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manufacturing_the_two_party_illusion
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dafremen
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I remember a time when the election results included independent and thrid party candidates' results...as paltry as they often were. I've just gone from site to site to site..channel to channel to channel..
There is no indication that more than two choices even exist. Why is that? What happened? What's happened to those numbers? Have they gone up in recent years? Is there slowly creeping trend that we're not supposed to know about, in case we decide to start leaping on the bandwagon?
There is a concerted effort by mass media outlets to manufacture the illusion that there are only two parties in this country. Isn't it bad enough that most of us have chosen our elected officials from among the members of those two parties for over 150 years now? Do we also have to silence the message of the so-called "crackpot" parties as well?
If their ideas are so ludicrous..why not cover them and let them bury themselves? What sort of choice is there really? What sort of change are we really expecting? They say that another 4 years of Republican rule would have us in soup lines. No doubt that is true..
Perhaps the comforting thing about electing the other corrupt party is that at least Democrats will be willing to FUND the soup lines that we'll be standing in come another 4 years of two-party rule.
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081104
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epitome of incomprehensibility
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You have a good point, though I'm not sure it's about the media so much as the political set-up itself. Certainly, up here in the wilds of Kanadastan, the only news I've been getting is on the Reps and Dems.
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081104
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e_o_i again
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...Though I do know about a couple of the independant parties, such as the Green Party--they have one here too. Perhaps the figure of the battling duo, McCain and Obama, has become so entrenched in people's minds from, say, six months ago, that the major newsgroups have just not bothered with the rest. I myself favour Obama winning, partly because it would be more historically interesting--and aren't we sick enough of the Republicans?--but I agree that the independents have been too hastily overlooked. Actually, I think dear Barry has pretty much won, though I haven't turned on the picture-box in a while.
At any rate, I don't think politics can represent each person's interests. It isn't designed to do so, being a public (and often somewhat artificial) system. Not to say that any type of political organization is inherently bad, but people's needs and opinions vary so much that it would be very unlikely to see a set of poltical groups who could represent them all. There's some humour in the discrepancy between politics and individuals' ordinary lives... as shown in some of the recent Doonesbury cartoons. (Reading comics is a patriotic duty. I highly recommend it.) Seriously, though, I don't mean to be cynical here. I'm just saying that politics can fulfill some needs better than others... it can (hopefully) facilitate freedoms but it can't provide them all.
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081104
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Lemon_Soda
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The whole idea of a governing body is to implement what is best for the status quo. YOur absolutely right. Any government can't possibly appease the views and concerns of every individual living under it. There will always be unrest. Revolution comes into play when the majority of the population and the governing body are at odds about what the status quo should be.
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081105
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Lemon_Soda
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Besides, peace is something you find for yourself. It has very little to do with whats going around around you.
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081105
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dafremen
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The status_quo = welfare_warefare playing teeter_totter on the fulcrum of debt. That is the basis of two_party_system.
Easy government credit = fiscal irresponsibility regardless of the agenda, be it to wage war or support social programs. Both are done with non-existent resources...creating debt.
The economy was relatively stable until the early 1900's when bankers were given the tool they needed to tinker with that economy: A centralized bank with the power to create and destroy money at will.
Since that time, the consumer price index (an indicator of the value of goods against the dollar)has risen from an all-time high of 63 (during the War of 1812) to its current 600+. This is a direct consequence of the reliance of BOTH of the current parties' policies of using the Federal Reserve System as a national credit card. The end result is that what was a dollar in 1950 is worth approximately 12 cents today.
According to network news sources, 81% of people polled stated they do not approve of the way government is running things. Who here disagrees?
According to those same polls, 67% of Americans are worried about the economy. Who here disagrees?
And yet those same network news sources only cover and provide exposure to the same two political parties that created the problems that are of PRIMARY concern to the vast majority of Americans.
How would the average, sit-on-your-ass-and-watch-TV-as-you-were-raised-to-and-learn-how-the-world-is American know that there are OTHER choices, OTHER solutions and OTHER candidates representing NEW solutions to the problems that concern them the most, if those candidates and their positions NEVER appear on the boob_tube? If those candidates are refused access to the presidential debates?
We're not talking slews and slews of candidates for President here. We're talking 6.
The media covered both the Democratic and Republican primaries.
The Democrats had NINE (9) different candidates for President during the primaries who were covered by major news outlets during those primaries. And yet it's ridiculous to ask for coverage of 6 Presidential candidates during the actual run for office?
The Republicans had ELEVEN (11) different candidates for President during the primaries who were covered by major news outlets during those primaries. And yet it's ridiculous to ask for coverage of 6 candidates during the actual run for the Presidency?
I hope that it's becoming more obvious that this ISN'T a matter of "too many opinions" to be covered or discussed.
It's a simple matter of narrowing the discussion down to maintaining a status_quo that people have already said that they are fed up with..feeding the notion that there are only two choices, Republican or Democrat, in order to keep those two parties in power so that those making money and power off of the status_quo (who also happen to run the media) can continue to stay in power.
It's NOT what the people want. It's all that the people think they have available to them. Media exposure WINS elections.
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081105
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your_mom wins elections.
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081105
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tourist
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On Election Day just about midday one of our TV stations was interviewing the supervisor of elections here in Jacksonville Florida and the discussion was about the Early Voting, and The Lines and wait time at the regular polling places that day.
The conversation came around to WRITE IN CANDIDATES and the supervisor stated that they had already counted votes cast for Hillary Clinton, as well as Ron Paul, Even one for Jesus Christ...
He Then Said that useing the Write In Option was "Throwing Your Vote Away"
I Never saw any Follow up on the issue, For all I Know thats exactly what Happened to My Vote for Ron Paul.
This Does seem like a major Flaw in the American Mindset that tries to force the issue of "Winning" as the only valid course of action, and that a vote of "No Confidence" is not a valid Choice to make.
The Media is Doing a Disservice to the Viewer, by not Giving out the Whole Count, Instead of the Abreviated version of the Truth, And I plan to Cast a Vote Against The Supervisor Of Elections The First Chane I Get, Not That I Believe It Will Be Accounted
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081105
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dafremen
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Good points all. I've heard the "throwing your vote away" "doesn't stand a chance of winning" rhetoric more times than I can count. This isn't the f-ing superbowl. It's ours and our children's futures we're talking about.
And the problem doesn't even BEGIN with the elections. The filing requirements to be included on the ballot are so impossibly difficult to meet for anyone BUT Democrats and Republicans, that the fact that Nader or Barr or any third party candidate can manage to get on a ballot is a minor (and expensive) miracle.
(This isn't sour grapes..it's genuine concern. Remember, I'm not in favor of third party candidates. I'm against positions of power...period. Still, there is this perception among people that voting is a statement and that there will actually be change. All indicators are that this is an illusion manufactured for your benefit..to keep the two_party_system afloat.)
Please, take just a second to read this article. It's very telling about the sort of process that we involve ourselves in when we play the game of "vote_for_change" with no real choices.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,446152,00.html
Then look up HR 1941, and realize that people HAVE brought the problems to the attention of Congress, but that Congress has a vested interest in turning a blind eye to the problem.
Few people voted for change this election. Most people voted for the welfare side of the welfare_warfare see-saw game that's been going on for almost a century now.
That's what we'll get.
More debt..some big social programs ala Roosevelt, Johnson and other Democratic Presidents. And the Republican side is no better (more often much worse.) But choosing the lesser of two evils (if it can actually be called that) is absurd.
Real change can only come when we insist on breaking the two_party_monopoly by requiring third parties to be fairly represented in our election process.
Or...if you're a "WACKO radical" like me...by allowing people to govern themselves.
Noncompliance is STILL the only vote that counts.
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081105
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dafremen
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Sorry, to look up HR 1941 enter:
HR 1941 108th Congress
into you search engine.
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081105
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dafremen
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I decided to take it a bit further and look back through the Congressional Record. To understand the huge fraud being perpetrated against the American public at the polls and on TV, you have to go back a bit. It takes digging because you're not meant to know.
The following SIMILAR bills have been introduced and KILLED in Congress. All were designed to give citizens outside the two parties a better chance at actually running for office.
103rd Congress: H.R. 1755: Fair Elections Act - Dead
105th Congress: H.R. 2477 - Dead
106th Congress: H.R. 2026 - Dead
107th Congress: H.R. 2268 - Dead
108th Congress: H.R. 1941 - Dead
A new piece of legislation was introduced in 2007.
It is called HR 3600.
It is ALSO the Voter Freedom Act. I have little doubt that it will ALSO be killed in Congress. Not because it isn't well written. Not because it isn't a good piece of legislation that could even the playing field and provide American voters with more choices.
But simply because it threatens the two_party_monopoly and because Congress itself is filled to the brim with members of those two parties.
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081105
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the state of maryland
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A candidate must be able to meet the following qualifications on the date the President takes office:
1. Be a natural-born citizen of the United States.
2. Be at least 35 years of age.
3. Have been a resident of the United States for at least 14 years.
4. Be a member of, or affiliated with, a political party recognized in Maryland that nominates its candidates by primary election. The only such parties in Maryland at this time are the Republican and Democratic parties.
Remember to vote! Only YOU can affect change. (Some restrictions apply.)
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081105
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you have to vote for the career genocide supporter because TRUMP
https://rokfin.com/post/179524/Bidens-New-Border-Executive-Order-Is-JUST-LIKE-TRUMPS
but he's a convicted felon
https://www.brandeis.edu/now/2023/april/eugene-debs-tom-doherty.html
operation warpspeed
if you think biden is a demented war mongering molester
you must love Trump
if you think the bidens are corrupt pieces of it like the clintons
you must be a right winger
if you think sean hannity is a crack pot
you must love rachel maddow
or
just grow_up
and vote for the lesser evil
that has been the sole no vote against the end of genocide
that has brought back a hot cold war
that mandated experimental medical treatments for a pandemic they funded
FOR PROFIT
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240610
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Doar_giving_his_opinion
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checking in. And retreating very damn quickly, like a shotgun blast just before the door comes down.
I have no stake, except the stench of Trumpism (MAGA fucking doughheads, I don't think I have ever had truly evil intentions/wishes for before, but it"s his freaking NAZI followers that I really dislike.
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240611
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pretty sure it was Democrats that had no problem mandating experimental drugs and then saying people who refused should be locked up in camps
both sides in America was fascist as fuck
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240611
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and i know you canadians get super triggered by flags and then assume entire movements of people are then nazis but plenty of people who are maga trump supporters are not nazis just like plenty of people at the trucker protests in ottawa weren't nazis either
if the democrats actually had something to offer people besides fear and sanctimonious bullshit and contempt then trump wouldn't be a problem for any of us
the people who think they are liberal that have no problem spouting 'for the greater good' without even realizing they are repeating a nazi slogan while violating the medical ethics written by the international community in nuremberg are more of a problem to me than the people who outright seig heil and unfurl a swastika flag at a protest. at least the people with the flag know they are nazis.
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240611
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phil
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Being born with
The misfortune of
Bold and true
Drawing both sides
Of day and night
Making my own
Left or right
Through the guides
That line the streets
With their lies
That you can't see
By your mind
But never saw
The gall of you
Making such
An excuse
For the two party system
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240612
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Phil
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I am right
To miss the point
We have rung
Without the rail
In times of war
Our boxing chairs
Both sides have done
What horror
Butterfly kisses
Have become
Times of peace
Side by side
Climb the ladder
To argue from
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240612
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