Ed Rosenthal - Don't Waste Your Vote: I’m campaigning and voting for Roseanne Barr for President
http://edrosenthal.com/2012/09/dont-waste-your-vote.html
DON’T WASTE YOUR VOTE
Posted by Ed Rosenthal on Wednesday, September 19, 2012 · Leave a Comment
There are only ten states where your vote counts. The swing states in play are Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Virginia and Wisconsin. In all the other the states the vote isn’t even close. For instance, in my state, California, Obama is beating Romney among likely voters 53-35 percent.
So if I vote for Obama, my vote is really wasted. His belligerent attitudes towards other countries don’t represent my views on foreign policy and his anti-cannabis stance is vexing. His opposition to privacy and anti-environmental policies are also disturbing. Even so, his regime won’t be as mindless and will be less authoritarian than Romney’s.
This presents an opportunity for conscientious people who live in one of the 40 states that are going either red or blue. They can voice their dissatisfaction with the present system by voting for a third party such as the Green Party, the Libertarians or the party that I am working with, the Peace and Freedom Party. The importance of these parties should not be underestimated. They are the cauldrons of policy and many of their ideas have become part of this nation’s fabric. The 40-hour work week, minimum wage, social security, caste (racial) equality, women’s rights including the right to vote, national parks, and many more rights and privileges were proposed by third parties and then adopted by the major parties. This is still going on. Ron Paul introduced Libertarian ideas to the Republicans and Green-Democrats have an outsized influence in many localities.
If you cast your vote for Obama (or Romney) in the 40 red or blue states you are wasting your vote. In all probability neither candidate represents your views. A few months ago Dale Gieringer, Director of California NORML, and I were discussing the election. We agreed that Ron Paul represented our views more than any other candidate – he was good on three of four. My motivation issues are peace, marijuana legalization, the Bill of Rights and the environment. Our thoughts were that we would rather be opposing Paul on the environment and some rights than dealing with Romney or Obama’s policies. They both exhibit psychopathic tendencies that will continue to lead the U.S. to war, oppose marijuana legalization and preservation of the environment, and have laughable interpretations of the Bill of Rights.
For instance, Anwar al-Awlaki, a U.S. citizen living in Yemen, was executed by drone for dissing the U.S. and its policies. No trial, no indictment, no attempt to capture. Obama took the easy way out and ordered the assassination. If the government can do it over there, why not here? It is already using drones to spy on us.
With these things in mind you can see that in the 40 decided states it is more important to support one of the losers than to rote-vote a major. By voting for a third party candidate you are encouraging diversity in politics so that the public hears ideas beyond the scope of the corporate parties’ narrow perspective. We are always told that voting for a third party is a wasted vote. But it’s not true. Voting for a corporate party candidate who is going to win or lose no matter how you vote in the red and blue states- is throwing your vote away. But when third parties get even a few percentage points the media takes notice of them and the issues they espouse.
DON’T WASTE YOUR VOTE — VOTE OUTSIDE THE CORPORATE BOX.
DON’T WASTE YOUR VOTE, PART II
Posted by Ed Rosenthal on Sunday, September 23, 2012 · Leave a Comment
I’m campaigning and voting for Roseanne Barr for President. She favors the Bill of Rights rather than the security state, is for the legalization of marijuana, opposes wars, is pro-environment and is concerned about people rather than the corporate state.
Roseanne is a funny woman. And to be a good comedian you must be very bright and insightful. Even so, I was not prepared for RB’s cogent analysis of U.S. policy. Her prescription is to change this country’s policies to people friendly rather than corporate enforcer. To create a people count society that has friendly relationships with nations all over.
We have been trying to be the international cop, bully, or thug, depending on your point of view. RB knows that the policy has failed and it is costing us a generation of young wounded by war and is draining our nation’s wealth. It’s insane to continue in this direction. By voting for Roseanne you are making a forceful statement to the two majors: Your policies stink.
You know I’m trying to be tactful here but we know that the policies aren’t just wrong. They are insane. The Moslem world revolution against the West which we are experiencing was created by rage at the U.S.’s policy of supporting cruel dictators rather than secular democracy. It couldn’t be expressed politically so religion has become the agency of deliverance. We inherited the wind of despair and it has become a raging fire that Obama’s and Clinton’s words cannot snuff. Between them the Democratic and Republican Parties have controlled the government for the last 165 years. They have had their chance to get it right but they have been dysfunctional and incompetent for generations. It’s time for them to give it up.
I mentioned in Don’t Waste Your Vote Part I that if you live in one of the 40 red or blue states your vote for a third party candidate is not going to affect this election. If you are voting for the lesser of two evils in those states, yours is a wasted vote. Most people live in states that are red or blue so they have true freedom of choice without fear of future regret. I can’t say that about votes in the purple states, where these is a contest as to the winner. In those states people have more of a dilemma.
RB’s campaign manager, Cynthia McKinney, mentioned that she met a fellow in a shopping mall who said “I go into a store and there are a dozen brands of toilet paper, but there are only two names on the ballot.” He realized he has more choice of wipes than options regarding the serious issues facing our nation.
By voting for Roseanne Barr you are letting the winning parties know that you disagree. And you will have the satisfaction of being able to say, “Don’t blame me. I didn’t vote for that oaf. I voted for Peace and Freedom.”
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