Let the Democrats have their outburst

Rep. Alan Grayson of Florida has stirred up a shit storm recently by claiming the Republicans' health care plan is for people to "die quickly." I thought it was hilarious, because it's not a common thing for a Democrat to spout off crazy shit like that. Cynthia McKinney stopped being the "clown halftime show" of the Democratic Party a long time ago, and frankly, I miss it a little bit. It's nice to see a Democrat show some balls for once.

The Republicans are understandably upset about the whole thing, because they still believed that their plans were a total secret outside of their secret lair built into a mountain covered in lightning and darkness.

I'm not justifying what he said, though. I mean, filling the airwaves with blatant misinformation is what got us where we are right now. There are clear divisions between Americans, both racially and politically. We don't talk to each other; we talk AT each other. We're not working together for the betterment of our country and all that shit, because we're too busy trying to demonize folks and bring them down just to score "political points," like it's a video game. "If I can get that guy's poll numbers down 10 more points, I'll get two more votes on my crime bill and be able to put my initials in the machine."

Our political discourse is all fucked up because it's actually just a bunch of kids screaming at each other. Kids who are well-paid by lobbyists.

But can the Republicans get too mad at this? Shouldn't they be proud? After all, Alan Grayson (of the Flying Graysons) only stole a page from the Republicans' playbook. The one that says, "Pander to the lunatics."

It's exactly like how, from 2002 to 2007, dissent against the Bush Administration was akin to heresy in America. Anyone who tried to bring logic or clear thought to the conversation was branded as "unpatriotic," because everyone knew that Bush didn't read and people who did were clearly trying to show him up.

It's exactly like how, in the 2004 election, Dick Cheney, Karl Rove, and all of Bush's supporters claimed that electing a Democrat as President would cause us to be hit by terrorists again. Or how, in 2008, they did the exact same thing to get John McCain elected.

Or it's like the Birther movement. Or the Teabaggers. The Texas secessionist movement. Anytime Michele Bachmann speaks aloud. People claiming that President Obama wants the country to fail. "You lie." The victimization of Christianity in America. Or how just two days ago, Republican Rep. Trent Franks of Arizona painted the President as an "enemy of humanity," because of his views on abortion. What the hell is that about? Real "enemies of humanity" come from Europe, and everyone knows that Obama's from Kenya.

So, do the Republicans really have any room to talk about anyone? Not only did the write the book on outrageous statements from their elected officials, but they hit people with the book every chance they get. Mostly because they know that it's what their political base WANTS to hear. Doesn't matter if it's true, realistic, or even physically possible. The base runs with it, because now they have reason not to like the guy that they already didn't like to begin with. Two days later, Sean Hannity is editing video that makes them racist Satanists and Glenn Beck is an emotional wreck about "losing his country."

So let's not get too up in arms about Alan Grayson, Red Staters. It's one tiny shot that will be forgotten in a week, because this is so out of character for Democrats. It's not like this "balls out, having backbone" phase will last.

Let them have this one, Republicans. Really, until you get your own house in order, it's not like you have any room to talk.

Who Are You Voting For?

No, I'm not voting for Barack Obama.

No, I'm not voting for Rudolph Giuliani.

And I wouldn't vote for Hilary Clinton, even if you told me that Bill could legally be her running mate and showed me a way to off Hilary at the inauguration and get away without a trace. I might miss my shot and we'd be stuck with her as President.

I'm not voting for any of those guys who've already declared on the Democrat or Republican sides. This isn't a sudden decision. I've thought on this since before the 2004 election. I had intended to do it then, but I had a moment of weakness leading up to Election Day, where I bought into the partisan hackery that calls itself "The Mainstream Media." Next thing I knew, I was pressing the Kerry button over at the DMV on Memorial Drive.

And a wasted vote was cast. I won't be doing that again this time.

It's got nothing to do with politics. Well, not the politics of the individual candidates. I mean, when John McCain isn't saying something stupid, I like the guy. I don't hate Giuliani nearly as much as I thought I did. In fact, in another time, outside of New York, I might have voted for him. And as far as Barack Obama goes, I've got an unnatural man-crush on him. I haven't felt this way since The Rock delivered his first "roody poo candy ass."

But I can't vote for them because they're Democrats and Republicans. I don't roll like that no more. I'm tired of the two-party system and I can no longer support it anymore. It's time to open up the field and actually have a real presidential race, where the views of the actual average American can be represented. Because regardless of what Fox News might tell you, there are more sides to America than the Liberal Left and the Conservative Right.

Most Americans are actually somewhere in the middle, but because most of us have...I don't know...things to do, the only ones who have time to scream from their soapbox are extremists and rich people. I would say bloggers, but for the most part, no one is listening to bloggers.

So when it comes to extremists, they have sided with the Democrats on the left and Republicans on the right. Now, I know most of us aren't extremists and almost none of us are rich. But the power lies with those two parties. Well, where is a logical-thinking person supposed to turn when it comes to politics?

The only choices are, keep laying our hopes and suggestions at the feet of Big Politics, or start supporting someone else. And that's what I'm doing. In the last round of elections, I voted for everyone who didn't have a "D" or an "R" next to their name. Did I know these guys? Not all of them, but who really knows everyone running at the local level? I was following the Libertarians who were running for a few of the higher offices, but outside of that, I was just pressing buttons.

Someone might have some bad things to say about that, but in previous years, I did the same thing, just for Democrats or people who hadn't publicly embarrassed themselves. Speaking of Democrats, they wound up taking back the majority in Congress. Good job for them. We all know that they didn't so much win the Congressional elections as they did have the foresight to not call themselves "Republicans."

Going back to the Libertarians, I had done a little reading on them and from what I can tell, these are the people we should be supporting. These are the people who aren't on the fringes of the left (PETA, The City of San Francisco) or the right (Halliburton, Corporate America, The Dark Lord Satan). These are the people that represent the views of the average American. There is no party line. They seem to be a variety of people with a variety of views. Just like all of us. I don't think there is any one politician who embodies all of the views of any one person.

Except maybe Jesse Ventura, but he's not running.

But why don't we hear much from these people? Well, there's the problem. They don't have the money. They can't afford to throw their opponents under the bus in their ads. They have to spend the money they do have on things like getting their political message out there. And as we all know, that's no way to win an election.

Well, how do they get more money? I'm glad I asked. If a third party gets 5% of the Presidential vote, they get electoral funding for the next election. That's it. So because I'm so tired of voting for the flip side of the same coin, I'm gonna vote Libertarian instead. While I know that a Libertarian candidate has slightly less of a chance to win the election than Adam "Pacman" Jones has to stay out of handcuffs for the next calendar year, my one vote gets them just a little bit closer to that magical 5%. Let's face it, my vote doesn't affect the electoral votes at all in Georgia and unless the next President has a brilliant idea to completely crash the stock market and start a war with the rest of the Middle East, my quality of life isn't going to change that much, regardless of who gets elected. I might as well vote in a way that I truly believe my vote will matter.

Vote Third-Party. Maybe Libertarian, maybe Green. Maybe Constitutional. Just not Democrat and not Republican.

TM