🚀 go-pugleaf

> The one thing that really pisses me off is that the powers that be keep
> telling me I have a choice for president. No I don't, and it insults my

You're right, the "choice" between Bush & Gore is no choice at all:  For all
practical purposes, they are identical.  The Republicans and Democrats (as
parties) have become one in the same: More specifically, the Democratic
party has moved far to the right in an attempt to woo big corporate
contributors - so that now we have two right wings in American politics with
no counterbalance *other* than outsiders such as Ralph Nader.

Don't be fooled by the "throwing away your vote" line of crap that you'll be
hearing over and over, however: The two parties have been blinding people
for years now with this kind of rhetoric. In truth, the only thing you could
do to "throw away your vote" would be to vote for either Bush or Gore, who
do not in any sense represent you or your interests (unless, of course, you
are a multinational corporation or have a personal income of over one
million dollars a year).  If you are an average American - or anywhere NEAR
average - voting Republican or Democrat is definitely throwing away your
vote. To quote J.C. Watt's father, it's like a chicken voting for Colonel
Sanders.

It's probably true that Ralph Nader can't win - but that is true primarily
because people believe it is true:  Nobody forces you to vote for the two
parties who are antithetical to your interests, after all, but a lot of
people do it because they've been fooled into thinking that one of the
parties actually cares about or represents them (which is provably false) or
that they *have* to vote for one of the two major parties or they will be
"throwing away" their vote (again, a provably false assertion, for as I have
pointed out; you only "throw away your vote" when you insist on voting for
someone who will not actually represent you).

The choice, then, is to make a statement that you *insist* that your
interests be represented in Washington. You do this by supporting and voting
for candidates *other* than those from the two major parties.  Over a number
of elections, the alternative parties grow in numbers and power, and can
eventually succeed.  But you have to be willing to start out from the point
of view that even if these guys don't win, voting for them is better than
throwing away your vote on someone who has sold out to corporate interests.

Remember that neither the Republican nor the Democratic party existed at the
founding of this country: Once upon a time, they were both  "third party"
choices and I suppose the existing parties of the time would have said
"don't bother voting for them because they can't win."   Of course we didn't
have mass media back in those days, hell-bent on convincing people that they
*must* vote for one of the two major parties.  (Major media outlets are
*themselves* in bed with the same corporate-political power structure as the
two big parties, and therefore they have a stake in trying to brainwash you
into voting for Republicans and Democrats... but that's a subject for
*another* post).

The largest party in America is the nonvoting party.  The big two can
sellout to corporate interests and allow themselves to be bought-off for
campaign contributions, and the mass media can try to brainwash us all into
believing that we must vote Republican or Democrat  or else not vote at
all --  But they don't *own* your vote and they can't *make* you vote for
those who will not represent you. Nor can they *force you* to become
apathetic and not vote at all ...that's *your* choice.   If you let them
win, they will win.  If you choose to act, then someday we can all get our
country back.

Your Choice

Sincerely,

The Cranky Media Guy
http://www.crankymediaguy.com


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