[sixties-l] Nobody Won-watergate to palm beach

From: Ronald M. Jacobs (rjacobs@zoo.uvm.edu)
Date: 11/11/00

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    Nobody Won!
    
    	The mask has fallen off.  The facade of democracy we citizens of the 
    United States live under has cracked.  One corporate candidate has won the 
    popular vote and another is ready to assume the presidency.  The last time the 
    rulers were so freaked out was during the Watergate crisis.  Just like then, 
    talking heads in their media speculate about what could happen while 
    politicians and establishment wise men put their faith in a system so corrupt 
    and non-representative that close to half of those eligible didn^t bother to 
    vote.  Meanwhile, those who did vote only to find out their vote doesn^t really 
    count grow angrier and more frustrated that the world^s greatest democracy 
    denies their decision in the ballot box.
    	One has to admit that there^s a bit of humor in the situation.  
    Russia^s leader Putin has offered observers from his country in what can only 
    be a clear dig at the presumptuousness of the American government^s perennial 
    insistence in sending its electoral observers anywhere around the globe to 
    insure ^fair^ elections.  Italy^s newspapers call the U.S. a banana republic, 
    pointing out that the only other countries that have electors who can overrule 
    the popular vote are those run by the military.  Being a permanent fan of 
    Nobody^s candidacy, I^m happy that s/he^s still winning as of this writing.
    	Seriously, this crisis among the rulers is a graphic example of the 
    failure of the corporate republic government.  It is the perfect time to point 
    out that U.S. elections have never been free and have been controlled since 
    their inception by the wealthy to insure their continued dominance.  From the 
    slaveowners and wealthy northerners who insisted on the Electoral College in 
    the first place to today^s paid-off legislators who refuse to pass meaningful 
    laws ending corporate contributions, the electoral system in this country 
    insures that the people will never have a real choice of candidates.
    	Like Watergate, the current electoral crisis is just the proverbial tip 
    of the iceberg and is more the concern of those who have a vested interest in 
    the outcome.  Still, it is too important to ignore.  The fact that millions of 
    Americans who believe in the system enough to vote are discovering for the 
    first time that their vote really doesn^t count is a big step forward.  Add to 
    that the irregularities in the ballots and the count that seemed to effect 
    mostly African-American precincts and one can only be amazed at the brazenness 
    of the system in its denial of the right to vote.  This election proves more 
    than any that I can remember how little voting has to do with true democracy.  
    It is up to us to bring this point home, especially in light of the opportunity 
    their system has handed us. 
    



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