"We can't afford 4 more years of Bush, that's why we need to unify behind Obama" I've heard it said more times than I can count, but really... this election may be important, but important for a different reason.
I'm not voting Obama this fall, nor am I voting McCain. I honestly am not sure who I would prefer, as I find both candidates' views, agendas, and most importantly, Senate voting records extremely disturbing. Let's discuss Obama for a minute.
While we all want change, is this direction of expanded government really what we want? Do we really want Washington to wield even more power over our lives through higher taxes in exchange for more empty promises? Hasn't our government failed in nearly every field they've ventured into? Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, the FCC, the EPA, the Dept. of Education, Dept. of Energy, the Defense Dept., Citizens & Immigration Dept., the War on Drugs; are these not all bright shining failures one after another?
And now we want these same screw up bureaucrats to run the healthcare system? I just don't understand where everyone's desire for this is coming from.
Secondly, what about his FISA vote?? Where is everyone's memory on this? Did he not just vote 2 months ago to completely shred your right under the 4th amendment to not allow the government to monitor your private phone calls and e-mail without consent from a judge?
How arrogant can someone be to say that what the founders of this country wrote in the constitution does not apply to their presidency? George Bush has been doing it for years, and now we clamor for change and get a man willing to do exactly the same.
Does this not alarm anyone that he is willing to throw your constitutional rights out the window at his discretion?
Let's move onto our third party candidates. Bob Barr's record is terrible. No one seems to know a thing about Cynthia McKinney. Chuck Baldwin is a strict constitutionalist, but he's also a bit of a religious nut. And there's Ralph Nader. Liberals wrongly hate Ralph Nader for doing what is his right and running on a platform he believed in, and allowing people their constitutional right to agree with him. If you are still hating on Nader for 2000 and think it's right to keep him off the ballots, well, you're just as sick as the fascist Republicans and evangelical maniacs that have been running our country into the ground. The fact is the supreme court and electoral college, along with a weak platform, cost Al Gore the presidency, not Ralph Nader. George Bush took us to Iraq, not Ralph Nader. Ralph Nader was offering real change, not that any of us gave a damn.
Independents make up 60% of the American electorate, yet every election we only vote a dismal fraction of that for Independent candidates. Why? Because every year we're fed this line of "oh you can't vote your conscience this year, you need to pick the lesser of two evils!". What a line. Here's the real truth-
This Election? Not important. Not important because with Obama or McCain, you get the same thing. You will still get record inflation with unconstitutional monetary policy designed to keep the wealthy leaps and bounds above the rest. You will still get a $1 trillion dollar plus defense budget, with 8 new permanent bases in Iraq. Yes, Obama will keep troops in Iraq. You will still have foreign interventionist wars costing us blood and treasure, you will still have the watering down of your rights given under the constitution, you will still have the economic boom/ bust cycle, there will still be abortions under both (don't kid yourselves, you know that law is never getting overturned. What would the right wing have left to run on? Certainly not small government and fiscal conservatism). You will still have a bloated government with insane spending and ridiculous taxes that make nearly every wage inadequate, and lastly you will still have a lobbysit dominated government with corporations following in the footsteps of fannie mae and freddy mac going to congress with their hands out for our money.
Period.
Want to know why it's a perfect year to show your objection to this ridiculous 2 party lesser of 2 evils system? Because it doesn't matter. If Obama wins, whoopee, you got your "hope" candidate and he'll have the chance first hand to disappoint you with his leadership. Or you get McCain, who let's face it, if he does somehow pull this election out of his hat, the Repbulicans will still face crushing defeats in the House and Senate. What is McCain going to be able to do with a nearly veto proof majority of Democrats running Congress? Anything you fear with McCain as captain of the ship will be blocked by the Democrats (unless they are all working for the same team, in which case why does it matter who is at the helm?)
So this fall I urge you, make a huge showing for a third party candidate. Get them in the debates! Get the candidates discussing something other than who called who a pig, or how we are going to drill here or there to most efficiently use a forever doomed source of finite energy, or what country we are going to invade next! Get them discussing why the questions of 911 will never be answered, why we continue to let 1 privately owned bank, whom neither Congress NOR THE IRS even has the power to audit, have the authority to print any amount of money they please at any time. Why have the courts not simply thrown out the FISA bill saying it's unconstitutional? Why is there no impeachment of Bush or Cheney? Why do we continue to financially support Arab tyrannies such as Jordan and Saudi Arabia? Why do we send money to Israel, and then send even more money to their Arab enemies?
These are all reasonable questions!
Vote third party this fall. Make a statement. Don't waste your vote on the corporate McBama party.
