The Infamous Ink

It appears that tonight, finally, the Democratic primaries are going to end, with Hillary Clinton admitting that Obama has won enough delegates to secure the nomination, while stopping short of actually conceding the race, whatever in the blue hell that means.

Now that the race is over, alot of people (mainly Hillary supporters) are very, very PO’d.

They have every right to be. People were calling for their candidate to exit the race months ago, and the media has trashed Hillary at every turn. (She has certainly deserved some of it, but the extremes to which the MSM has gone to degrade her are absurd.) What the DNC chose to do with the delegates from Michigan was undemocratic, unfair, and unreasonable. While there may have been no clean way to sort that mess out, the fact is that now the Democratic Party has a huge problem on its hands. Hillary’s people are ready to jump ship and vote for Mccain.

Folks, I have supported Hillary’s right to stay in the race until the very end, I have tried to defend her from personal attacks, and I am one of the last people who would vote for Obama, but voting for John Mccain in November is not the answer.

The only way to solve this may be to force Barack Obama to take Hillary Clinton on his ticket for vice-president. That may go a long way to bringing back her supporters into the fold, but it shouldn’t be necessary.

I am not a supporter of party politics. But just because you’re completely, completely disappointed with the Democrats doesn’t mean that the grass is greener on the other side. In fact, that grass is brown, dried out, rather disgusting, and the country is tired of eating it.

If they don’t put Hillary in as VP, why don’t you come up with a better response than just voting for the other guy? If you’re a true Clinton supporter, there’s no way that you can believe John Mccain represents your interests more than Obama does.

Or, even better yet, vote Third party and teach BOTH the Dems and the Reps a lesson.

I read the New Yorker less frequently than I used to. I had to admit at a certain point that I didn’t understand half of what they write about, and their fiction section is as thrilling as moon pie on a paper plate. Occasionally they still write something that grabs my attention and today yielded this article on the so-called paradox of free trade:

http://www.newyorker.com/talk/financial/2008/05/26/080526ta_talk_surowiecki

The author plays into an age old fallacy of believing that political candidates (in this case, Clinton and Obama,) actually plan to follow through on the promises they make during the campaign. They compare the primary contest to a “who hates free trade more” competition and then chastise the Democratic candidates for not understanding the “paradox” that free trade represents.

That paradox: raising tarriffs on China to help middle Americans will eventually hurt middle and lower class Americans because it will effect their buying power. Buying power that is used to by cheap clothes and shoes made by Chinese children who earn less than a dollar an hour in a sweatshop.

The logic is the same that has brought us the (Still waiting for my) economic stimulus package. Ordinary Americans will quickly spend the money that is being sent to them, and thus will help the economy. If you read between the lines, the administration is saying that poor people are stupid and will give the money right back to us by purchasing useless shit.

I may benefit from cheap goods made in China. In fact, I’m wearing a pretty cheap button-up shirt right now that was made there. But you know what I would benefit from EVEN MORE? A real job that pays well, is protected from outsourcing, and has the backing of a union. Then maybe, just maybe, I could afford to stop buying cheap goods that don’t last very long, and enjoy the luxuries of travel and education like the wealthy.

The anusless masses who subscribe to the New Yorker and the National Review should be smart enough (because of all that expensive education) to understand that lower and middle class Americans wouldn’t make such supposedly stupid buying decisions if they could actually afford to make good ones.

Obama has played the populist card as well as anyone, while nobody (except the middle class people who refuse to vote for him) seems to notice that he thinks free trade is the greatest thing since the wheel. It says so on his website.

Meanwhile, nobody was more responsible for the unleashing of free trade than Bill Clinton. Is it not painfully obvious to anyone that the Democratic party doesn’t give a fourth of a flying fig about average Americans’ interests? (Which is still twice as much as Republicans)

Don’t buy the hype. The benefits of free trade for average Americans (and Chinese) are far outweighed by the costs.

I really would love to list a full 365 ways to bury your head in the sand, or up your ass, but I don’t have that much time. Instead, I will explore the 3 most common and politically infamous ways of ignoring reality or lacking any grasp on the way things work here in this country.

1. Be a conservative who supports the free market but wants a border fence. These two ideas are about as incompatible as it gets. Opening up the market means opening up borders to anyone who wants to participate in the global economy; and the global economy depends on the cheap labor that immigrants provide, especially here in the States. The same people who talk about big government interfering with hard-working Americans generally use the same tone of disdain when talking about Mexicans who come up here and take away (white) Americans’ jobs. I’m sorry folks, but you just can’t have it both ways. The free market ensures that labor costs and immigration policies will be linked.

Today thousands of immigrants and their families and friends are marching through Chicago and other cities, because they want to participate in this great American experiment of democratic voting and markets. Are you going to deny them that? Well, you can’t anyway. A border fence cannot stop the flow of immigrants into this country anymore than it can stop the thousands of tons of drugs that come across as well. You’re just going to have to accept the notion that you won’t be fulfilling your life-long dream of being a bus-boy. The Mexicans have just as much of a right to be here as the Jews, Asians, Irish, and Germans that came before them. They’re not going away. Just accept it.

2. Believe that the surge is really working. I myself have fallen into this fallacy. But a temporary decrease in spectacular attacks do not prove that the strategy can work. There is no way that the surge can work. And for the inevitable idiot claims that I am somehow disrespecting the troops by saying this, I have no reason to even answer you, but the fact is that the surge is yet another impossible burden that has been placed on our troops. The reason I was opposed to this war from the beginning is because I support the troops who fight it. End of story.

The reason that the surge cannot work is because, just like the entire Iraqi mission, it is a flawed idea to begin with. Democracy cannot be forced upon people with a gun anymore than political reconciliation can be achieved through massive troop buildups. The violence has lessened since the surge began, but that’s not the question here. Without a permanent, comprehensive solution that is worked out by the IRAQIS there will be no end to this war. To expect the American soldier to keep carrying that burden while the corrupt, inept, illegitimate Iraqi government works towards “peace” is the true meaning of not supporting the troops. And for those of you who claim that we just need to give them more time, let me remind you that 5 years ago today, our President stood on the deck of a naval vessel in front of a giant banner that read “Mission Accomplished.” Don’t believe it for a second; then or now.

3. Believing that Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, or John Mccain will truly change things. The very fact that these 3 candidates have come as far as they have proves that their interests lie with the wealthy elite, not with the average American. For all his talk of campaign finance reform, John Mccain has taken millions from PAC’s and corporations and hasn’t apologized for it. Barack Obama claims that he has stayed away from this dirty money but it’s only a twisting of terms; the truth is that he has taken far more money from corporate America than any other candidate. Hillary Clinton is about as entrenched in the Washington power structure as you can get, and all her talk about health care is hallow as hell; in 1994 she may have really meant it, but since she has taken millions of dollars from the insurance and pharmaceutical industries.

For hundreds of years people have been running on the platform of change and hope, and very very few of them have actually followed through. In order to affect any real change in America, we need to change the way campaigns are funded, and stop voting for a pack of bloated elephants and jackasses.

Howard Dean told The Financial Times in an article on Friday: “I think the race is going to come down to the perception in the last six or eight races of who the best opponent for McCain will be. I do not think in the long run it will come down to the popular vote or anything else.”

Come again? Say what? Huh? Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa? WT-Fucking F?

Be prepared, all ye who voted for Barack H. Obama. The “Democratic” Party is ready to ignore your choice for the nomination and effectively throw your votes out. It is irrelevant that I support Hillary Clinton over your guy; if at the end of the day he has more votes, that’s all that matters. We cannot overturn the popular vote. Period.

This is why I promised to never vote for a Democrat again after 2004. This party pretends to care about the majority opinion, that being the bedrock of Democracy, but it is a lie. They have (rightly so) claimed that the Republicans have shown disdain for the rule of law and the American people, while at the same time have indulged in the very same sins.

If the democratic nominee coming out of the Convention is NOT the candidate who won the popular vote, then I say we boycott the Democratic party forever. Yes, this will cede the White House to John Mccain in the fall and will mean at least 4 more years of disastrous, retarded policies, but a lesson must be sent to the powers that be. We are in charge. The American voter is supposed to run the show here, and we’re tired of being disrespected and disregarded at every turn. In 2000, the Supreme Court decided that democracy wasn’t all that important in deciding an election, and in 2008 the Democrats are following suit.

My most sincere hope, my single greatest political objective in my life is to see a day when Congress, the Supreme Court, and the White House do not have a single Republican or Democrat sitting in power.

After the Republicans win this round by default, I hope that the true conservatives in that party will see that their interests have been betrayed, and they return the favor.

America, it is time to stop supporting this failed system and stand up for third, fourth, and fifth parties.

Democrats against Democracy:

Recently Ralph Nader sent Hillary Clinton a letter:

Senator Clinton: Just read where Senator Patrick Leahy is calling on you to drop out of the Presidential race.Believe me.

I know something about this.

Here’s my advice:

Don’t listen to people when they tell you not to run anymore.

That’s just political bigotry.

Listen to your own inner citizen First Amendment voice.

This is America.

Just like every other citizen, you have a right to run.

Whenever you like.

For as long as you like.

It’s up to you, Hillary.

Just tell them –

It’s democracy.

Get used to it.

Yours truly,

Ralph Nader

This is why I would be happy to “throw away” my vote on this man in November. Ralph Nader is a man of principle, which is why he can’t stomach the two-party system.

This is why I would be happy to “throw away” my vote on this man in November. Ralph Nader is a man of principle, which is why he can’t stomach the two-party system.The mounting pressure on Hillary Clinton to withdraw is uncivil and undemocratic. Even though Ralph Nader is no fan of her, he backs her right to run because that’s what the law says. That’s what this country is all about. Everyone has the right to run for President, no matter how slim their chances. The shrieking liberal chorus calling for Clinton to drop out because it might hurt the Democrats’ chances in November is showing that they don’t care about democracy any more than the thugs who stole Florida eight years ago.

Let the votes be counted. ALL of them.

Is this Democracy?

The National Journal came out recently and declared that Barack Obama is the most liberal member of the Senate, according to a scientific nonpartisan formula that really isn’t as interesting as it sounds. Here is a breakdown of the issues that Hillary and Obama voted on:

http://nj.nationaljournal.com/voteratings/votes.htm

As you can see, their voting records are virtually identical. Barack chose not to vote on more occassions, presumably to avoid alienating swing voters. I have ranted on his not taking a stand on these issues before, so I won’t now. The real problem here is the problem of choice: that being there isn’t one. Democrats get to “pick” between a woman with experience and a black man with a silver tongue. These differences are skin or genital deep at best.

Should Barack Obama get the nomination, his cabinet is going to be chocked full of former Clinton aides; they represent the exact same “values” of the mainstream Democratic party. This means that once again progressives are left out in the cold with no candidate who actually has a chance of winning representing them. (Sorry, Ralph.)

The Journal can call Obama a liberal all they want, it doesn’t make it so. They are moderates, and by moderates I mean they aren’t going to really address the issues that matter to Americans. Bill Clinton opened up free trade and cut welfare: these Democrats are socially liberal and economically conservative, which is another way of saying that they have no values whatsoever. (See Obama’s disturbing vote on terminating fetuses that survive abortion.) (See Clinton’s attempts to get Michigan and Florida’s votes to count.)

My friends, we have been betrayed. Americans who really want change, who really believe in an ideology, be it progressive or conservative, have been betrayed by the parties. The Republicans have shamelessly supported their own who have been mired in gross sex or ethics scandals, but still claim to believe in family values. The Democrats have sold their revolution to the wealthy elite and abandoned those of us most in need.

The Republicans went big government and the Democrats have failed to stop the war.

My friends on both the right and the left, we have been hoodwinked, vamboozled, hornswaggled, and out right fucked in the ass by both the Elephants and the Donkeys. It’s time for a true revolution, where we stop voting for candidates because they’re electable or charismatic and start voting for candidates because they actually represent our values, no matter what they are.

Finally

Ralph Nader has decided to run:

Barack Obama

Dear Mr. Edwards,

I’m sorry to hear that you are dropping from the race today. You would’ve had my vote here in Illinois and hundreds of thousands of people’s around the country.

I’m not dissappointed or upset–although now that you and Mr. Kucinich are out we are forced to choose between nepotism and inexperience–but I am worried about our country.

Mr. Edwards, thank you. Thank you for campaigning for as long and as hard as you have about those issues that truly affect 310 million people’s live all without the Clinton name or Obama’s dirty money. Thank you John, thank you so much. Get some much deserved rest and see that your family is healthy; the country will need you again shortly to lead the Senate.

Well done and no hard feelings.

Peace and Progress,

The Infamous Ink