-- by Horatio Algeranon
For those
who think they have no choice
But voting
for the corporate voice,
From
Democrat or Republican lips
Primed by special interest tips;
Take note
that there are others running:
Whose
offerings are really stunning;
Who don't accept the corporate dollars
In which our corpo-duopoly wollars;
Who don't avoid the issue range
From poverty
to climate change;
Who know
that endless war abroad
Is really
nothing to applaud;
Who don't think drones are really keen
But know, in fact, they are obscene;
Who grasp
that President-ordered "hits"
Who see
“rendition” for what it is
“Outsourced
torture”, naught but this.
Who
understand "indefinite detentions"
Defy our
sacred court conventions;
Who grasp that whistle-blower jailing
Reflects a Presidential failing;
Who see that "warrantless domestic spying"
Is
un-American and law-defying;
Who understand that liberty
Should not be swapped for security;
Who know
police batons and mace
At peaceful
protests have no place;
Who wouldn’t
shred the Constitution
And grant
law-breaker absolution.
Who
understand "Too Big to Fail"
Is code-speak
for “Too Big to Jail”.
Who wouldn’t
dismiss the Wall Street fraud
With slap on
wrist -- and wink and nod;
Who understand that Steagall-Glass
Is not a "quaint writ" for the past.
Who wouldn’t hire
as advisers
The Robert
Rubin Economizers;
Who wouldn't
hand untold amount
To Wall
Street banks, with no account.
And no
restraints on banker pay
Which sees an increase every day,
While Main Street
workers in arrears
Lose their
homes and retirement years;
Who understand that job outsourcing
Is simply "Profit Law" enforcing;
Who see the
homeless on the streets
And not just
those in power seats;
Who
understand that spending cuts
In hardship
times are simply nuts.
Who question “What’s wrong with this picture?”
As poor get
poorer and rich get richer;
Who know that strength begins at home
And not with bombers, guns and drones;
Who see that trillions spent on war
Are weakening our very core;
Who note the
Brass get dollar bales
While
schools resort to bakery sales;
Who know
that teachers aren’t the foe
When
education doesn’t go.
Who know
that gnawing hunger pangs
Can block
the path to learning things;
Who
understand a high stakes test
Will not
produce the thinking best;
Who slam ballooning student debt:
"Indentured servants, you can bet";
Who see that
justice isn't blind --
For those
with money, it is kind,
For those
without, it’s simply cruel
The latter
play by different rule.
Who
comprehend the war on drugs
Has
benefited only thugs,
Unjustly
jailed a million souls
And helped
balloon the welfare rolls;
Who know Obama-Romney care
Can't hold a
flame to Single Payer;
Who understand that global warming.
As scientists warn, is quite alarming,
And will not wait for more "Commissions"
Before we really slash emissions;
Who wouldn’t allow the arctic drilling
With chance of catastrophic spilling;
Who’d leave the carbon in the ground
In coal and tar-sands where it’s found;
Who have a vision for our planet
That won't burn up or garbage-can it;
Who see we need a "Green New Deal"
To create jobs and turn the wheel;
Who understand our future days
Could bank upon the solar rays;
Who
comprehend that growth eternal
Is really
something quite infernal;
Who know that
future generations
Depend on
present conservation.
Who clearly
see there is a way
To save
tomorrow and live today.
Who
understand the choice is ours:
“Perennials”
or “funeral flowers”.
Although they have been excluded from the debates (Jill Stein and her running mate, Cheri Honkala were actually arrested and handcuffed to a chair for 8 hours during the second debate!), you can
listen to third party candidates on Democracy Now! (here, here, here and here) responding to the same questions asked of Obama and Romney and on RT here (Larry King moderated debate of 4 thrid party candidates)
This is about far more than simply "Who has a realistic chance of being elected?"
Through a secret "contract" between the two major parties and a private debate commission, the two major parties maintain a virtual stranglehold over the conversation: who can appear at the debates, what questions get asked of their candidates and
by whom.
Exclusion has a major influence on what gets discussed by the major party candidates (at the debates and on the campaign trail) and what is downplayed, marginalized or simply ignored altogether, which in turn has a profound influence on the national conversation and our very democracy.
Whether or not folks like Stein and Anderson have a "realistic chance" of being elected, they bring invaluable insights and voices to the conversation that otherwise go unheard, on issues of critical importance to the future of our country: poverty, joblessness, homelessness, climate change, drones, corporate welfare (bank bailouts and low interest loans from the Fed), too big to fail, civil rights, health care, education, student debt, home foreclosures, etc.
And one thing is certain: as long as third parties are excluded from the debates -- and people continue to vote for the "lesser of two weevils"... and we continue to allow corporations to pay for our elections -- third party candidates will continue to have no realistic chance (including Green Party candidates Stein and Honkala, who are actually on the ballot in 38 states representing 85% of the population -- with at least the potential to win an electoral majority, if they were not treated by the debate commission and the mainstream media as "persona non grata").
As Einstein said:
"Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results"
and
“We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them".
