How about.....THIS, instead?

Hey everyone: This is certainly NOT my forum of choice, nor am I one to participate in it at all.....largely because I truly believe this has all become theater for the purpose of distraction, and a way of dividing and conquering, no more. Essentially meaningless, in making anything really different in our lives, or anyone else's internationally, either.....

However, I always see around election time threads encouraging us to vote, for many different mantras: exercising our representative republic rights, and how can you complain if you haven't done your duty to vote.....

Gotta say, going to pull a switch in a booth is one of the simplest things in life there is. It isn't difficult at all.

What I suggest is everyone NOT VOTING AT ALL.

The electoral college, with representative delegates in the number representative to the population of each state, according to pre-drawn census applications already in place (which is a whole other thread in and of itself), really elects the president anyway. The popular vote is eclipsed by that, as we saw when Bush Jr. beat Al Gore, and that wasn't the first time, but one of the only, certainly.

However, if no one votes, if we BOYCOTT elections entirely, then when it all goes wonky, surely it's gonna be relatively easy to impeach/overthrow/resist what's happening.....

Just a thought.
tetra

Of course, this way of peaceful protest is only successful because everyone DOESN"T VOTE. But I have to say, this happened as a means of peaceful protest and was successful in the early eighties over tuna companies' ways of hunting for tuna with nets and including dolphins in their catch.....

There was a general boycott on tuna, in general, that caused the companies to reappraise their way of hunting the tuna in order to eliminate the "by catch," which is what the dolphin turned out being, because a lot of us didn't want to eat dolphin in a can, labeled tuna, or eat dolphin any way at all......

I include this as an example how a peaceful protest boycott actually worked.....
tetra

I suggest that everyone should vote for Trump.

a reply to: tetra50

We've discussed my opinion on this so I'll leave that out.

I'm just not convinced this would even work with even fifty percent of voters agreeing to it. They would just theoretically count the acquired votes and declare a winner. Might see something along the lines of a low voter turnout at the end of a news page somewhere.

There are many local elections where little to no votes are cast. Some candidates go un challenged. Voting is at the center of our democratic values. We should fight tooth and nail to fix whatever problems we may be facing head on and loudly.

Nice try, but you'll never stop me from voting for Vermin Supreme.

originally posted by: JinMI
a reply to: tetra50

We've discussed my opinion on this so I'll leave that out.

I'm just not convinced this would even work with even fifty percent of voters agreeing to it. They would just theoretically count the acquired votes and declare a winner. Might see something along the lines of a low voter turnout at the end of a news page somewhere.

There are many local elections where little to no votes are cast. Some candidates go un challenged. Voting is at the center of our democratic values. We should fight tooth and nail to fix whatever problems we may be facing head on and loudly.

Hey JinMI: no "we" haven't, as I've already said, I don't reply nor participate on the political thread forums ever, so that would have been impossible for "us" to discuss, ever, as I this is the first time I've offered anything attendant.....

However, what you say further as in this, specifically:

Voting is at the center of our democratic values. We should fight tooth and nail to fix whatever problems we may be facing head on and loudly.

Yeah, obviously I realize that. However, if we've sincerely arrived at a time where no one candidate really represents anyone adequately within a representative republic (notice I don't even make mention of democracy, as we aren't a true democracy, but a republic with voted representation equalling a "representative republic"), then perhaps what we should be parading for non stop is a boycott, realistically, in order to make something change....

just saying....
regards,
tetra

originally posted by: BlueShaman
I suggest that everyone should vote for Trump.

Hey Blue Shaman: thanks for reading and replying, but...
in order to limit the use of this thread for your particular pov and way to influence people voting hereabouts, when I'm really not offering a page for that at all, what I'm gonna say to you is that I appreciate that you read the thread and thought it worth responding, but that's not the discussion of the thread: Hillary Vs. Trump.
So, find a thread instead where it is....
regards,
tetra

originally posted by: eNumbra
Nice try, but you'll never stop me from voting for Vermin Supreme.

well, eNumbra: thanks, as always for participating and reading, but....
if that's how you exercise your "democratic," never mind representative republic right in a representative replublic, then I guess you're happy voting for the best "vermin supreme," in your own words, to represent your own POV....as that's kind of what this is all about.....
regards,
tetra50

a reply to: JinMI
I'm not trying to be repetitive, but I still gotta aks as to this :

We've discussed my opinion on this so I'll leave that out.

Just when did that actually happen? Could you quote our convo as to that, specifically?
regards,
tetra

a reply to: tetra50
www.abovetopsecret.com...

Perhaps you forgot. No worries.

I just don't see boycotting voting being the answer to our problems. We have the right and the will.

originally posted by: JinMI
a reply to: tetra50
www.abovetopsecret.com...

Perhaps you forgot. No worries.

I just don't see boycotting voting being the answer to our problems. We have the right and the will.

Absolutely I forgot, yes. And suspected as much. ah yes....I'm somewhat old, LOL. thanks for the reference. I pushed it cause I knew I HAD actually weighed in on some of these threads of late, and wanted to know what we'd discussed, specifically.

Still, I do think boycotting may be our only answer. The more I learn about both of them, the more my quandary as to whom I would vote for, IF I even considered voting an answer any longer, which I don't. Which, is the explanation, for this thread.....

It seems, vis a vis the release of some current info, if you can believe it, that a "security aide" to the current Sec. of State had some very close familial Muslim Brothehood ties.....If that is even true, one has to hold the whole FBI invesigation of these emails as suspect, in and of itself, as HOW exactly, did that aide ever get a security, classified status, anyway, IF that's true?

And, having said that, I am truly uncomfortable with some of Trump's previous supportive stances (like Iraq, in the beginning) and apparent (again, ?) close ties with Russia....

That's kind of the problem, here, too, whom do you believe anyway???
That being the case, a wholesale boycott on voting at all seems the best methodology for real change.
thanks for hanging in there with me.
tetra

a reply to: tetra50

My opinion to you would be to vote third party. Overall it would have more of an impact than not voting. As I stated earlier and my thread, not voting would have zero consequence, even if you had half of the voting population with you. Given the way we are divided and distracted in todays America, I just can't fathom it. Maybe age has imparted some wisdom upon you that I am not yet privy to but that is my belief.

I can not pretend to know the vast dealings with the middle east over the decades, but I can sort of explain the working relationship between the ME and Clinton et al. Pay to play. I would suggest starting there and you will quickly discover exactly how a woman like Huma Abedin could get close to HRC and have influence.

Your becoming one of my favorite posters here btw! You bring your thoughts clearly to the table without reservation or judgment in the discussion.

a reply to: tetra50

You aren't alone in this thinking. I have wondered about it myself for many years, the "What if?"
I have also thought about it in terms of going to football games for example. Just the ticket to get in, not even including the price for a soda, hotdog, or beer. Hardly a price range anymore for a middle class family. What if everyone left those stadiums empty for a couple weekends? Because we are tired of being gouged. Bet that would change real quick.

It is pretty much the same idea. The power lies in the numbers, and the people have that power on their side.

Heck a quarter of the arguments you hear in these recent political post are people saying that TPTB have already picked their queen to win. The general consensus the winner is decided long before the elections. To me, that pretty much brings me back to why even bother and waste the gas and my day. I certainly feel no pride in voting for a lesser of evils. That's just dumb IMHO. It is also a sad state of affairs that we have reached the point to settle for that. Shame on us.

So, I guess you could say I have been doing exactly what your asking for years. I've stayed home.
Just for the record, I Would have voted for Ron Paul because I Beleived in Him to be a man that could have done a Good Job.

These two jokers? No thanks. I won't waste my precious vote on questionables....

"Shut him up! I've got a lot invested in this ride, shut him up! Look at my furrows of worry, look at my big bank account, and my family. This has to be real." Bill Hicks

Is why, IMO, boycotting the voting system won't happen.

Here in Australia voting is compulsory. I'll never understand why the US is voluntary.

I guarantee your elections would have vastly different results if ALL Americans HAD to vote.

a reply to: Kryties

Here in Australia voting is compulsory. I'll never understand why the US is voluntary. 

Maybe you've noticed a trend over here though, our choice in political candidates usually sucks.

Mandatory voting is like saying, "you can either pick this assh*le, or this assh*le... or pay me twenty bucks"

originally posted by: rockintitz

Maybe you've noticed a trend over here though, our choice in political candidates usually sucks.

Mandatory voting is like saying, "you can either pick this assh*le, or this assh*le... or pay me twenty bucks"

Oh I totally agree, but the difference is we only have ourselves to blame for the Rudd/Gillard/Abbott/Turnbull years. We voted them in. What we don't have is the choice of who fronts the party nor do we seem to have the guts to vote for parties other than Labor or Liberal - although the turmoil of the last few PM's may be an indication that people are changing their minds about the '2 party preferred' system.

Anyway, didn't mean to change the topic to Aussie politics. Carry on

originally posted by: BlueShaman
I suggest that everyone should vote for Trump.

This is probably a really, really bad idea. A worse idea than everyone voting for Clinton.

You don't have to vote for either Hillary or Trump people!!

Here are some much better suggestions:

originally posted by: tetra50

originally posted by: eNumbra
Nice try, but you'll never stop me from voting for Vermin Supreme.

well, eNumbra: thanks, as always for participating and reading, but....
if that's how you exercise your "democratic," never mind representative republic right in a representative replublic, then I guess you're happy voting for the best "vermin supreme," in your own words, to represent your own POV....as that's kind of what this is all about.....
regards,
tetra50

They're not my own words; that's the guys name. How dare you lecture me about the election when you don't even know all the candidates.