There are over 200 organized, active national political parties in the United States.
Most people only know of the Democrats and the Republicans.
A few people are beginning to hear of some other parties, such as the Libertarians, the Green Party, and other so-called third parties. And they are so-called because the Democrats and Republicans have no right call this a two-party system.
If there is so much choice out there, why do we generally see only the Democracts and the Republicans on our ballots at election time? The answer, of course, is that the Democrats and Republicans don't want you to see the other parties.
The state legislatures, full of elephants and asses (hereafter referred to as Republicrats), did their best to make it near-impossible for any other party to get put on the ballot.
Ballot access laws have been around since the birth of our representative republic (America is NOT a democracy!), and for good reason. Getting put on the ballot should not be so easy that every Tom, Dick, and Harry can be named as a candidate. The first access laws simply required that a candidate have a handful of signatures, say 15-25.
The new ballot access laws that have been enacted by our wonderful Republicrats require that candidates be able to present anywhere from 1,000 to 3,000 signatures, and some states require that those signatures can only be collected in a 4-month window before the election.
Unless, of course, your party received a certain number of votes in the previous election, in which case you are granted automatic ballot access. Ever wonder why Republicrats aren't knocking on your door, asking you to sign an access petition?
If you want to make a big difference, write a letter to your state representives, including your governor, and ask them to reform ballot access to allow all parties an equal chance. Write a letter to the editor. Start your own political blog. After all, isn't America supposed to be the land of opportunity? Unless, of course, you happen to come from Mexico.
2007-03-10
2007-03-04
Racism in America
Many people today would say that American's have been making great strides towards ending racism. Compared to the immediate post-abolishment South, there is very little racism that seems to surface. There may be occasional reports when white officers beat an unarmed black civilian, but these events today are rare.
But even with all the advancements that we as a society have made towards looking beyond black and white, I cannot count the number of people who still see shades of brown. I have talked to many people with varying degrees of racial hatred towards Hispanics, from those who believe they should just stay on their side of the border, to those who believe that lethal force should be authorized for use against "all them damn illegals.”
They all have their reasons. Some believe that the immigrants are taking away our jobs – as if those making the remarks would perform the same jobs that many immigrants take on, working 16 hours a day in a field just to pay their rent and have a little left over to send home. Others believe that no one should come to America unless they know how to speak our language – yet many who say this would be insulted if they went to another country and the people there didn't speak English.
This modern wave of racism is the height of hypocrisy. The “founding fathers,” who emigrated form England, came into America as uninvited guests. Not understanding the concept of overstaying your welcome, they decided to round up all the people who were here first and take over their land. Now that we have successfully adulterated the land to the point of poisoning ourselves with every breath we take, we decide that we are the only ones who have a right to be here. Screw all the people who were here first, and screw all the people that have the same dream of the pilgrims. We're Americans, and this is our land – everybody else get off.
I personally aplaud President Bush for his efforts to create a more open border with Mexico (one of the few things I was behind him on). This is not something that could be done overnight. I believe anyone who doesn't have ill intent for the US should be able to come over; however, this does not mean they should have the same right to Government services that natural-born or naturalized citizens have.
In order to do this, we need to protect the right of government services to investigate citizenship status without it being considered discrimination.
Or else we would have to make it easier for people to work here legally. Then they could recieve an identifcation number, earn an honest living, and pay taxes like everyone else.
But even with all the advancements that we as a society have made towards looking beyond black and white, I cannot count the number of people who still see shades of brown. I have talked to many people with varying degrees of racial hatred towards Hispanics, from those who believe they should just stay on their side of the border, to those who believe that lethal force should be authorized for use against "all them damn illegals.”
They all have their reasons. Some believe that the immigrants are taking away our jobs – as if those making the remarks would perform the same jobs that many immigrants take on, working 16 hours a day in a field just to pay their rent and have a little left over to send home. Others believe that no one should come to America unless they know how to speak our language – yet many who say this would be insulted if they went to another country and the people there didn't speak English.
This modern wave of racism is the height of hypocrisy. The “founding fathers,” who emigrated form England, came into America as uninvited guests. Not understanding the concept of overstaying your welcome, they decided to round up all the people who were here first and take over their land. Now that we have successfully adulterated the land to the point of poisoning ourselves with every breath we take, we decide that we are the only ones who have a right to be here. Screw all the people who were here first, and screw all the people that have the same dream of the pilgrims. We're Americans, and this is our land – everybody else get off.
I personally aplaud President Bush for his efforts to create a more open border with Mexico (one of the few things I was behind him on). This is not something that could be done overnight. I believe anyone who doesn't have ill intent for the US should be able to come over; however, this does not mean they should have the same right to Government services that natural-born or naturalized citizens have.
In order to do this, we need to protect the right of government services to investigate citizenship status without it being considered discrimination.
Or else we would have to make it easier for people to work here legally. Then they could recieve an identifcation number, earn an honest living, and pay taxes like everyone else.
Scott's Smoking Battle
Smoking is bad for you. Smoking drives up the cost of health care insurance, and your life insurance premiums. Smoking makes you stink and gives you yellow teeth.
Even so, I do not think that Scott has the right to discriminate against current or potential employees simply on the basis of nicotine consumption. They can prohibit smoking on all Scott properties, including break rooms and vehicles; they can choose not to give smoke breaks (which are a priviledge, not a right); they can charge higher premiums for company-sponsored health insurance; they can do everything in their power to make working for them a living hell for smokers. But they cannot outright discriminate against people on the basis of smoking when it comes to hiring and firing.
On a semi-related note, I cannot stand people in the health care industry who choose to smoke. Sure, we all deal with stress. But health care workers in general are in very close proximity to people, and I don't like to have people that close to me when their breath smells like an ash tray. I don't want to have a paramedic working on me with yellow teeth and tobacco breath (one of my classmates) or someone who always has to turn around to spit out brown goop (one of my upperclassmen).
Even so, I do not think that Scott has the right to discriminate against current or potential employees simply on the basis of nicotine consumption. They can prohibit smoking on all Scott properties, including break rooms and vehicles; they can choose not to give smoke breaks (which are a priviledge, not a right); they can charge higher premiums for company-sponsored health insurance; they can do everything in their power to make working for them a living hell for smokers. But they cannot outright discriminate against people on the basis of smoking when it comes to hiring and firing.
On a semi-related note, I cannot stand people in the health care industry who choose to smoke. Sure, we all deal with stress. But health care workers in general are in very close proximity to people, and I don't like to have people that close to me when their breath smells like an ash tray. I don't want to have a paramedic working on me with yellow teeth and tobacco breath (one of my classmates) or someone who always has to turn around to spit out brown goop (one of my upperclassmen).
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