The Fallacy of Voting for the "Lesser of two Evils"

The following is a blog written in October 2012 by Jon Rappoport, a former candidate for the 29^th Congressional District in California and Pulitzer Prize nominee. His observations are even more succinct four years later.

For decades, disaffected Americans have been trudging to the polls and voting for the lesser of two evils. That’s how they register their preference for a presidential candidate.

Choices based on that dubious strategy seem to work for the short-term (at best). But in the long run, the law of diminishing returns sets in.

Term after presidential term, the lesser of two evils lowers the quality of life for everyone and keeps nudging the decline of the American Republic. The hole to dig out of becomes deeper, and successive presidents—each one the lesser of two evils—are less capable and willing to do the necessary digging.

That’s the story of leadership in America.

But prompted by new and more desperate created crises, citizens resort to the “lesser” strategy every four years, believing they must.

“I’m not that enthusiastic about either man, but I have to choose one. I have to go with the lesser of two evils because this country is in real trouble.”

Where does it stop? “Look, this time, I’m picking the lesser of two evils because the national crisis is so terrible. But next time, I promise I’ll do something else.” Really? What else will you do? Hope the sun comes out?

The voter who is chronically addicted to the lesser of two evils is like a man in debt who borrows to pay it off. Each time he borrows, the debt gets bigger. He says, “I know this is crazy, but what else can I do? Borrowing from Peter to pay Paul is the lesser of two evils. If I don’t do it, I’m sunk. I promise I’ll straighten this mess out—but not right now. I have a payment coming due. I have to borrow again.”

And just like the federal debt, which keeps swelling, the election of one lesser after another as the president keeps expanding the national misery. Finally, the idea that voters can step outside the two-party system to find a real president who actually believes in the Constitution seems like a pipe dream because all the prior lessers have screwed things up so badly, have sold so out badly, have trampled on the Constitution so crazily…the shell-shocked public accepts these lessers as the status quo.

At that point, people say, “Stop all this nonsense about a third-party candidate. Get real. We have to choose from the two candidates in front of us. That’s what life and elections are all about. Be an adult. Make your decision. Go for the lesser of two evils.”

A national poll might prove quite interesting. Ask people, “In the presidential election, are you voting for the lesser of two evils? Are you voting for the candidate who is “less bad” than the other guy?”

Better yet, let’s have a candidate who says, up front, “Hi, I’m Gil Fulbright, the lesser of two evils, and I’m running for president. Let’s not kid each other. You know, I know, and everybody knows that my opponent and I are both morons and sell-outs. We got where we are by lying and stealing. What else did you expect? We’re both puppets for larger forces. But at least I’m willing to admit it. And I believe, in my heart, that I’m the lesser of two evils. What do you say? Cut me a break. I really want to live in the White House and be the commander-in-chief. And my wife? Don’t get me started on what she wants.”

So the next time a “smarter, wiser” friend, who “really knows how the world works,” tells you you’ve got to choose the lesser of two evils, realize who’s smart and who the idiot is.

This fake political ad for Gil Fulbright is an example of what you get from voting for the lesser of two evils. Copy and paste address below in Google search.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQTqB5jZ4Lc


Politicians won't change if they know we'll vote for them anyway. Good candidates seldom receive the support they need to become viable. The problem of bad choices are thereby perpetuated, and the nation's political process continues to deteriorate until the day when our choices will be an Adolf Hitler or a Joseph Stalin.

JFK Assassination fallout - Liars-in-Chief

What if...?

          May 29, 2016 marked the 99th birthday of John F. Kennedy. He probably wouldn't have lived that long but the history of the past 53 years would be vastly different if he had not been murdered. Thanks to his assassination we have been cursed with a parade of Liars-in-Chief holding the highest office in the land.

          When the American people allowed whoever it was that killed JFK to get away with his murder, the killers and those who supported them realized they could lie to us and we wouldn’t do anything about it.  

          I prefer to say things up front. John F. Kennedy WAS killed by a conspiracy, and the people who carried it out are still being protected by elements within our government…the FBI, the CIA, and the military. Lee Oswald didn’t kill anyone on November 22, 1963…not Tippit and not Kennedy. However, he has been vilified since then as the lone nut assassin. He was silenced by Jack Ruby so that the blame could be pinned on him without any recourse or anyone challenging it. He was exactly what he shouted in the halls of the Dallas Police Department, “I’m just a patsy”.  

The liars saw it and said that it was good.

          Are you satisfied with the course our country has taken since November 22, 1963? Kennedy’s death led to one liar after another holding the office of presidency. If any of these men had been Pinocchio, there wouldn’t have been enough wood available to keep extending their nose. Look at just a few examples of each:

None of these men would have become president if JFK had not been assassinated

          Lyndon Johnson will forever be remembered as the liar who pushed the Gulf of Tonkin resolution which was used to justify the American military buildup in South Vietnam and a war that killed over 58,000 U.S. soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines, nurses...and over a million Vietnamese.

          Richard Nixon lied about a secret plan to end the war in Vietnam to get elected, then illegally invaded Laos and Cambodia while lying to cover it up…and lied about virtually everything else until he resigned.

          Gerald Ford lied about what was in the Warren Commission testimonials. He knew the truth because he was ON the commission but still lied to protect the predetermined solution to the murder...that Oswald was the sole assassin.

          Jimmy Carter lied about being a “nuclear physicist and a peanut farmer.” He was neither: he held only a bachelor’s degree, and he owned a peanut warehouse.

          Ronald Reagan's lies started before he even got into office. Remember his famous “There you go again” line to Carter at the debate on October 28, 1980? Carter had just accused Reagan of being against Medicare and Social Security. Carter was right and Reagan was wrong, Reagan had recorded a record album in the 1960s opposing Medicare and Social Security because he claimed it was leading us down a socialist path. But Reagan got away with it because he got a laugh from the line. He also lied about the illegal war in Nicaragua that he initiated, the Iran-Contra deal, his environmental policies…the list goes on.

          George H.W. Bush – remember “read my lips, no new taxes”? He then passed the biggest tax increase in our nation’s history to that date. Also, unlike 99% of Americans alive then, Bush says he can't recall where he was the day Kennedy was shot, (even though there’s a picture of him standing outside the Texas School Book Depository that afternoon). I guess CIA agents don’t need to have reliable memories.

George H.W. Bush chats with other CIA and FBI agents while police sweep the TSBD.

          Bill Clinton lied about his numerous extra-marital affairs; even going so far as to try to redefine what “is” is during the run up to possible impeachment proceedings. Of course, when smoking pot, he didn't inhale, either.

          George W. Bush – lied about the weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and dragged the U.S. into two wars.

          During a Joint session of congress in 2009 discussing health care reform, Barak Obama said: "There are also those who claim that our reform effort will insure illegal immigrants. This, too, is false – the reforms I'm proposing would not apply to those who are here illegally." In a breach of decorum South Carolina congressman Joe Wilson pointed at Obama and shouted, "You lie!" twice. But Wilson was right. Numerous cases have turned up where illegal immigrants had no problem getting on the Affordable Care Act. Obama even got MIT Professor Jonathan Gruber to identify the American voters as stupid people for passing the act. Not a lie per se, but a serious misjudgment.
          This is what our chief executives regularly pull off because it has become "part of the job"..  

          In November 2013 CNN even did a story about how and why presidents lie: http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/24/politics/presidents-lie/

          As if that makes it okay.

If the president's lips are moving, he's lying.

          Lying now defines American politics and presidents. They consistently lie because the U.S. government, to this day, continues to lie about the Kennedy assassination. Lying did not start there; it just became accepted and expected from that point on. It set a precedent that the liars in our government continue to build on.

          As long as we let the assassination lies and the liars who maintain it continue to rot American history and politics, our image around the world will sink lower and lower. We used to be considered “a shining beacon on a hill”. Now, thanks to lies that justify numerous wars we initiated or expanded since the JFK assassination, allow or encourage rampant CIA intrusions into foreign affairs, kill countless people the government gets to define as “bad”, and show callous disregard for the rights of other people or nations, we are the bully on the block...the rich, drunken, quarrelsome doofus that no one trusts.

      Are you pleased with what the U.S.A. has become?

          Then do something about it, because we are about to hold an election where we’ll have to choose from two more proven liars for the presidency.

They move in the same circles when they're not running against each other.