Burke's Joystick

As I watched (suffered through?) the Democrat National Convention, I couldn't shake the feeling that I wasn't watching a gathering of people expecting a November victory as much as I was watching what is sometimes referred to as an "Irish Wake" - that is, a raucous celebration during a time of mourning.  As with the biblical amalgamation "Eat drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die", I had the distinct impression of people forcing themselves to be happy on the eve of a crushing defeat.  This feeling was only reinforced when there was that whole platform controversy that resulted in the following awkward moment for the party:

Let me tell you a story: Back when I was a prisoner in a government-run public school, one of my social studies teachers said something profoundly stupid, so profoundly stupid that I remember it to this day.  During a discussion on the importance of voting, he said: It is important for every American to vote.  Remember, it doesn't matter for whom you vote, just as long as you vote! Now, even back then when I had little political knowledge or interest, that statement just sounded so...wrong to me.  I mean,  "it doesn't matter for whom you vote"?   In other words, it's not the outcome that matters but the process?  I remember scratching my head over that at the time, just knowing at some ineffable level that that was the type of statement that summed up everything that was wrong with the public school curriculum.  Taking that to its logical conclusion, it means there is no qualitative difference between casting a vote for Adol...