I know, right? Those pesky, reliable liberal voters that’ve been there since the early 90's. We’re so awful.

Agreed. Lots of them, for a few months before the election and not just in the last few days. And we need to make sure that people know not to get too confident, and rally people in every district in every state. Show them that bending to the will of right wing extremists will cost them dearly.

I’m not saying it’s worth less than nothing, and you’re right, it’s a start. I just hope that the number of people who will be truly active afterward will be at least somewhat higher than the people who were already active beforehand. What bothers me is that there’s definitely a history of these protests being easily…

When I see some actual progressive victories following these kind of protests, I’ll be wrong and happily so. Attacking me wins you nothing, and wins the right plenty, as they get to watch infighting and consider it a victory. I never said protests were bad, I never said all protesters weren’t trying, I just said…

Then why are you responding to me?

I mean stay home from the protests if they won’t vote, but yes. It would be vastly preferred that they get out and vote.

And voting. Don’t forget voting.

If I lived someplace where standing up would accomplish something? Yeah, I think I would. (Though this particular weekend I was taking care of a sick boyfriend, so I probably would have passed.)

Good, and I really hope so. It’s just unfortunate and disheartening that the history of mass protests like this has just not been particularly productive for our side over the last 20 years or so. I have absolutely no problem with the people who get out and protest and then make those calls and write those letters to…

Throwing bricks is useless. Voting and getting people to vote with you is what works. You’re not helping.

Home, taking care of my sick boyfriend, actually.

I’m criticizing the protesters that won’t show up for the election, yes. I’m criticizing the protesters that aren’t there for the protest, but are there for the social event, yes.

When protesting actually gets shit done, we’ll talk again.

How do you figure I don’t invest in the process? I donate what little money I can to the causes I support, I’ve voted for progressive candidates reliably for almost 24 years (I cast a protest vote for Perot on my first ballot before he went and revealed himself to be truly insane after his first run) and I plan on…

Nope, I’m not. Won’t pretend I am. I genuinely don’t have the strength or lack of awkwardness to do it. I’m talking about the people who get out and protest, who have networks of people that they can support and be supported by. Unfortunately, I’m not one of those people.

You’re definitely not alone.

Then they need to prove me wrong.

The problem is that when it comes to younger people protesting, it’s far, far too easy to fall into the trap of being there because it’s a social event and the impression often given by “woo-hoo!” girls is one of having a good time and being there for the event, not for the cause. And this has been a really large…

The problem is that without articles like this one, there’s no hope that the left *will* get its shit together and be capable of fighting back. Look at Occupy Wall Street, for example. So many people, so many disparate approaches, so little organization and focus on the fight after Zucotti park was cleared out, that…

Come on, don’t dis President Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Herbert Camacho. For all his flaws as a President, he did the one thing we should all want a President to do: Find the people smarter than him and actually listen to what they have to say.