Statecraft Informer

INSIDE MY HEAD, USA, Money talks. True that. Money talks, bullshit walks. Except in politics when the two are usually indistinguishable. Money talks, suckers walk. Wrong. In politics, money talks, and suckers run… for office.

That is, and always has been, the trouble with politics. But c’mon, people, this is freaking ridiculous. Campaign finance reform has failed once again. There doesn’t seem to be any way to shake the system free of shakedowns. Everybody’s beholding to somebody, and hardly anybody seems to care enough to do anything about it.

Since politics is so revolting, it’s time for citizens to do a little revolting of their own. This fall, when you’re behind that curtain, or inside that cardboard box, or however they keep your vote secret, don’t vote the party line. No one will know until it’s too late. Don’t complete that Democratic arrow. Don’t pull that Republican lever. And for God’s sake, don’t hang a D or R chad. That’s all the big news these days…Ooo, looks like the Democrats are making a comeback. The Republican tide has turned. So what? It’s their shell game either way, and you’ll never find a genuinely unfettered “P�? for politician under either of those two shells.

I’ve tried to find out – accurately, honestly and completely - which “Big 2�? party candidates are getting what money from whom, but it really isn’t easy. At least not until after the damage is done. You know, after the votes have been cast by the forty-six percent who bothered to show up, out of the fifty-one percent of the eligible who bothered to register in the first place. So what’s a conscientious voter to do who really wants to send a message to elected officials – yes, even their own local, district or statewide politicians - that they’re mad as hell and aren’t going to take this anymore?

Do Not Vote Republican. Do Not Vote Democrat.

Don’t worry that you’re vote will be wasted by voting for a “minor party�? or unaffiliated candidate. Your vote is only wasted when you choose the status quo… again. Neither elephants nor donkeys will ever effectively regulate, or reform if you prefer, themselves. Won’t happen. Not natural. Reform has got to come from the ground up, so if you’re tired of getting ground up, do something different this time around.

I’m not advocating, “Throw the bums out.�? That won’t help; not if you’re replacing one “major�? party rep with another. You’ve got to scare the bejeebers out of both Republicans and Democrats. You’ve got to elect as many “other�? party and “no�? party candidates as possible. The only way to make that happen is to vote for any person you like, as long as they’re not Republicans or Democrats. Oh, and watch out for some of those so-called capital “I�? independents, too. They’re usually just Ds or Rs without the party lapel pins.

So if you are one of the valiant eligible Americans who can vote next month, please, please, please, go to the polls.

And if you’re one of the growing number of Americans who have simply had it up to here with all the Democratic and Republican talking heads of state out there, don’t you stay home, go to the polls - and send them home.

There are plenty of good, decent, citizens on most every ballot for almost every office, who are not in anyone’s pocket because no one thinks they’ve got a shot. Prove the political puppeteers wrong. Elect those people. Whoever they are. Wherever they are.
By the time the powers-that-be figure out they’ve become the powers-that-were, you will have the satisfaction of knowing that for once in a long time, or perhaps in your lifetime, your vote really counted this time.

It’s going to take courage… courage, and faith in your fellow citizens. Most people who run for office outside the “political mainstream,’ are good-minded, talented, thoughtful individuals. A lot of them are local “movers and shakers�? who’ve earned your respect. Best of all, the vast majority of them haven’t already mortgaged their independence in order to get elected. One or two of them don’t stand a chance against the enormously powerful, money-manipulating machinery of modern American politics, but a landslide – no, a tidal wave - can bring a sea change to government as we know it.

So what do you say? No Democrats. No Republicans. Don’t be a party pooper. Make your vote count. Let’s make 2006 the year of the U.S. electoral tsunami. Let’s take money out of politics this year, and every year, until those we put into office finally understand once and for all who elected them… We the People.