Making The Right Choice In 2012

Mere words can not convey the feelings of disgust I feel as I contemplate the 2012 election, which mercifully will end tomorrow (we hope). In keeping with my policy of not telling people what to do on this blog, I will tell you why I am not going to vote tomorrow. I'll play it fairly straight today. Well, I'll try. Here we go—

1.  I already voted. Me and millions of others cast a vote for Barack Obama four years ago. That was my vote. What good did it do? Very, very, very little. I wanted the Hope and the Change and I got neither.

2.  Even if Obama wins, he will not have the mandate he had four years ago, when the Democrats controlled both the Congress and the White House. It is very unlikely that Democrats will control the House of Representatives after tomorrow, so bitter, dysfunctional, corrupt, blow-your-brains-out political partisanship will begin anew starting Wednesday if Obama wins, which I think is likely. If Romney wins, Republicans probably won't control the Senate, or so it seems. So it's the same shit either way, isn't it? And nobody knows what Romney would do in any case. He sold his soul to the Devil when he was 3 years old. Maybe he's planning a leveraged buyout of Satan's Dominions.

3.  When Obama and the Democrats did have the mandate four years ago, they hastened the nation toward bankruptcy by expanding the Medicare system while excluding a single-payer option. They passed a completely ineffectual financial "reform" bill (Dodd-Frank) which restored exactly none of the safeguards that Roosevelt and the New Dealers put into place in the 1930s to rein in the Big Money Boys. The other thing the Democrats did in 2009/10 was to pass a bullshit 787 billion dollar stimulus program which, if you believe in such things, simply increased the public debt without creating any lasting or fundamental change in the structurally flawed American economy, which still sucks today and will suck tomorrow too. (The story goes that Obama's economic advisers did not understand how deeply fucked up the economy was—and still is.) Obama now takes credit he does not deserve for creating millions of new jobs since the bottom in Q1 2009. He doesn't tell you that Census data shows that median income in American households declined by about 4% in both 2010 and 2011. And finally, our civil liberties are now more at risk under Obama than they ever were under W, although Bush did get the ball rolling by inaugurating a phony war on an abstract noun (Terrorism).

4.  The reason the economy is going to suck forever is that this country's people, ordinary citizens like you and me, have been sold down the river for 30 years now by wealthy corporate elites, especially Financial Tycoons, but also non-financial interests, with the connivance of a corrupt Congress. Obama ably continued the tradition of selling us down the river, for example in mortgage write-down programs which were advertised as providing help for underwater homeowners but were actually designed to protect the banks holding the mortgages. Matt Stoller has argued that income and wealth inequality has actually gotten worse under Obama than it did under W, and it's hard to argue with him. It looks that way to me too.

I could go on and on, but why bother? I've already told you what I think on this blog over the last 34 months. This country is way past saving. We don't live in a democracy, which has become more obvious this year than ever before. Legislators start raising money from the elites who bribe them fund their elections the day after the last election ends. The corruption is built right into the political system. The political system is absolutely incapable of reforming itself. Powerful special interests always get what they want, unless their needs are in conflict with those of other powerful special interests. That's the only time you see the Spirit of Bipartisanship. Consensus is possible, for everyone agrees then that all special interests must be taken care of.

In short, nobody represents you. You are fucked today, and after tomorrow, you will be fucked on Wednesday. My advice is: get used to taking it up the ass, because that's all your ever going to get from here on out. That's what George Carlin told you too.

This election is the biggest non-event in human history. As the Empire declines, it becomes necessary to cover up that sad fact with more and more Smoke & Mirrors. The worse things get, the more bullshit must be piled on to obscure the Awful Truth.

So I'm not going to vote tomorrow. In fact, I will take pride in my non-participation. Maybe we should print up some t-shirts. On the front, it will say—

Don't blame me! I didn't vote!

Here's George. The Classic.

 

Comments

[Tom Durkins]

While I can understand all of the reasons that you site for not voting, isn't there some validity in voting for the candidate most likely to slow the rate of decline? Just seems like for the average citizen voting for Obama vs Romney is in one's best interest. Ultimately it will all end the same way, but in the meantime why not keep yourself afloat as long as possible?

~Whipping Boy

[Oliver]

A seriously lucid summation Dave. In the sea of media befuddlement and ennui, your words are like a laser powered spotlight right between the eyes.

I'll have one of dem shirts when they're ready. On the back, consider printing a homage to George Carlin - a greasy hotdog entering a chocolate donut. :-)

[Dave Cohen]

@Whipping Boy

I would buy your argument, if I thought that Obama could "slow the rate of decline" as you put it. In fact, an earnest young man gave me that very argument when he rang my doorbell last weekend.

But as I said in this post, corrupt, dysfunctional political paralysis will begin anew the day after this election ends. And the decline in income for working Americans has continued unabated under Obama, whose policies also served to protect big financial interests. I don't call that slowing the rate of decline. That is the decline.

If Obama wins, it will be as if the election had never occurred. That's one reason I called it as the biggest non-event in human history.

However, I do concede that Obama will try to do more to maintain the "safety net" for the 46 million people in this country who can not afford to buy food. God only knows what will happen to these poor souls if the Republicans control both the White House and the Congress. But that outcome is not likely to occur.

Jesus wept.

best,

-- Dave

[Gail]

My father, who desperately wants to think the country and the environment are salvageable, was horrified when I said I wasn't planning to vote, because I don't want to participate in a sham democracy and a corrupt system that is truly FUBAR.

But after Jill Stein got arrested for the second time I decided to cast a vote for her, just out of respect for a fellow inmate.

But don't tell my dad.

[Pescau]

Surely it's too late now to convince anyone, but the main problem I see with the conclusion drawn in the post (not voting) is that it's phenotypically indistinguishable from people not giving a damn. Whereas voting for a third party, even with the certainty of not having a chance, sends a signal, mainly to other disaffected people. And that could really make a difference.

I would be with Gail on this one.

Cheers.
P.

[Compound F]

Dave, I could possibly vote for the candidate who could explain the E7#9 of which donald fagen is so fond, because that way I wouldn't need a job in order to hire a musician to answer that question. Of course, had I further questions, I'd need that job all over again for the be bop turn-around in Peg.

Let's face it: the big questions (e.g., limits to growth) are more or less answered. I need a few littler answers on our way out.

[John D]

Have to say I voted for Jill Stein. Felt the urge to go vote due to my hatred for my Congressman. Not the purest of motives, but once there figured I'd cast a 3rd party protest vote.