[Peace-discuss] Not voting

[Robert Naiman]

Not vote? We have 3 referenda on the ballot in Urbana and 3 in
Champaign; and a progressive candidate running for state's attorney...

If you encourage people not to vote, you are giving a cold shoulder to
all these efforts. Or are you just suggesting that folks abstain in
the presidential race?

On Jan 28, 2008 5:26 PM,  <n.dahlheim at mchsi.com> wrote:
> Once again, I really urge people not to vote.  The quality of political discourse and the fakery posing as a
> genuine political campaign offends my sensibility and my intelligence.  I definitely do not plan on voting in
> such a ridiculous American Idol campaign that displays none of the pretense of even appearing like a
> genuine political contest.  We can say that we want the lesser of the evils presented us, but we will get
> nowhere with that as the elite can control whomever wins anyway like a marionette.  Have a loud no vote
> and speak against the process, not out of apathy but out of frustration and enlightened disgust!
>      Nick
>
>
> ----------------------  Original Message:  ---------------------
> From:    Ricky Baldwin <baldwinricky at yahoo.com>
> To:      peace discuss <peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net>
> Subject: [Peace-discuss] the primaries before Iowa
> Date:    Mon, 28 Jan 2008 23:11:31 +0000
>
> > Somewhat along the lines of the article Mort just shared, the latest issue of Z
> > has an article
> > with some telling data on the "elite's hidden primary."  It's not even all that
> > hidden, the
> > sources being readily available (and it's not a new story, but updates are
> > important for telling
> > the story).
> >
> > For example, over 80 percent of all presidential campaign donations as of fall
> > '07 went to six
> > candidates: Clinton, Obama, Romney, Giuliani, McCain and Edwards (in that
> > order).  Almost 70
> > percent were over $1000 (meaning: not from you or me or probably anybody we
> > know).  The author
> > goes into great detail, and it's fascinating, breaking out groups of big donors.
> > "Big Capital"
> > (finance, real estate, insurance) favors Clinton, then Giuliani, Romney and
> > Obama.  The big law
> > firms favor Clinton, Edwards then Obama.  Etc.
> >
> > But it's not just donations.  Carl had earlier raised the grim point that the
> > evil Zbigniew
> > Brzezinski is working for Obama (apparently, as in one of the articles Mort
> > shared, because he is
> > supposed to have the best grasp of the "historical moment", a sort of
> > Machiavellian term as I
> > understand it, meaning he'll do the most to advance nasty US ruling class
> > interests 'at this
> > juncture' as Bush Sr used to say.
> >
> > But all six of these top money getters also have high-powered advisers from the
> > notorious Council
> > on Foreign Relations: McCain's list including Henry Kissinger, Lawrence
> > Eagleburger, Alexander
> > Haig, George Schultz and Colin Powell.  Clinton of course has Bill and Madeleine
> > Albright, who've
> > been sharing the stage with her, but also Richard Holbrooke (ugh!) and Bush Jr's
> > "surge" plan
> > co-author John M Keane.  Not that the one with the most CFR members necessarily
> > wins, but the four
> > with the most CFR help seem to be the front runners, and those without ... well,
> > they're starting
> > to drop out even before we in Ill. can pretend to vote for them.
> >
> > I think it's especially important for us here in Ill., and for us who know so
> > many in the
> > "professional" class that strongly supports Obama, to keep on Obama's tail.  But
> > the jist of the
> > article is more important, altho it's no shock to most of us, or (I think) to
> > most people: the
> > ruling class has narrowed the field so severely based on its interests and its
> > estimations that
> > whoever wins will suit them just fine.  (CFR is just one big way, a sort of
> > "peer review" for the
> > ruling class, and a fair amount of donations will naturally accrue to whoever
> > donors believe is
> > the likely choice - notice I don't say whose choice.)
> >
> > And the corollary, for us activist types or just anyone harbors a democratic
> > hope, is the most
> > important of all, tho the author has to cram it in quickly at the end,
> > presumably for reasons of
> > space: none of the "serious" (i.e. elite, and therefore non-snowball) candidates
> > will do what the
> > majority of people really need done unless we make them do it.  The author calls
> > it "people's
> > movements" and "direct struggle", which seems to just about cover it.
> >
> > Keep it up, folks, groups like AWARE are the closest thing we have to a real
> > vote.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > ________________________________________________________________________________
> > ____
> > Be a better friend, newshound, and
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> >
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-- 
Robert Naiman
Just Foreign Policy
www.justforeignpolicy.org