digg-ing america: the revolution against (R) and (D)
by Anthony Marenna
Published: September 19, 2008
Digg.com is a widely known user-generated news aggregation service. “Digg-ing America” uses selections from Digg’s most popular monthly news submissions to evaluate the political attitude of the American people, thus crafting the American story each month.
Here’s a fun fact: more people watched the Republican National Convention than watched the Democrats. In fact, more people watched the speeches by John McCain and Sarah Palin than watched the last season finale of American Idol. But how many of those millions of viewers noticed the uproar in the Nevada section of Republican delegates?
The battle between Ron Paul delegates and John McCain delegates from Nevada has been at a fever pitch ever since the Ron Paul supporters won a key rule change at the state GOP convention. This allowed them to begin electing a majority ticket of Paul-ites to go to the National Convention… that is, until the leaders of the Republican Party in Nevada pulled an epic Nancy Pelosi, turning out the lights and adjourning the convention indefinitely. Although the Republican National Committee was able to gloss the whole situation over with a “compromise plan” that involved the Nevada Republican Party appointing the RNC delegation, there is significant reason to worry.
According to the Wall Street Journal:
Nevada is shaping up as a key battleground in the presidential race; President Bush won the state by roughly 20,000 votes in each of the last two elections, and Democrats are contesting it strongly this year… Recent history shows Nevada’s frustrated conservatives can swing an election. The last Texan presidential candidate preaching small government, Ross Perot, took 10% of the vote here in 1992 and 27% in 1996, helping Democrat Bill Clinton to carry the state both times. A Libertarian Senate candidate in 1998 tipped a close race to Majority Leader Harry Reid.
This leaves the election-havoc door wide open for Bob Barr, who turns out to be one of the only guys out there discussing issues that could have a huge impact on life in these United States. In fact, the Libertarian viewpoints concerning national issues in the past month are stunningly different than those of the Republicans, Democrats and mainstream media.
Perhaps this is the reason why many voters across America are flocking to a third party instead of settling for Barack Obama and John McCain:
- The federal government SEIZED the two largest private mortgage companies in the US. Rogers Holdings CEO Jim Rogers hit it right on the nose: “America is more communist than China is right now. You can see that this is welfare of the rich, it is socialism for the rich… it’s just bailing out financial institutions,” Rogers said. “Worse than that, the American taxpayers are now liable for the $5 trillion in risky mortgages accumulated by the criminals who were running Fannie and Freddie. Even though all taxpayers will foot the bill for billions to trillions of dollars in defaulted mortgages, both McCain and Obama supported the takeover! Bob Barr did not.
- Democratic vice-presidential hopeful Joe Biden is a major proponent of restricting Internet abilities and privacy. According to reputable tech sources CNET and Gizmodo, Joe Biden has proposed bills and voted to monitor peer to peer file sharing, make e-mail security encryption illegal, and establish internet taxes among other restrictions. At a recent panel discussion at the National Press Club, called Privacy ‘08, Bob Barr slammed both presidential candidates for their poor records on electronic civil liberties. According to Stanford University Law Professor Lawrence Lessig (via an Infowars article) there is a looming possibility of an i-9/11 and an i-Patriot Act; he cites information from Richard Clarke, former Chief Counter-Terrorism Advisor to the U.S. National Security Council. This does not bode well for the consumer.
- For reasons unknown, Barack Obama and John McCain have been quiet about the government’s abuse of civil liberties. The treatment of protesters caught on video at the Democrat and Republican National conventions was appalling. Where was the outcry from the presidential candidates? Furthermore, why are people being randomly detained at our airports by Homeland Security for hours at a time without the ability to go to the bathroom, make a phone call or seek redress of grievances? The people expect the next president to stand up for basic rights, yet there has been no outcry from Barack Obama, nor from John McCain. Is Jimmy Justice the only one who will stand up against this nonsensical abuse of power?
Bob Barr and Ralph Nader are capitalizing because the Republicans and Democrats in contention for the White House are not addressing key issues that many Americans care most about. Yet it seems frightening that on top of having to contend with a two-party system, third-party candidates might not even get a fair election; the faults in the integrity of Diebold voting machines, once matter of online conspiracy theories, have now been admitted and confirmed by the people at Diebold themselves.
It therefore makes sense that those noble hearts willing to “waste” a vote to shatter the status quo can only come to one heart-wrenching conclusion when it comes to current events:
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September 23rd, 2008 at 9:43 am
Nice picture. Although funny, it is obviously not true (there arnt any people who think its true, are there) I hope not. I guess a couple of 9/11 truthers still linger.
Anthony, i agree with you on the fact that more and more people are shifting towards 3rd party candidates for the reasons aforementioned, but how much more? I’d say a couple percentage points.
Regarding the protestors, the violent were treated the way they should be. Lesson learned: dont put the lives of other peoples in danger. This ruthless behevior or going out, destroying other peoples’ property, and endangering society should be dealt with accordingly. I have absolutely no sympathy for these barbarians.
Regarding our govt abusing our civil liberties, i want you to go around the world and tell me where you would want to live the most. When people complain to me about how cruel and corrupt america is, i tell them “so leave…leave here and go to a different country and i guarentee you that you will come back” America is the best country in the world along with the most liberty. Quite frankly, I dont think arnold schwarzenegger (sp?) can go to Austria and become rich, let alone president.
Its easy to bash our country in times like these, but keep thinking to yourself that you live in the most prosperous country in the world.
September 24th, 2008 at 2:16 am
Sorry Anthony. 3rd party tickets go nowhere in the general election. Absolutely nowhere.
September 24th, 2008 at 8:25 pm
I find the picture to be deadly serious and the logic of the words speak for themselves, framing the words in such an artistic way, cold, stark, lack of color, harsh lighting, ghetto location,….. intuitive grasp of reality as lived by the artist who placed the script there,,,this picture truly does convey a million words.
To bad some of us don’t get it, will never get it, and are forever caught with a flat simplistic perception of how every one should think,,,,,these people will never,,,walk in shoes…other that his own……….
So….we had a great Constitution…then it was trashed by both the DEMs and GOP. …this is a two party system..
We truly need a third party….did i say I would vote for Ron Paul…..
September 25th, 2008 at 6:27 am
Vote the incumbents out……that means vote the opposite party in…So work within your party and the purge the bums out… You do know that Nixon took us off the gold standard?..and Kennedy was going to put us back on it..he didn’t live long enough to do it…back then the Dem were more conservative than the GOP is now…. I really am gonna vote the bums out………….
September 25th, 2008 at 6:36 am
Hey GOP look at this………..
“http://www.john-f-kennedy.net/thefederalreserve.htm”
September 25th, 2008 at 9:40 am
Nicholas, just a couple notes on your comment.
- Though the picture is in some senses hyperbolic, it certainly expresses a legitimate pubic perception at this point. One does not have to be a 9/11 truther or a conspiracy theorist to be concerned about the institution of voting. Only last year, a bipartisan bill became Campaign Finance Reform, which essentially caps campaign fundraising, and gives huge advantages to the incumbents who already have immense name recognition, years to get their messages out, and the media outlets to reach the people on a national level. It is not wrong to ask about what voting has become and what it may become.
- I agree with your assessment about “a couple percentage points” going with third parties. That is a significant number though. Keep in mind that the several percentage points who claim to be pledged to Barr and Nader represent millions of people. Let’s face it- though it might take a Great Depression to get coverage for certain of their ideas, those who have rejected the mainstream candidates in favor of the third parties have made a decision that can throw an election. And in that sense (star) third parties do go somewhere in many recent genera elections. Ask Bill Clinton what he knows about Ross Perot.
- As for the protesters, I would recommend that you go back and click the ink I left in that section for you. The video, though a bit fragmented in sections, depicts peacefu protesters being beaten, pepper sprayed, verbally abused, detained for long periods of time for no reason, among other atrocities. I would also point out that the video comes from American News Project, which I find very reliable most of the time. There are thousands of examples of police brutality that need to be discussed. It is a basic principle of checks and balances that we have the right to inquire and seek redress of grievances.
- Finally, the fact that our country has better civil liberties than others is no reason to shut up and be happy. There can be no argument made that civil liberties meet Constitutional standards, nor that civil liberties are being preserved and protected in the current state of affairs.
Thank you for your thoughtful comments.
September 25th, 2008 at 9:51 am
David, just out of curiosity, do you believe that it would be more practical to try voting a third party into the White House, or using a third party as leverage to force one party into stricter ideological compliance both with its platforms and candidates? Why?
September 25th, 2008 at 4:20 pm
FYI…Here is the problem….. since the popular news media at large will NEVER carry a third party’s message to the masses all that happens is you spoil the vote in an indeterminate way, it is unpredictable, and in this two party system rotten incumbents may be elected again…..here is what I am doing….vote against the incumbent….and try to influence the presiding party to be more responsible to the Constitution……if you look back in history…it seems at times a party will come back to it’s Constitutional roots… and do the right things…so….that my view point…did I tell you I would like to vote for Ron Paul….CUL