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assclown.

Would you prefer that I rant on about the glory of an acient goddess as seen through the eyes of a modern sci-fi writer? Maybe I'll do a trick for you if you clap your hands.

From "The Story of the Amulet," a children's book written in 1906

And now from the window of a four-wheeled cab the Queen of Babylon beheld the wonders of London. Buckingham Palace she thought uninteresting; Westminster Abbey and the Houses of Parliament little better. But she liked the Tower, and the River, and the ships filled her with wonder and delight.

'But how badly you keep your slaves. How wretched and poor and neglected they seem,' she said, as the cab rattled along the Mile End Road.

'They aren't slaves; they're working-people,' said Jane.

'Of course they're working. That's what slaves are. Don't you tell me. Do you suppose I don't know a slave's face when I see it? Why don't their masters see that they're better fed and better clothed? Tell me in three words.'

No one answered. The wage-system of modern England is a little difficult to explain in three words even if you understand it--which the children didn't.

'You'll have a revolt of your slaves if you're not careful,' said the Queen.

'Oh, no,' said Cyril; 'you see they have votes--that makes them safe not to revolt. It makes all the difference. Father told me so.'

'What is this vote?' asked the Queen. 'Is it a charm? What do they do with it?'

'I don't know,' said the harassed Cyril; 'it's just a vote, that's all! They don't do anything particular with it.'

'I see,' said the Queen; 'a sort of plaything.'

I enjoyed this. Thanks.

Well, obviously, we need to whine a lot, and look very world-weary and wise while doing so.

Then, we should smoke French cigarettes, and complain about how Borrrring eet all ees!

hilarious stuff, jackass. Let me guess, straight ticket democrat? Yeah, they're doing a great job of being cabana boys for the Republicans. Let me know where the opposition movement is when you find it.

As for Ayn Rand, I hold her up about as much as I hold Ann Coulter up. Anyone who claims that capitalism is a system crafted by the hand of God and that the fate of the poor is entiely their own fault should be dragged outside of city limits and shot dead.

I don't smoke, I don't believe in paying some tabacco tycoon from some slave owning family for the right to slowly kill myself. Life is far from boring, if you think that, you should stop taking up my space.

And I just don't like football. Sports are just another distraction taking up far too much space in the average American brain.

Hmm, this needs more thought. However, in response to your nihilistic approach and cynicism, what do you suggest we do? I for one refuse to give up the small remaining power I DO have in the direction AmeriCo is heading. The right to vote may be symbolic in these times, but symbolism counts for something in this culture. You might be disgusted by the herd mentality, but why give up any influence (however small) you might have over the herd?

Believe me, if you give up the right to vote, they'll take so much more. Keep in mind the Patriot Act, COINTELPRO, the war in Iraq... All snowballed into something bigger than we thought we were getting ourselves in for. Sure, voting is easy and small, and it shouldn't be the ONLY thing you do to make a change, but it's not worthless.

I know I'm prone to fits of idealism. I'm working on it.

I have mis-represented myself. My previous post was an outburst without reason. Allow me to clarify. First, on the issue of third parties I have misspoken. As they exist currently they have virtue but that virtue exists only due to their irrelevance. If they ever became viable they would immediatly become part of an election system that is so fundementally flawed that their virtue would vanish under a landslide of corporate money and special interest.

I was not speaking of simply sitting at home and being docile on election day. Voting at the local level can be quite helpful (though it's better to just run for such an office). You can personally affect your schoolboard or other such small things....Senators and Presidents are a diffrent reality. Either party is fair commodity for trade among corporate Amerika. So, cast your vote: Exxon or Starbucks. Either one will simply perpetuate the problem.

As long as current election rules remain intact things will never change and your vote will continue to be meaningless. Finance realitys and the electoral college hold Amerika in a position of perpetual rule by two parties that do not speak for the people. Furthermore, these politicians will never change these rules because they have carved out a nobility for themselves and it is unnatural for those in power to freely submit it. The situation is intollerable. So as to what I would reccomend, I reccomend change by any means neccesary. Blackmail Denny Hastert if thats what it takes to get a bill through the house.

The reality of COINTELPRO is not lost on me by any means. That program most foul is where I take my forum name from. It appears I drew a much diffrent message from it then you. The press went after Nixon for watergate, because he was messing with other rich white men of the American nobility. COINTELPRO was ignored by the media, or given only passing mention. The message here is that the tradional system cannot be disrupted, but those on the outside, the fringe, can be abused and no one will speak up for them in the least.

The fact that COINTELPRO existed is my justification for my beliefs. At the national level, American "democracy" is a multiple choice quiz...but not even a complete one...simply A or B. Choices C, D, and E will be crushed, maginalized and ridiculed. Look at the primarys. I knew so many who were impressed more by Sharpton or Kucinich or even Dean but voted for Kerry because those ones were being honest outside of tradional poltics. Thus, they are not viable options the press tells us. We believe them too.

My point is simply that the mechanisms of the American electoral system are set against the masses. They are rules created and enforced by a nobility of rich, white American familys that groom their children for Senator seats and the presidency from birth. Not even the founding fathers really trusted the masses. They set those mechanisms up to ensure that they and their friends would be running the show for years and years. Your vote at the national level is irrelevant. A win for Bush or Kerry is nothing more then points on some partisan hack's political scoreboard. Maybe one is worse than the other, big deal, nothing really changes unless you change the election law.

You're a fool if you think a vote changes anything. The passing of a cerimonial position from one skull and bones flunkie to another matters less to me than the previous night's football score. And I hate football.

Both parties fear an educated and free populace, same goes for the greens, the libertarians, and the reform party; not that it even matters what they have to say from the sidelines. The power structure remains intact.

Telling people their vote counts is just another way to keep them docile. Puch a hole in a sheet of paper and forget about your lost job, your non-existant health-care, the rotten cops patrolling your city, forget about it for 4 more years. Both parties campaign for another four years of Amerikan ignorant bliss in front of the TV.

God Bless Amerika. Get out there and prop up a dead system. Be proud.