My “Lesser Evil” problem

I have been following the 2016 Democratic Primary with much interest.  My inner rationalist thinks Clinton will win the nomination unless Bernie Sanders can amass a large delegate count heading into the convention.  The Super delegates are all prepared to throw the convention to Clinton.  But the convention is a long way off.

I have to decide how I will vote in November if Clinton is the nominee.  Here are my thoughts on the problem of voting for the “lesser evil”.

• Our election rules are terrible.  First past the post voting (plurality) and the Electoral College are institutions that only function to maintain the status quo. And that means the 1% and their corporations rule the world.  There are perfectly good solutions to these problems, but getting them enacted is a long shot.  Check out Approval Voting sometime and Proportional Representation systems. Also read about the National Popular Vote campaign.
• Campaign finance is an open sewer in the US.  Dark Money owns the Executive, Legislative and Judicial branches at the federal and state level now.  And they are starting to go after the local level too.
• Defensive Voting behavior has NOT improved my life.  Corporate Dems including Obama have sold out the working class and expanded our Military-Industrial-Prison Complex to new and obscene levels.
• One Vote to Rule Them All… one vote in a presidential election is not going to decide the contest.  That pesky little anachronism called the Electoral College is lurking out there to manufacture a faux majority on election night. If the election were indeed that close, what is stopping the SCOTUS from anointing a president again?   Also, the Constitution would throw the election into the House of Representatives.
• My Conscience tells me that I need to stop voting for Saddam Hussein because he is better than Stalin.  Albert Einstein tells me “Insanity: Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” My Philosophy of Life (a witches brew of Stoicism, Pre Christian Celtic beliefs, Buddhism, and mystical/transcendent messages attributed to Jesus all tell me its time to “grow the hell up Dave, face facts, be realistic…”
• So I will…I will vote for Jill Stein (Green Party) if Bernie does not get the nomination. You see Bernie is my “lesser evil”. And I cannot bear the thought of looking my children in the eye and proudly saying “I thought she would be better than the Rethuglican.”

Susan J. Demas: Establishment Republicans try to crush the Tea Party, but is it too late? | MLive.com

Susan J. Demas: Establishment Republicans try to crush the Tea Party, but is it too late? | MLive.com.

 

Republicans are doomed.  Demographics are against them, they can only steal and delay so long and then its over.  They unleashed the Tea Party to do their dirty work and now they can’t get the genie back in the bottle.  Unless the corporate special interests invest heavily in the primaries…they are done.

Won’t be another Republican president in my lifetime.

Former staffer: Michigan GOP ‘rigging the deck’ with fast-tracked bill to move suits against state | MLive.com

Former staffer: Michigan GOP ‘rigging the deck’ with fast-tracked bill to move suits against state | MLive.com.

 

F***ing Republicans are at it again…they are filth and the lowest form of bootlick whores!

‘Window of Opportunity’ to Curb Climate Change Quickly Closing: Report | Common Dreams

The likelihood of limiting the world\’s overall temperature to a 2 degree Celsius rise and avoiding the worst affects of climate change has become \”ever more elusive\” and will not be possible without immediate and drastic measures on a global scale, a new report by the United Nations Environmental Program warned Tuesday.

via ‘Window of Opportunity’ to Curb Climate Change Quickly Closing: Report | Common Dreams.

 

We need to get off fossil fuels NOW!

• All electrical power should be generated by wind, solar, geothermal, and hyropower.  Unfortunately, we will have to use nuclear to provide base load electricity until we can become more efficient.  There are many safer designs out there than current (that means 30-40 yr old) plants
• We need to stop overproducing read meat.  Cattle cause more GH gas than the transportation industry
• We need robust mass public transit and more telecommuting.

You Will Be Shocked at How Ignorant Americans Really Are | Alternet

What’s astonishing about this is how wrong Americans are about reality.  In fact, the bottom 80 percent owns only 7 percent of the nation’s wealth, and the top 1 percent hold more of the country’s wealth –  40 percent – than 9 out of 10 people think the top 20 percent should have.

via You Will Be Shocked at How Ignorant Americans Really Are | Alternet.

 

Let me see…

total corporate domination of all media outlets (check).

SCOTUS rules that $$ = speech (check)

Public education is gutted by for-profit corporations (check)

Common Core guarantees mass ignorance and submission to the corporate slave masters…check…and mate…we are fucked

Is There a Revolution Coming? Americans Finally Realize Global Capitalism Is a Murderous Sham | Alternet

Is There a Revolution Coming? Americans Finally Realize Global Capitalism Is a Murderous Sham | Alternet.

Bread and Circus.  If America continues to be ruled by the wealthy, this will not even be covered in the MSM.  Until global climate collapse and then they will blame the unions….

Eclectablog: Half of MI African American No Longer Have Democracy

Eclectablog.

 

“As I have already detailed in a post that has been cited byMSNBC and Huffington Post among others, this will result in 49% of the African Americans in Michigan being without a democratically-elected government.”

Truthout | Fearless, Independent News and Opinion

Narcissism and unchecked greed have morphed into more than a psychological category that points to a character flaw among a marginal few. Such registers are now symptomatic of a market-driven society in which extremes of violence, militarization, cruelty and inequality are hardly noticed and have become normalized. Avarice and narcissism are not new. What is new is the unprecedented social sanction of the ethos of greed that has emerged since the 1980s. What is also new is that military force and values have become a source of pride rather than alarm in American society.

via Truthout | Fearless, Independent News and Opinion.

Working without a Contract: A Strategy Whose Time Has Come? | Labor Notes

Working without a Contract: A Strategy Whose Time Has Come? | Labor Notes.

 

If you are a union member, READ THIS.  If you are MEA or AFT in MI, realize that the state legislature has been fucking us hard for years!  We still get most of the rights in this article, but check with ALEC, I mean the MI Legislature to be sure…READ IT DAMMIT ALL!!!!!!

UPDATE: Chrysler Warren Stamping Workers Still Fighting Alternative Work Schedules | Labor Notes

New work schedules have just been posted at Chrysler’s stamping plant in Warren, Michigan, to take effect March 11. People are upset and angry. Since United Auto Workers Local 869 leaders announced management’s intent to start the “Alternative Work Schedule,” the firestorm of protest has raged.

via UPDATE: Chrysler Warren Stamping Workers Still Fighting Alternative Work Schedules | Labor Notes.

 

Ahhh…I can smell the stench from here.  High ranking UAW officials are allowing the stamping plant workers to get fucked by management.  Even the UAW isn’t acting like a union anymore.  PS: this is the same plant that has already had one “wildcat” work stoppage over this shit.