Lessons from Britain

Now that Britain has voted to leave the E.U., millions of people who voted for it now want to change their vote. They want a do-over. Why?

The proponents of leaving the union lied about pretty much everything: how it would affect immigration policy, how it would affect the budget, how it would affect the stock market, how it would affect the value of the pound, how it would affect free trade and free movement of British citizens in Europe.

Many of the people who voted to leave did so out of frustration. They didn't really think there was a chance Britain would leave the E.U. and they didn't want Britain to leave. But they wanted to register a protest against the "elites."

Many of the people who wanted to remain in the E.U. didn't bother to vote because they were too busy, or automatically assumed the referendum would fail without their vote. They were wrong.

A lot of the people in this boat are young. They are like the people who voted for Barack Obama in 2008, but didn't bother to vote in 2010, because they assumed they had won, and the fight was over. But 2010 was a turning point -- Republicans, angered by their crushing defeat in 2008 and using the health care law as a rallying cry, took over the House and many state legislatures. They used that control to gerrymander House districts, and further increase their control.

In 2012 Obama won again, but the House remained in Republican hands, and Republicans in the Senate followed a scorched earth policy, preventing Obama from making any progress. Discouraged by Obama's "broken promises" many young and minority voters stayed home again in 2014, and this time the Senate was lost.

The United States is now facing its own "Brexit" vote this November. Trump has been spouting the same lies as the Brexit campaign. Trump wants the United States to seal its borders against the world, abandon our allies and trade partners across the globe and in the process destroy our economy.

People voting for Trump are motivated by the same impulses that motivated Brexit voters: frustration, fear, uncertainty, racism, nationalism. If Americans elect Trump, they will have the same buyer's remorse that Britain is now having.

Trump's reaction to Brexit was typically stupid. Trump was in Scotland for the opening of a new golf course. His reaction was delightedly selfish:

"Look if the pound goes down, they're gonna do more business," Trump said. "You know, when the pound goes down, more people are gonna come to Turnberry, frankly, and the pound has gone down, and let's see what the impact of that is."

Which -- again -- shows what an idiot Trump is. His golf course is in Scotland. Not very long ago Scotland held a referendum to leave the UK. It failed, for exactly the same reasons that that leaving the E.U. was a bad idea. In this recent referendum Scotland voted overwhelmingly to remain in the E.U. (as did Northern Ireland, which now enjoys decent relations with the Republic of Ireland, which remains in the E.U.).

Now, Brexit may not even happen because Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have the power to veto it. But Scotland may also decide to be done with England, have their own referendum to leave the U.K., and then join the E.U. And then Trump's golf course will still be in an E.U. country.

Trump doesn't seem to be very good at real estate, does he? Or at business, considering that the sport of golf has been in a tailspin for the last decade and a half in the United States and the U.K..

In addition, Northern Ireland may decide they've had it with England, quit the U.K., and unify with the Republic of Ireland. That would stir up quite a hornets nest among Orange loyalists and possibly restart the Troubles.

The lesson for young and minority Americans is: old white people win elections in America because they show up. Hillary Clinton may not be Bernie Sanders, but if you sit on your hands you'll give the presidency to Donald Trump. And if Trump wins the presidency, he will appoint three or four Supreme Court justices. And then you can kiss the future goodbye.

It's not enough to vote in presidential elections. You need to vote in federal House and Senate elections as well, and your state legislative and gubernatorial elections to boot. It's once every two years; it's not that hard. But because people stayed home in 2010 and 2014, Republicans were able to run out the clock for the last six years of Obama's presidential term.

If you want the policies Bernie Sanders proposed to have a chance of succeeding, Clinton and Democratic senators and representatives have to have a majority in the House and Senate to make it happen. They need enough wiggle room to enact progressive policies without fear of losing to the Republicans again, and to know that you'll be there to vote for them in the next non-presidential election year.

If you get these people elected, they will owe you. None of them like hustling Wall Street and Silicon Valley for campaign cash 24/7. If they know they have the power of the people behind them we can get reasonable campaign finance laws passed, and other common-sense legislation like gun safety.

As well as put reasonable justices on the Supreme Court.