This Is Serious, Folks.

In a little over a week we go to the polls to vote in an election that is definitely the most critical in my lifetime, and possibly in the entire history of this nation. When we pull that lever, push that button, punch that punch card, we are effectively choosing between two things.

On the one hand is donald trump and the Republican Party, and all they stand for -- which, let's face it, can be summed up in the answer to the question "What will benefit trump and the Republicans most?" Under their watch we have seen:

• A permanent tax cut going to the top 1%, while everyone else gets a token cut that expires in a few years.
• 70 (yes, 70!) attempts to repeal the Affordable Care Act.
• A cloud of suspicion over possible collusion with Russia to alter the outcome of the 2016 election.
• A flurry of convictions of trump's familiars over tax evasion, money laundering, and the like.
• Continuous violations of the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution.
• Seating a possible sexual predator on the Supreme Court.
• An average of over four blatant lies each day from the freakin' President of the United States, over matters of such import as the size of the crowds at his rallies.

On the other hand we have dozens -- hundreds -- of eminently qualified candidates at both the state and federal levels, ready and willing to take the reins and run things in a manner that benefits all Americans, not just Mitch McConnell, donald trump, and Paul Ryan.

This November 6th, people will go to the polls to elect a new Congress. Thanks to Republican-led gerrymandering, voter disenfranchisement (Brian Kemp in Georgia purging 53,000 names -- the vast majority of whom were African-Americans who were likely to vote for his opponent; the Supreme Court essentially removing the right to vote from anyone with a post office box instead of a street address), this is an uphill climb for Democrats ... the last estimate I have heard is that Democrats have to beat their Republican opponents by a minimum of 7% (as opposed to a simple plurality) in order to win election, thanks to these measures.

Given the energy that I have seen out there, this is eminently doable.

Protests. Rallies. Demands that elected representatives hold town halls to hear their constituents' concerns¹. Marches. Sit-ins. In short, everything that could be done to hold Congress accountable or, failing that, shame the crap out of them, has, is, and will continue to be done. This is exactly how it should be. However, it will all be for nought unless people actually get out there and vote.

Vote like your life depends on it. After all, given the brainstems running things now, that may very well be the case.

I gotta lie down.

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¹Not surprisingly, most of the Senators and Representatives that refused to meet with constituents (I'm looking at you, Pat Toomey, Brian Fitzpatrick, and Ryan Costello!) are Republicans.