Voting

written by: SAH

Okay, this post if horribly outdated, but since voting for something is never far away, I figured I'd go ahead and drop this out there anyway.

On the 4/16/2010 episode of Real Time with Bill Maher (which I listen to as a podcast is subscribe to through iTunes), Bill interviewed Jesse Ventura, former wrestler and Governor of Minnesota — something we Minnesotans are often teased about in the larger political arena (much like our recently elected "comedian" Senator Al Franken, who, if he's planning to be funny, is going a long way for a joke).

I realized while listening to the interview that, like George Bush, Ventura has a bit of a cowboy attitude. Ventura rubs a lot of people the wrong way, perhaps more now than ever. And I'll admit, on some topics, he seems to have gone off the deep end (conspiracy theories for instance). And yet, during the interview, it once again became apparent why he was elected. Despite his bluster, despite his often just-over-the-line comments, he tends to zero in on the problems most people seems to have with politics these days and does a good job of reinforcing the idea that there are other choices between being a disgruntled Democrat or a vengeful Republican.

During the interview Bill points out the people tend to identify themselves as independents in higher numbers than they do Republicans or Democrats. And yet, it's virtually impossible for an Independent to get elected. Bill asks Jesse, perhaps the last/biggest independent to get elected, How do we do to fix this?

"Vote for them," Jesse said flatly.

Bill asked about the perception that you're throwing your vote away by voting for anyone other than a Democrat or Republican.

Jesse responded, "No. You're throwing your vote away if you don't vote your heart and conscience."

It's hard to argue with either side of that. The system is certainly rigged to ensure that one of the two parties ever wins. And the two parties are so close to one another at this point (though the media certainly tries to make it seem otherwise) that there seems little point in voting at all. Of course, if people actually voted their conscience instead of really just voting against the person they don't want elected, it might be different.

So Bill moved on to a related topic. They then discussed alternative voting (recently put in place in Minneapolis).

This system definitely sounds like it has the potential to mix things up if it were taken national — which must be among the reasons it won't be taken national. The people it would shake up are those who would have to vote for it adoption. And self-regulation is at the heart of the problems in Congress.

During the interview, Jesse also endorsed getting rid of the Electoral College — something I've endorsed myself ever since I started voting. As he points out, it may have made sense when votes had to be ridden in to Washington on horseback, but we've come a long way since then.

As a parting shot, they talked about the Pope. Jesse proposed we prosecute the Catholic Church under the RICO act. They are an organization that actively covers up felonies committed by its members. It's what the act is for. "Why have they not been charged?"

Good question.

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