We the People....deserve better

I was watching Larry King a couple of nights ago, something that I routinely do not do, but I watched because he had Jesse Ventura on the show. Ventura has dropped off the map, almost literally, since leaving Minnesota a few years ago, however he is usually good for some laughs so I watched. And was surprised. He said something that seems so natural, and obvious. I guess it was one of those ideas that was so obvious nobody has seen it. Actually the essence of the idea is not new, but the way he articulated it really resonated. He (like me and many others) is absolutely sick of Democrats and Republicans. I used to proudly say, with no hesitation, that I'm a Republican. I don't feel that pride in this party anymore. Now I simply say that I'm conservative, and skirt around party allegiances, hell lately I'm feeling a Libertarian streak that just gets stronger as days go by. I will never be a Democrat, so where does that leave me? A registered Independent? Looks more and more appealing. I'm sick of the two parties, they are both beholden to the special interest groups (SIGs) and the financial backing that they provide. Democrats are owned by Code Pink, and the various other groups, they are legion. But I'm not letting the right side of the aisle off of the hook. Special interest groups are just as ingrained in their pocket books as well. Some of these groups are Bible thumping born-agains that like to dictate morality, others are companies like Blackwater that just want to support the war effort! Maybe the religious SIGs could get together and cast out the Legion of lefty SIGs into one of those barrels of pork that both sides like to fill and toss it into the Potomac. I know, it scares me too when I start making Biblical references, if you don't get it it's from Luke 8:26-33, and Mark 5:1-13. The SIGs are only part of the reason that I'm fed up with these two parties, I would never finish this blog if I elaborated on all of the other things like: increasing size of government, socialist entitlement programs, etc.
Anyway, I'm sick of them all, and the thing that Ventura said as he was voicing his displeasure with them as well was that we as voters should have "none of the above" as an option at the polls. As it stands now, when there is no candidate that you feel supportive of, and you choose not to support them at the polls then it is called voter apathy. But it is not necessarily apathy it's voter disgust, at least that's what it is in my case. So I decided to look into it a little more, and just did a quick search of the term "None of the above". I found some interesting things, the state of Nevada has a choice on their ballots of "None of these candidates", although the way it really works is that the candidate that gets the most votes wins regardless of how many votes None of the above gets so it really means nothing. Ukraine has "against all", now I think that I like that one better. Russia also had "against all" until it was abolished in 2006. The Green Party of California also allowed "none of the above" in its original 1991 bylaws unfortunately the California Secretary of State filed a lawsuit which resulted in the disallowal of none of the above
in Green Party primaries . Why? Because there was an instance in which none of the above actually won. Interesting comparison of Russia and California, huh? Spain, France and Colombia also have similar ballot choices. The Libertarian Parties of various states also have "none of the above" in their bylaws. I also came across a group called Citizens Against Mediocrity in Politics (what a great name, is there anything but mediocrity in politics now?) also known as (CAMP) . This is a group that supports a 28th Amendment to the Constitution that would add "none of the above" to all federal election ballots. You can also purchase clothing that touts witty slogans such as the one that I used for the title of this blog, no I didn't think of it myself, but damn I wish that I had. There was legislation introduced in 2007 in the Massachusetts House of Representatives as well as in the Senate that calls for the option of "None of the above;For a new election". There are several states that have legislation introduced about this, more information can be found here .
For what seemed to me as being a novel idea, there is an undercurrent here that is building. I think that the support that Ron Paul received is evident of that. I think that there is a long way to go before we actually get to vote for none of the above in a presidential election. I think the functional equivalent for now is just staying home (all you apathetic Americans who don't appreciate your right to vote! Wait, what? Voting is NOT a right, it's a PRIVILEGE allowed by the states? Hmm, that's another blog). As I was saying there is a steep mountain to climb for this idea to truly gain ground, but the same is said about the Fairtax, and I am an ardent supporter of that as well. I guess that I just root for the underdog, the REAL underdog. Not the mutts, the strays, and the bitches. You can figure out for yourself whether that was an analogy to the current crop of candidates, and if it is, you get double points if you can accurately match the candidate with the correct comparison. Think of it as Double Jeopardy...because it kinda is!