Shameless Racketeering
Monday, October 6th, 2008
Here's an energetic group of young change-makers in Arkansas registering voters to benefit democracy--no bias whatsoever.
The front page of USA Today reported today on a record-breaking season for voter registration as we approach the 2008 presidential election. It was reported that the Democrats gained 800,000 voters, while the Republicans lost 300,000 voters. Some would call it a victory for Democracy.
The leagues of folks with their clipboards and their registration forms stand just outside the door to your favorite bakery. They stand proud and upright as if they are doing a service for democracy, but this is no philanthropist’s mission. These people are strategically targeting you. They pose behind kindly smiles, but they aren’t just aiming to get you registered, they’re not pining for true democracy, they’re aiming to sell their party.
Expectedly, the article in USA Today specifically focused on numbers in terms of party affiliation. There was no report on the number of independent voters registered. Who the bleep cares about the independents, that disloyal backstabbing bunch, right? The ones who actually think for themselves and don’t subscribe to any political dogma. The ones who will not sell their soul and will not sell their vote.
The racket of the dual party system invaded the mainstream media long ago. They’ve long succeeded in delegitimizing independent voices. Let’s be honest with ourselves and recognize that this isn’t a democracy, this is a mob war. Let’s not fool ourselves. These men and women with their clipboards want their respective mob bosses to win. They carouse about friendly neighborhoods searching for a few unwary chaps to join the gang. The Democrats set up base camp on liberal college campuses, and the Republicans conduct voter registration in their church parking lots. They’re not interested in encouraging a more educated vote. They just want you to take a blood oath and declare your party affiliation.
Before I go on, I must admit there are a few folks who actually mean well. In fact, I have a good friend who took a clipboard and registration forms down to Main Avenue, and I know he’s not rooting for one party or the other. He explained to me that he just wanted to provide people the opportunity to vote. I do believe his intentions were noble, but I must still respectfully object to any campaign for voter registration on principle.
Here’s what I think: If a person doesn’t have the time or motivation to register to vote, they most definitely don’t have time to know what’s going on in politics. Isn’t that logical? God knows, some of us have wonderful lives outside of the political mob scene. Thank goodness for that. And thank goodness there are folks out there who don’t feel the need to impose their reckless opinions upon others.
Here’s to all of you unregistered folks out there. Thank you for standing strong. There’s no shame in abstaining from business that you have no interest in. It would certainly be a shame if you were just filling in the ovals because someone told you to. Thank you for fending off the mob and their incessant racket. We’d have a far more democratic country if more people minded their own business like you.
What is truly shameful, is the man or woman who has never given careful thought to life or liberty and out of weakness has submitted his or her independent mind to the will of one mob or the other. These people, in compromising themselves, have effectively disrespected and spit in the face of every individual who thinks for himself. What is more contemptible, though, is the arrogant man or woman who uses his vote ignorantly to impose his moral opinion upon others. This type of voter is an oppressor.
