Agree with every syllable. But I have respect for Marianne Williamson. But she is not a political animal and she needs to take her concerns and support a political animal who has a chance. Spoilers are Trojan Horses, on the side of the greater evil.
I also was impressed with Nader but his ego deflated my enthusiasm. Have always recognized that the third party wannabes are worse than the worst of the two party cretins, because they assure the election of the worst choice. RFK, Jr proves this rule, in my opinion. As do the nolabels “do gooders,” which are anything but. Get a grip people. A blue wave is the only option for America’s future.
Having met Marianne Williamson, she's another "braindead 310er." Just another New Age hoo-hah, peddling discredited 19th century bullshit for the over-educated, under-intelligent Yuppie trust-fund babies in the mis-named People's Republic of Santa Monica.
MW is someone whose work in a different arena was fine, but who I cannot ever entertain seriously again because of what she's been doing. Nader is all about ego; same with her; same with any of these third party people.
My friends and I all read Marianne Williamson’s books about 35 years ago. She was a big influence on our spiritual perspective at the time. We went to a lecture she was giving in Chicago and all of that was turned on it’s head. We were expecting her to talk more about creating a loving planet but instead we experienced her deep anger. It was very disorienting and disappointing. I still appreciate what she taught me all those years ago but lost faith in her after that lecture.
Great article Greg! I've been a huge fan of Ralph Nader for years and encouraged my then ex husband to vote for him. We lived in Florida so I fully shoulder the blame for handing the state to Bush. Ugh. Nader would have been a fine president but I now understand that the two party system is so ingrained in US politics.
Nader would have been a terrrible president, since he had no idea how politics works, and would have taken office with no political allies in Congress. His sell-by date was around 1977.
For all I know, my 2000 piece, read as little as it was, may have had some influence on others. So it's my fault too. We all live and learn, as I did. The important part is to keep learning.
Gore was the only choice, the Supreme Court ruled against him and the hanging chad insanity. I think most of us liked Nader, but understood the consequences of that choice towards the election. Perot was the unctuous derps champion, while RFK falls in line with the eugenics principles of Rockefeller. I wouldn’t be to hard on our philosophical “brother” Cornel, he’s one of my favorites, but not to run this country filled with ignoble poltroons.
I too, feared the war mongering Clinton, and Russian dinner guest Stein, but campaigned fiercely for Hillary, knowing exactly what Trump was!
Once again Greg, this piece should be mandatory reading for all eligible voters!!
I like West, too. I enjoyed watching him on Maher, back when I still watched Maher. Heck, Roger Stone was engaging to watch, too. It's just performative, though. At this point, they all know what they're doing.
I live in Michigan's 10th district. In the 2022 election, MAGA supporting Republican John James beat Democrat Carl Marlinga by 1600 votes. The "Working Class Party" candidate siphoned off 5,905 votes. I can't tell you how pissed off I was when I found out about this stupidity. 🤦♂️ We could have really used that extra vote in the House.
We had a guy in our district in 2018, which had fallen to the asshole GOP guy, running from the left as a third party candidate. I knew him a little. I went on social media and said he was basically doing Putin's work and should be ashamed of himself. Then I saw him at a dinner party. He was not eager to look at me, I assure you.
The scary thing about No Labels, RFK Jr., et al is that we can expose them down to the studs for the stunts and frauds they are -- follow the money and make perfectly clear that they are tools of a far-right, Harlan Crow, Peter Thiel, et al scheme to put Trump (or equivalent fascist) back in power -- and they will still succeed in fulfilling their purpose. Which is of course not to win but to split the anti-MAGA vote and bring down Biden.
This is because they can do that even if 95% of would-be Democratic voters manage to figure it all out by next November. Given the realities of the Electoral College, inducing just the remaining 5% (low-information voters, MAGA of the Left ideologues) to vote RFK (assuming he runs as 3rd party) or No Labels would likely hand the presidency to Trump or DeSantis, launching the Fourth Reich here.
So, friends, in effect we have to bat 1000, get the message to, well, every voter that might even consider going for one of these plants -- buying their carefully-crafted-for-maximum-appeal visions or out of sheer frustration and protest. And that, we know, is just about impossible. Inevitably, SOME will be seduced by the honey-dripping bullshit Greg quoted from the No Labels site -- yes, oh yes, enough already with the "partisan bickering" and the hate and distrust; we need to start talking to each other, yadda yadda; puts me in mind of the Warren of the Snares, aka Cowslip's Warren, in "Watership Down" -- and SOME is all it will take.
Thanks for this, Jonathan. All perfectly accurate.
Flip side: if Trump doesn't win the GOP nomination, he will almost certainly run third party. That will siphon votes away from whatever second-rate fascist they would run, and trump, pun intended, whatever hijinks RFK gets himself into.
That might look, structurally, a lot like the 1860 election. And we know what came next! As a bookie, odds I think are heavily against us -- i.e., much more likely Biden is undercut by RFK/NL than Trump as 3rd party sandbagging DeFascist. A gloomy view I admit.
A thousand AMENS. Thank you for breaking this down.
One way to think about American politics is that it is a binary system, like a light switch that is either off or on. Parliamentary systems have mechanisms that allow for nuance and I love that, but we do not have that system. If you aren't voting for one of the two party nominees, you are voting for the one you like the least. There are lots of people around the country who are smart and have good ideas and buy into the American myth that anyone can be President. NOPE, you need to build a constituency within one of the two binaries. Think about that before you choose one of these egomaniacs.
Regarding Marianne Williamson: She ran against Rep. Henry Waxman, who beat the oil companies and the tobacco companies. He was my Congressional rep at the time (the district is now represented by Ted Lieu). I met her on The Nation cruise, where she was a celebrity speaker, and when she found out where I was from she tried to get me to support her. 100% ego. Why on earth would she want to take out HENRY WAXMAN, who was the ranking member or chair of one of the most powerful committees in Congress? EGO or DELUSIONAL THINKING.
Mr. and Mrs. Mark Penn, the registered owners of No Labels, were kicked out of the Democratic Party for being the corrupt scum they are. That they allied with Joe Lie-berman to start this pro-Republican conspiracy, that they are funded by long-time Republican mega-donors, tells us all we need to know about these scum.
Susan Sarandon is a well-known moron. In 2016 she claimed that voting for Jill Stein, leading to a Trump victory, would "speed the revolution." Interestingly, that term was first used in 1932 by the German Communists to justify their campaign against the Social Democrat candidate as a "social fascist" by saying a Nazi victory would "speed the revolution." As anyone even slightly familiar with the history that followed, that was the most "head up their ass" decision anyone ever made.
I just wish Michael Moore would go away. He's not even a good documentarian.
Thanks for that piece of German history. Very important!
Moore's films are actively bad. Has he convinced a single human who didn't already agree with him to switch sides? I watched the film he made about the NRA, and IT MADE ME FEEL BAD FOR CHARLTON HESTON. I can't stand him, and it's been this way for, what, 20 years now.
Excellent. Will fall on deaf ears, to these “purity” morons. Also Cornel West falls under the “grifter” category in my book. He’s also extremely petty and hated Barack Obama more than any dictator or authoritarian.
3rd party backers are sure that the current political system is not working. They're not sure why because their brains are hypnotized by bullshit.
So they think that we need to shake things up. Shaking things from the frying pan into the fire is not on their radar because our educational system hasn't taught them how to think... Courtesy of the GOP, who hate the idea of thinking voters.
That can be fixed for 2040, but not for 2024. Sadly, way too late.
But there is hope! Once we have Canadian and west coast fires 24/7/365 voters will wake up. Or, maybe burn up.
So. Hope. Just think, after man is gone (and I mean male humans), the earth will recover in only 100,000 years or so.
When I drive I-40 in Tennessee, can't forget the state produced two greats: Al Gore Sr & Jr.
A beautiful state, home of some of the greatest Americans in history, but currently is hijacked by some really bad people doing a lot of harmful things.
Anyone alive in 1992 that can remember Perot taking away so much from the incumbent GHWB and should be hyper aware of the third party phenomenon in every presidential race.
In 2016, there is a lot of blame on many but we can't forget a certain Vermont senator.
“The surest way to achieve progress is to let Biden and Harris do what they’ve been doing, which is oversee the most progressive administration of my lifetime.” Vote Blue for democracy 🌊
withdraw... should this be past tense withdrew?
Thank you. If there is only one typo in this, I've achieved a major victory.
I love it when you make me look up words!
Agree with every syllable. But I have respect for Marianne Williamson. But she is not a political animal and she needs to take her concerns and support a political animal who has a chance. Spoilers are Trojan Horses, on the side of the greater evil.
I also was impressed with Nader but his ego deflated my enthusiasm. Have always recognized that the third party wannabes are worse than the worst of the two party cretins, because they assure the election of the worst choice. RFK, Jr proves this rule, in my opinion. As do the nolabels “do gooders,” which are anything but. Get a grip people. A blue wave is the only option for America’s future.
Having met Marianne Williamson, she's another "braindead 310er." Just another New Age hoo-hah, peddling discredited 19th century bullshit for the over-educated, under-intelligent Yuppie trust-fund babies in the mis-named People's Republic of Santa Monica.
Colorfully put! I don't object to her day job. I do object to her thinking she can do better than Biden.
MW is someone whose work in a different arena was fine, but who I cannot ever entertain seriously again because of what she's been doing. Nader is all about ego; same with her; same with any of these third party people.
Disagree with not one word.
My friends and I all read Marianne Williamson’s books about 35 years ago. She was a big influence on our spiritual perspective at the time. We went to a lecture she was giving in Chicago and all of that was turned on it’s head. We were expecting her to talk more about creating a loving planet but instead we experienced her deep anger. It was very disorienting and disappointing. I still appreciate what she taught me all those years ago but lost faith in her after that lecture.
I respected her first iteration, now she's just a spoiler
Everyone who cares about the United States should read this piece.
Thank you!
Please never stop writing, please. 🙏
I will try!
Great article Greg! I've been a huge fan of Ralph Nader for years and encouraged my then ex husband to vote for him. We lived in Florida so I fully shoulder the blame for handing the state to Bush. Ugh. Nader would have been a fine president but I now understand that the two party system is so ingrained in US politics.
Nader would have been a terrrible president, since he had no idea how politics works, and would have taken office with no political allies in Congress. His sell-by date was around 1977.
Good ideas with no ability to implement them. Recipe for disaster.
For all I know, my 2000 piece, read as little as it was, may have had some influence on others. So it's my fault too. We all live and learn, as I did. The important part is to keep learning.
Gore was the only choice, the Supreme Court ruled against him and the hanging chad insanity. I think most of us liked Nader, but understood the consequences of that choice towards the election. Perot was the unctuous derps champion, while RFK falls in line with the eugenics principles of Rockefeller. I wouldn’t be to hard on our philosophical “brother” Cornel, he’s one of my favorites, but not to run this country filled with ignoble poltroons.
I too, feared the war mongering Clinton, and Russian dinner guest Stein, but campaigned fiercely for Hillary, knowing exactly what Trump was!
Once again Greg, this piece should be mandatory reading for all eligible voters!!
I like West, too. I enjoyed watching him on Maher, back when I still watched Maher. Heck, Roger Stone was engaging to watch, too. It's just performative, though. At this point, they all know what they're doing.
I live in Michigan's 10th district. In the 2022 election, MAGA supporting Republican John James beat Democrat Carl Marlinga by 1600 votes. The "Working Class Party" candidate siphoned off 5,905 votes. I can't tell you how pissed off I was when I found out about this stupidity. 🤦♂️ We could have really used that extra vote in the House.
So infuriating!
We had a guy in our district in 2018, which had fallen to the asshole GOP guy, running from the left as a third party candidate. I knew him a little. I went on social media and said he was basically doing Putin's work and should be ashamed of himself. Then I saw him at a dinner party. He was not eager to look at me, I assure you.
That’s INFURIATING!
The scary thing about No Labels, RFK Jr., et al is that we can expose them down to the studs for the stunts and frauds they are -- follow the money and make perfectly clear that they are tools of a far-right, Harlan Crow, Peter Thiel, et al scheme to put Trump (or equivalent fascist) back in power -- and they will still succeed in fulfilling their purpose. Which is of course not to win but to split the anti-MAGA vote and bring down Biden.
This is because they can do that even if 95% of would-be Democratic voters manage to figure it all out by next November. Given the realities of the Electoral College, inducing just the remaining 5% (low-information voters, MAGA of the Left ideologues) to vote RFK (assuming he runs as 3rd party) or No Labels would likely hand the presidency to Trump or DeSantis, launching the Fourth Reich here.
So, friends, in effect we have to bat 1000, get the message to, well, every voter that might even consider going for one of these plants -- buying their carefully-crafted-for-maximum-appeal visions or out of sheer frustration and protest. And that, we know, is just about impossible. Inevitably, SOME will be seduced by the honey-dripping bullshit Greg quoted from the No Labels site -- yes, oh yes, enough already with the "partisan bickering" and the hate and distrust; we need to start talking to each other, yadda yadda; puts me in mind of the Warren of the Snares, aka Cowslip's Warren, in "Watership Down" -- and SOME is all it will take.
So jump right in. The water's warm.
Totally correct.
Thanks for this, Jonathan. All perfectly accurate.
Flip side: if Trump doesn't win the GOP nomination, he will almost certainly run third party. That will siphon votes away from whatever second-rate fascist they would run, and trump, pun intended, whatever hijinks RFK gets himself into.
That might look, structurally, a lot like the 1860 election. And we know what came next! As a bookie, odds I think are heavily against us -- i.e., much more likely Biden is undercut by RFK/NL than Trump as 3rd party sandbagging DeFascist. A gloomy view I admit.
A thousand AMENS. Thank you for breaking this down.
One way to think about American politics is that it is a binary system, like a light switch that is either off or on. Parliamentary systems have mechanisms that allow for nuance and I love that, but we do not have that system. If you aren't voting for one of the two party nominees, you are voting for the one you like the least. There are lots of people around the country who are smart and have good ideas and buy into the American myth that anyone can be President. NOPE, you need to build a constituency within one of the two binaries. Think about that before you choose one of these egomaniacs.
Regarding Marianne Williamson: She ran against Rep. Henry Waxman, who beat the oil companies and the tobacco companies. He was my Congressional rep at the time (the district is now represented by Ted Lieu). I met her on The Nation cruise, where she was a celebrity speaker, and when she found out where I was from she tried to get me to support her. 100% ego. Why on earth would she want to take out HENRY WAXMAN, who was the ranking member or chair of one of the most powerful committees in Congress? EGO or DELUSIONAL THINKING.
Thanks, Abby. Yes! Binary! I like the light switch analogy. Perfect. Because if you vote GOP, you will be in the dark!
Thanks for that story. She is an egomaniac. All of these people running like this are. And don't get me started on how The Nation has fallen...
Love it!
Thanks, Steven!
Mr. and Mrs. Mark Penn, the registered owners of No Labels, were kicked out of the Democratic Party for being the corrupt scum they are. That they allied with Joe Lie-berman to start this pro-Republican conspiracy, that they are funded by long-time Republican mega-donors, tells us all we need to know about these scum.
Susan Sarandon is a well-known moron. In 2016 she claimed that voting for Jill Stein, leading to a Trump victory, would "speed the revolution." Interestingly, that term was first used in 1932 by the German Communists to justify their campaign against the Social Democrat candidate as a "social fascist" by saying a Nazi victory would "speed the revolution." As anyone even slightly familiar with the history that followed, that was the most "head up their ass" decision anyone ever made.
I just wish Michael Moore would go away. He's not even a good documentarian.
Thanks for that piece of German history. Very important!
Moore's films are actively bad. Has he convinced a single human who didn't already agree with him to switch sides? I watched the film he made about the NRA, and IT MADE ME FEEL BAD FOR CHARLTON HESTON. I can't stand him, and it's been this way for, what, 20 years now.
I didn't like him for "Roger and Me." Moore was a major "bone of contention" between me and She Who Is Now Departed in our political discussions.
Excellent. Will fall on deaf ears, to these “purity” morons. Also Cornel West falls under the “grifter” category in my book. He’s also extremely petty and hated Barack Obama more than any dictator or authoritarian.
Thanks, Janet. At this point, he must know what he's doing.
👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻Maybe your best one yet. Although, it’s tough to choose!
Aww, thank you!
3rd party backers are sure that the current political system is not working. They're not sure why because their brains are hypnotized by bullshit.
So they think that we need to shake things up. Shaking things from the frying pan into the fire is not on their radar because our educational system hasn't taught them how to think... Courtesy of the GOP, who hate the idea of thinking voters.
That can be fixed for 2040, but not for 2024. Sadly, way too late.
But there is hope! Once we have Canadian and west coast fires 24/7/365 voters will wake up. Or, maybe burn up.
So. Hope. Just think, after man is gone (and I mean male humans), the earth will recover in only 100,000 years or so.
Cheers! It's all going to be just fine.
Shorter William comment: Smoke 'em if you got 'em.
: )
It's just like dancing lessons, Greg 😉
Such a great post.
When I drive I-40 in Tennessee, can't forget the state produced two greats: Al Gore Sr & Jr.
A beautiful state, home of some of the greatest Americans in history, but currently is hijacked by some really bad people doing a lot of harmful things.
Anyone alive in 1992 that can remember Perot taking away so much from the incumbent GHWB and should be hyper aware of the third party phenomenon in every presidential race.
In 2016, there is a lot of blame on many but we can't forget a certain Vermont senator.
And his aggressive Bernie Bros aka Putin Trolls 🫣
“The surest way to achieve progress is to let Biden and Harris do what they’ve been doing, which is oversee the most progressive administration of my lifetime.” Vote Blue for democracy 🌊