Community | February 01, 2012 | 45 comments

No Matter Who Wins, Americans Lose

source: http://margotbworldnews.com/News/Jan/Jan31/AmericansLose.html

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circlesquared
No Matter Who Wins, Americans Lose

Joel S. Hirschhorn

Why am I so sick of all the media attention to the Republican presidential primaries and all the blabbering about President Obama’s advantages and disadvantages for the coming election? I just cannot get excited. My answer may also be yours: No matter who wins, our nation loses.

Come election night I would be overjoyed to see Obama lose and equally overjoyed to see the Republican candidate, whoever it is, also lose. I cannot see how either Romney or Gingrich or even Ron Paul could possibly offer what is truly needed to fix the root causes of all the dysfunction, corruption and despair with the US political and government system. And Obama? Nothing but slickness instead of results.

Here is a central, common deficiency: No major presidential candidate has come out with strong support for any of the constitutional amendments critically needed to truly reform our system. More than ever, after so much failed government, a whole lot of Americans are ready to support amendments that would, for example, mandate term limits for members of Congress, remove all private money from federal elections, require a balanced federal budget, and revitalize the constitutional requirement for Congress explicitly declaring war.

With one or two billion dollars spent on campaigning for this presidential election cycle the real winners will be all the media companies and army of campaign advisors and consultants getting all that money. With the media and pundits focusing on the election the public has been robbed of real in depth news coverage of countless issues and situations worldwide that we should be far better informed about, especially to better understand exactly what public policies we should want from the president and Congress. The mainstream media that treats the presidential campaigns like sporting events has become as superficial as the presidential candidates.

There is only one scenario that could make me enormously interested in the presidential election outcome. With relatively little media attention to it, few Americans know about the Americans Elect national effort that will place a presidential candidate on every state ballot. The candidates for president and vice president will result from a lengthy process conducted on the Internet involving millions of Americans that have signed up to be part of that process. True, those two candidates that cannot have backgrounds from the same political party, but they may turn out to be somewhat familiar to us because of their past political efforts, though neither will be the same as those on the Democratic and Republican tickets. For a fair analysis of this innovative process read what John Heilemann has said in New York Magazine.

Considering the widespread and deserved disgust among Americans with both major parties, there is a decent chance that people like me will be strongly motivated to vote for the Americans Elect alternative ticket. It definitely will be a vote against both major parties. If millions of Americans make this choice, then I will be overjoyed and so should you. Why? Because it may be the most important historic event that could motivate actions to get us genuine reforms of our political and government system. The Americans Elect ticket does not have to win, just show the Democrats and Republicans how much they are both being rejected.

For this scenario to occur, however, people must stop thinking about the “spoiler” fear that both major parties promote. Democrats want people to fear that a vote for the Americans Elect ticket will cause the Republican ticket to win, and vice versa. In truth, by voting for the Americans Elect ticket we the people have the most important electoral choice to fix our broken system. Think of it as an electoral revolution. The imperative is to stick with your fundamental belief that in the end it really does not matter whether the Republican or Democratic presidential candidate wins, principally because elite rich and corporate interests will still prevail. This means that the vast majority of Americans will continue to get screwed: The top one percent will still own and control our nation under either a Republican or Democratic president. Keep remembering that both major party candidates have lied repeatedly, will keep lying, and will never implement whatever they have promised they will do to reform the system.

My best advice to you now: Stop wasting your time on following all the nonsense about the Republican primaries and later about the main campaign from both major party candidates. Don’t let yourself be manipulated. Instead, sign up at Americans Elect and join the 2.4 million Americans who have already joined the process to give Americans a true alternative to both major parties. Note that 80 percent of people have said they are ready to support an alternative presidential ticket this year. Will they put their votes where their words are?

At some point it will become necessary to mount a national demand that the Americans Elect candidates be allowed to participate in the pre-election national televised debates and also to demand that the mainstream media give equal time and attention to them. If we are to convert our current delusional democracy into a genuine one, then the most patriotic and courageous thing to do is to support the Americans Elect effort.

link to Americans'Elect 2012:
http://www.americanselect.org/
  1. groups:
    Community,   News and Politics,   Politics,   Progressive America,   3 more
  2. tags:
    Election 2012
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45 comments // No Matter Who Wins, Americans Lose

  • ilikeike
  • gatormouth
    • 0
      gatormouth  

    • Obama said "I, like most of the American people, don't begrudge people success or wealth. That is part of the free market system," Free Market. Neoliberal­. And the Republican­s continuall­y try to paint him as a "Liberal". Query "Neolibera­lism" and (without quotes) - Neoliberal­, Carter, Reagan, Thatcher, Bush Clinton, Blair - if you don't know the term.
      Obama may be the best choice Progressiv­es have in the next general election, but he is Not a Progressiv­e himself. The last President that had Progressiv­e tendencies was Nixon. (remember, he started the EPA?) Carter started the out sourcing and deregulati­on.

    • 4 months ago
  • jubal
    • 0
      jubal  

    • Not only the people who live in the America's loose, but the the whole world will be the stage for the next world war.

    • 4 months ago
  • rerushg
    • +2
      rerushg  

    • Hey circle. It's probably good that you brought these guys to everyone's attention. I can't get a good feeling though.
      I saw this when you first posted and I've been chasing it around all day. Found nothing particulary good; nothing especially bad. There's just no transparency though. I don't like black box setups.

    • 4 months ago
  • circlesquared
    • +1
      circlesquared  
    • rerushg:

      agree completely after looking further into it...just hoping there is still a way to get the change we need with votes instead of bodies on the cogs. Feeling that our choices remain quite limited, but it's worth keeping an eye on.

    • 4 months ago
  • rerushg
    • +1
      rerushg  
    • circlesquared:

      Sure. Nothing wrong with taking a look. Maybe they make some viable progress and show some accountability. Then we we can take another look. Nothing lost here. At the very least by posting this you've saved some folks from going down the rabbit hole with their eyes closed.

    • 4 months ago
  • circlesquared
  • rerushg
  • Anonmaly
  • Leen61
  • circlesquared
  • RevKen
    • +2
      RevKen  

    • The Trilateral Commission selects our President and they tell them what to do.

      Some past members that most of us have heard of:
      Barack Obama, Bill Clinton. Hillary Clinton, George Bush I & II, John Kerry & John McCain. It is actually amazing who has been or is in this club.

    • 4 months ago
  • ThatCrazyLibertarian
  • cantucwearebrothers
  • KB723
  • remanns
  • circlesquared
  • JanforGore
  • circlesquared
  • Ambill94
    • 0
      Ambill94  

    • Great Post!! I have not watched one debate...and little political news other than KO...I have also stated here and in other fora that I will not vote for either a Dem or Rep for president and will only vote for incumbents whom I know are working for the people...having said that I have listened to all the old garbage about a vote for this is really a vote for that yadda, yadda...

      I like the concept above and will follow it closely, but there is also Rocky Anderson who is running on the Justice Party ticket and there will be others...we should try to build concensus in places like this wilthout precluding anyone...

      It is apparent that with billions to spend the Reps and Dems will circle their wagons and join effort to defeat anyone from outside the 1% power circle in DC...

    • 4 months ago
  • PressCore
    • +4
      PressCore  
    • Ambill94:

      Whenever I've said that I refuse to vote for Nobama, and anyone who's
      likely to obtain the R nomination, regardless of any Justice or Libertarian
      Party nomination, I've been told that voting for an honest person who does
      advocate change you can believe in is a vote for Nobama anyway. And
      that a no confidence vote ( no vote ) is UnAmerican. All the mindless sock
      puppets claim we're honor bound to keep up the charade so that the worst
      can't happen, and we loose our Democratic system. Seems to me we're
      already missing our Democratic system anyway, though we haven't realy
      lost it, as the Democratic Republican legal process is already built into law.

      If all the voters saw themselves as we Teamsters see ourselves, as a Union,
      and we had a universal voters' strike we'd stop cold the Corporatist Party's
      use of both Democrats and Republicans as their marionette show. Punch
      & Judy was comical for kids. But as self supporting adults we know the real
      world depends on people acting in good faith. So if it's up to a supposed
      choice between self destruction with the brakes on, and self destruction
      with the brakes off, I say piss on it. It's all a sham for the CIA directed TV
      Corporations who've been mind controlling the masses since there was a
      TV in most people's homes as far back as 1953 when they could watch the
      McCarthyism Communist witch hunts prceeding the terrorist witch hunts now.

      The author of this article is dead on. Whoever wins the election, the USA
      looses, because we're not on a path to change you can realy believe in.
      Since Dub'ya, we've been living in a war without end TV surveilance culture
      which is outrageously UnAmerican. Only the TV mind controlled sock puppets
      deceive themselves believing it empowers them. Anthing that pits Americans
      against other Americans is a divide & conquer strategy implemented by the
      subversive elements that have invaded the USA from within. They're trying
      to remake the USA in their immage, a nazi security state tantamount to an
      open air prison. As Tmothy Leary once said, I'd rather live in an American
      prison than this country in North Africa I'm existing in now. If he were alive
      today, I'm sure he'd have a tough time chooseing however homesick he got there.

    • 4 months ago
  • circlesquared
  • Ambill94
  • unimatrix0
    • +4
      unimatrix0  

    • Third party candidates are not constructive, they are only destructive. A conservative third party candidate hurts conservatives; a liberal third party candidate hurts liberals. This is a simple political reality that is not going to change anytime soon.

    • 4 months ago
  • EdJoyProductions
  • JohnA
  • hammywill
    • +2
      hammywill  
    • unimatrix0:

      I guess "destructive" is subjective to the viability of the candidate. Because I don't see it as "destructive" to the nation. Also, it will continue to be "destructive" FOREVER as long as you maintain that attitude. Nothing changes if nothing changes. Keep doing what you're doing, and you keep getting what you're getting.

    • 4 months ago
  • unimatrix0
  • JohnA
  • Anonmaly
    • +2
      Anonmaly  
    • unimatrix0:

      Alright we can continue to cage non-violent drug offenders, we can continue to destroy the world with petrochemicals...

      I've never been able to get it through my head, why do we literally dig DEATH & DECAY (oil) up out of the ground to make products and fuel out of it....?

      At least a vote for Paul would be a vote for sane drug policy, a rational stance on hemp (which can still replace petroleum), and a vote to quit "liberating" everyone via drone strike.... Also a vote to overturn that demented provision of the NDAA.... etc., etc., etc.....

      But yeah vote for Obama's industrially irresponsible police state....

    • 4 months ago
  • cantucwearebrothers
  • cantucwearebrothers
  • circlesquared
  • unimatrix0
  • unimatrix0
    • 0
      unimatrix0  
    • hammywill:

      Destructive in so far as it is counter-productive to the individual voter. If you are liberal and you vote for a liberal 3rd party you are in essence supporting the Conservative by splitting the liberal vote. And the reverse holds true if you are a Conservative.

      Voting 3rd party reflects a superficial idealism that is ultimately nihilistic and cowardly. If you really want change you work within the system and nominate candidates you support.

    • 4 months ago
  • JanforGore
  • circlesquared
  • circlesquared
    • +1
      circlesquared  

    • This is one of the most hopeful ideas I have come across relevant to our 2012 election...please make it viral...tell everyone you know and everyone you meet on the street that there may still be a hope of taking back our Democracy with votes.

    • 4 months ago
  • kennymotown
  • circlesquared
  • kennymotown
    • +2
      kennymotown  
    • circlesquared:

      If it makes you feel good, I say do-it. I just remember in 2010 telling everyone who was discouraged about how slow Obama and the Dems were proceeding, you got to get out there and vote. Well that went over like a fart in church, people stayed home and we got the Tea Party in Congress! For now as it has always been, Elections have consequences!

    • 4 months ago
  • circlesquared
  • EdJoyProductions
    • +3
      EdJoyProductions  
    • circlesquared:

      I wish this was a viable option but the damage that can be done by Mitt Romney or heaven forbid, Newt Gingrich far outweigh any of Barack Obama's short comings. I would never risk the 2000 Bush fiasco again because of the unbelievable damage done in 4 short years because of a third candidate.

      I wish it were not the case, but we have a large population of people that treat politics like football. They have a team and root for that team no matter what that team does.

    • 4 months ago
  • circlesquared
    • +1
      circlesquared  
    • EdJoyProductions:

      understood...bet Obama is counting on that to be the case as are his superiors and I am sure the top dogs would love it even more if they could get one of their GOP fools in the oval office instead. I still think we've already lost, regardless of the outcome the few will have there guy in the Whitehouse.

    • 4 months ago
  • EdJoyProductions
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