Mandatory Voting? We Already Have It.
So the man that spearheaded and championed the biggest capitalist
enslavement since the Emancipation Proclamation under the guise of “reforming
healthcare and making it affordable for all” now wants to solve the endless problem
of voter apathy in America.
Yes, President Barack Obama wants all of us to fulfill our civil responsibility
as Americans and vote in all future elections.
Apparently he’s been so moved by the turnout in the recent elections in
Israel – in which the so-called “experts” got wrong – and equally disappointed
by the turnout in America’s own mid-term elections – which, again, the
so-called “experts” got wrong – that he thinks we should be a little more politically
involved. We are, after all, the United
States of America. We’re supposed to set
the example when it comes to “democracy” and the “will of the people”.
And I have to agree that it is embarrassing and insulting to know that
at any given time we cannot count on three-fourths of the American people to
actually show up at the polls. That
every effort made to register people to vote is ultimately betrayed and slapped
in the face when all of those newly-registered people don’t even bother to look
at a ballot, much less make a choice.
So what is Mister Obama’s solution to getting us all to vote?
No, I’m not kidding. President
Obama thinks we should all be forced – by law – to vote in every election.
It’s not a new idea. Eleven
countries around the world do this.
Australians, for instance, can be fined or even jailed if they refuse to
vote in elections. Never mind the shrimp;
your butt would be on the “barbie” if you don’t vote over there.
“If everybody voted,” Obama told people in Cleveland, “then it would
completely change the political map in this country.” He even speculated that it would counteract
the obscene flood of campaign money that has been buying and paying for politicians
like they were Amsterdam prostitutes.
Well I don’t disagree with the statement. If everyone voted in the last election, you
probably wouldn’t have seen the GOP taking over Congress.
But to force all registered voters to vote? To force them with fear of fines and/or jail
time to cast a ballot?
No. Absolutely not.
In fact, to force Americans to vote is pretty much about as
anti-American as you can get. And, no, I’m
not exaggerating when I say that. I consider
that to be as much of an abomination as the ongoing efforts of a certain
political faction to suppress the vote of those that would not vote for them.
Besides, there are two huge reasons why Obama’s hair-brained idea to
force all Americans to vote is an inherently bad idea.
First of all, we have a political system that has been carefully and meticulously
designed to drive voters away. And this
is not by accident either. This is
intentional.
Between gerrymandering of districts into art deco projects, the
loosening of campaign rules so big money can buy politicians like Amsterdam
prostitutes, the scheduling of primary elections, and the deliberate
manipulation of who can appear on the ballots much less in the debates, the
Democrats and the GOP have systematically perverted the political system into a
de facto plutocracy. Their party bosses
determine who is “allowed” to run for office, and they manipulate the ballot qualifications
so that any kind of challenge faces a herculean uphill battle. Special interest control the debates, and
they spend obscene amounts of money on political propaganda, thanks in no small
part to our court system.
Campaigns are nasty and dirty, and they continue to get nastier and
dirtier, because they are meant to drive voters away! It’s a game of attrition, not attraction. The incumbents already have all of the support
they “need”, so all they have to do is make sure nobody else votes and they are
assured a re-election victory.
And the masses have already been thoroughly conditioned to believe that
no matter what the career politician says or does, no matter how outrageous or
offensive, there is supposedly some false equivalent somewhere on the other
side of the ballot to validate it. Drunk
driving? Child molestation? Sex slaves?
Murder? “They all do it,” is the damnably
scripted response, as if saying it negates the offense.
All of this is designed to drive the voters away from voting, President
Obama. If you want people to show back
up at the polls, this is what you need to address first.
And I really don’t think you want to do that, sir. Because to do so means you have to take on
not just the GOP and their party bosses, but also every single Democrat in the House
and Senate and your own party bosses. It
means you have to wage war against your lobbyist friends in K-Street and
C-Street that have gotten fat and rich and powerful off the system as it is
today. You may not have to worry about
running for office ever again, but Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid and Elizabeth
Warren do. And I really don’t see you changing
the status quo if it means risking your own political party’s survival.
The other reason why the idea of “mandatory voting” is a failure... is
because we already have it.
Let’s get brutally honest here... every single eligible voter already
votes in one way or another! If they don’t
vote, then they automatically default to the ones that do. It’s a passive vote of surrender to the
inevitable outcome.
This is precisely the kind of vote that your friends in Washington have
carefully crafted and coveted, President Obama.
Electing to not vote, to not take an active part in the process, to not
choose between the lousy choices presented to them, because it gives your friends
in Washington that much more power. It
gives power to all of those “consultants” and “advisors” and so-called “experts”
that get fat and rich being able to orchestrate the outcome of the elections.
The same people, sir, that got you elected and re-elected.
If you want more people to show up at the polls, then you have to give
them a reason to take part instead of surrendering by default. It is not enough to get them to
register. Registration is not the same
as actual participation. They have to
feel something personal at stake for them to take part.
For all that we condemn the GOP’s extremist factions for doing, they still
manage to get the bible-thumpers and the gun nuts and the senile seniors to the
ballot box, because they give those groups something to vote for. The old people will show up if they feel
their Social Security money is threatened.
The thumpers will show up if they feel a moderate could get elected. The gun nuts will show up if they hear
someone threatening to take their guns away.
The so-called “tea party” voters will show up in droves if some new tax
program was at stake.
I’ve seen it happen on the local level.
Give them an issue to vote for or against that they feel strongly about and
they will be there.
They know how to play the game, Mister Obama. The real challenge is making it work for more
than just the special interest groups.
You want us to vote? Then give
us a real reason to, and not just because you “said so” or threaten us with the
government’s ever-present gun.
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