Chocolate and Vanilla Aren't the Only Flavors, People

(No pun intended. Seriously.)

This is about so-called "third-party" candidates, and here's my contention: We need them. Badly.

If there was ever a time to admit to ourselves that the two-party system has failed us, and that we need to CHANGE things immediately, it's now. After all, if you include the past two administrations, I'd venture to say that close to 100% of Americans would agree that Clinton and/or Bush has royally screwed us -- not to mention congress (which recently polled a whopping 9% approval).

Different ideas, different points of view, need to be included in the national discourse (i.e., media).

Is it realistic to think a third-party candidate could win the presidency in 2008? Of course not. But it's an insult to our notions of freedom and democracy to assume the Democratic and Republican parties are the only sources of viable leadership.

Even the very acceptance of the term "third-party" is insidious and counterproductive to the process, as it wrongly implies there can only be ONE alternative to the status quo.

Now, I'll admit, I was tempted to vote for Perot in '92 -- as a vote AGAINST both Bush Daddy and Slick Willy -- but I didn't, because I felt it was more critical to vote Bush OUT. In other words, I didn't want to "throw my vote away." Then in 2000, I was tempted by the ultra-charismatic, devastatingly handsome Ralph Nader, but again I chickened out.



And here we are again. Only this time I'm not convinced that the democrats and republicans hold altogether different visions for America. I am not convinced that much will change under Obama or stay the same under McCain. Nope. Either way, I'm convinced that things will get worse. That may be a pessimistic view, but I don't think it's unpatriotic.

The machinery of both major parties is controlled by the same people. The Fortune 500, the Council on Foreign Relations, the Trilateral Commission and so on. If you've never heard of these groups, or don't know much about them, now is the time to learn -- because, again, your destiny is very much in their hands ...

But only if we keep electing their stooges.

Put it this way. If you took your car to a mechanic and he couldn't fix the problem, then you took it to another guy and he made it worse -- would you take it back to the first guy? And then if he screwed up again, would you take it back to the second guy? Of course not! You'd ask around for another mechanic -- or, at the very least, open the yellow pages and pick one at random. But we've been convinced there are only two reputable shops in town.

Convinced by whom? The corporate media, obviously (almost everything owned by five corporations).

And why is that? Money, obviously. Large corporations love the two-party system, because they (in large part) control the purse strings of both parties. In return, they get favorable legislation, regulation, etc. designed to maximize their profits.

But you know what, we can't blame the media on this one. We have to be smarter than that (I think you're pretty damned smart for reading this blog, for example). After all, we have plenty of other media alternatives these days -- at least until they kill the Internet ...

I wonder though, if the major networks changed all their political shows to ice cream shows and shouted all day and night, "Chocolate ice cream is better!" "No, vanilla is better!" would we disregard the rest of the freezer aisle at the grocery store? No, of course not. If we wanted something different, we'd look for something different. We might have crouch down at the bottom of the freezer case and reach waaaaaay back there, but we'd find other cartons of ice cream. We'd look at the ingredients. "Ooh, this one has ribbons of gooey caramel!" and so on.

Granted, we might go back to vanilla or chocolate, but at least we'd consider other choices, right? Would we? Or would we be suspicious of them, because they weren't talked about on TV? Hmm ...

Well, there ARE other choices:

Ralph Nader (Independent)
Chuck Baldwin (Constitution Party)
Bob Barr (Libertarian Party)
Cynthia McKinney (Green Party)

Will all these candidates be on the ballot in all states? I don't know. Probably not. Will there be other third-party candidates on your state's ballot? Probably.

The point is, do your homework. I'm not claiming their are any silver bullets here -- or, again, that any of these candidates could actually win -- but we have to take baby steps. If all the alternatives together could net 10-15% of the popular vote, that would be an incredible message to Washington -- and, indeed, to ourselves, in terms of what's possible in the future.

Bottom line, if we want to reclaim this great Republic, we must each vote for the candidate who best represents our individual values, needs and interests -- as well as our collective values, needs and interests as a nation. Period.

If, in the final analysis, you determine that candidate is John McCain or Barack Obama, fine. Vote for them.

But no "lesser of two evils" crap this time. No excuses this time.

(I'm talking to myself, by the way.)