Over at the Separation of Powers Blog, Sam is filled with "sputtering rage" for disillusioned conservatives who disapprove of the big government, anti-liberty Republican Party:
Sitting out this election has been characterized (by me) as tantamount to taking your ball and bat and not playing because the other players would let you pitch. This is a bit of a mischaracterization however. It is more like taking your bat and beating yourself over the head to show your disappointment at not being able to pitch.
Bad metaphor. It's not a case of the other players simply not letting you pitch. It's a case of getting benched for the entire season. Should you support a team that does that to you? Nobody's saying you should go sit on the other team's bench, but stop wasting your time and energy on people who have no use for you other than a benchwarmer.
Rove's strategy has always been to count on the base. But as long as the base can be counted on, Republican politicians will take it for granted. True... if you sit out the election, you may get a big gov't, wartime Democrat instead of a big gov't, wartime Republican in power. But you'll save the party from becoming something you don't want it to be. Without that, it's meaningless to be a Republican.
That's how politics works, unfortunately. Believe me, as an anarchist, I'm not happy about it. But if you're looking for another mechanism by which to exert your will, something more perfect and certain, I'm afraid you're out of luck. One thing I do know is that if you give approval to politicians who act a certain way, they're positively guaranteed to continue acting that way, regardless of your personal politics. The only way to change behavior is to withdraw consent. It's all they understand (which is why I refuse to vote whatseover).
By no means am I a conservative (excuse me while I take a shower) but it galls me when people wave their hands, jump up and down, and tell scare stories to get you to do things their way. If you don't think Republicans are worth your vote, for God's sake, don't vote for them! That's worse than not voting at all, because you're actually prostituting your vote to the lowest bidder.
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