In many states during this so-called primary season - where both mainstream political parties play their corporate shell game - the stories about voter suppression are growing by the week.
During the latest round in the
Arizona primary it was more than evident that the chest-thumping exceptional democracy can't, or doesn't intend to, organize fair elections. States like Florida, my old stomping grounds for 30 years, once again get a prize for maximum voter denial.
My favorite story from the recent Florida primary was when a voter entered a polling station in Polk County (rural central Florida redneck place where I used to do farmworker union organizing). The person was told that the Democrats were not on the ballot that day - only Republicans. The voter keep insisting until finally the worker at the polls relented and went into a back room to 'discover' that indeed there were Democratic party ballots. This kind of suppression not only helps the Republicans but also Hillary Clinton as a larger primary voter turnout works against her medieval candidacy.
Here in Maine, like most other places around the country, there is already growing debate within the 'peace movement' community about what to do after Clinton wins the nomination. Should peaceniks vote for Hillary who guarantees more military spending and more wars? Even Trump is at times sounding like a non-interventionist compared to Clinton. Some peaceniks actually maintain that they must support the candidate that neo-cons like
Robert Kagan are supporting - Hillary Clinton. I can't figure it.
Here is the
Washington Post reporting on their recent meeting with Trump:
Donald Trump outlined an unabashedly noninterventionist approach to
world affairs Monday, telling The Washington Post's editorial board that
he questions the need for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, which
has formed the backbone of Western security policies since the Cold
War.
Speaking ahead of a major address on foreign policy later Monday in
front of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, Trump said he
advocates a light footprint in the world. In spite of unrest abroad,
especially in the Middle East, Trump said the United States must look
inward and steer its resources toward rebuilding domestic
infrastructure.
"Why are we always the one that’s leading, potentially the third world war with Russia," said Trump.
Trump said that U.S. involvement in NATO may need to be significantly
diminished in the coming years, breaking with nearly seven decades of
consensus in Washington. "We certainly can’t afford to do this anymore,"
Trump said, adding later, "NATO is costing us a fortune, and yes, we’re
protecting Europe with NATO, but we’re spending a lot of money."
Trump
sounded a similar note in discussing the U.S. presence in the Pacific.
He questioned the value of massive military investments in Asia and
wondered aloud whether the United States still was capable of being an
effective peacekeeping force there.
This is obviously one key reason Jeb Bush has endorsed Ted Cruz over
Trump. On some level Trump is upsetting the imperial war project.
Hell, Bernie Sanders ain't saying half of the stuff that Trump told the
Post. Clinton is saying none of this!
How about one more semi-endorsement from the depths of hell? Bush's war hungry V-P Dick Cheney has pointed his dark light on Clinton. He told the UK's
The Telegraph this:
Former US vice president
Dick Cheney has praised Hillary Clinton as one of the more competent
members of President Barack Obama's administration, saying it would be
"interesting to speculate" on how she would perform as president.
I'm not suggesting that I, or anyone else, should vote for Trump. But I will say that for peaceniks to say they have to vote for Hillary just to keep Trump out of office is more than strange. They both are corporate pirates.
How can a self-respecting political activist who has given their life toward working for peace, turn around and vote for Hillary Clinton? Honduras, Libya, Syria, Ukraine, Palestine and more. We know where she stands and it is bad news.
I want to support a positive, alternative, transformative vision of
the future. Neither Republicans or Democrats offer that. I will vote
for the
Green Party's candidate Jill Stein who is real and tells the truth about what must be done now if we hope to survive on this planet. Build it and they will come.....