Third Party Nonsense
I start off hating this argument that I am about to make. You hear people say that this election is the most important in our nation’s history. Of course, that’s always true until the next one. Hyperbole doesn’t do anyone any good. It conjures up images of a Shepard boy clearing his throat about some wolf he may have seen.
However, it is impossible to ignore the rhetoric. The GOP nominee for president of the United States is predicting a bloodbath if he loses. We can try as hard as we can to normalize this. He is just a raving lunatic. He is just joking. He is speaking figuratively and nothing he says is to be taken seriously. He really didn’t say it and if he said he didn’t really mean it. Even if he did mean it who cares?
We’ve seen this all before and we saw January 6th. Whether or not he is really serious doesn’t even matter at this point. He’s activated hundreds if not thousands of people to not only believe the words he is saying, but also do something about it. This is nut crunching time folks. If we want to keep democracy around we have to defeat this man and defeat him soundly.
In the backdrop we have the burgeoning presidential runs or RFK Jr., Cornel West, and whatever No Labels wants to throw up there. We should talk for a minute about what third party candidates are there to do. Usually they are there because there is dissatisfaction with the two major parties. It can come down to the platforms or the candidates themselves.
In this case, you have two old men that weren’t particularly popular last time that are running again. Very few people wanted this matchup again. Yet, here we are. However, we need to be very clear about what third party candidates do. They don’t win. They’ve never won and they likely never will win. They do two things. They syphon votes from one or both of the major parties and they get at least one of the major parties to adopt some of their policy planks.
RFK is known for two things. He’s a Kennedy and he’s anti=vax. Maybe Trump adapts the second plank but RFK isn’t likely to siphon votes from Trump. Biden is not adopting an anti-vax stance anytime soon. West doesn’t have any major policy initiatives that we know of. His is more of a protest run based on dissatisfaction with the two major parties.
Under normal circumstances that would be fine. Yet, that is calling for us to normalize Trump. We can’t. We shouldn’t. The press has been carrying that water for over eight years probably because Trump is good for business. Outrage is good for business. It creates page views, likes, comments, and sells ad space. Yet, Trump has not been artful about where this is going. He is openly broadcasting it at this point.
Maybe he is playing ten dimensional chess. Maybe he has done a thorough analysis of the electorate and the press environment and determined that this is the best way to position himself to gain power. Maybe he is just a damn lucky fool that stumbled into this because no one wants to be the bad guy and tell him no. That dirty job goes to the American people.
We start with Kennedy, West, and No Labels. I don’t know what you think you are doing. Maybe you think you are representing a portion of the electorate that is dissatisfied with the choices they have. Maybe you think you are raising issues neither major party is raising. Maybe you are a bought and sold stooge for the Russians or Trump himself. Whether your motives be pure or sinister (or somewhere in between) it doesn’t matter. You need to bow out and you need to bow out now. Let that son of a bitch be dead and buried and then you can tilt at your windmills.
“No Labels” is definitely being funded by right-wing billionaires and is only courting conservatives. Not one liberal has been named in association with “No Labels”, but they want to claim that they are representing the “sensible middle”. As such, they will siphon a lot of votes away from Biden and hand Trump the election.
1RFK jr clearly has a chip on his shoulder against democrats and Biden. He has ties to Trump both from donors and some of the mutual admiration they’ve expressed. Trump asked RFK to chair a “vaccine safety” commission and RFK has expressed his support of Trump against removing him from any ballots. He was flattered with talk about being Trump’s VP. RFK knows two things- he won’t win and he’s drawing votes from Biden= advantage Trump, which is his end game. I am speculating but I’m thinking that late in the campaign he may endorse Trump. They’re both dangerous dirtbags.
2Also (I commented on this yesterday), after trumpf made his inflammatory comments this weekend, he made a direct appeal to the supremes that they must give him immunity if any of his followers “cross” the line. I hope his threats crossed the line with the supremes. Who knows.
Now and then, Mr. Carraway, I disagree with you–but not this time. There’s no room for third party candidates in this election. This one really is all about saving democracy and defeating Trump. We don’t have to agree with every word Joe Biden says to vote for him. It’s about defeating Trump.
3….what anyone named Jean has and would say….
4I check in to a forum on City Data, Politics and other controversies daily. It’s full of people to bat chit for Stormfront. They have a much different take on the part of Trump’s statement about if I don’t win, there will be a blood bath. Trump was talking about China and their cheap EVs. ;-} I’m serious. They claim the media and the Dim wits have totally blown it out of proportion just to make a point. Lying just as they always do. The problem is many who do not pay attention believe it. If you have time go on over. Use any name you want. Assume any identity needed if you want to post anything. They do not trust newcomers.
5I doubt trumpf composes much of his speeches that he gives during rallies. While he goes off script, I’m guessing the main points are written for him and include the dog whistles and veiled threats he regurgitates. That there would be a blood bath if he loses was imbedded inside other comments about auto imports but make no mistake, his more radical followers heard bloodbath in the sense he’s already encouraged such as the following:
6https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/01/09/trump-comments-violence-bedlam/
A vote for any person besides Joe B. is in effect a vote for 45.
Excerpt from *The Strongman Fantasy And Dictatorship in Real Life* by Timothy Snyder
“If you help a strongman come to power, you are eliminating democracy. You burn that bridge behind you. The strongman fantasy dissolves, and real dictatorship remains.
Most likely you won’t be killed or be required to kill. But amid the dreariness of life under dictatorship is dark responsibility for others’ death. By the time the killing starts, you will know that it is not about unity, or the nation, or getting things done. The best Americans, betrayed by you when you cast your vote, will be murdered at the whim and for the wealth of a dictator. Your tragedy will be living long enough to understand this.”
https://snyder.substack.com/p/the-strongman-fantasy
7