Exposed: The Obama Invasion of Syria

[Brakeman]

I don't buy that argument at all. If we are tired of a two party system, then we should stop voting like that. Whoever I mark the page with my vote - that's who I am voting for.

It's called Game theory. You have to play the choices presented to gain your most favorable outcome. Play strict preferences and you will always lose from the long term.

[Anomalocaris]

That does not have to be our reality and you are only reinforcing it.

It is our reality.

[Psykhronic]

And one of my choices is to vote third party. Doing it.

Chuck - and I want to CHANGE that. One person voting third party will not accomplish that, I am well aware.

[Minimalist]

That does not have to be our reality and you are only reinforcing it.

The only thing the republicans and democrats agree on is that there should only be two parties. They make the election laws and have done so to further that stance.

Dreaming is nice but reality frequently intrudes.

[Anomalocaris]

And one of my choices is to vote third party. Doing it.

Chuck - and I want to CHANGE that. One person voting third party will not accomplish that, I am well aware.

You need to measure the power of the tools at your disposal against consequences of successive republican electoral victories.

[Psykhronic]

That does not have to be our reality and you are only reinforcing it.

The only thing the republicans and democrats agree on is that there should only be two parties. They make the election laws and have done so to further that stance.

Dreaming is nice but reality frequently intrudes.

Yet, although they make it difficult, many of us still have the option of not voting for them.

[DeistPaladin]

Honestly, I see the argument from both sides.

On the one hand, the system is rigged against 3rd parties in our country. In fact, rigged so badly that traditionally voting 3rd party is a boon to the GOP. Examples in history include most notably Ronald Reagan, who benefited from the Anderson split and W Bush, who only got into office because of overreach by the Supreme Court and Nadar splitting the vote.

As an aside, I wasn't aware that the Supreme Court could intervene in a close presidential election, stop the process and appoint a president. I must have missed that part of our Constitution.

So yeah, I'm holding my nose and voting Democrat, just like I did in 2012 and 2010 and I encourage all progressives to do the same.

At the same time, nothing pisses me off more than some self-righteous Obama-bot who makes the rounds on liberal blogs to wag their fingers at us as a group, talk down to us like we're children and say "I hope you learned your lesson from 2010". Of uses that tiresome straw man argument that "you were just mad because you didn't get the pet unicorn he never promised you." Or who screams at me that I'm a "traitor" because I dared to say anything critical about Obama or the Wimpocrats. Uh uh. When you lose a battle, you blame the generals, not the troops.

It's a rock and a hard place for progressives and voting "lesser evil" is getting old. Worse still, the Democrats continue to move to the right chasing after that elusive "center", so much that we now get to chose between "wimpy-center-right" and "bat-shit-crazy-right".

I'm open to suggestions but the best I can think of is fighting this battle during the primaries.

[Psykhronic]

And one of my choices is to vote third party. Doing it.

Chuck - and I want to CHANGE that. One person voting third party will not accomplish that, I am well aware.

You need to measure the power of the tools at your disposal against consequences of successive republican electoral victories.

I guess I should point this out - I live in Massachusetts, a republican president will never win here. So in that regard, perhaps I am privileged since I do not have to worry about republican electoral victories in my state so much.

[Minimalist]

The only thing the republicans and democrats agree on is that there should only be two parties. They make the election laws and have done so to further that stance.

Dreaming is nice but reality frequently intrudes.

Yet, although they make it difficult, many of us still have the option of not voting for them.

That's what the republicans want. "Voter Suppression" is their only viable strategy for winning an election given the fact that they have nothing but a string of batshit crazy lunatics spreading their message of "everything to the rich and fuck the rest of you."

[Anomalocaris]

The only thing the republicans and democrats agree on is that there should only be two parties. They make the election laws and have done so to further that stance.

Dreaming is nice but reality frequently intrudes.

Yet, although they make it difficult, many of us still have the option of not voting for them.

You have the option to not vote for either. But the exercise of that option mathematically increases the chances of Republicans winning.

You can exercise the option you have. But you have no option to avoid the consequences of your exercise.