Usually, around election time, the big hubabaloo is about the "electoral college" and how it either IS or IS NOT democratic and un-American. Usually by now, I'm so tired of explaining and discussing it that I just give up. This year, however, there has been little talk about it at all! So, now I have to bring it up.
**For those that don't know, the electoral college is really how the President is elected - our poor little votes really don't mean much. What happens is this: Each State has its own system, but generally, each State takes the vote of its citizens and tallies them up to see which candidate gets the most votes. Then, that State turns around and sends its delegates to a National Convention and they cast the votes for the State. Each State is allotted votes by the population of the State. Now, sometimes some delegates get frisky and vote for the "other" guy, but generally that is considered a "no no" and is definitely a career-ender.
So, why does the electoral college matter? Although most citizens think that the US is a democracy where everyone's vote counts equally, its not - its a Representative Republic which means we vote for people to represent us - we don't vote directly for anything at the Federal level. This is actually a GOOD thing for those of us in States with small populations because without the electoral college our piddly little votes wouldn't mean anything. Now, instead of meaning nothing, they just mean VERY VERY little. If it weren't for the electoral college, the five biggest cities in the country would really by the ones to elect the President - because they have more votes than the rest of the country combined. If you weren't part of one of those cities, you'd be SOL.
So, rejoice that the vote of your State at least counts for something, because without the electoral college, it wouldn't mean diddly.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Fear Not! - (borrowed from some other blog - but couldn’t have said it better myself!)
http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&blogID=443740961&Mytoken=FFC70260-86FF-4D0F-854990105D9FF1BB28576431
FROM INFIDEL:
"We are taught from our birth to fear - to fear the hot stove, the long fall, the big dogs, leaning back in chairs, putting things in our mouths - and most for good reasons. But, along with these reasonable fears, we have been taught to fear monsters, boogey-men, evil probing aliens, demons, devils, ghosts, and things that go "bump" in the night. Our parents play on these fear, and even reinforce them because they are physical consequences for bad behavior or not doing what we are told, "Go to bed, or the boogeyman will get you," and "Stay in bed or the monster under your bed will grab your foot," and "Don't go outside after dark, or (insert Monster XYZ) will get you and eat you!" Many parents use these fears to keep us away from harm or from doing things that are against our best interest. As we grow up, we grow out of most of these fears - we realize that the boogeyman doesn't exist, that there are no monsters under the bed, and those things that go "bump" in the night are nothing to worry about.
However, spiritually, emotionally, many people remain captive to fear - fear of Hell, fear of demons and "spiritual warfare," fear of Satan and his minions that roam free, causing death, destruction and pain. And who is the "parent" reinforcing these fears that should have been tossed out with the Tooth Fairy and Santa Clause? The "parent" is the church, a religious "holy" book, or childhood religious belief. And why do the leaders or beneficiaries of these religions continue to play to those irrational fears? For the same reason our parents did - to keep us in check or to get us to do something: tithe, be good, "witness," and whatever else they want you to do. Fear of Hell is no reason to believe in anything, fear of Satan is as irrational as fear of the evil witch in the spooky house down the street. Ghosts, demons, monsters don't exist - neither do the "big" monsters of god and satan. People need to grow up, emotionally as well as physically, and shed the cloak of fear that was placed over them as a child. Take responsibility for your own security, safety, and decisions and don't let some fictional childhood belief dictate what you do or give you something to blame for bad behavior.
Being free from the binds of religion and irrational belief leads invariably to a reduction in fear of life, allowing people to live more and fear less. Sure, there may be no god there to "save" you from anything, but honestly, he wasn't going to save you in the first place, so once you realize that no super-natural being is coming to the rescue, you can start to rescue yourself. On the bright side, because there is no benevolent god to protect you, there is also no mean, evil, powerful satan or devil out to get you. The "forces of evil" are in your mind and its never to late to let them go and start living without fear.
At one time, I believed in those scary irrational things, so I am in no position to judge anyone who still does. It took me all of 20+ years to rid myself of most of those irrational beings and forces that plagued my thoughts and strummed the strings of fear. Now, without those chords being played, I am more secure, more confident, and more capable in everything I do. I don't rely on any supernatural forces to come to my aid, and I also don't worry that any supernatural forces are working against me. Every encounter is on equal footing - mano a mano.
Instead of fearing what is waiting for us around the next corner, or worrying about what is silently sneaking up from behind, we can concentrate on the present situation, evaluate it rationally and make the best decision - not based on fear, but rather, based on our experience and understanding of capabilities. When we are weighed down with the beliefs of forces beyond our understanding and well beyond our power to affect, we become the prey - hunted by whatever we fear and stalked by the shadows that move around us. Prey attracts predators - and the REAL predators in the world recognize that fear and use it to their advantage. When we drop the fear, we have the choice to be the predator if we so desire, recognizing the fear in others, seeing who the prey are and either going after them, watching over them to render aid when its necessary (which they will probably take a sign from their god), or just letting everyone deal on their own. Because we are no longer the prey, we at least have the choice."
FROM INFIDEL:
"We are taught from our birth to fear - to fear the hot stove, the long fall, the big dogs, leaning back in chairs, putting things in our mouths - and most for good reasons. But, along with these reasonable fears, we have been taught to fear monsters, boogey-men, evil probing aliens, demons, devils, ghosts, and things that go "bump" in the night. Our parents play on these fear, and even reinforce them because they are physical consequences for bad behavior or not doing what we are told, "Go to bed, or the boogeyman will get you," and "Stay in bed or the monster under your bed will grab your foot," and "Don't go outside after dark, or (insert Monster XYZ) will get you and eat you!" Many parents use these fears to keep us away from harm or from doing things that are against our best interest. As we grow up, we grow out of most of these fears - we realize that the boogeyman doesn't exist, that there are no monsters under the bed, and those things that go "bump" in the night are nothing to worry about.
However, spiritually, emotionally, many people remain captive to fear - fear of Hell, fear of demons and "spiritual warfare," fear of Satan and his minions that roam free, causing death, destruction and pain. And who is the "parent" reinforcing these fears that should have been tossed out with the Tooth Fairy and Santa Clause? The "parent" is the church, a religious "holy" book, or childhood religious belief. And why do the leaders or beneficiaries of these religions continue to play to those irrational fears? For the same reason our parents did - to keep us in check or to get us to do something: tithe, be good, "witness," and whatever else they want you to do. Fear of Hell is no reason to believe in anything, fear of Satan is as irrational as fear of the evil witch in the spooky house down the street. Ghosts, demons, monsters don't exist - neither do the "big" monsters of god and satan. People need to grow up, emotionally as well as physically, and shed the cloak of fear that was placed over them as a child. Take responsibility for your own security, safety, and decisions and don't let some fictional childhood belief dictate what you do or give you something to blame for bad behavior.
Being free from the binds of religion and irrational belief leads invariably to a reduction in fear of life, allowing people to live more and fear less. Sure, there may be no god there to "save" you from anything, but honestly, he wasn't going to save you in the first place, so once you realize that no super-natural being is coming to the rescue, you can start to rescue yourself. On the bright side, because there is no benevolent god to protect you, there is also no mean, evil, powerful satan or devil out to get you. The "forces of evil" are in your mind and its never to late to let them go and start living without fear.
At one time, I believed in those scary irrational things, so I am in no position to judge anyone who still does. It took me all of 20+ years to rid myself of most of those irrational beings and forces that plagued my thoughts and strummed the strings of fear. Now, without those chords being played, I am more secure, more confident, and more capable in everything I do. I don't rely on any supernatural forces to come to my aid, and I also don't worry that any supernatural forces are working against me. Every encounter is on equal footing - mano a mano.
Instead of fearing what is waiting for us around the next corner, or worrying about what is silently sneaking up from behind, we can concentrate on the present situation, evaluate it rationally and make the best decision - not based on fear, but rather, based on our experience and understanding of capabilities. When we are weighed down with the beliefs of forces beyond our understanding and well beyond our power to affect, we become the prey - hunted by whatever we fear and stalked by the shadows that move around us. Prey attracts predators - and the REAL predators in the world recognize that fear and use it to their advantage. When we drop the fear, we have the choice to be the predator if we so desire, recognizing the fear in others, seeing who the prey are and either going after them, watching over them to render aid when its necessary (which they will probably take a sign from their god), or just letting everyone deal on their own. Because we are no longer the prey, we at least have the choice."
Monday, October 20, 2008
Caching Monday Madness!
Caching Monday Madness!
For awhile now, we've been heading out with friends on Monday after the kids are in school, and finding some local geocaches. Usually, we find about 7-10 on an average caching day. Today was no exception. Since we've been in Montana (since February), we've found MOST of the geocaches in the Missoula area. Now, we are having to go find some of the harder caches and ones that are further out from us because the pickings have become slim nearby. Today, we ventured to the south of Missoula, up Pattee Canyon to snag some caches that were cluttering up our maps.
The typical "finding" of a cache depends on what type and what kind of location its in - but generally its something like this:
"Out in the Woods Cache"
1. Drive as close as possible.
2. Get out and determine if the cache is a "park and grab" or one we actually have to go venture to. If its a park and grab, we park - and grab it - quick and easy.
3. If we need to venture out to get the cache, we determine if the cache is big enough to hold stuff or is just a micro - if big enough, we bring the cache bag - if not, we don't.
4. Once those things are determined, we grab the necessary gear (hiking sticks, bag, water, etc) and get moving.
5. Typically, the GPS is decent at homing us in nicely on the vicinity of the cache. Sure, after we get nearby, there may be a bit of drunken bee dancing, but not too much - and less now with the internal GPS compass.
6. We spot the typical cache hiding places, find the container, and sign the log.
7. Continue to next cache.
"In the City Cache"
1. Park nearby
2. Because they are micros, we leave the bag
3. Check everything metal for keyholder caches, and check everything else for velcro'd bison capsules.
4. Sign log and move on.
Today however, things were a little different. Our GPS's (ours and our caching friends') were extra-jumpy. From the get-go, they would generally point in the right direction, but would periodically jump around - giving us different directions to go, overshooting the cache areas, and just generally acting funny. Even after I calibrated the compass, mine still did it more often than usual. I was even beginning to get worried that something might be wrong with my GPS. But, the fact that it wasn't just my GPS indicated that perhaps it was something else - which was comforting. Towards the end of the day, we came up with a plausible idea that perhaps some solar flares had occurred and messed with the magnetic fields, throwing off the GPSs AND the compasses. We decided to check the Space Weather site to find out.
As it turns out, there were no solar flares today that would have interfered with the GPS satellites or compasses - in fact, there haven't been any sun spots for awhile now. But, interestingly enough, there WAS a situation that could have caused a disturbance in the magnetic forces. As it turns out, the polarity of the Earth's magnetic field shifted South a bit for a period of time, opening a hole in the protective magnetic field of the Earth from the constant solar winds and allowed some solar winds to get through - possibly screwing with GPSs and compasses. Now, with that in mind, consider the fact that the Earth is statistically long overdue for a polar magnetic shift - and what the implications of that are. But that is for another blog.
All in all, it was a great day of caching - we found everything we looked for and added another nine caches to the "found" pile! One of the caches today was a puzzle cache that required us to solve a Karuku - I'd never heard of a Karuku before this. i guess we learn something new every day. Woot! I love this sport. Now, we have to get rid of some nagging caches that are mucking up my pretty map of smilies. Also, we need to plant some caches up on Blue Mountain before the snow falls. busy busy busy.
For awhile now, we've been heading out with friends on Monday after the kids are in school, and finding some local geocaches. Usually, we find about 7-10 on an average caching day. Today was no exception. Since we've been in Montana (since February), we've found MOST of the geocaches in the Missoula area. Now, we are having to go find some of the harder caches and ones that are further out from us because the pickings have become slim nearby. Today, we ventured to the south of Missoula, up Pattee Canyon to snag some caches that were cluttering up our maps.
The typical "finding" of a cache depends on what type and what kind of location its in - but generally its something like this:
"Out in the Woods Cache"
1. Drive as close as possible.
2. Get out and determine if the cache is a "park and grab" or one we actually have to go venture to. If its a park and grab, we park - and grab it - quick and easy.
3. If we need to venture out to get the cache, we determine if the cache is big enough to hold stuff or is just a micro - if big enough, we bring the cache bag - if not, we don't.
4. Once those things are determined, we grab the necessary gear (hiking sticks, bag, water, etc) and get moving.
5. Typically, the GPS is decent at homing us in nicely on the vicinity of the cache. Sure, after we get nearby, there may be a bit of drunken bee dancing, but not too much - and less now with the internal GPS compass.
6. We spot the typical cache hiding places, find the container, and sign the log.
7. Continue to next cache.
"In the City Cache"
1. Park nearby
2. Because they are micros, we leave the bag
3. Check everything metal for keyholder caches, and check everything else for velcro'd bison capsules.
4. Sign log and move on.
Today however, things were a little different. Our GPS's (ours and our caching friends') were extra-jumpy. From the get-go, they would generally point in the right direction, but would periodically jump around - giving us different directions to go, overshooting the cache areas, and just generally acting funny. Even after I calibrated the compass, mine still did it more often than usual. I was even beginning to get worried that something might be wrong with my GPS. But, the fact that it wasn't just my GPS indicated that perhaps it was something else - which was comforting. Towards the end of the day, we came up with a plausible idea that perhaps some solar flares had occurred and messed with the magnetic fields, throwing off the GPSs AND the compasses. We decided to check the Space Weather site to find out.
As it turns out, there were no solar flares today that would have interfered with the GPS satellites or compasses - in fact, there haven't been any sun spots for awhile now. But, interestingly enough, there WAS a situation that could have caused a disturbance in the magnetic forces. As it turns out, the polarity of the Earth's magnetic field shifted South a bit for a period of time, opening a hole in the protective magnetic field of the Earth from the constant solar winds and allowed some solar winds to get through - possibly screwing with GPSs and compasses. Now, with that in mind, consider the fact that the Earth is statistically long overdue for a polar magnetic shift - and what the implications of that are. But that is for another blog.
All in all, it was a great day of caching - we found everything we looked for and added another nine caches to the "found" pile! One of the caches today was a puzzle cache that required us to solve a Karuku - I'd never heard of a Karuku before this. i guess we learn something new every day. Woot! I love this sport. Now, we have to get rid of some nagging caches that are mucking up my pretty map of smilies. Also, we need to plant some caches up on Blue Mountain before the snow falls. busy busy busy.
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Bad - in a good way.
So me and my beautiful wife were talking today about the upcoming election and how neither candidate is good for the country. She expressed the opinion that Obama may actually be good for the country in a bad way - which took my by surprise, but her reasoning makes sense and here I've tried to articulate her epiphany with my words:
I don't support Obama, but I support McCain even less. However, it has recently been made clear to me that Obama coming into office may in fact be the best thing for the country as whole - in the long run. I expect that Obama, with a heavy democratic Congress, will pave the way for a very liberal United States.
The US is set up to run slowly - not efficiently. The power is divided between three groups - the Congress, the President, and the Judiciary. Before anything can get done, every group has its own input and any of the groups can completely shut down the process - or at least slow it down quite a bit. This, coupled with the inherent turn-over rate in Congress and the Executive, keeps the country from becoming TOO MUCH anything. It keeps the conservatives from establishing a federal religion and it keeps the liberals from turning us into a socialist/communist state. For the last 200+ years, its worked, more or less splendidly. Now, the Democrats have the perfect opportunity to change all that!
The Republicans have done way too much to this country to stay in power. The Patriot Act, gas prices, national debt, and the economy are all death blows that will, almost without a doubt, sink their ship in this election. Now, the fact that Congress is already controlled by the Dems and that they are already planning to quickly use the Executive to move massive liberal programs into existence after January 20th, the country is in for radical changes in the next four years. 95% of the changes will be bad.
Which is great! Why? Because the American people, lazy little sheep that they are, have been fat and happy for far too long. They aren't paying attention to the election and they aren't paying attention to who is in power and what they are going to do to us. We should expect socialized healthcare, firearm bans, and numerous other programs designed to take from the rich and give to the poor - wealth redistribution (which leads quickly to socialism and communism). Gas prices will go up, liberty will go down, taxes will go up, and services will be degraded. And eventually, the country will feel the pain. Good.
The Republicans have already lost so much of the good will of the public that they are hemorrhaging uncontrollably and will (hopefully) not be able to recover. When the country gets stung by liberalism at its finest (Democratic President and Congress), it too will fall out of favor - leaving a political void that could be filled by a new party. Hopefully, that new party will redevote itself to the words of the Constitution and the founding ideal of the Fathers of this country - Liberty. Freedom to speak as we wish, freedom to believe in what we want or to not believe in anything at all, freedom to be free FROM religion - especially in any and all government agencies or government funded programs - and the freedom to be comfortable that "big brother" isn't listening or watching our every move.
Hopefully, the country can recover from the historical two-party system without bloodshed - and maybe, in an ironic way, Obama and the democrats could be the catalyst for that recovery - not through their liberalism, but through the cataclysmic failure of it.
I don't support Obama, but I support McCain even less. However, it has recently been made clear to me that Obama coming into office may in fact be the best thing for the country as whole - in the long run. I expect that Obama, with a heavy democratic Congress, will pave the way for a very liberal United States.
The US is set up to run slowly - not efficiently. The power is divided between three groups - the Congress, the President, and the Judiciary. Before anything can get done, every group has its own input and any of the groups can completely shut down the process - or at least slow it down quite a bit. This, coupled with the inherent turn-over rate in Congress and the Executive, keeps the country from becoming TOO MUCH anything. It keeps the conservatives from establishing a federal religion and it keeps the liberals from turning us into a socialist/communist state. For the last 200+ years, its worked, more or less splendidly. Now, the Democrats have the perfect opportunity to change all that!
The Republicans have done way too much to this country to stay in power. The Patriot Act, gas prices, national debt, and the economy are all death blows that will, almost without a doubt, sink their ship in this election. Now, the fact that Congress is already controlled by the Dems and that they are already planning to quickly use the Executive to move massive liberal programs into existence after January 20th, the country is in for radical changes in the next four years. 95% of the changes will be bad.
Which is great! Why? Because the American people, lazy little sheep that they are, have been fat and happy for far too long. They aren't paying attention to the election and they aren't paying attention to who is in power and what they are going to do to us. We should expect socialized healthcare, firearm bans, and numerous other programs designed to take from the rich and give to the poor - wealth redistribution (which leads quickly to socialism and communism). Gas prices will go up, liberty will go down, taxes will go up, and services will be degraded. And eventually, the country will feel the pain. Good.
The Republicans have already lost so much of the good will of the public that they are hemorrhaging uncontrollably and will (hopefully) not be able to recover. When the country gets stung by liberalism at its finest (Democratic President and Congress), it too will fall out of favor - leaving a political void that could be filled by a new party. Hopefully, that new party will redevote itself to the words of the Constitution and the founding ideal of the Fathers of this country - Liberty. Freedom to speak as we wish, freedom to believe in what we want or to not believe in anything at all, freedom to be free FROM religion - especially in any and all government agencies or government funded programs - and the freedom to be comfortable that "big brother" isn't listening or watching our every move.
Hopefully, the country can recover from the historical two-party system without bloodshed - and maybe, in an ironic way, Obama and the democrats could be the catalyst for that recovery - not through their liberalism, but through the cataclysmic failure of it.
Wednesday, October 01, 2008
Smells Like Desperation
Smells Like Desperation
Recently, (ok, for the past six months) I have been receiving numerous email about Obama and all the crazy shit he is said to have done or said. Among them:
1. Obama is a Muslim who won't recite the Pledge of Allegiance.
2. Obama was sworn into office on the Koran.
3. Obama holding a telephone upside down.
4. Obama wants to change the National Anthem.
5. Obama is, or could be, the Anti-Christ.
6. Obama isn't a natural born citizen.
7. Obama hides his birth certificate.
A quick check on these stories clearly shows that there are blatant lies.
After awhile, I began to wonder why there were so many patently false anti-Obama emails and rumors going around and not nearly as many McCain ones. At first, I thought that it was just that the people who are my email contacts were conservative Republicans and would obviously not send anything that goes against their candidate. Then, I decided to dig a little deeper, thinking maybe people on the Democrat side were doing the same thing and I just wasn't getting them because I'm not on their contact lists. So, I went to Snopes.com - a fair repository for finding out the truth behind sooooo many email and internet rumors and falsehoods - and did a little comparison of rumors about Obama and McCain. Here are the results:
Obama
36 total claims about him
21 are 100% false
4 were classified as true
7 had parts that were both true and false
4 were of indeterminable veracity
McCain
9 total claims about him
4 are 100% false
3 are true
2 were of indeterminable veracity
A little analysis:
Obama has garnered 4x the number of rumors as McCain. Over half (21/36 = ~58%) of the claims made about Obama are flat-out lies. For McCain, less than half (4/9 = 44%) were lies. Only 4 of the 36 claims about Obama were true (~11%) whereas 3/9 were true for McCain (~33%).
It seems to me that the Conservative side of this contest is sensing defeat and has pulled out all of the stops to try and slow Obama and the Democrats down. Increased smear and slander tactics, whether approved of by the campaign or not, are tell-tale signs that the campaign in question is heading downhill and sees their loss on the horizon. It stinks of desperation and foul-play.
Some people have tried to convince me that if I vote for someone other than one of the two Party Candidates (McCain or Obama), I'm throwing away my vote because no on else has the chance to win. I will concede that the person I am voting for (Ron Paul) doesn't have the slightest chance in hell of winning. However, that doesn't make my vote for him irrelevant any more than any other vote for a candidate in a state where the result is practically a foregone conclusion (ie. Washington State which will most definitely vote for Obama). In fact, by this logic, anyone voting in New York State or California who doesn't vote for Obama has also "wasted" their vote. Logically, if "Voting for a person who cannot win = wasted vote; then voting for McCain in Washington State or California = voting for Ron Paul in Washington State or California because neither can win."
In reality, it is not a waste because I am voting for the best man for the office. I am voting based on my views in comparison with his views and I am voting in hopes that a future third party candidate will see that there needs to be a viable choice other than the Democrats and Republicans. We will never have other options unless we first make it clear that we WANT other options. Continually voting for the "lesser of two evils" only guarantees an "evil" outcome. Slowly, but surely we will choose the lesser evil into oblivion. Why not take a stand now for the "good" choice? Even if it means losing today, it at least holds out the hope of winning tomorrow. By voting for the best man, my conscience is clean, and my ideals were not compromised by voting for the "lesser of two evils."
Not much will change in America, regardless of who wins. If Obama wins (which I have a sneaking suspicion he will, based on the desperation being displayed by the Republican Party and its supporters) the Assault Weapon Ban will become permanent (until it is challenged in the Supreme Court) - so, get your assault rifles while you still can. If McCain wins, there will be little if any change from the way things are now. Honestly, the President has little to do with the ultimate course of the country. He has little power of his own and only acts to speed up or slow down the processes of Congress. So, do we want to get where we are going faster or slower? THAT is the question this election decides.
Recently, (ok, for the past six months) I have been receiving numerous email about Obama and all the crazy shit he is said to have done or said. Among them:
1. Obama is a Muslim who won't recite the Pledge of Allegiance.
2. Obama was sworn into office on the Koran.
3. Obama holding a telephone upside down.
4. Obama wants to change the National Anthem.
5. Obama is, or could be, the Anti-Christ.
6. Obama isn't a natural born citizen.
7. Obama hides his birth certificate.
A quick check on these stories clearly shows that there are blatant lies.
After awhile, I began to wonder why there were so many patently false anti-Obama emails and rumors going around and not nearly as many McCain ones. At first, I thought that it was just that the people who are my email contacts were conservative Republicans and would obviously not send anything that goes against their candidate. Then, I decided to dig a little deeper, thinking maybe people on the Democrat side were doing the same thing and I just wasn't getting them because I'm not on their contact lists. So, I went to Snopes.com - a fair repository for finding out the truth behind sooooo many email and internet rumors and falsehoods - and did a little comparison of rumors about Obama and McCain. Here are the results:
Obama
36 total claims about him
21 are 100% false
4 were classified as true
7 had parts that were both true and false
4 were of indeterminable veracity
McCain
9 total claims about him
4 are 100% false
3 are true
2 were of indeterminable veracity
A little analysis:
Obama has garnered 4x the number of rumors as McCain. Over half (21/36 = ~58%) of the claims made about Obama are flat-out lies. For McCain, less than half (4/9 = 44%) were lies. Only 4 of the 36 claims about Obama were true (~11%) whereas 3/9 were true for McCain (~33%).
It seems to me that the Conservative side of this contest is sensing defeat and has pulled out all of the stops to try and slow Obama and the Democrats down. Increased smear and slander tactics, whether approved of by the campaign or not, are tell-tale signs that the campaign in question is heading downhill and sees their loss on the horizon. It stinks of desperation and foul-play.
Some people have tried to convince me that if I vote for someone other than one of the two Party Candidates (McCain or Obama), I'm throwing away my vote because no on else has the chance to win. I will concede that the person I am voting for (Ron Paul) doesn't have the slightest chance in hell of winning. However, that doesn't make my vote for him irrelevant any more than any other vote for a candidate in a state where the result is practically a foregone conclusion (ie. Washington State which will most definitely vote for Obama). In fact, by this logic, anyone voting in New York State or California who doesn't vote for Obama has also "wasted" their vote. Logically, if "Voting for a person who cannot win = wasted vote; then voting for McCain in Washington State or California = voting for Ron Paul in Washington State or California because neither can win."
In reality, it is not a waste because I am voting for the best man for the office. I am voting based on my views in comparison with his views and I am voting in hopes that a future third party candidate will see that there needs to be a viable choice other than the Democrats and Republicans. We will never have other options unless we first make it clear that we WANT other options. Continually voting for the "lesser of two evils" only guarantees an "evil" outcome. Slowly, but surely we will choose the lesser evil into oblivion. Why not take a stand now for the "good" choice? Even if it means losing today, it at least holds out the hope of winning tomorrow. By voting for the best man, my conscience is clean, and my ideals were not compromised by voting for the "lesser of two evils."
Not much will change in America, regardless of who wins. If Obama wins (which I have a sneaking suspicion he will, based on the desperation being displayed by the Republican Party and its supporters) the Assault Weapon Ban will become permanent (until it is challenged in the Supreme Court) - so, get your assault rifles while you still can. If McCain wins, there will be little if any change from the way things are now. Honestly, the President has little to do with the ultimate course of the country. He has little power of his own and only acts to speed up or slow down the processes of Congress. So, do we want to get where we are going faster or slower? THAT is the question this election decides.
