[With a month to go, even folks who weren't bored by the election to start with are now barely able to suppress a yawn. In part this is due to the spectacular ineptitude of the Romney campaign, which keeps shooting itself in various tender metaphorical body parts, with the result that even media efforts to gin up horse race fever are falling flat.
To help FotM readers step back and think about what's going on, here is a great overview of the 2012 Presidential election. Part of its usefulness lies in the fact that my friend Mirk wrote it as a primer for folks in Norway, where it is being published in the magazine Rødt!, published by the Red Party there. The step back it provides can be useful for us in a whole 'nother way. ]
by Judith "Mirk" Mirkinson
Yes,
it’s election time again: time to elect the president. Every four
years Americans are told this is the pinnacle of our democracy, NO!
The pinnacle of world democracy! The pundits will be pontificating,
the billions will be flowing and the candidates will be slogging it
out, drowning us with style over substance.
The
US presidential elections are now endless affairs and handled almost
like the World Cup or a baseball championship. The economy’s down;
that means Romney is up. Romney refuses to release his tax returns:
now Obama is up. Every little quote is analyzed, every stupid mistake
made bigger. Sound bites abound -it doesn’t matter whether what a
candidate says is actually true – people just have to listen. And
after awhile people begin to believe what they hear, no matter where
the real truth lies.
People
have a stake in believing it all and believing that voting every four
years for one of the two major parties can make a difference. It’s
essential that the electorate think they have a choice and a real
voice in what kind of government we will have.
The
New York Times, always attempting to bring more gravitas to the
charade, laments: “The real issues will not be talked about, no
solutions are being offered.” But the show goes on.
It’s
not what one has to offer, it’s about how bad the other person is,
As
the Republican speaker of the house John Boehner put it recently:
The American people probably aren’t going to fall in love with Mitt Romney. I’ll tell you this: 95 percent of the people that show up to vote in November are going to show up in that voting booth, and they are going to vote for or against Barack Obama.
The
pols and polls keep saying it’s going to be a close race. It seems
rather unbelievable, given the incredible excitement generated by
Barack Obama only four years ago. One would think that Obama would
continue to be the most ideal choice for the corporate ruling class.
In reality, he’s a right to middle of the road Democrat who’s
presided over a war and militarized security state. At the same
time, he’s young, he’s charismatic and he speaks of the future
and an America that cares for all the people. As the first African
American president he presents an America that has overcome its
history – one that is perfect for the U.S. in this new, more
complex world we live in.
It’s
another ” demonstration election” – a concept perfected in
America and now exported all over the world. Choosing among a
limited range of options creates the illusion of democracy, and the
illusion of real choice. No longer can the US support
Read more!
