility to the
truth first.

[DownriverDem]

11. Except

The MSM is corp owned and corp run.

[olegramps]

19. They are not about to alienate their sponsors. Its all about money.

[Hortensis]

4. Entropy winning, dissipation of order? No.

Threat of replacement of Enlightenment liberalism with authoritarian populist destruction? No.

[zipplewrath]

5. We aren't ruled by the majority

This can't be said often enough. The majority isn't governing this country. Between quirks in the Constitution that were intended to protect, (not empower) the minority, gerrymandering, and a shifting population causing huge disparities in Congressional representation, the GOP has managed to build a ruling party without majority support. It is intentional on their part and they have no intention of trying to become a majority. Right now, depending upon how one wants to count, the Senate is controlled by GOP senators that represent roughly 20% of the population. The GOP has a majority of the seats in the House DESPITE not receiving anything close to the majority of votes nationally. The president won despite a large loss in the popular vote.

This is a dangerous trend. It rarely ever reverses itself. A ruling minority will tend towards preserving their control, not increasing participation. It also tends to discourage participation by the majority. We may win an election here and there, but fundamentally nothing will change until gerrymandering is truly ended and at least the EC is somehow "repaired" to balance out the representation to the population.

[pangaia]

12. Well-stated.

My only addition might be that more than the EC and gerrymandering needs to be fixed.....

although I am not 100% sure what all that might be-

-education for starters

[zipplewrath]

17. Not alot of good choices

gerrymandering might be able to be fixed to some degree, it only really matters in about 1/3 of the states. Many have so few representatives it doesn't change much. The EC is nearly impossible to fix. The closest is this effort by states to connect their EC votes to the popular vote in the country. The Senate is just about unfixable. It either take a constitutional convention, or a revolution to change. Either one scares the heck out of me.

[dhol82]

22. I would add getting rid of citizen's united

All that money pouring in has corrupted our political system almost beyond redemption.

[zipplewrath]

35. Yes

It won't fix everything, but this needs to be "repaired". But like I say, the majority isn't in control so it isn't clear this can be achieved. The bar for constitutional amendments is very high, and the GOP controls just enough states to prevent it.

[dhol82]

36. That just sucks big time.

Seems like it won’t be resolved in my life time.
If ever.

[raccoon]

13. Great post. Consider starting a thread about this. nt

[Ohioboy]

15. Good post!

I think you have stated the problem very well.

[Maven]

16. YES

This can't be stated often enough. The solution isn't just "VOTE". It's "VOTE" and then work to change the minority-rule system that we currently have. The current structure of our government is. not. sustainable.

[TexasBushwhacker]

29. Well, it could change if people would VOTE

We should do everything possible to get to 100% voter participation. Why is it that some states have same day voter registration and others have a cut off a month before the election, and everything in between? Of course, there's the outright voter suppression, like is going on in Georgia right now, but we don't do much to make voting easier in general.

[zipplewrath]

30. Again, that only works when majority rules

More people voting doesn't make the majority more powerful. Remember, more people means more GOP voters too. "Safe" districts aren't changed by more voters. A shrinking state that continues to hold a congressman and two senators doesn't change because more of the shrinking population votes. More voters in New York doesn't change things in Oklahoma. The GOP intentionally worked to gain control of enough states, and enough congressional districts to control the whole shebang. It cost them about $30 million ten or so years ago but they succeeded. Basically, at this point, somewhere around 30% of the population controls the federal government, and to some extent 20 or so states. And they control the courts as well. They completely control Florida, even though in statewide races they only win by a few percentage points. Florida is the third largest state. Larger turn out isn't going to automatically change that. It will take a change in the demographics of voters to change that.

[dhol82]

37. And the Democratic leadership is brain dead to this

Where is our plan to gain back some of the ‘fly over country.”

[Alwaysna]

32. Eliminate fox news by reinstating the Fairness Doctrine.

This would also get rid of Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity etc. But first the hard part is getting people to vote the right people in office.

[zipplewrath]

34. It's a different world now

Podcasts, YouTube, Drudge, et. al. make it hard to achieve the information control of the days of the fairness doctrine. It isn't clear you could control cable content the same way you did in the broadcast days.

[dhol82]

38. True.

Had not thought about those issues.
Must be old. Sad.

[zipplewrath]

39. It's why "majority" rule is important

I understand the concept of the "tyranny of the majority", but somewhere around 60/40, the majority must be allowed to govern. We don't have that right now and unless something changes, it's only going to get worse.

[dhol82]

40. Problem is getting it back.

The conservatives have waged a forty year campaign to control the states.
We Dems are still fighting each other.
Sorry - I am just so depressed right now. Not sure how we get out of this mess.
GOTV is great, not sure it will be enough, soon enough to stop the coup that has been so long in the making.

[AncientGeezer]

43. The Fairness Doc wouldn't get rid of any of those on your list...

[ananda]

6. Dems will do well in most areas, but not the Senate.

nt

[watoos]

20. Yeah, that's what I hear they are saying on the corporate media.

[0rganism]

7. sure, but 1/3 approves and 1/3 doesn't care very much

1/3 of Americans would happily kill another 1/3 of Americans while the other 1/3 watches on TV.

[Cosmocat]

8. THIS

Their 1/3 is insane, literally.
The "middle 1/3" hears them scream like lunatics, wants to believe "they are both the same" and thinks there must be something to what they are screaming about.
That is why we have what we have now - full republican rule and a psychopath in the white house.
1/3 of people were willing to accept him, and indulge republican fuck wittery.

They have to be insanely bad for the country to punish them at the ballot box, like they did in 06 & 08, but all it took was them losing their GD minds over the democratic president penning THEIR FRIGGEN HEALTH CARE REFORM into law for the country to turn around and give them even more power in congress and the states than they had before in 2010.

The stupid is T H I C K in this country.

So, we are likely to make some big gains in November, but good bet the country goes back to indulging republican fuck wittery past that ...

[yuiyoshida]

9. BUT, and this is a big, "BUT"...THEY have to GET OUT AND VOTE!

[MrScorpio]

10. Basically, we're hinging the future of America on a margin of white, registered likely swing voters

Not to mention whatever those who are successful against efforts to suppress the votes of people who will likely vote for Democrats.

We're already fighting our way uphill because the system is rigged in the favor or white rural voters, whose representation is multiplied exponentially compared to everyone else who are located in urban counties and cities.

If I said it once, I've said it a million times: We need to start spreading out to where the red areas of the country are and start turning them purple.

Unless we do that, we're always going to be fucked.

[cungar2000]

14. There's still a huge percentage of this country left and right

That are completely unaware of what's going on. Sitting around watching reality TV and munching on Cheetos as the country goes downhill.

[Blue_true]

18. We will get an answer on Nov 6, Kentuck.

Until then we need to sprint through the tape and not leave votes on the table.

[Cryptoad]

26. Maybe,,,

like Ole Uncle Joe Said: "Who votes is not important, its who counts the votes"

[gordianot]

21. Many just blame Trump who may be a symptom of much deeper problems.

Rabid nationalism was on the rise before Trump was realized. A mentally ill President is about the most frightening development possible.

No one has a really clear picture of all the dangers we face by our negligence and the consequences that have resulted.

[gilligan]

23. I believe

The path down this road didn't just begin with trump.

[inwiththenew]

24. We don't exactly live in a country known for civic engagement

I bet everyone in here knows a person who doesn't pay attention, or has only a passing interest in the news, and either doesn't vote or only votes sporadically. Seems like a lot of "Independents" fall into that category.

[sandensea]

25. Sadly, I don't think they do.

We've been so conditioned to think that democracy is bulletproof, that fascist takeovers are things that only happen in the third world, that many seem to think this is just politics as usual.

In that sense, I'm grateful to Dubya. As monstrous as he was, he was so utterly incompetent people couldn't help but see something was fundamentally wrong.

Twitler still has a good economy on his side though, so a lot of people don't see the real danger.

[Kablooie]

27. I hope so but I'm not so sure.

A huge section of the country who get their info from right wing media don't hear anything about what's going on.

All they hear, day after day, is propaganda about the destructive changes Democrats want and the way Republicans will save America from annihilation.

If that's all you hear you will have no choice but to vote Republican.

If they heard what we hear it would be different but they are isolated from any balanced reports.

It's the legacy of abolishing the Fairness Doctrine in 1987.

[Funtatlaguy]

28. Depends upon their news sources, peers, location, demographics. Hearts and minds too.

[DinahMoeHum]

31. Stolen from a Facebook post. . .

If you don't vote, Republicans win.
If you vote 3rd party, Republicans win.
If you write in candidates, Republicans win.
Any vote that is not for a Democrat, Republicans win.

Too many people are preaching, not enough people are leading.
We need leaders first, activists second.

Vote Democratic. Simply put,

Vote Democratic.

[Alwaysna]

33. Someone compared republicans to sheep.

They all stick together and are easy to shepard. The job leading democrats were compared to sheparding cats. We need unity and to define ourselves rather than have the other side say what we stand for. Many people do not know what we stand for.

[nuxvomica]

41. I think everyone underestimates the level of silent anger in this country

I used to discuss politics with fellow employees on breaks at work but no more. While talking to people I've known a long time and have attended outside-of-work functions with, I mentioned that I had just read 80% of the tax cut went to foreign investors and suddenly all they could talk about was Benghazi! There is no discourse and no admission by the other side of anything being wrong with how we are currently governed. A blanket of silence has descended among family and friends in this country and the majority are pissed and have no outlet. I think this will drive people to the polls for some relief. November 6 will not so much be an election day as a national intervention.

[ROB-ROX]

42. THEY ARE BRAIN DEAD DRONES

They thrive on the evil that is happening. They cackle like drones who do not have morals or ethics. Their education and poor eating habits have left them dullards who are simpletons.....SAD BUT TRUE