These are just a few random thoughts that have been floating through my brain for the last few weeks. Take them as you will.
Not everyone agrees with you and that's okay. You may have studied a topic in depth. Reviewed the opinions of specialists in the field. Read everything you could get your hands on. Spent time developing your ideas and honing them to an opinion that you view as the correct one. Someone will still tell you that you are categorically wrong and completely naïve. They may use some much coarser language that hurts your feelings. I am sure that you are sure that you are right, and maybe you are. That does not give you the right to deny other people's right to be heard, including their right to vote. Even Republicans have a right to vote. This is a necessary part of Democracy. It may piss you off, and I know it pisses me off, but without the dissenting opinion how would we know we are right. Or as a smarter person than I said:
If all mankind minus one were of one opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind. John Stuart Mill
Politicians go where the votes are before they go where the money is. Votes are king in our system. By that I mean that the Powers That Be have yet to find a way to permanently do away with one person, one vote. Politicians need votes to get into office, and as long as they are in office, the voices of voters can be heard. In the 1990's, the Democratic party moved right because that's where the voters were. For years the Democrats had watched as the GOP took over the White House and Congress while staunch liberal candidates lost election after election. In 2008, the Obama coalition was born from changing demographics, the long-time loss of white working class voters, and the inevitable backlash against the first African American president.
No pressure from voters increases the influence of lobbyists and big donors. This is a corollary to the last item. The old saying is the squeaky wheel gets the grease. Politicians listen to the loudest voices. If you're not telling them what you want to happen, they will listen to whoever happens to be around. Now is also the time to revisit #1 and acknowledge that just because you have made your voice heard, it does not follow that your opinion will be the prevailing one. If you still think you're right (and it's okay to change your mind, there is no penalty for that), keep talking, convince others to speak up, too.
Politics is a process. Processes happen because we need some way to go about this. Someone had to come up with the first pass at this process, but like everything, processes can change. They are not perfect, they may not even be good. But in the absence of something better, this is the best we got. Don’t like it? The good news is we have a process for making changes.
Political parties are like any group of people. There are rules. Some are formal, written down, approved by majority rules. Some are informal, tribal, everybody knows but nobody knows where they come from or how they were agreed upon rules. There are expected behaviors. These are not usually recorded or even acknowledged. This does not negate the impact of failure to follow them. If you join a group and then proceed to break the rules and behave contrary to expectation, you are creating a frustrating situation for everyone.
And lastly, I would encourage everyone to take time to breathe. Step away from the bickering and snide comments. Go outside, smell the air, feel your connection to everything around you. Remember that you are part of many families. The ones you were born in, the ones you've chosen, the groups you've joined, the people you work with, the city, county, state, country you live in, the human family. Families fight, they disagree with each other, then they forgive one another.
And then they kick Donald Trump's ass.