Comments on: False choices in selecting the American President http://www.chrishardie.com/blog/2008/08/false-choices-in-selecting-the-american-president.html Personal Blog for James Christopher Hardie Sun, 14 Mar 2010 04:52:38 -0400 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9 hourly 1 By: Travis http://www.chrishardie.com/blog/2008/08/false-choices-in-selecting-the-american-president.html/comment-page-1#comment-86050 Travis Wed, 27 Aug 2008 04:58:25 +0000 http://www.chrishardie.com/weblog/?p=296#comment-86050 I'm a skeptic. I have never had an opportunity to vote for anyone who reflects my values. And I never will. That is a false choice. I accept that fact, and also the fact that if I ever did have an opportunity to vote for a candidate who agreed with me, it would either be me, or it would be someone so obscure that no voter would even care, never mind the media-election machine. In today's America, anyone can vote for anyone. Choices abound. I don't know the numbers, but how many times have you heard of voters writing in Mickey Mouse? I know that I can choose between Republican, Democrat, Libertarian, Green, Socialist, pothead or slacker. No one is looking over my shoulder, tellin me, at gun point, how I must vote. It is incorrect to say that we have the choice between 2 parties & 2 parties only. I can vote for anyone, but I choose to vote for someone other than Micky Mouse. Most voters realize this too. We all see more than 2 parties on the ballot. We're not dumb. But we have to choose, and, yes, we have to compromise. Even if someone is so sick of the 2 party system that they cast their vote for a 3rd party candidate, they never vote for someone who reflects exactly what they believe. If anyone agrees 100% with any candidate, they're lying to themselves. Every voter makes their choice based on politics & posturing. A vote for a 3rd party candidate could be because they agree for a large part with that person, but it's mainly a big "up yours" to the status quo. And while that may be cathartic, and even politically viable, at the end of every day I ask myself who must be in the white house for the good of the world, and who must not be. And from these questions, I decide who I will vote for. And I'm also aware that I am voting for a party--a community--of those whose beliefs, more than the other "side" (another false choice/dichotomy) jive with mine. A third-party candidate would have no such community, no party backing, and therefore no power to get anything done. Sure, they may have great ideas,and I might think they stole their ideas straight from my blog, but DC is run by political parties (and, of course, special interests, but primarily it's parties). If you're not in a party, your power is taken away. It's that simple. So, do I want a president who won't do everything that I would do if I were president, but might maybe a quarter or an eighth of the time--compared to a president who would do everything I would not do 98 percent of the time? Or do I want a president who would do what I would do 99 percent of the time, but would have no way of actually accomplishing a single thing because they have no power, thanks to the 2 party system that has shut them out? This is the real choice I make when I go to the polls. I'm a skeptic. I have never had an opportunity to vote for anyone who reflects my values. And I never will. That is a false choice. I accept that fact, and also the fact that if I ever did have an opportunity to vote for a candidate who agreed with me, it would either be me, or it would be someone so obscure that no voter would even care, never mind the media-election machine. In today's America, anyone can vote for anyone. Choices abound. I don't know the numbers, but how many times have you heard of voters writing in Mickey Mouse? I know that I can choose between Republican, Democrat, Libertarian, Green, Socialist, pothead or slacker. No one is looking over my shoulder, tellin me, at gun point, how I must vote. It is incorrect to say that we have the choice between 2 parties & 2 parties only. I can vote for anyone, but I choose to vote for someone other than Micky Mouse. Most voters realize this too. We all see more than 2 parties on the ballot. We're not dumb. But we have to choose, and, yes, we have to compromise. Even if someone is so sick of the 2 party system that they cast their vote for a 3rd party candidate, they never vote for someone who reflects exactly what they believe. If anyone agrees 100% with any candidate, they're lying to themselves. Every voter makes their choice based on politics & posturing. A vote for a 3rd party candidate could be because they agree for a large part with that person, but it's mainly a big "up yours" to the status quo. And while that may be cathartic, and even politically viable, at the end of every day I ask myself who must be in the white house for the good of the world, and who must not be. And from these questions, I decide who I will vote for. And I'm also aware that I am voting for a party--a community--of those whose beliefs, more than the other "side" (another false choice/dichotomy) jive with mine. A third-party candidate would have no such community, no party backing, and therefore no power to get anything done. Sure, they may have great ideas,and I might think they stole their ideas straight from my blog, but DC is run by political parties (and, of course, special interests, but primarily it's parties). If you're not in a party, your power is taken away. It's that simple. So, do I want a president who won't do everything that I would do if I were president, but might maybe a quarter or an eighth of the time--compared to a president who would do everything I would not do 98 percent of the time? Or do I want a president who would do what I would do 99 percent of the time, but would have no way of actually accomplishing a single thing because they have no power, thanks to the 2 party system that has shut them out? This is the real choice I make when I go to the polls.

]]> By: anna lisa gross http://www.chrishardie.com/blog/2008/08/false-choices-in-selecting-the-american-president.html/comment-page-1#comment-86048 anna lisa gross Wed, 27 Aug 2008 02:56:01 +0000 http://www.chrishardie.com/weblog/?p=296#comment-86048 this is excellent! thanks for pointing these things out. naming the subtle haze we live in is incredibly difficult, but such a gift for others. i'm shocked by how much time radio and other media (radio is where i get most of my news) spend reinforcing these notions with absolutely no awareness. this is excellent! thanks for pointing these things out. naming the subtle haze we live in is incredibly difficult, but such a gift for others.
i'm shocked by how much time radio and other media (radio is where i get most of my news) spend reinforcing these notions with absolutely no awareness.

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