BLOG: If you don’t vote, don’t complain

You can’t even have a conversation with me about politics, the government, or much anything else if you don’t vote. Seriously. I’m very civic-minded and dogmatic about citizens seeing voting not only as a right that others died for, but as a duty.

If you approach me complaining about Republicans or Congress or even President Obama (Warning: You liable to be cursed out if you think you can disparage Barack Obama in my presence. For real.), the first thing that I ask is “Did you vote?” If you say yes, we can talk. If you say no, then your complaint is invalidated and I turn a deaf ear to anything you have to say. If you don’t vote, then don’t complain because you are a part of the problem.

While canvassing in 2010, I had a black guy to tell me that he “don’t vote for no white dude.”  I was stunned speechless.  What the hell . . . .

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http://smaxxmahaffey.newsvine.com/_news/2014/03/05/22972216-blog-if-you-dont-vote-dont-complain

Race Relations in 1947 America vs. 21st Century America

White Americans, majority of them on the far-right and aligned with the Tea Party and some southern state Democrats, reacted to the election of Barack Obama in 2008, the first African American President, in a much more racially charged and radically insensitive way than whites did in 1947 when the Brooklyn Dodgers signed Jackie Robinson, which effectively integrated major league baseball. White objection to Robinson was not muddled in political correctness…he was a black man and simply not good enough or deserving of the same opportunities afforded a white baseball player. They spoke it out loud and were unapologetic. 

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http://smaxxmahaffey.newsvine.com/_news/2014/03/05/22972161-race-relations-in-1947-america-vs-21st-century-america