Lose Like An Adult
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We've all had our fun in the run-up to Super Tuesday. We've dug up enough dirt on the Republican candidates to give them a hard time winning against a dead manatee. We've had time to either lament or celebrate the passing of the Edwards campaign, been compelled to accuse Hillary and her supporters of being racist, Barack and his constituents of being sexist, and both of them of being fascist.
Never don't accuse the other team of being fascist.
But now, if not by the end of today's tally then in the very near future, one of the remaining campaigns is going to lose. To the supporters of these losers, whomsoever they may be (you may already be one,) I have but one humble message: lose like an adult. And by that specifically, I mean man-up and vote in the general election regardless, like how someone with character and dignity would.
I know, taking one's marbles and going home might sound like a good idea, but it isn't. It's a bad idea because that's what petulant, spoiled, perspective-lacking children do. Adults understand that imperfect, or even broken systems do not fix themselves by being thrown in a corner and pouted at.
Adults accept that, in politics as in life, we don't always get everything we want and that we never will. At least, not until human beings are erased from the equation and replaced by a race of sentient computers, benevolently programmed by Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy. This fact does not stop us from fighting for the change we want, it means accepting that some changes take a long time, and that not all of us are going to see it get there.
Perhaps some are considering not participating in our severely flawed electoral process because they are waiting for a revolution to come and make everything awesome.
This is unfortunate, because there isn't going to be one.
There isn't going to be a revolution because the only people who actually try to start revolutions in industrialized countries anymore are stupid, attention-seeking sociopaths who can't think of anything more influential or original than blowing up office buildings or throwing bricks through Starbucks' windows.
And be thankful that this is the case, because if there actually were a revolution in America, people much more violent and physically fit than you would wind up killing your family with machetes. Revolutions are not awesome. Go Google what's going on in Chad. Now that's a revolution, and I'd wager your average Chadian would much prefer the option of pushing a button and voting right about now, rather than being forced by big men with guns into digging mass graves.
You want a revolution? How about lending a hand to help get three-quarters of our country off its chubby, sullen butt and participating in its own democracy? That would be pretty revolutionary. That hasn't happened in my lifetime.
How about raising a clamor for the much overdo adoption of run-off voting? That way, one day, a candidate can actually articulate an opinion without being labeled "unelectable." True, "run-off voting" doesn't sound as sexy as "revolution," it doesn't look as good on a t-shirt under a picture of Che, but it would change our system as dramatically as night turning into day, and it's possible to accomplish without killing lots of people.
Because ultimately, this is what being an adult is all about: accepting that we didn't get everything we wanted out of life, but at least we made sure the other guy didn't either.
Yay America. Go vote.
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Remind me again why they piss away so much time and money on this circle-jerk of a process. I'm sorry, but from what I've seen, I'm fully inclined to agree with Carlin's assessment of the entire situation. I think we're owned, and the sideshow is the distraction to keep the slaves in line and make em think they've got a voice. These people are adopting each other's rhetoric like a herd of runaway orphans to be resold into the coal mines. Similar dynamic at work? Tell the 'little people' what they want to hear, get em to put their 'x' on this next tax increase, you'll fill in the blanks later?
What's REALLY going on, here?
Thank you "Uncle" Justin for putting everything into perspective!
And if you believe that maybe I have a bridge to sell you!
While I complement Justin on his work for the poor, I didn't see any information in his bio saying that he had done ANY political work...
He might have...but he chose NOT to say that he has.
I always find it very interesting that those who have NOT been in the field as a volunteer and a candidate most always seem to have much to say to everyone else about what they should be doing...
And you are wrong about Revolutions for they don't always need to be violent at all.
The Revolution of the Heart that comes from prayer is one waged not in violence but in peace.
Justin, no voter is obligated to select a Candidate they don't want. I went with Obama today because the other Candidates I favored didn't make it this far. If Obama doesn't win the Nomination I'm not obligated to support Clinton if I don't find her acceptable.
It's not about being an Adult it's about choosing the Candidate you want. The DNC, and the DLC shouldn't take it as a given that the Democratic Nominee is going to garner the votes of loser of the Primary process. Voters know what they want, and what they don't want ... simple as that.
I don't think berating peer pressure is going to capture many votes either, to be honest. This isn't a game.
Thank you Justin. Unfortunately as you can see on this comment board this nation is woefully lacking in adults.
I will vote for the winner of the Democratic nomination whether my preferred candidate wins or not.
And any of you sore losers who stay home because you're so damn moral and self-righteous better not bring your whiny asses back to Huffington Post complaining what a terrible president John McCain is. Because you'll be responsible for electing him.
Abstaining conscientiously is just as reasonable an answer. If you truly don't care about which one wins, go ahead and sit this one out.
Revolution need not be accomplished by picking up a gun (or a machete). The truest and longest lasting revolutions are those that change the soul of a nation and the minds of its people. I'm not quite sure what I'll do in November if my preferred candidate doesn't win the nomination. However, I won't begrudge anyone who believes that sometimes "grownups" have to sit one out when to do otherwise would be to make a morally offensive choice. And for many in the antiwar movement, Hillary Clinton would represent such a choice. True grownups also understand that if they take that route they will have to bear the consequences of their actions. However, who is to say that such a strategy of demanding more from our candidates might not produce a longterm and yes even revolutionary shift between the voters and their representatives? Who is to say that it won't send an effective message to the Democrats that many of the members of their base expect them to start acting like Democrats rather than Republican lite?
Otherwise what's the lesson that "grownup" politicians with higher political aspiration learn from your advice? Whenever the possibility of war rears its ugly head, get on board as quickly as you can because just maybe you'll make a Republican friend or two and Democrats will never hold you accountable?
Well said Justin, and as a Hillary man I want to say I would be thrilled to vote for Barack Obama for President in the fall.
Nice post. I hope it extends not only to primaries but to general election. What ever side loses should behave as an adults
So those of you who didn't get who you wanted stay home and sulk. President McCain, Vice President Huckabee, and Attorney General Rudy Giuliani will be happy about that. Let them fuck up the country even more while you keep your ideological purity intact.
You mean like your BOY Al Gore? There is somebody who really needs to lose like an adult--but I guess that applies to most Democrats. And it will probably also apply to most Republicans after the next election. SAD!
I am an adult and can think for myself. I have analyzed the situation and researched the candidates. I am adult enough to not compromise my values, morals, or ethical positions. I will not vote for a democratic candidate who went to Karl Rove's Jedi school of politics. I will not vote for a democrat who practices the politics of race and gender division. I will not vote for a democrat who lies so instinctively that there is no hesitation to insult my intelligence by telling me over and over that someone praised Reagan's policies and embraced republican ideas when I can hear and read that that is the farthest interpretation from the truth. I am adult enough to make a definitive stand against dirty politics, racism, reverse sexism, cheating, and liars. Too bad you can't say the same. I will not vote for Billary under any circumstances in November. I hope you can man up and find some personal values and morals that won't let you trade them just to accept a Hillary Clinton nominee just because she has a "D" behind her name. Billary have proven that they are what is wrong with the Democratic party and why the republicans have had such a long reign and nominating her will only force a return to republican rule in all branches of government in D.C.
You wrote:
And be thankful that this is the case, because if there actually were a revolution in America, people much more violent and physically fit than you would wind up killing your family with machetes.
How little you know about America. I have a bunch of friends I meet for coffee and chat now and then. Most of them--like myself--are veterans of such wars as Korea, Vietnam, Gulf I, Gulf II -- whatever, and the rest are hunters of the elusive Bambi. When you speak of people killing my family-or the families of my friends-with machetes, I all but fall on the floor in unbridled hilarity - because if someone showed up at my door weilding a machete and an attitude, the FINAL, PAINFUL, FATAL lesson of his/her life would be DON'T BRING A MACHETE TO A GUN FIGHT!
come brokered convention, write-in, or third party, I will be voting Ron Paul. There is a rEVOLution going on and we won't give up. It does not include machetes.
We want change, and eventually we will get it.
Your post sobered me right up and I'm now prepared to behave like a grown-up.
And thanks for the Starbuck's idea! Those milk-shake "coffee" making joints have been begging for it.
Earthlings Unite!
In 1968, Eugene McCarthy inspired a so-called Children's Crusade in the Democratic presidential primaries. His followers, notwithstanding their youthful idealism and their media-imposed nickname, had the grace--and, even more important, the political smarts--not to behave like spoiled, snarky children when McCarthy's primary bid came to an end. Many of them are still here today and planning to work for whoever the Democratic nominee turns out to be. Sometimes it really is possible to learn something from older people who were young once themselves.
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