Politics as Usual

[KZMiller]

This just burns me. From http://www.badnarik.org and http://www.e-thepeople.org
This information, according to the website counters, has only been viewed by a few thousand people. Spread the outrage, please. Grr.
The poll taken regarding this issue (non-scientific, yada yada yada) is interesting as well. It's at: http://www.e-thepeople.org/article/35752/view where the original article is posted. I thought I'd echo the poll here, as it's both informative and entertaining. I took out one of their options from the website because it's diluting and doesn't answer the question. The option was:
Way to go Cobb and Badnarik! At least 2 candidates have guts and integrity.

I also edited the other questions along these lines:
Nader and Peroutka should be arrested, too, so we can choose between Bush and Kerry, as instructed.
"As instructed" is a pretty funny slam, but makes the question insincere. Same goes for the most of the rest of their questions, one of which is bad because the CPD could be misconstrued to mean Center for Persons with Disabilities. If you want to see the questions in their original form, check out the website.


Thanks for reading. This really burns me.

Kami

PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES ARRESTED, MEDIA SILENT
October 14


We invite the blogosphere to express their contempt for the broad “spiking” of third party candidates in the mainstream media by tracking back to this blog entry explaining our dilemma – Blogs Condemning Network Spiking of 3rd Parties – which has been closed for comments but left open for trackbacks and pings. We realize that many in the blogosphere do not agree with Libertarian views and we are not asking for endorsement of Michael Badnarik, however it is a disservice to democracy for network media to willingly and blatantly “spike” alternative views in America’s political discourse.

Reposted from e.the.People:


Is America still a free country?



What if some other country were having an election, and citizens were only allowed to hear from two government-approved candidates?

What if two other candidates, on the ballot in a majority of states and representing parties that drew over 3 million votes in the previous election, were arrested simply for trying to enter a debate?

What if all that happened, and the “watchdog” news media didn’t tell the citizens about it?

Well, it happened in the good old US of A! Libertarian Michael Badnarik (on 49 state ballots) and Green David Cobb (on 28 state ballots), crossed a police line in St. Louis, and were arrested.

You would think that Fox News, CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS, and MSNBC would be all over this affront to the democratic process, but no, not a peep.

Badnarik was also attempting to serve the Commission on Presidential Debates with a “Show Cause Order,” issued by an Arizona judge, requiring the CPD to appear at a hearing concerning the Libertarian Party’s lawsuit to stop the upcoming debate at Arizona State University, as an illegal campaign contribution to Bush and Kerry, an unconstitutional use of Arizona state funds to support selected candidates, and a violation of the LP’s equal protection rights, since they are a recognized political party in Arizona.

If this happened in some other country, what would we call them? Undemocratic? Human rights violations? Unbelievable?

If you think America is a free country, you are sadly mistaken. If you think the news media aren’t controlled by the same people who control the Democrat and Republican parties, think again.



It’s been nearly a week without a peep from the networks. This is not democracy as we know it.

Tell every blogger and website you know.

[Bill Glasheen]

One of the reasons I like to refer people to the Zogby International poll, Kami, is because they are one of the few who actually poll people on all the available candidates. (click on Read More below the bar charts) And not surprisingly, they have come the closest to any of the polling organizations in estimating the final election results in past elections.

Keep up the pressure, Kami. It's the only way some voices will be heard. I have to tell you that meeting you and Rory was one of the most refreshing and rewarding experiences of the summer camp. It's nice to know there are such critical thinking people in this world.

- Bill

[KZMiller]

I got a great email from a friend of mine, Calvin Taylor, that I'd like to share excerpts from. Now here is an amazingly informed voter:

To their credit, despite opposition by the major parties, the commission
has a policy for inclusion of third party candidates. Here it is--

http://www.debates.org/pages/news_041006.html

To sum,

You've got to be on the ballot in most of the big states, and have 15%
of the voting public behind you.

That seems pretty reasonable, until you look at what it takes to get
over those two hurdles. Volunteer support, publicity, ads, internet
rallies--ultimately, you boil it all down to money. You've got to have
a lot of money to get the message out, and garner support. Third party
candidates don't seem to be able to gather large chunks of money.

Why is that?

Well, in this country, you toss down, and either win or loose. You
don't get partial credit. So, if you support a guy in a state, and they
loose the state, you lose your investment--the electoral collage votes
for the guy who won as a block. If you got partial credit, then, if you
got, say, 30% of the vote, you'd get 30% of the electoral college.
That's enough to give you some pull. Even if your candidate didn't win.

But that's not how it works, so corporate sponsors throw money one or
both of the two big parties, and blow off the little guys.

I realized I missed a couple options for the poll. As soon as I figure out how to add it, I'll do so. Essentially, they're this:
These marginal and fringe parties are just a distraction and this was a publicity stunt. I'm glad it didn't work.
These guys are nuts and should be kept away from the real political candidates to ensure the candidates' safety.

I had a weak moment last week, thinking about voting for one of the major candidates so my vote wasn't 'wasted', as the local media was reporting a close race. Now I'm back in the game. No more business as usual!

Kami

[KZMiller]

Now I have to rib you guys. 67 views and only four votes?! No wonder the country's in trouble. Were the options that bad? Practice for the big election and have a little fun! Let your voice be heard!

Kami

[Bill Glasheen]

Hey, I voted here last week, and for the presidential election already this week.

But I'm not going to tell you how I voted here....

- Bill