Presidential Endorsements

This election season, we have an embarrassment of riches. There is a candidate on the right, and there is a candidate on the left, and both of them offer a clear statement of their respective sides.

And yes, the Democans are also running candidates.

Confused? Don’t be. Have a look at these two:

Gary Johnson

Jill Stein

Johnson is the Libertarian nominee for president, while Stein is running as the Green Party candidate.

O.K., I know the argument against voting for a third party. That’s said to be a throw-away vote. Uh huh. Unlike the vote that too many of us throw away to the Democrats and the Republicans? I hear a great deal of yammering about how money influences politics, about how the Citzens United decision will destroy America, about how the sky is falling and it’s all their fault, whoever they may be. The fact is, though, that no matter how much money candidates spend, they still have to get votes to get into office. Who then has the responsibility for that?

We do.

If you really believe that giving tax breaks to multinational corporations makes sense, that government intrusion into our private lives makes sense, that a foreign policy based on knee jerks rather than leadership makes sense, that handing more and more control of our healthcare to insurance companies makes sense, that a lot of talk about the environment without any action makes sense, that handwringing over immigration makes sense, that spending money that we haven’t earned makes sense, and on and on, by all means, vote for the Republicrat Party. Pick your candidate based on whose wife is prettier.

Or you can educate yourself and make a good choice. Here’s a place to start: OnTheIssues.org. If you’re looking at the election and feeling that you’ll have to hold your nose when you vote, why aren’t you demanding someone better?

Regular readers have seen me go on about this topic before. I’m going to do so until people wake up. You should, too. A democracy is a form of government in which citizens have to be active participants. If you want your government handed to you, North Korea is available. Otherwise, you have to speak out. You have to attend meetings and make comments. You have to talk to those around you.

Or you can just vote for America’s next Idol. Like this fellow.

Time for a Change

I’ve been a political junkie for most of my life. I watched the 1980 conventions, even though I was still in my single digits. I saw Lloyd Bentsen smack Dan Quayle on national television. I registered to vote on my eighteenth birthday, and I’ve voted every two years since then. (Want to know who’s going to win the election? If I vote for a candidate, the other guy will win.)

Why am I saying all of this? I’m sick of the current political mess that America is in. I’m sick of Republicans and Democrats. Whatever they say about small businesses or the poor, they both act in the interest of the wealthy people who give them money. The current squabbling over the national debt and the Federal budget shows exactly what I’m talking about.

Part of our problem comes from our Founders. They were concerned over the power of political parties and created a system of government that tried to be oblivious about them. A parliamentary system would have been more efficient. Of course, efficiency in government is often bad for the citizens, and I do approve of having a written constitution that guarantees specific rights, while acknowledging that we have many others not specified. The structure of our system does favor two parties, and those two parties have less and less need to be responsive to individuals who are not fantastically wealthy. As much as we can blame “the system,” though, the real fault today lies elsewhere.

Who’s to blame?

We are.

We American citizens have an extraordinary power: voting. No one but we ourselves gets to control how we vote. That’s the joy of a secret ballot. If you’ve ever held your nose or crossed your fingers while voting, you owe yourself an apology.

How can I say that? It’s because we have alternatives. Take a look at these two parties:

The Green Party

The Libertarian Party

They field candidates in many elections. At the moment, they are marginal–earning only a few votes and holding several strange ideas–but that’s our fault. Those two parties differ on many issues, but their platforms aim at protecting individual citizens.

And the Greens and the Libertarians are only two possibilities. There are others. In every major election, the list of candidates for each office has more than two names. If none of the candidates are acceptable, you can write in the name of your choice. Yes, this requires work. Some will whine about how much research has to be done to vote well, but they’ll get no pity from me. Citizenship comes easily if you’re born here, and it’s not too hard to obtain otherwise, and because of that, we quickly forget the moral obligations that come with it.

I’m not going to tell you for whom to vote. If you approve of the platforms and actions of Republicans or Democrats, by all means, vote for them. But for the sake of our country, stop settling for the least offensive candidate or party. Do the work, and vote for what you want and believe in.