Comments on why is guante so angry?: Why I'm voting for Obama

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2010-01-29T08:13:14.798-06:00

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Hello everyone! Who knows where to upload the film...

2010-01-22T22:03:42.146-06:00

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I even bought the film Avatar for a SMS to http://rsskino.ru/kinofilm/avatar.html , the link was, but download fails, the system will boot quite strange cocoa something.
Men, advise where to normal as quickly download film avatar?

Kyle, I applaud you for addressing this issue at a...

2008-11-03T14:47:00.000-06:00

Kyle,
I applaud you for addressing this issue at all! No matter who is in the white house the executive position is only as strong as we allow it to be with our money. I believe in Obama as much as the next person. What excites me is the way he's encouraging people to participate. He wants the American people to be part of the government again. I've never heard that from any other candidate. Even the Green party. Like you said he's turning non-believers into activists. Isn't that the point of a participatory democracy?

I agree with your points about Obama. but i still ...

2008-10-22T16:03:00.000-05:00

I agree with your points about Obama. but i still have to scratch my head. if you know these things, then why press the button for Obama?

for the third party candidates, they only need 5% of the vote. the green party can pull this off.

if you say them in your poems, why not show and prove?

Some major flaws in this writers reasoning.. his f...

2008-10-22T13:56:00.000-05:00

Some major flaws in this writers reasoning.. his first point says that he is aware obama can't actually do much, but because of all the excitement, if he loses then people will turn away from politics and disengage.. hmm so he doesn't think the people will do the same thing when they find out that obama "the idea" has no substance or power. Doesn't he know that its more disheartening to support a winner that will later prove that he does not work or represent you. And how do we know that he prove such? Umm go back and listen to any one of his speeches for the past year.. go look at his voting record. He tells you and shows you over and over who he works for.. stop looking at the color of his skin and listen!!!

Now thats more discouraging than losing.

How about this piece of nonsense: "voting in a presidential election is a tactical decision, not a strategic one." hmmm buddy, that argument has been used longer then the lessor of two evils argument.. that strategy has failed time and time again.. so what makes it any different this time around? I ask you? Isn't this the definition of "insanity" doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different outcome?

Lets see, what were some of the other nonsense arguments.. oh 3rd party candidates are pulling low numbers so they cannot save us this year.. umm yeah, the point is not to get them elected or even to influence any other candidates.. they give voice and engage folks, like myself who would not participate in this bullshit ass hustle if they were not running...

the point is... is to make a point, and not throw our vote away on imperialist, white supremacy power structure supporters. (i.e. the democratic and republican party's)... and on and on..

the piece misses the whole argument behind 3rd party candidates and admits the weakness of the this system and the democratic party candidate but still gives him a pass. Just as people of color did with Clintion (who by the way put into effect the crime bill that has lead to the 2.6 million people now locked up in US Prisons, an overwhelmingly large number of them Black and Brown).

For the rest of us, we Revoked the democratic parties "ghetto card" and will continue to either support humanity by supporting Cynthia, or we just won't participate at all. It's the more humane thing to do. : /

Troy

also, some words from Howard Zinn:http://www.progr...

2008-10-20T11:39:00.000-05:00

also, some words from Howard Zinn:

http://www.progressive.org/mag/zinn1008.html

"Whoever is President, the crucial factor for change will be how much agitation there is in the country on behalf of change. I am guessing that Obama may be more sensitive than McCain to such turmoil, since it will come from his supporters, from the enthusiasts who will register their disillusionment by taking to the streets. Franklin D. Roosevelt was not a radical, but he was more sensitive to the economic crisis in the country and more susceptible to pressure from the Left than was Herbert Hoover.

"Even for the 'purest' of radicals, there must be recognition of differences that may mean life or death for thousands. In France at the time of the Algerian War, the election of DeGaulle—hardly an anti-imperialist but more aware of the inevitable decline of empires—was significant in ending that long and brutal occupation.

"I have no doubt that by far the wisest, most reliable, with the most integrity, of all recent Presidential candidates is Ralph Nader. But I think it is a waste of his political strength, a puny act, to expend it in the electoral arena, where the result can show only weakness. His power, his intelligence, lies in the mobilization of people outside the ballot box.

"So, yes, I will vote for Obama, because the corrupt political system offers me no choice, but only for the moment I pull down the lever in the voting booth."

Kyle--I don't know what you expect a grassroots mo...

2008-10-18T20:13:00.000-05:00

Kyle--

I don't know what you expect a grassroots movement to do about war and American imperialism if that same movement can't even get an anti-war presidential candidate 5% of the vote.

If we're talking about "strategies that simply [aren't] working," let's talk about the Movement on the ground-level. Yeah, we have huge voter turnout drives right now. Yeah, many communities have won small but significant victories in any number of issues. But on the whole, we have done virtually nothing about corporate globalization & militarization--and there's virtually nothing that a grassroots movement can do about those issues without viable electable candidates at the national level.

Maybe you're right about THIS YEAR. But national politics is the only way we will be able to win major progressive victories, and the only way to win national political victories is to vote for true progressives--most of whom are not Democrats.

those are all good points mike.and i've supported ...

2008-10-17T16:53:00.000-05:00

those are all good points mike.

and i've supported third party candidates many times before, particularly in local madison elections, where we had a very strong third party movement who routinely won seats in the city council and elsewhere.

but i think there comes a point where you have to look at a strategy that simply isn't working and walk away. third party presidential candidates just might be one of those strategies, unfortunately.

the fact that people hate nader so much for "costing gore the election" is bullshit, but it's also extremely widespread and i'm not sure there's much we can do about it, realistically. add to this the money and media advantage the major parties have, and pushing a green or independent presidential candidate isn't just an uphill battle, it's a near-pointless drain on resources, time and talent.

maybe that's too harsh though... i think THIS year, one of the major factors is that we have mckinney AND nader, who will be splitting a tiny vote to begin with. we can't afford to do that, not when their platforms are so similar. if we had a united front, maybe it'd be a different story.

and that's the crux of what i'm talking about: THIS year. i know a major lesser-of-two-evils talking point is that "this year we have to hold our noses and vote dems; maybe next time, maybe next time" said year after year... i didn't buy that before, but this time i think it might actually make sense. not election after election, but this time.

I think there needs to be a lot more done on the l...

2008-10-17T15:06:00.000-05:00

I think there needs to be a lot more done on the local level in terms of third party politics before we can responsibly vote for a third party president. That sort of change is not going to come from the top down. It's antithetical to the green movement and most third party movements. I do think it is smart strategy to vote to keep government out of conservative hands in the highest positions, while working your ass off at the local level to build a stronger multi-party movement. If McCain gets elected and does away with my abortion rights in this country, well then I can tell you all of my energy will be poured into getting those rights back. The third party activists are going to be spread thin putting out fires and that just might hurt the movement more than anything.

Jeez--I'm on my way to class right now, so I have ...

2008-10-17T13:52:00.000-05:00

Jeez--I'm on my way to class right now, so I have to keep this brief.

1. As an avid anti-Democrat/Republican, I'm voting for Nader. Yet I am very willing to admit that I pray Obama will win. Obama's economic policy in particular is certainly a step in the right direction.

2. Obama basically cannot lose. He has the momentum, the cash, the numbers, the swing states. When you talk of the risk of disillusionment to this new Movement, I say it's virtually impossible. In particular, you live in Minnesota--there is no way McCain wins our state. So you can vote for a third party candidate and not throw the election to McCain.

3. You talk about the difference between McCain's progressive-crushing policies and Obama's progressive-indifferent policies. This is all true. You left out a major one, though: war & American imperialism. Each candidate will actively work to continue the militarization of our country and send our children to die in other countries. Obama wants to remove some troops from Iraq, sure, but he wants to send them directly to Afghanistan--and don't forget Iran, we can't take any option off the table with them...oh yeah, protecting Israel is our biggest goal in the Middle East, so let's keep an eye on all the arab nations.

4. That last rant not withstanding, Obama's domestic policy is leaps and bounds ahead of McCain's.

5. I'm not sure that the Dems are weak when it comes to stomping on progressive ideals--maybe, but I don't know for sure. What did the Movement accomplish under Bill Clinton?

6. Your characterization of third party voters is at sometimes unfair. "It's easy as a straight, white, middle class male to vote my conscience" and "not rip [the Movement] to pieces in the name of ideological perfection." Third Party politics is not about voting your conscience or ideological perfection--it is about establishing a real electoral alternative to American Imperialism. It's not that Obama "isn't perfect"--it's that he is an imperialist. The only reason he criticizes McCain-style imperialism is because he thinks he can manage the empire better! Yeah, Third Parties won't win the presidency this time around, and probably won't even get major party status. But if we can't get 10% of the American populace to vote for an anti-war candidate, what makes you think we can build a grassroots movement strong enough to influence the president (especially when the presidential candidates of both parties keep shifting further and further to the Right)?

Voting Third Party, straight down the line (unless you live in a district with a Keith Ellison or a Russ Feingold), is the only way to build a competitive opposition party--and it has the same goal as our grassroots Movement as a whole--stand up for peace and social justice, oppose empire. The Movement needs an electoral outlet, and the Third Parties need the support of the Movement. Neither will succeed without the other. I can understand and appreciate that you're voting for Obama over McCain--but if you keep doing this, election after election, and keep trying to convince other progressives to do the same, you will be doing a great disservice to the Movement.

I agree with you on all the reasons why not to vot...

2008-10-16T22:28:00.000-05:00

I agree with you on all the reasons why not to vote for Obama. But yah, I still cast my vote for him this week. (Early voting holla!) To me, I wasn't voting so much for the man as I was for the movement. For the friends and the folk who are organizing fundraisers, quiting their jobs to join his campaign, passionately arguing issues they once paid no attention to. There are a lot of people invigorated by this campaign and who have placed a lot of hope in it. And I voted for them.
I'd also like to give a shout out to intellect returning to the white house. Political views i can disagree with all day and night. But at the end of the day, if there is anything I can do to prevent a complete moron from being POTUS, I will fucking do it. There are serious repercussions on human life in this world when we allow incompetence that much power.