Hartmann was all fuzzy about the Green Party’s David Cobb telling people in “purple states”, those states that could go either way, not to vote for him in 2004. It would be beneficial if Mr. Cobb was informed, for future reference, “Sir, there’s one absolute way in which you can get people not to vote for you. That is to not run.
What good is running for office if you’re message is, “Please don’t vote for me”?
On a couple of occasions, Ralph Nader has been ruthlessly attacked for being the one serious Progressive running for the presidency. The reason Nader’s been attacked is because Progressives feel that, when his name is on the ballot, he takes votes away from the Democratic candidate. Well, what if the Democratic candidate is not a Progressive? What if he’s John Kerry talking about making more war in order to have peace?
Progressives shouldn’t be angry with Nader for taking votes away from Kerry. They should be angry with Kerry for taking votes away from Nader.
Of course, if one asks Thom Hartmann if a third party can win the presidency, he would merely say, “It ain’t gonna happen.” When Hartmann says, “It ain’t gonna happen” through his microphone, he definitely decreases the chances of it happening.
One of my solutions, most of which I’ve already touched upon in past articles, is to get rid of The Electoral College. The Electoral College is the single most useless yet damaging antiquated system in the FUSA. It’s a voter’s HMO. It’s like having money changers between doctors and patients.
With the Electoral College in place, we, the voters, vote for electors. If we the voters are voting, should we not be the electors who are deciding the outcome?
The Electoral College ensures that our one party, two branch political system will remain in place. The people who have the leverage to begin to dismantle that house with the “danger do not enter” sign on it are the very people who, either directly or indirectly, benefit from it.
Getting rid of The Electoral College – well, “that ain’t gonna happen.”
This is not so much a harsh criticism of Thom Hartmann, a radio host with a brilliant mind and a civilized manner. I’ll listen to him today and I’ll listen to him for as long as his show is on the air. After all, I’d rather listen to Hartmann having civilized dialogues with his guests and callers than to listen to Michael Savage or Randi Rhodes screaming at the top of their lungs about the cowboys with the black hats and the cowboys with the white hats.
It’s more about telling Thom, “OK, I’ve spent years, and I’m sure others have as well, being the kind of activist that you recommend that I should be and it’s gotten us nowhere. Two members of The Corporacracy are attempting to become the nominee of The Democratic Party and two members of The Corporacracy are attempting to become the nominee of The Neanderthal Party. You can look with your microscope and talk about how Hillary is moving a bit more toward the left or about how Obama said he was against the Iraq war from the beginning, a fact he can’t prove because he wasn’t in a position to vote for or against the resolution in 2002. You can say things that make McCain or Romney look bad. But you’re doing this in spite of the fact that they are, politically speaking, Siamese quadruplets."
What might save us this time around is if Kucinich doesn’t back a candidate that stands for everything with which he disagrees. Maybe a Kucinich/? ticket on a third party ballot will prove the verity of his words. Maybe if there is a real Progressive third party ticket, Thom Hartmann, whose words deeply touch many listeners, will go out on a limb and, instead of saying “it ain’t gonna happen”, he will say, “If you all support the true Progressive, it not only has the potential to happen, but will happen.”
Nah, that ain’t gonna happen.
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