“Political campaigns are designedly made into emotional orgies which endeavor to distract attention from the real issues involved, and they actually paralyze what slight powers of cerebration man can normally muster.” -James Harvey Robinson, The Human Comedy, 1937

So originally I wasn’t going to post after Crimson this time. I was going to see if our Green Lady brought out the fire in our resident Democrats. I was going to wait and see what the boys said, and occasionally jump in and stir the pot. I love stirring the pot. In a group such as ours, it actually brings out some healthy discussion. However… I made the mistake of watching the news and talking to people today. I should fucking know better.

Before I get into the ranting, I’m going to break down my political leanings for you. I am not Democrat. I am not Green. I am not Republican. I am not Reform. I am not Libertarian. Are you seeing a pattern? I suppose I would be considered an Independent. I hate labeling myself in anyway when it comes to politics. That said, stick me where ever the fuck you want. I really don’t care what you expect of me. Oh, and guess what? I am undecided on this election. Yes, you did read that correctly. I am UNDECIDED. As in, I don’t know who I will vote for come election day.

So… that brings us today. I wake up bright and early, choke down my horrible coffee, and read my email. Without getting into details that would call people out and violate their privacy, I had a couple emails from a person who doesn’t like the fact that I’m fairly open about being undecided. They had a list of reasons why this makes me a horrible scum of a human being. One was if I didn’t vote for Obama I was obviously a republican and wanted Mccain to win. According to them if I did that I needed to quit lying to people and label myself accordingly.

I was going to let it go. Really, Mostly, Sorta… I was actually just going to reply to them and let them know that I thought they should stick the dick back in their mouth, and quit spewing their cum tainted trash around me. See how level-headed I am? You’ll be happy (or maybe extremely disappointed) to know that I censored myself and trashed the email reply I was going to send. I decided it just wasn’t worth the energy to prove this hateful, hateful person wrong.

I had quit thinking about it by the time I got home. I had a great day with my niece, and was thinking of how much fun we had dancing to the Wiggles. Sadly, that was brought to a crashing halt by a quote that I read.

“I look at these people and can’t quite believe that they exist. Are they professional actors? I wonder. Or are they simply laymen who want a lot of attention? To put them in perspective, I think of being on an airplane. The flight attendant comes down the aisle with her food cart and, eventually, parks it beside my seat. ‘Can I interest you in the chicken?’ she asks. ‘Or would you prefer the platter of shit with bits of broken glass in it?’ To be undecided in this election is to pause for a moment and then ask how the chicken is cooked.”- David Sedaris

I know that he is speaking of those who the major news networks find to do undecided polls. I know that he is referring to those who are simply undecided between just Obama and Mccain. While I don’t know for sure, based on the previous quote, I imagine that he is one who thinks that a Third Party vote is a wasted one. Don’t get me wrong Sedaris is an amazing author (I love all of his books that I’ve read) and a great humorist. Seriously though, enough is fucking enough.

I’m sick of being told that I’ll throw my vote away if I don’t vote Obama. I’m tired of being told that I’m picking the lesser of two evils if I don’t vote for a third party. I don’t need to hear that this whole country will burn in hell if I don’t vote Mccain.

Here is a tid bit for all of you. All of our options fucking suck. They are all either bat shit crazy, inexperienced, or some form of horrid. Yes I mean all; Mccain, Obama, McKinney, Nader, Barr, Baldwinn, Keyes, Jay, Amondson, Weill, La Riva, Moore… Need I go on?

So, I’m fucking undecided. I’ll make up my mind when I make up my damn mind. I’m still tempted just the write in Ethan B. Shameless nominee for the Geek Party.

Until next time, I’ve had enough of seeing people treating political candidates like messiahs.
autumn

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I just found out that one of my favorite musicians is not only supporting Barack Obama, he is joining the campaign efforts. Chris, Chris, Chris…. Really?

I guess I get the “lesser of two evils” theory, but here’s the thing – He rides the fence on important issues, he doesn’t have near the experience of many of his …. er, competitors (?).

He signed the revised PATRIOT ACT because, to paraphrase, it wasn’t as good as it could be but as good as it was going to get. “Let me be clear: this compromise is not as good as the Senate version of the bill, nor is it as good as the SAFE Act that I have cosponsored. But, it’s still better than what the House originally proposed. This compromise does modestly improve the PATRIOT Act by strengthening civil liberties protections without sacrificing the tools that law enforcement needs to keep us safe.” Source Maybe I’m wrong but I think when voting on something as crucial as the PATRIOT act, one should be at least 90% satisfied and that doesn’t sound like someone who was even 50% satisfied.

“Obama says the death penalty ‘does little to deter crime” but he supports it for cases in which “the community is justified in expressing the full measure of its outrage.’” Source So, what you are saying here is that the death penalty doesn’t accomplish anything as far as lessening crime but it makes people feel better so let’s keep it around? Not that I am saying I’m against the death penalty. I’m not. I’m not for it either. I haven’t really made up my mind either way. But be damned skippy that I will have a better explanation for my decision when I make it.

Anyway, back to the point here. Americans are really good at doing what celebrities and Hollywood tells us we should do. So, my question is why don’t any celebrities jump on the band wagon to support third-party candidates? Granted they aren’t making tabloid covers or People’s 50 Most Beautiful People lists but if Chris Walla and Hill Harper (or any Liberal celebrity) would join forces with Cynthia McKinney instead of Obama, Americans would start to realize that the Green Party is A) not soley a British thing and B) not made up entirely of tree-huggers and pot smokers (I like to use McKinney as an example because she’s ….well a She and she’s African-American…the truth is there are 16 candidates for President on the ballot in the state of Colorado….other states may have more, others fewer but every state has at least 3).

I guess it just really frustrates me to see the Third-Party candidates, the ones with truly different ideas, the ones without corporate backing and influence, the ones without celebrity backing….have no celebrity backing. If just one of the Third-Party candidates – Green, Libertarian, Constitutionalist, etc. – could get Brangelina to join their campaign efforts, or even publicly support their efforts, it could completely change the face of politics in the U.S.

I am not naive enough to think it’s all the President. Congress and Senate makes all the decisions, based on suggestions made by the President. The President can only make a few unilateral decisions, like declaration of war, for one example. The rest of his “changes” (to quote Obama) have to be put before Congress and Senate for a vote, that’s how democracy works. If a Presidential candidate could really do all they say they are going to do in their campaign speeches, this would be a monarchy at the very least, a dictatorship at the most and voting for President would eventually (sooner rather than later) go by the wayside.

But I’m tired of ranting about this. While our ballot system is arranged so that no one has to worry about other people knowing who they are voting for, I will tell you, when November 4th comes around, I will proudly mark the box next to Cynthia McKinney’s name. And not because she is the Green Party candidate or because she’s not McCain or Obama but because I have seen her voting record and she’s voted about 90% the way I would have in her position (including drawing up impeachment papers against Bush).

Until next time, I’ll be bleeding Green.
Crimson

P.S. Earlier today I heard a McCain campaign commercial on the radio blathering about Obama opposing the “rights provided by the Second Amendment,” or something blah blah blah. I just saw an Obama commercial on the television with him speaking to a group of people about how important it is for Americans to be able to defend themselves….. more proof that campaign commercials are useless but, unfortunately, the only access many Americans have to their candidates.

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Recent tweets from candidates

During the Vice Presidential Debate tonight, I had Twitter open. Then, I noticed something strange. Look at the most recent tweets from both Obama and McCain. Obama is encouraging Americans to watch the debate and urge their friends to register to vote. McCain is advertising his most recent TV spot no doubt smearing Obama. Who remembered the debate this evening?

ethan

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