Why I won’t vote for the Obama/Romney Ticket
(Note; an earlier version appeared in
The Philly IMC of 9-10-12)
I am a member of the Pa. Green Party and, as such, have been contacted to vote for Barack Obama as “the lesser of two evils.”
I have also been contacted by friends from the Tea Party, etc explaining that one should vote for Romney “the Mormon over the Muslim”. I will vote for Jill Stein, the Green Party Presidential Candidate. If she were not on the Ballot, my second choice would be Gary Johnston of the Libertarians. My third choice, if the other
Alternative Parties were off the ballot, would be Virgil Goode
of the Constitution Party. Below is my rationale for this;
Glen Ford of BlackAgendaReport.com spoke of all the negatives of Barack Obama, on a recent Democracy Now show, but ended with the lesser of two evils speech. The lesser of the two evils still remains evil.
If a President McCain was implementing some of the same policies that Obama has implemented the outcry from the Left would of been tremendous. “Honest John” would not of put in the Healthcare Mandate or taken some of the other problematic decisions that Obama has done though, to be fair, John McCain never met a war he didn’t like.
Similarly, I do not tremble at a President Romney, but I tremble at the lack of possibility these two choices represent. There is not a
chance, in 2012, of a President Stein,, Johnson, or Goode. However this remains the reality only until we change it.
Mitt deserves kudos for his work with The Salt Lake City Olympics along with what Bain Capitol did with a near bankrupt Dunkin Donuts, and Staples, among others, which could be a reason to vote for him. However, I find his Social Agenda very anti-social. Besides his female problems, Mitt Romney would be held hostage by the same forces that prevented George Bush and Bill Clinton, etc. from becoming this country’s Il Duce.
The Russian Revolution really began in 1825, with the Decembrist movement, and it only took 92 year to achieve.
Possibly the Greens are akin to the Mensheviks (the non-violent
Faction) but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t continue to press for reform of a corrupt Duopoly. Hopefully, we can achieve this in less time and supporting National Candidacies is a large part of this. It’s worth the (non-violent) struggle, however long it takes.
What a non-Stalinized Russia could of become is one of the great tragic unknowns of history.
More recently, leaders such as Hugo Chavez, Fidel Castro, Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher, whatever you think of them, have created revolutionary movements in their respective countries. My point here is that revolutionary change can still happen but neither of the two Candidates on offer is a prescription for Revolution. Each era’s problems require different solutions and, too often, we are like the French at the beginning of WW II, dependent on the Maginot Line, which worked in WWI just fine.
I’ve recently been working with the Constitution and Libertarian Parties trying to retain their Presidential Candidates on the PA. Ballot. This is not because I agree with all of their positions, but,
to quote the IWW (Industrial Workers of the World)
“an injury to one is an injury to all”.
Scant members of the Duopoly have had the political courage to help with this effort, though some Independents have. My political Family members include not only my fellow Greens, but also Constitutionalists, Independents, Naderites, Libertarians, the Socialists, and any other Alternative Party that seeks to use the Electoral Process.
The Duopoly, on the other hand, are ex husbands and wives for the most part, the kind rarely spoken of. (I admit to some who are friends, but only a few.)
Ever since 2006, the Dems evisceration of Carl Romanelli, I have not been able, as they say, “to fix my face”, to vote for any Candidate of either of the Duopoly Parties.
Laws were created specifically to punish Carl Romanelli and Ralph Nader, (the $80, 000 fines among others), and to have a “chilling effect” on other Alternative Parties both left and right.
Yet, one is still asked “why won’t you vote for the people who are trying to destroy your Parties in Pennsylvania”.
My name is Robert Small and I approve this message.
Co-Chair of The Delco Greens
robertthesmall 