Cam-Pain Season

Yes – it has officially begun, even though most of us have spent enough money on headache medication and ear plugs because of all the noise that has happened so far – It's election season.

It's like we're hunting for the perfect candidate to throw to the wolves after election day in November.

Actually it's worse than that.

What it (mostly) boils down to is the 1%'s hand picked candidates hash it out to see who represents the 1% on election day. We are supposed to choose what face of capitalism we want ruling over us.

Only this time around it hasn't been as easy for the 1%.

On both the Republican and Democratic sides “populist” movements have arose against the party bosses and the 1% and they have no idea what to do for the most part. They will get control during the conventions.

On the Republican side, Donald Trump and Ted Cruz, two outsiders (Trump and outsider? Seriously?) are clobbering the candidates that the 1% are advocating for – Jeb Bush and John Kasich. Three Republicans have already taken a dive and the rest won't last long.

On the Democratic side, Senator Bernie Sanders and his social democracy movement is frustrating the hell out of the self described Eisenhower Republican Hillary Clinton (See “Clintonomics Failed” in The Nation magazine). Actually I like the Onion article that had Hillary saying to the US “Don't screw this up for me.” I think it more reflects her attitude towards the whole charade.

In the school that I work in, the teachers were quite upset. It seems that the ATF (American Federation of Teachers) backed Hillary in the primary without polling the membership. So the teachers were asking the AFT “WTF?” Most of the teachers I work with support Bernie Sanders.

Even the students are taking on-line quizzes from Project Vote Smart and IsideWith and very few are coming up with the corporate candidates. (The biography of Bernie Sanders was signed out the day it was donated to the library and there is a waiting list for it already. Nobody has donated anything by the Republican candidates. And I work in a very conservative community.)

Who is the media not covering? Third party candidates. Then again, the 1% control the media, so it's easily understood why the third party candidates are ignored. Though there is talk of third party candidates being added to the debate this year.

As if the 1% are going to allow that.

Last time I ignored the carefully choreographed display and watched the debates hosted by Free & Equal. At least they had four candidate: Green Party, the Justice Party, the Libertarian Party, and the Constitution Party.

No socialist candidates made it to that stage. Sad. It would have been nice to see someone offer something other than a regulated and reformed version of capitalism.

I'm waiting to see who the various socialist parties offer as candidates.

I don't believe that capitalism can be reformed and controlled. FDR tried that in the 1930's and the capitalist class went to war right away to try and undo the reforms. And they were able to get FDR to help them. Look at the Smith Act, wage freezes, and strike prohibitions during the war.

Bernie Sanders has some good ideas, as well as the Green Party.

But their end goals are my starting point.

I don't want regulated or reformed capitalism.

I want socialism – and economy and state run for the people, not the 1%.

Show me that candidate.

They have my vote.