Ballots or Bullets?

Michael Hampton just asked a very important question:

How much does it cost to rig elections so that the candidates don’t have to? How much does it cost to permanently lock third parties out of the political process? How much does it cost to ensure that only the truly corrupt get into public office? How much does it cost to lose what little remains of your freedom?

Just six dollars.

Essentially, he’s describing a federal plan to take six dollars from you in taxes in order to ensure that you have less of a choice on Election Day. He’s describing a plan which will effectively eliminate all third-party and independent campaigns. He quoted me in his final assessment of the situation. To be quite clear, I still stand strongly by that quote:

When it becomes technically illegal for oppositional political parties to run candidates for Congress, there can no longer be any claim of legitimate representation. When sizeable groups of people are no longer allowed to be represented on ballots, they will begin to represent themselves with bullets.

posted May 24th, 2006 by Stephen Gordon
  • Devious David

    The Libertarian Party, Green Party and various other smaller parties are already more or less, in a state of defacto illegality. Combine that with various forms of voter fraud and irregularities, both deliberate and accidental and you should be proud to live in the land of the free.

    The sad thing is, people beleive we live in a democracy, which isn’t what it is supposed to be… but it doesn’t even qualify as a democracy. How can there be democracy when there is no choice? You can have your Ford in any color as long as it is black.

    Part of me hopes that this passes because then it would seal the deal. I am tired of people having excuses that there is actually, technically, in THEORY (but certainly not practice), room for other opinions. I am tired of watching people point to the Constitution on the wall, telling me how free I am. Let’s just get it over with and make it indisputable. However, I know that Americans have an unlimited tolerance for their government.

  • Devious David

    We are not a free people. We are chattel of The State.

  • rickrajter

    Agreed,

    It’s the 4 boxes

    soap box
    ballot box
    jury box
    cartridge box

    (use in that order)

  • rickrajter

    btw,

    Clint Curtis has already testified before congress than he was payed by republican officials in florida to create a software program (probably took him 20 minutes) which would always fix the vote 51/49.

    http://www.bradblog.com/ClintCurtis.htm

    So yeah. Not only can it happen, but the software is trivial and I’m sure it already has happened. I mean, this administration hasn’t lied yet (HAHAHA) but I bet the temptation to not cheat is about as easy as the tempation not to use steriods in professional sports.

  • Paul Pace

    Maybe there should be a law that the source code for voting machines must be posted and fully readable by the public? You can eliminat the worry about hacking in this case by simply not having any voting machines hooked up to a network.

  • http://www.lputah.org Rob Latham

    The winner-take-all system (as opposed to a multi-party, proportional representation system) currently in use across most of the United States also gives the two incumbent parties an enormous electoral advantage.

    See http://www.reference.com/browse/wiki/Duverger%27s_law

    http://www.fairvote.org/

    and, of course

    http://www.lp.org/issues/platform_all.shtml#eleclaws

  • Devious David

    Revealing source code won’t do anything. Just reveal different source code! They reveal different voting totals, why wouldn’t they hold up different source code? Lack of network access won’t eliminate hacking. Hack the central machines. Hack the machines before or after the polls close individually. Etc etc. Electronic voting needs to be eliminated.

    The ENTIRE electoral/political system is designed to maintain the “two” incumbent party(s). There is no panacea. We are in “Attention Deficit Democracy”. Changing peoples minds, not tilting at windmills is the only consistent cure.

  • http://articulatecampaigns.com Allen Hacker

    Yes. It’s a perfect quote.

    As Whitley Streiber says in Communion, “You people are in for one hell of a surprise!”

    -0-

  • Ryan

    The sad thing is a lot of people I talk to seem to believe that is going to be the only way things change. I am an optomist though I hope enough of of us decide to stand up before it goes that far

  • Julian

    Many voters are fed up with both dominant parties. The strongest talk radio voices have turned on the Republicans which include Limbaugh, Hannity, Reagan and Savage just to name a few. If you have doubts, listen to their broadcasts.

    It seems to me that both parties are one in the same. Our government is rampant with abuse, wild spending, vote buying (legal and illegal) and corruption at all levels. It is just more evident at the national level. One cannot go to any news in any part of the country without reading about some politician being investigated, taking bribes or whatever. This is true for the beauracrats working in government.

    We very well may be heading for a revolution. I believe most citizens, regardless of their political inclinations, are disgusted by this trend. It will surely be the undoing of this once great nation unless a third party palatable to the voters is successful. Right now, the LP is embroiled in its own internal controversies which is a waste.

  • Devious David

    Just wait until November, Julian. Those talkers will back the Republicans and demand that their listeners get run over by a bus on the way to the polls. Besides the reason they are mad is that we aren’t at war with Iran yet.

    Americans have a unlimited ignorance and laziness to tolerate whatever is giving to them. They are totally risk averse and won’t ever do the right thing, regardless of how little effort it requires them to do unless everybody else is doing it. Which is the paradox. Besides, Americans have no incentive for what we offer… they would have to give up their favorite largesse or self righteous social engineering and do-goodism. Furthermore too many of them are wards of The State or complicit employees.

    Most people would NEVER EVER revolt. The previous American revolution was done entirely by a committed minority. That minority would now be dwarfed by the police and military who are automotons.

  • Devious David

    The only political parties palatable by Americans is the one we have now – the one in power. Americans are professional complainers. You hear the saying “talk is cheap”? They LIKE what they have, they just like to complain so they can foist their own laziness, ignorance, selfishness, obesity and every other fault of theirs off on someone else. That’s what makes it palatable to them – they don’t have to examine themselves or accept any responsibility when they make the “choice”. They can also feel better that they “did their part” by making a choice that doesn’t even exist. Americans will all burn in hell before anything happens, and that is that.