"A reckless endangerment of democracy"
My roommate has been watching the Republicrat conventions. The time I start fixing dinner coincides with the nightly headliner, so I’ve had to endure the smell of bullshit that’s wafted its way into the kitchen from the living room. Thankfully he wasn’t home last Thursday or Monday, so I tuned his big, 52-inch plasma TV to something real — college football.
As I’ve mentioned, my roommate is very forgetful. His absentmindedness transcends the locking of doors. It’s endearing, really. Risky and precarious, but endearing. It can be annoying, too. Case in point: I’ve explained to him four or five times that I don’t belong to a political party. On the day of the California Primary, I voted in the morning and walked back to my apartment. When I got home he asked who I voted for and I told him, “Nobody.”
“How can you have not voted for anybody?” he asked.
“I don’t belong to any party, so I couldn’t vote for any of their candidates.” (Which wasn’t true. The Democrats give independent voters the option to cast a Democratic ballot. The Republicans, however, don’t.)
That very night — less than 12 hours later — he asked me, “Did you vote today?” I nodded, trying to sequester a laugh (his repetition is sometimes funny), and he asked who I voted for.
“I told you this morning,” I said.
He was dead puzzled. His eyes searched the room while he tried to recall my earlier answer. “I don’t remember,” he said.
“Nobody.”
“How can you have not voted for anybody?”
See what I mean? And I had to explain it again last week…and again last night. He came into the kitchen while Joe Lieberman was speaking and asked, “Which way do you vote?”
This time I completely dodged the question and asked, “How many ways are there to vote?”
“Two,” he said.
Wow. Think of how pathetic that is. In the land of opportunity — the country that sent astronauts to the moon and gave the world modern democracy, freedom of speech, and David Hasselhoff — there are only two viable political options. That’s one option away from totalitarianism.
We talked a little about third parties. Obviously, there are political parties in this country besides the Democrats and Republicans, but none with comparable membership, funding, or national attention. Rounding out the five parties having ballot status in most states this election year are the Libertarian Party, Green Party, and Constitution Party. Here is a partial list of parties nominating candidates this year from Wikipedia, but most are absent from state ballots:
America First Party
Boston Tea Party
Centrist Party
Independence Party of America
Jefferson Republican Party
Moderate Party
Marijuana Party
Party for Socialism and Liberation
Peace and Freedom Party
Prohibition Party
Reform Party (two factions)
Socialist Equality Party
Socialist Party USA
Socialist Workers Party
United States Pacifist Party
Workers World Party
Working Families Party
Look at all that choice! Yet, even with all these options my roommate thought there were just two ways to vote. I’m sure most Americans think the same way, think there are only Democrats and Republicans, and can see why. Do the cable news networks dedicate their entire evening to cover the US Marijuana Party convention? Ever seen Ralph Nader participating in one of the CPD debates? (The Commission on Presidential Debates is another can of worms I'll open later.) Nope, and nope.
As I’ve mentioned, my roommate is very forgetful. His absentmindedness transcends the locking of doors. It’s endearing, really. Risky and precarious, but endearing. It can be annoying, too. Case in point: I’ve explained to him four or five times that I don’t belong to a political party. On the day of the California Primary, I voted in the morning and walked back to my apartment. When I got home he asked who I voted for and I told him, “Nobody.”
“How can you have not voted for anybody?” he asked.
“I don’t belong to any party, so I couldn’t vote for any of their candidates.” (Which wasn’t true. The Democrats give independent voters the option to cast a Democratic ballot. The Republicans, however, don’t.)
That very night — less than 12 hours later — he asked me, “Did you vote today?” I nodded, trying to sequester a laugh (his repetition is sometimes funny), and he asked who I voted for.
“I told you this morning,” I said.
He was dead puzzled. His eyes searched the room while he tried to recall my earlier answer. “I don’t remember,” he said.
“Nobody.”
“How can you have not voted for anybody?”
See what I mean? And I had to explain it again last week…and again last night. He came into the kitchen while Joe Lieberman was speaking and asked, “Which way do you vote?”
This time I completely dodged the question and asked, “How many ways are there to vote?”
“Two,” he said.
Wow. Think of how pathetic that is. In the land of opportunity — the country that sent astronauts to the moon and gave the world modern democracy, freedom of speech, and David Hasselhoff — there are only two viable political options. That’s one option away from totalitarianism.
We talked a little about third parties. Obviously, there are political parties in this country besides the Democrats and Republicans, but none with comparable membership, funding, or national attention. Rounding out the five parties having ballot status in most states this election year are the Libertarian Party, Green Party, and Constitution Party. Here is a partial list of parties nominating candidates this year from Wikipedia, but most are absent from state ballots:
America First Party
Boston Tea Party
Centrist Party
Independence Party of America
Jefferson Republican Party
Moderate Party
Marijuana Party
Party for Socialism and Liberation
Peace and Freedom Party
Prohibition Party
Reform Party (two factions)
Socialist Equality Party
Socialist Party USA
Socialist Workers Party
United States Pacifist Party
Workers World Party
Working Families Party
Look at all that choice! Yet, even with all these options my roommate thought there were just two ways to vote. I’m sure most Americans think the same way, think there are only Democrats and Republicans, and can see why. Do the cable news networks dedicate their entire evening to cover the US Marijuana Party convention? Ever seen Ralph Nader participating in one of the CPD debates? (The Commission on Presidential Debates is another can of worms I'll open later.) Nope, and nope.
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