The duopoly commits crimes again and again… And yet there are Americans who still vote for them thinking they’ll do better by us next time. Stop lying to yourself. They won't.
A two party system (i.e. a duopoly) is essentially mandated by the Electoral College system in which a candidate must win 50% + 1 of Electoral College votes to win the Presidency. That requirement *inevitably* leads to the consolidation of smaller parties into larger parties as they seek to reach the 50% + 1 threshold. Ultimately, the result is that only two parties are left. All the small parties have realized the futility of remaining small. On rare occasions,(only once in U.S. history), a new party arises that gains popularity and replaces one of the existing parties, but still only two parties are left in the field. That one time was the Republican Party replacing the Whig Party in the years prior to the Civil War. Since then, all other third parties have either remained small and electorally irrelevant or have simply faded away.
So the solution to the duopoly problem is to abolish the Electoral College. That is where people should be putting their effort and resources.
I agree the Electoral College has to go, but also so do corporations and billionaires simply buying elections outright. The Move To Amend (to outlaw Citizens United) would go a long way in encouraging alternative parties since every candidate would be on an equal footing. Saying "May the best man/woman win" would actually be a reality then. https://movetoamend.org
I couldn't agree more. Elections should not be up for sale to the highest bidder. I favor 100% public funding of elections, or as close as we can get to that goal. The Citizens United decision has been an unmitigated disaster for democracy, and the Supreme Court justices who said that their ruling would not have a a deleterious effect were lying through their teeth. Any child could have foreseen the outcome.
I was one of the suckers who responded to those “Save the Post Office” action alerts for several years. Towards the end of the Biden administration, it finally dawned on me that the Democrat in the Oval Office had no intention of removing LeJoy from his position. As far as I could figure out doing so would not have resulted in any skin off his skinny ass. I remember thinking how useless these elected officials are from the duopoly. Apparently, they can’t be bothered to put any effort to do something that makes the lives of average Americans run more smoothly. Fie on them!
Don't feel too bad--I emailed my representative a few times pleading to take out DeJoy, too. Biden's flunkies said it was just too "difficult" to change out the USPS board members (who could take out DeJoy) and yet it's been done before by earlier presidents. About the only good that comes from this exercise is that it opens one's eyes to how little the duopolists care to cover up their sycophantic behaviors toward billionaires nowadays. If they don't care about us--we sure as hell shouldn't care about them! Kick them all to the curb!
I don't get how so many otherwise intelligent Americans fall for either of the red/blue MAGA teams. These criminals are destroying the country and the planet just to make themselves richer. And how long can you live on a dying planet with your billions, huh? Case closed!
The duopoly propaganda machine has got to be one of the greatest in history. That's about the only way to explain how American voters keep voting for such obvious criminals and against their own best interests.
I think it's supposed to be a vulture, but bald eagles are also carrion eaters. Probably why Benjamin Franklin wanted our national bird to be the wild turkey. At least a turkey isn't a carrion eater and tastes great with stuffing and gravy! LOL!!
Our national animal should be the weasel. Now, I don’t particularly have anything against weasels; they’re pretty little things. But they’re bloodthirsty and one of the few animals that will kill just for the sake of killing.
A two party system (i.e. a duopoly) is essentially mandated by the Electoral College system in which a candidate must win 50% + 1 of Electoral College votes to win the Presidency. That requirement *inevitably* leads to the consolidation of smaller parties into larger parties as they seek to reach the 50% + 1 threshold. Ultimately, the result is that only two parties are left. All the small parties have realized the futility of remaining small. On rare occasions,(only once in U.S. history), a new party arises that gains popularity and replaces one of the existing parties, but still only two parties are left in the field. That one time was the Republican Party replacing the Whig Party in the years prior to the Civil War. Since then, all other third parties have either remained small and electorally irrelevant or have simply faded away.
So the solution to the duopoly problem is to abolish the Electoral College. That is where people should be putting their effort and resources.
I agree the Electoral College has to go, but also so do corporations and billionaires simply buying elections outright. The Move To Amend (to outlaw Citizens United) would go a long way in encouraging alternative parties since every candidate would be on an equal footing. Saying "May the best man/woman win" would actually be a reality then. https://movetoamend.org
I couldn't agree more. Elections should not be up for sale to the highest bidder. I favor 100% public funding of elections, or as close as we can get to that goal. The Citizens United decision has been an unmitigated disaster for democracy, and the Supreme Court justices who said that their ruling would not have a a deleterious effect were lying through their teeth. Any child could have foreseen the outcome.
Revolution is necessary, and believe it or not, we can create an extraordinary app for that... www.humbledeeds.com
I was one of the suckers who responded to those “Save the Post Office” action alerts for several years. Towards the end of the Biden administration, it finally dawned on me that the Democrat in the Oval Office had no intention of removing LeJoy from his position. As far as I could figure out doing so would not have resulted in any skin off his skinny ass. I remember thinking how useless these elected officials are from the duopoly. Apparently, they can’t be bothered to put any effort to do something that makes the lives of average Americans run more smoothly. Fie on them!
Don't feel too bad--I emailed my representative a few times pleading to take out DeJoy, too. Biden's flunkies said it was just too "difficult" to change out the USPS board members (who could take out DeJoy) and yet it's been done before by earlier presidents. About the only good that comes from this exercise is that it opens one's eyes to how little the duopolists care to cover up their sycophantic behaviors toward billionaires nowadays. If they don't care about us--we sure as hell shouldn't care about them! Kick them all to the curb!
I don't get how so many otherwise intelligent Americans fall for either of the red/blue MAGA teams. These criminals are destroying the country and the planet just to make themselves richer. And how long can you live on a dying planet with your billions, huh? Case closed!
The duopoly propaganda machine has got to be one of the greatest in history. That's about the only way to explain how American voters keep voting for such obvious criminals and against their own best interests.
Cindy, great column as always. The meme juxtaposing tRump and the Native American was absolutely priceless; I wanna have that blown up into a poster!
I also want a bumper sticker that reads Don’t blame me, I voted for Jill Stein. 😁
Was the red and blue bird meant to be an eagle? If so, isn’t it appropriate that our national symbol is a carrion eater?
Red and blue: two cheeks on the same ass.
I think it's supposed to be a vulture, but bald eagles are also carrion eaters. Probably why Benjamin Franklin wanted our national bird to be the wild turkey. At least a turkey isn't a carrion eater and tastes great with stuffing and gravy! LOL!!
George Galloway said it well. Two cheeks, indeed.
Cindy,
Our national animal should be the weasel. Now, I don’t particularly have anything against weasels; they’re pretty little things. But they’re bloodthirsty and one of the few animals that will kill just for the sake of killing.