Ted Rall for June 09, 2023

That’s your country’s broken system.

Ranked voting. They are trying it in Alaska, don’t know about anywhere else…

Last sentence describes the cartoon.

You can vote for chis Christie haha you wanted a third party right there you go

That’s Oligarchy! Billionaires own both parties. Guess what? They. Own. You. Too. Over half of the wealth of this country belongs to this tiny minority. They want, and will eventually get, all of it. Feudalism, the pinnacle of unfettered capitalism. The RNC game of hate, fear, and lies countered by the pushback of the DNC to “status quo” as the “best you can get”, results in ever eroding quality of life for the Hoi Polloi. The Real Owners are delighted by this. It would take united national movements like those of Ghandi or MLK Jr. to effect dramatic cultural change. Tragically, America is a squirrel chasing after the shiny buttons tossed out by the minion s of the Owners. Like that squirrel, when winter comes, through environmental and/or economic collapse, it will likely not survive. At least in any recognizable form.

Two awful choices for sure.

Aaaand, once again the Nirvana Fallacy rears in Mr. Rall’s head.

fusilier

James 2:24

It’s easy to point out that the system is broken. It’s easy to say “we should do this or we should do that” What isn’t easy is overcoming the apathy, ignorance, prejudice, greed, and sheep like mentality that has allowed this system to exist. It’s easy, and not exactly wrong, to blame the two parties who have a stranglehold on our political process, or to point to the corporate media on both sides as the culprits. But ultimately it’s the people who allow the system to work the way it does.

It isn’t that the repugs and dems won’t allow 3rd party candidates. They fight tooth and nail against them but if people REALLY wanted one they could make it happen. It is ultimatelythe voters who through a combination of herd mentality, susceptibility to propaganda, laziness, and a dozen other factors who allow the status quo to remain so.

Add in the fact that the other group that might be able to change things is directly benefitting from the current system and I don’t see any real changes on the horizon.

I’m guessing that Ted or someone else will now ask “So you think we should just give in and accept it?” or something to that effect. No, but until you have REALISTIC way to convince 100 million voters to say enough is enough then just saying It’s broke ain’t gonna do anything except maybe make you feel better because you vented.

Thomas Jefferson — ‘The government you elect is the government you deserve.’

Americans are totally ignorant when it comes to their government. Only a 1/3 of voters can name their Representative and only about 55% know what party the Representative belongs to,

I often wonder what this country would look like if it bored it’s conscience instead of the false dilemma it’s presented every four years.

Ted’s perspective of President Biden is coming from the conservative base. Those of us who are not of that perspective are extremely pleased at the efforts and accomplishments of the Biden Administration under the constant attacks from Republicans.

People need to wake up and start looking at 3rd party candidates. It will tell the other two to get a clue that their policies are not the best interest of the US.

I’m not voting for Biden or Trump.

It’s a choice between one crap sandwich and thirty crap sandwiches. Looks like I’ll be voting for Biden, or should I say, I’ll be voting against thirty crap sandwiches again.

Where I live, there is rarely any point in casting a vote in a presidential election. With rare and clearly predictable exceptions, the republican candidate always takes all of the electoral votes by at least a 15%-20% margin (it was bigger for Trump). I don’t bother going to the polls unless there’s also some local ballot issue.

Both party’s ultimate goal is to win and put people that they can control into office. They are going to back the candidate that best meets those two criteria. But, it is actually possible to defeat that goal. It was done by Barack Obama. The Democrats would never have nominated a Black man despite all their liberalism, because they wouldn’t have expected him to win. Only when he began winning state primaries did they suddenly discover that they had always wanted him to be the candidate. The voters do decide the candidates, with their primary votes, and the party has to get on board with that choice, or they will absolutely allow the other party to win. And, their primary objective is not to allow that to happen.

Do you really want to vote for a lying anti environment criminal republican?

Some voters don’t want Biden to run again. Most don’t want tRump at all.

(fixed)

that is why I just write my name in for every job and the ballot

The third parties have lacked a real candidate with the draw factor. Ross Perot came close with his persona and oft repeated phrase, “Just do it.” But, all he actually did was to weaken the Repub party. Had Colin Powell run on a third party ticket, then that party would’ve commanded a serious following.

As far are the Dems and Repubs keeping the third parties down, I don’t know. Maybe the Dems ought to promote a conservative third to draw Repub votes away and really win another election well.

“a division of the republic into two great parties … is to be dreaded as the great political evil.” – John Adams.

I think it is not unreasonable to say the leadership of the two parties agree on one thing…that they would together burn this country to the ground before permitting a third party to develop into a serious political power.

That’s not democracy it’s liberty.

No, if you refuse to vote and Trump is a candidate, you’ll be voting for Trump, in effect. Think about what you’re doing.

Who says voters don’t want Biden to run again. I do. Then, I want another Democratic to win in 2028 and so on, and so on, and so on, Until we can make the USA whole again.

And a third party vote re-elects Trump………………..

Both political parties are private organizations. They have no responsibility to represent the voters. They sponsor the candidate they prefer. To be upset about that fact is to misunderstand that the parties exist to push their agenda, and to support the candidates that they believe will further that agenda. If you agree with their agenda, then support them. If you don’t support their agenda, then that would be a dumb thing to do, because they don’t represent you, they never promised to do so, and they have no responsibility to you. And, it doesn’t make any more sense to allow them to determine your opinion of any candidate than it would if it were your local YMCA. For that, you need to actually do a little research ( try Open Secrets) and find out who does best represent your opinions. That’s where you should send your money.

All Biden needs to do is quit, Gavin is all revved up and waiting to step in. He sees a DeSantis vs Newsom right now, Trump in court, Biden in depends and the next generation of culture warriors going at it hammer and tong. My Gubbernor is already campaigning, Gavin already measured the Whitehouse for new drapes. His abortion sanctuary, trans sanctuary, illegal sanctuary, homeless sanctuary, drug sanctuary, 28th Amendment push, COVID policies and flourishing cities and thoughtful budgeting make him a super star in todays Democrat party. We can’t forget his hair either, Gavin has that oiled look that looks good on camera as long as he stays out of the ocean, marine life would suffer if he took to surfing.

Let me try to explain it to you, Ted.

We, like most stable liberal democracies, have a strong two-party system. The reason for this is really quite clear: When a third party arises it draws the bulk of its votes from that one of the two main parties that is most aligned with its views. This frequently results in handing victory to the party that opposes the interests of most of its voters.

We saw this clearly in the election of 2000, when many environmentally-conscious voters cast their ballots for the Green Party and Ralph Nader, defeating the most environmentally-oriented major party candidate we have ever had (Al Gore) and handing the election to a creature of the fossil fuel industry (George W, Bush). Much mayhem ensued and continues to plague us from that error in judgment.

Similarly, in the U.K. the progressive vote is split between the Labour and Liberal parties, leaving power in the hands of the Tories despite the unpopularity of their policies.

So, to put it succinctly, GROW UP, TED!

A third party usually causes a candidate to lose.