Is Donald Trump a Threat to Democracy?

Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt wrote an article with the above title that was published in the New York Times, 2106-12-16 at
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/16/opinion/sunday/is-donald-trump-a-threat-to-democracy.html

I was surprised that a day later it was still open for comments with 1667.  I just had to put in my two cents with my the following comment.

"Let's stop blaming the system for the embarrassing low turnout, among the worst in the world, especially for a nation that regards itself as the greatest democracy in the world.

"Sure, many blocks to voting have been put up by corrupt, self-serving politicians. Sure, the "media" has spread many distorted stories that have discouraged many potential voters. But too many people willingly choose not to vote.

"What would the result have been if half the no- shows had actually voted? We really don't know. Maybe Clinton would have won. Maybe Trump might have done better than third to a defacto none of the above.

"Whatever elections come up next where you live, remind your friends and neighbors 'The only way You throw your vote away Is to stay away!'”

After I posted the above, I searched for “The only way You throw your vote away.  One of the top hits was https://justinegraykin.wordpress.com/2016/02/09/be-subversive-vote.  Justine posted a lot of right-on comments:

“If you fail to vote, you have only yourself to blame."
“Bad politicians are elected by Good People who don’t vote”
"If 99% of America showed up to vote, it wouldn’t matter what the 1% wanted.”
“Vote as if the future depends on it.  It does.”

She had a link to “HP Lovecraft Historical Society — Why settle for the lesser evil?”  As I had recently listened to a “To the best of our knowledge” podcast on HP Lovecraft http://www.ttbook.org/book/hp-lovecraft.  I thought I would check the link out.  Unfortunately, it was broken.  But I did find https://cthulhuforamerica.com/.  Among the pictures is hooded figures holding signs for “Cthulhu for President 2016, Vote best evil”.  Cthulhu was a deep sea monster in one or more of Lovecraft’s stories.

What would have happened if there had been a massive vote for Cthulhu?  If Cthulhu won, the election would have to go to the runner-up because Cthulhu doesn’t exist?  But what if somebody had adopted that name?

I think this kind of tomfoolery indicates that we should have far better candidates running: people who truly want to make the U.S. a country for all of us rather than stoke their own egos or be in the pockets of the 1%.

Must reading for those who believe in democracy

"The time for complaining is at an end. Action must be taken. Accountability must be demanded. Muscle must be flexed. Power must be exercised.

"Ballots must be cast."

–”Lions to the Ballot Box”, Charles Blow, NYT, 2014-04-24

My email to Blow:

"I hope your column on voter turnout is reprinted in every paper across the country. And I hope it is reprinted just before the 2014 elections.

"Big turnout trumps big money every time. Think Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina.

"I have been cajoling people to vote in my little obscure blog and in my column in Duluth weekly for going on fifteen years.

"I hope your bigger platform has many orders of magnitude of influence than my little Don Quixote tilting at political windbags."

My favorite comment:

I have a bumper sticker : "If the 47% vote the 1% won't matter".

Misquote of the day - Capitalists make products…

Max Abelson indirectly quotes Leon Cooperman, "They [Capitalists] make products that "fill store shelves at Christmas" and provide health care to millions." - "Bankers Seek to Debunk 'Imbecile' Attack on Top 1%", Bloomberg, 2011-12-19, via Yahoo! Finance. Cooperman is a hedge fund manager. I wouldn't exactly call a hedge fund manager a capitalist; I'd say a hedge fund manager is a gambler with other people's money.

Right! These capitalist are on the factory floor making toys and electronics. These capitalists are working the emergency rooms and the hospital rooms to heal sick and broken people. They really should spend some time reading Adam Smith's "Wealth of Nations", every word of it.

For some very appropriate citations from Smith, see "Adam Smith on Labor and Profits (Letter to Reader Weekly)". Essentially, labor is the basis of wealth, if profits rise too far the nation is on the road to ruin, and the interests of business are not the interests of society.