Ted Rall for January 04, 2016

Nice reference :p

Ted – When we march in the streets, they are scared. That’s the whole purpose of these year-long election campaigns – to keep us out of the streets. They listen, alright, but they pretend not to. The issue is not what THEY do but what WE do afterward. Do we build a revolutionary movement or keep begging and whining?

Folks! The big problem is you only vote in PRESIDENTIAL elections! If you’d get off your big butts and vote in EVERY election held in your state and community you’d get the government you want. But do you? No. So here in Kentucky we’re stuck with boobs like McConnell, Paul and Bevin. Thanks, losers.

The issue here is in large part due to the influence of money on politics, making politicians more responsive to their big donors than to the voters. Citizen’s United was the logical outcome of (s)electing W., just as Bush v. Gore was the result of electing Reagan. Its not the next election but the last one that ends up killing democracy when the Supreme Court is concerned.

The Working Family and Green Parties are starting to get a lot of people elected to local and state offices. Start small and work our way up. I might be dead before there is substantial change but I’d like to leave a better world for my sons.

Nice analysis, I work mostly in R myself, but what you describe in your last paragraph “… the candidate with the most checked boxes wins …”, is what most people that I know, see as the implementation of IRV. I prefer the name proportional or fair voting, but the IRV name connotates the cost saving due to the elimination of runoffs. The idea of having someone in office that most people have actually voted for is very appealing. Personally, I have no use for parties and think that they impede the function of a democratic republic.