Submitted by Jake Anderson via TheAntiMedia.org,
There is a disturbance in the Force. At an accelerating rate, the American people are realizing the two-party system is rigged to ensure the corrupt oligarchs of the deep state continue to rule the roost.
On the right, we’ve seen the GOP crime syndicate openly discussing ways to usurp the will of the people and dethrone Donald Trump (like him or not, a lot of people have voted for him). A chaotic surprise could still happen at the convention — and if it does, there will be hell to pay.
On the left, it has become embarrassingly obvious that the Democratic crime syndicate had a pre-selected candidate who would consolidate the demands of the special interests who support the DNC, as well as the power structures upholding the corporatist establishment. The voting anomalies, rigged primaries, and insidious superdelegate firewall that will likely cost Bernie Sanders the nomination are well documented at this point. Rest assured, the Democratic party will be forever altered by the Bernie Sanders movement, as many of us anxiously wait to see how he will transition to post-election grassroots anti-establishment progressivism.
The ‘lesser of two evils’ argument is causing more chaos than ever before — because this time around, we’re dealing with the two most disliked candidates in American political history. It’s not even close. Voters won’t be holding their noses as they cast their ballots this year — they’ll have gas masks strapped to their heads.
The numbers are in, and 55% of Americans want an independent to run against Clinton and Trump. Let me repeat that: over half the country wants an independent to disrupt the two-party system. And they want a third party — and, if we’re being honest, a fourth or fifth party — to lead the charge. The DNC and the GOP are like corporations who buy out any competition so they can keep making money with a shitty product. That shitty product is our dead democracy — and Americans want a recall.
The following list outlines 10 independent or 3rd party candidates you can vote for in 2016:
Bernie Sanders (Democratic Party?)
He’s not really a 3rd-party candidate because he’s running to be the nominee of the Democratic Party crime syndicate — but some believe he seeks to cause an insurrection in the DNC for the purposes of fomenting a third party revolution. That said, despite his feverish voter base, there are many who dislike him. Anarchists hate him because he’s a statist and has ties to the military-industrial complex; conservatives hate him because he invokes socialism in a positive context; mainstream Democrats hate him because they believe he is increasing the chances Donald Trump will be elected president (even though this theory is incorrect). Everyone else loves him because he is riding a wrecking ball into the political establishment. Young people, in particular, recognize that Sanders is not only calling for all-out reform of not only the banking, healthcare, and education systems — he is looking to dismantle parts of the corporatocracy running the deep state. What becomes of his movement post-election will be for the history books.
Jill Stein (Green Party)
If Bernie Sanders is significantly left of Hillary Clinton, Jill Stein is that much more left of Bernie Sanders — at least in rhetoric. Many believe this is the year of the Green Party and that its popularity will grow considerably because of the schism forming in the Democratic crime syndicate. While it is extremely unlikely she can win the presidency, the rigged duopoly of our political system has been laid bare, and Stein represents a momentum on the left that hasn’t been felt in a long time. The progressive agenda she advances is in keeping with many of Bernie Sanders’ platforms, and it is quite possible that once the primaries are over, we could see a political coalition between the two.
Stein’s positions on the military-industrial complex, the environment, and countless other issues make her a formidable intellectual force in America today. She believes it is time to finally reject the “lesser of two evils” and stand up for the “greater good.”
Finally, if such a thing matters to you, author and activist Chris Hedges — who believes America has become an inverted totalitarian empire — is on board for a Stein presidency.
Gary Johnson (Libertarian Party)
Like Jill Stein on the left, libertarian Gary Johnson has a huge opportunity to grow his political brand this election cycle. Attracting the support of former Ron Paul supporters, he offers a legitimate challenge to the two-party crime ring. On the issues, he has much to offer for reformists on both the left and right: he wants to end the Fed; wants to overturn California’s Proposition 8; he seeks to eliminate excessive taxation on businesses (he does not advocate taxing corporations, but was supportive of Occupy Wall Street as a kind of “surgery” on crony capitalism, evidencing his support of challenging corrupt corporations); believes legalizing drugs will reduce crime (though he has a complex position on private prisons); wants dramatic reform of public education (even calling for an elimination of the Department of Education and HUD). He wants a pro-states “collaborative, incentive-driven” approach to environmental issues (he’s against cap and trade, which is unacceptable to many environmentalists).
Can Johnson and the libertarians continue their progress as a legitimate 3rd or 4th party? We will see. Like Occupy Wall Street, the Ron Paul revolution has lost some momentum, but it is still a force to be reckoned with — and for good reason. It has helped create a positive schism in the GOP crime syndicate, offering traditional conservatives and libertarians a way to stay politically engaged without voting for a neo-con or Tea Party goon.
John McAfee (Libertarian Party)
Libertarian McAfee took to the mainstream networks to go ham on the Apple vs. FBI issue earlier this year, famously offering to crack the San Bernardino iPhone pro bono. He believes the United States is horribly unprepared for cyber attacks and wants to create a Digital Transformation Office. He also wants people to understand that hackers are modern day knights (my words, not his).
“You have to reach out to the hacker community, which have been blackballed and labeled by the government as an evil force,” he said. “No, they’re not. They’re our only hope.”
If nothing else, his campaign videos reveal a campaign substantially different from others currently vying for the presidency.
Roseanne Barr (Peace and Freedom Party)
Don’t hate, appreciate. Roseanne Barr is awesome. Does she have flaws (she was once married to Tom Arnold)? Yes. You don’t?
Here is a sampling of her politics: she’s pro-choice, anti-Federal Reserve, strong on civil rights, anti-corporatocracy, pro- marijuana legalization, and she opposes private prisons. She wants to forgive all student loans, oppose destructive free trade agreements, and believes the military-industrial complex is our shadow government. She strongly stands against the stigmatization of conspiracy theories (which, in my mind, is a political issue) and opposes the “lesser of two evils” brainwashing tactic. The list goes on and on. She fights against the “control icons” — propagandistic social tools, images, and phrases used by power structures to control the masses — that allow our society to be run by sociopaths. I challenge anyone to not find at least a couple issues they agree with her on.
William Kreml (Green Party)
With 35 years of political activism under his belt, William Kreml is another Green Party option for you. His slogan is, “Make the Green Party the Cutting Edge: Intellectually, Politically, & Morally.”
Mimi Soltysik and Angela Nicole Walker (Socialist Party USA nominees)
Mimi and Angela are cool enough that I’ll let them speak for themselves:
“We don’t advocate for reforming capitalism. We actually advocate for the overthrow of capitalism. This is a revolutionary move.”
Elucidating their position more clearly, Mimi states:
“Honesty, integrity, love, compassion, and a revolutionary spirit will carry us through the struggle. We’re going to stand in solidarity with each other as we face capitalism, prepared to destroy its incredible oppression and destruction. We learn and grow from each setback. Our determination in the face of incredible odds is fierce. Together, we can not be defeated.”
Mimi and Angela’s critique of Bernie Sanders is a trenchant one: Bernie supports the drone program. That is unacceptable to many.
Monica Moorehead (Workers World Party nominee)
Monica Moorehead once delivered newspapers for the Black Panther Party and eventually rose to be the leader of the World Workers Party, a U.S. Communist party. Her campaign slogan is “Real People. Real Struggles. Real Socialist Revolution.”
In one speech, she called out the media for stifling discourse and called the United States the “belly of the beast”:
“Everywhere you look, on CNN, MSNBC, or any of the big mainstream media, there’s Trump especially because it keeps people tune to the TV,” she said. “We feel that electing a president and vice president every four years in the belly of the beast, which is the United States, is so repulsive on so many levels, but the main reason these elections are bogus is that the social conditions for the people inside and outside the United States, it doesn’t fundamentally change at all. Nothing changes.”
Deez Nuts (Independent) and Vermin Supreme (Independent)
This sounds like a joke, right? You’re thinking of clicking out of this page now, aren’t you? Don’t. Let me tell you a short story about a 15-year-old teen from Iowa who at one point in the primaries was polling at 9 percent. Brady Olsen used his satirical electoral creation to demonstrate how weary people are of standard politicians. It was a bellwether — an early sign this election would be like no other.
Last year, The Guardian declared that Deez Nuts was officially “the most successful independent candidate for president in two decades.” Way to go, kid! Here’s a cigar…
To read more of my thoughts on the importance of this young man, click here.
Vermin Supreme, another satirical candidate, has also made progress as an independent candidate. At a protest in 2012, the “friendly fascist“ said:
“Between the cops and the protesters, there’s a vacuum. That’s the space I occupy.”
Zoltan Istvan (Transhumanist Party)
Get past the name — both his and his party’s — and the fact that he drives a coffin-shaped bus. As critical as I can be about the social ethics of Singularitarianism, it is progressive to have representation of them in politics, especially if we will soon be uploading our minds to the Internet. Zoltan believes humans will transcend biology and merge with advanced computers. Like most Singularitarians, he believes a better society is possible with a post-scarcity transhuman paradigm shift. If you’re a fan of futurist Ray Kurzweil and believe his brand of techno-libertarianism is the way to go, you might consider putting a poster of Zoltan above your bed (I did*).
Hundreds, in fact. Whether or not this is because of the ubiquity of the Internet (ease of dissemination of information and online forms), it is significant.
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It is clear at this point that we need a strong left-right coalition, a unification of libertarians and progressives. Both Ron Paul and Ralph Nader believe this coalition is possible and that it could provide a tremendous challenge to the forces holding back human progress. Whether you believe in voting or abstaining, and whether you’re a liberal or a conservative, libertarian or progressive, anarchist or statist, it’s time to arbitrate our differences so we can work together to make this world a better place to live and thrive.