Thread: Split from WTC7: Politics / democracy

While I disagree with Chimensch about the leanings of the candidates paraded in front of us (I do not think they lean to the right at all, but rather pay it lip service until they are elected) I generally agree there is far too little choice.
I also agree with Bruno wrt voting for third party candidates. The biggest difficulty for them being not just law so much as the huge media machine behind the two party system. It is often suggested that, assuming one of the main-stream candidates is more apealling than the other, a vote for a third party candidate is a vote "thrown away". Third party voters are often accused of helping the main stream candidate that was "even worse" get elected.
I believe Ross Perot has been blamed for "taking votes away from Republicans" and Jesse Jackson, Ralph Nader, and others have also been accused of "taking away votes that would have went to...[candidate X]".
I think we as Americans need to get out of this mentality because it is keeping us from getting candidates that TRULY give us what we want, but instead are the production of two seperate enormous political/media machines engineered to give us what THEY want, and make us think the candidate is what we wanted all along.
I do not care that Barak Obama is black. What does he stand for, specifically? the man is only a little left of Lenin in his voting record, although his well-written speeches make him sound much more to the right, and
McCain? He did do well 40 years ago in an NVA prison. Unfortunately, he is also much to the left, probably where Democrats used to be in the Kennedy days. I also know we are still paying for the actions of at least one president who graduated the Naval Academy (Carter) who should have stuck to building homes for people instead of banning Americans from using their own fuel, enraging the formerly pro-US Iranians, setting us up for economic slavery to the Chinese, and giving away strategic possessions built by the blood and toil of Americans (the Panama Canal, for instance), only to have the Panamanians, unable to support it themselves apparently, hand control of it over to a front company for the People's Liberation Army.
I somehow think none of the people who voted for him knew these were all part of the deal. Nor did Republicans all know a vote for Bush Sr. was a vote for NAFTA, or Bush Jr. was a vote for the open border fiasco we face at the moment which is destroying the economies of various US cities one by one.
Whoever is pulling the strings is making sure regardless of who the parties put forward, he toes the line or faces political/character assasination in the media. If they DO toe the line, they are later (after people start to forget the hardships) paraded again as advisors and wisened old former Presidents. Again, look at Pres. Carter.

I'd love to have a President again that put what Americans needed first, and in turn treated the rest of the world honestly and fairly. To do so, however, the people will have to see through the brainwashing on their TV's, actually do research on who they are or are not voting for (not all Democrats nor Republicans nor Third Party politicians are what they are made out to be) and then, at least, we will BEGIN to get the country back from the machine that is producing our "leaders" today, instead of the "four legs bad, two legs good" crap they've been parading in front of us the last decade or so.

Guess I agree with you guys, in my own way.


John P.

Multiple parties won't change the appalling state of our early democracies. What is needed is a Proportional Representation system where seats are assigned not only to local representatives, but by the percentage of the popular vote too. Such democracies have greater voter turn out and greater voter satisfaction. By limiting our choices with First Past the Post electoral systems it is ensured that the only options we have are the ones that the rich corporate lobbyists will allow.

Canada is at least on the verge of potentially making some progress with our democracy. America? I think America is hooped!

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