back to politics
I have been avoiding news and politics. One, I really hate politics, two, I am too emotionally involved in politics [yes, politics and me, it’s like a bad boyfriend] — and three, I figured I did everything I could do for Ron Paul and now it was just a case of wait and see what happened at the Republican National Convention.
It wasn’t good.
Quoting a Minnesota Paul supporter, “They stole votes. They stole delegates. They refused to send buses for our delegates. [*Max note, when they did send buses, the buses got mysteriously lost for hours during important votes.] It’s a totalitarian process. This is not democracy.”
:::what happened at the republican national convention:::
So Ron Paul is out. He wasn’t even allowed to speak at the Republican convention unless he’d agree to have his speech written by the RNC and to publicly endorse Romney. [Bummer RNC. Ron Paul doesn’t take dictation. Though his son does. Rand is one of yours I figure.]
That leaves one man standing who might bring the troops home, end the “war on drugs,” and start putting the Constitution back together: Gary Johnson.
I don’t know that much about Gary Johnson. I know what his campaign site says. He’s pro due process, anti nation building, internet friendly and anti SOPA/CISPA/et al/censorship, anti “drug war” — those are all good. He is kind of anti Medicare medical care which is not so good, but if he stops the damn wars and deployments and nation building, I’ll trade off on that. I was willing to do that with Ron Paul. He seems to be more localized control of education, but I haven’t yet sussed out in what way to interpret that. Bottom line. Bring the troops home, end the war on drugs, reinstate the Constitution and protect the internet is a fucking moonshot beyond what Obama or Romney are talking about.
Johnson’s got a crap campaign. The site is weak, the mission statement’s unclear. And the site and campaign are hanging on by trying to tuck into Ron Paul’s coattails. Unfortunate. But then —
Independents always do have crap campaigns, crap websites — they don’t have big money, they don’t get on TV. Only Democrats and Republicans get on TV and then only Democrat and Republican candidates networks like or can’t ignore — and the networks all have dogs in the race. That’s why Ron Paul went on the Republican ticket, it was the only way to get on stage and be heard.
Johnson hasn’t been fighting for decades to do the things that matter most to me like Ron Paul has, bring the troops home, end the war on drugs, protect and defend the Constitution — and more recently, protect the internet. And I am distrustful of political promises from newer younger politicians. Why wouldn’t I be? Obama was lying through his teeth. But —
Gary Johnson’s nomination pick for VP is one of my personal heroes:
Judge Gray has been fighting a long time to stop the war on drugs:
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axcMPfVUJa4]
Votes more than likely won’t make any difference in this election. They haven’t for a while. Not while paper ballots are gone — or being dumped in Louisiana swamps or worse discounted for “chad” infractions” [seriously, chad infractions, Florida you so dick elections away, why?] and electronic voting machines rule the day and are manipulated with algorithms. Which everyone knows but no one is doing anything about.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcxGGnmRQAs]
And why would anyone do anything about that? The people in charge don’t want to do anything about boxes that can be manipulated. They are doing the manipulating.
There is no oversight on electronic voting machines. There are only a few companies, only one that programs, and it looks somewhat problematic how this all works. For example :::the landes report::: — you get that link because I am tired tonight, it’s hard to dig out the good links, and the fifty articles I have read on this that are stronger are buried beneath Google’s horrifying hundred page accruement of bad links so don’t get all excited it is not the New York Times, the New York Times, according to its editor, Arthur Brisbane, the New York Times doesn’t fact check any more [that would be “vigilante journalism — according to Brisbane — though when I was in school it was called just, um, you know, fucking journalism]. So now The New York Times just takes dictation from politicians. So think about your news sources. Maybe they aren’t as “legitimate” as you think.
But, anyway —
American citizens dutifully trudge to the polls and cast votes and the machines dutifully spit out a different result someone else programmed in. Someone’s benefitting from that. That someone is not the American people though. The American people keep thinking their votes count. I think that is called “cognitive dissonance.” But I will do it anyway. Better a cast vote that is manipulated than no cast vote at all. The only thing worse than being gagged by someone else is gagging yourself for them.
I know the arguments. The arguments will be fierce and ongoing and I will be besieged. “A vote for Johnson is a vote for [Obama/Romney, pick your “brand” candidate]!. Newsflash. One, I would rather throw away a vote than throw away my country. Two? Obama/Romney? They’re the same face on one politically corrupt machine taking this country to hell. And I’d rather be shot dead than vote for either one of them.
Take that to the bank that financed both of them.
where that art work comes from:
that is dovima with elephants by richard avedon