Third Party Folly

It seems that a lot of Americans – dissatisfied with the candidates of the two main political parties – are talking about voting for a Third Party this year as a protest.  But is that the best thing?

Before anyone starts yelling, I personally want a strong Third Party in this country.  Hell, I want strong Fourth, Fifth, even Sixth Parties.  But notice I used the word “strong.” One Third Party a lot of people are talking about these days is the Green Party.  According to their Wikipedia page, there are “over 100” Green Party members holding elective office from serving on school boards to being mayors.  Members have even been in state legislatures, although there apparently are none right now.

Not to diminish the importance of school boards and mayors, but would you be comfortable with your mayor becoming President?  We have this fantasy that anyone can become President, but really it takes a very special person to be able to put up with the rigors of being President.  You know how they’ll show photos of Presidents during their first year and their last year and it looks like they’ve aged thirty? 

What does that have to do with Third Parties?  If by some chance a Third Party person won the Presidency, who would work with them in DC?  Remember, Obama won two elections, but that didn’t mean the Republicans would work with him.  It’s possible that some Third Party momentum would bring in a few representatives or maybe a senator if they’re really lucky, but that’s hardly a governing block. 

It seems that a lot of the drive for a Third Party victory is less about that Third Party being a better choice and more as a way to blow up the current system in the hopes we could rebuild it better.  You know, kind of like what Bush did to Iraq.  Because that worked so well.

Again, I support a strong Third Party, but to me it seems that Third Parties that run candidates for President are doing it just for the show, to get in the news because there isn’t any other way for a candidate to connect to millions of people across the country in some sort of social network.  My advice for people wanting a strong Third Party is to forget about the Presidency until you’ve won some big elections.  I’m not talking about school boards or mayors, more governors or senators.  Do the hard work of connecting to the people and showing that you have better solutions than Schmuck A or Schmuck B.  Become an actually Third Party before going for the Presidential Gold. 

And to people protesting by voting for a Third Party, is that really the best way to fix the System, or are you just saying, “It’s the best I can do,” while flipping off the System with one hand while jerking off with the other?

Short story - “Walls”

I am in the process of going through all of my published stories making a list of when and where they were published as well as a brief description of the story.  I came across this story I first wrote almost ten years ago, and given this election season, it’s still relevant. 

“Walls”

“It was announced today – from the United Nations’ new home of Paris – that a twenty meter tall wall will be constructed around the United States of America to protect the rest of the world from the threat of Americanism. 

“Secretary General Kizza Nsibambi had this to say: ‘For many decades the world has tolerated – feared would be a better word – the self-appointed role of world guardian the United States has taken.  But just like Rome and the British Empire, all major powers must eventually fade and pass into history to make room for newer powers.  It is not a moment the people greet with joy, but it is a moment they must greet.  Now is the time for the United States to fade. 

‘Despite what the American administration says, I am not calling for the destruction of the United States; Britain exists without its empire.  What I am saying is that America has had too much power over the world for too long and has done too little with it.  The United States says they champion democracy around the world, but they have no problem propping up corrupt regimes if it means they’ll get cheap oil.  A few Americans killed anywhere in the world is a major news story, possibly leading to war, while millions are slaughtered in Africa in silence and America does nothing.  It is time for the world to stand on its own two feet and solve its own problems.  The greatest obstacle in doing this is America as a world power; and it is time that obstacle is removed.’

“American President Jonathon Pike’s response to the Secretary General was, ‘Bring it on.’”

Why “Deport them all!” is a stupid and dangerous idea

To many the question of what do we do with all the people in the country illegally is a simple, “Deport them all!” It’s an answer that fits on a bumper sticker, but how would you do it?

For years I’d just shake my head whenever someone said “Deport them all!” It was usually some politician or talking head, so I couldn’t ask them how they would go about it.  Because basically they were asking President Obama to set up a national task force of local, state, and federal agencies whose sole purpose was to go around the country rounding up people.  They wanted President Obama to set that in motion. 

But given that come January Obama will no longer be President, I figured I should update my response.  What I realized is that to “Deport them all!” would really require a nationwide, house by house search.  Now before all you friends of deportation start screaming that “We know where they are,” realize that you can’t put such a process into motion overnight.  There would be months of warning, and plenty of time for the illegals to go to ground or be hidden away by some bleeding heart.

So the military – which would be needed for the manpower – would probably start at the tip of Florida and start moving northward, sealing off county by county and letting the local and state police go house by house.  They’d call everyone who lived there out, and while they searched to make sure nobody was hiding you’d have to show three or four forms of identification to prove that you are you.  And just to be sure, the police would probably also take your photograph and fingerprints. 

And after however many months it would take to cover the entire country, there would be no more people in the US illegally.  And the government would have a detailed data file on where everyone lives. 

I figure the politicians who cry “Deport them all!” fall into one of three categories.  The first are the ones who don’t think of it beyond the bumper sticker stage figuring few voters will as well.  They have no plan – or intention – of actually trying to go through with it.  The second group are the ones who naively think the problem can be solved with minimum resources, as if moving some ten million people is an everyday occurrence.  (Ten million people is over fifty times the number of men who landed on D-Day.)  The third group are the ones who want a listing of everyone in the US for … reasons.

The issue of people in the US illegally is important.  Is it too much to ask we work on the issue intelligently?