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Thread: If You Vote -- It means the politicians have fooled you.

  1. #1

    If You Vote -- It means the politicians have fooled you.


    If You Vote -- It means the politicians have fooled you.

    Fangate is a Reflection of Voters

    By Chad Nelson
    October 20, 2014

    The big election season story this week comes from Florida, where in that state’s gubernatorial race, Republican incumbent Rick Scott refused to take the stage for a debate because his Democratic opponent, Charlie Crist, allegedly violated the debate rules. Apparently Crist’s podium was equipped with (gasp!) a fan. Mainstream news outlets, always eager to over-report on a meaningless story that has high tabloid-value, is in all its glory. If I didn’t know better, I’d guess that this is the media’s way of pretending to hold politicians’ feet to the fire–by relentlessly criticizing them for idiotic, petty personal behavior that has nothing at all to do with actual issues. On the real issues, the media’s role in relation to the politician is one of enthusiastic cheerleader.

    What this non-event actually highlights is the stupidity, the utter gullibility, and supreme narcissism of voters. No, not just Florida voters. Not the voters in this particular election cycle. Voters in general. The very act of voting says a lot about the people who participate in it, and none of it is positive. There seem to be two kinds of voters historically, each of them locked in their own tight race for who will win the award for most deluded.


    The first kind of voter is glued to the set for the latest take on the Scott-Crist drama. He will ultimately cast his ballot largely based on surface-level attributes such as whether the politician is likable, whether he’d be a fun guy to have a beer with, or whether he sweats. Think I’m overdoing it? Look no further back than the Kennedy/Nixon presidential election where popular opinion holds that Nixon did himself great harm by profusely sweating in the country’s first ever televised presidential debate. Interestingly enough, it is said that Kennedy’s “handlers” knew this about Nixon, that he was a sweater, and made sure to turn the heat up in the debate studio for this very reason. I laughed last night when I read a tweet (which I now cannot find) that said “Whichever handler told Crist to go out on stage and just stand there until Scott showed up deserves a raise.” That was brilliant. It perfectly captures the empty-headedness of politicians, whose actions are driven solely by a team of doting aides who are constantly gauging public perception.


    And let us simply reflect for a moment on why politicians have handlers in the first place. It tells us everything we need to know. Politicians are like cardboard cutouts whose skulls are empty vessels just waiting to be filled with slick soundbites by Madison Avenue’s finest. Consider further that high-level politicians even have their own press secretaries, whose jobs consist of nothing more than spinning issues the politicians themselves have no grasp of in order to fool the electorate into thinking they have everything under control. Press secretaries serve as nothing more than high caliber con artists for their bosses. It is only more distressing that voters are gullible enough to buy into the political performance.


    Sadly, events like Fangate and a politician’s sweat glands matter to American voters. If Rick Scott’s team of handlers didn’t realize this, they wouldn’t have withheld their monkey from the stage over a trivial issue like No Fans Allowed. What percentage of voters charge enthusiastically into the voting booth knowing little more than this type of information is unknown, but we’ve all come across many friends, neighbors and family members who embody this density.


    The second kind of voter is the true believer. The true believer is supposedly the creme de la creme of the electorate, purportedly “versed on the issues”. He’s done his homework, knows where the candidates stand on the big issues of the day, and makes an informed choice as to who is more equipped to run the affairs of he and his fellow men over the next few years. The true believer thumbs his nose at the eggheaded superficial voter described above. He can even see through the handlers’ and press secretaries’ spin machine if he watches closely. Warning: if this description doesn’t activate your gag reflex, you may be a true believer voter.


    The true believer evidences the same kind of mystical superstition that a weekly churchgoer exhibits. He believes with blind faith and without critical examination that politicians are our saviors, selflessly stepping forward to “lead” the country in the most difficult and complex of human affairs, if only the right ones can be found and elected. To the true believer, there is nothing the politician isn’t, or cannot become, an expert on once he gets into office and has the vast resources of the state at his disposal. Can a former Constitutional Law Professor become the nation’s expert on Ebola? Shizzam! He’s a doctor now too! How about a failed Texas oilman-cum-Major League Baseball team owner? Poof! An expert on Middle Eastern affairs overnight. How about a handsome, California born and bred B-movie actor? What hidden talents did he have up his sleeve? Don’t you remember? He ended the Cold War with sheer resolve and a big wallet!


    The true believer eats up campaign promises with a spoon, and everything that happens in the world, good or bad, is attributable to the rightness or wrongness of the actions of our political leaders. And if this leader fails us, by golly, the next time around we’ll get it right in the voting booth. Isn’t this the clinical definition of insanity?


    P.J. O’Rourke said it best with the title of his book “Don’t Vote, It Just Encourages the Bastards”. Voting tells politicians that they’ve fooled you. Either you, the voter, are so vacuous that a sweating politician will determine how you vote, or perhaps worse, you’re so naive that no matter how many failed political promises you’ve been fed, you’ll always believe the next one will actually be fulfilled.



    Chad Nelson is a Rhode Island attorney and an Assistant Editor at Antiwar.com. Follow him on Twitter @cnels43.

    http://www.lewrockwell.com/2014/10/c...if-you-vote-2/

    Copyright © 2014 by LewRockwell.com. Permission to reprint in whole or in part is gladly granted, provided full credit and a live link are provided.



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  3. #2
    What a moron. I don't suppose this guy actually read O'Rourke's book past the front cover.

    Even if you buy this premise, it would seem that the appropriate thing to do would be to get involved earlier to play a role in selecting the candidates for which people will vote.

    The alternative is that you take yourself out of the process and allow your fate to be determined by those that wish to rob you. I've never seen a politician try to make his case to someone who he knows is not going to vote anyway.
    "And now that the legislators and do-gooders have so futilely inflicted so many systems upon society, may they finally end where they should have begun: May they reject all systems, and try liberty; for liberty is an acknowledgment of faith in God and His works." - Bastiat

    "It is difficult to free fools from the chains they revere." - Voltaire

  4. #3
    Most people do not vote in most elections. Not voting only makes the statement that you are one of the masses. Voting for someone like Ron Paul shows you are not a sheeple.
    Quote Originally Posted by dannno View Post
    It's a balance between appeasing his supporters, appeasing the deep state and reaching his own goals.
    ~Resident Badgiraffe




  5. #4
    Quote Originally Posted by CaptUSA View Post
    What a moron. I don't suppose this guy actually read O'Rourke's book past the front cover.

    Even if you buy this premise, it would seem that the appropriate thing to do would be to get involved earlier to play a role in selecting the candidates for which people will vote.

    The alternative is that you take yourself out of the process and allow your fate to be determined by those that wish to rob you. I've never seen a politician try to make his case to someone who he knows is not going to vote anyway.
    "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me."


  6. #5
    Quote Originally Posted by Ronin Truth View Post
    "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me."

    How easily they chase you away. Instead of fighting harder to wrestle power away from them, you just admit defeat and run with your tail between your legs? "Do with me as you like! I won't complain any longer!"
    "And now that the legislators and do-gooders have so futilely inflicted so many systems upon society, may they finally end where they should have begun: May they reject all systems, and try liberty; for liberty is an acknowledgment of faith in God and His works." - Bastiat

    "It is difficult to free fools from the chains they revere." - Voltaire

  7. #6
    At least voting is free.
    People who donate money,time and effort to politicians like Ron or Rand Paul,Massie or Amash must be morons,huh?
    And people who donate money to political sites like RPF's,C4L or LewRockwell dot com must be absolutely brain dead in your opinion,right?
    Last edited by mad cow; 10-20-2014 at 10:11 AM.
    Inspired by US Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, this site is dedicated to facilitating grassroots initiatives that aim to restore a sovereign limited constitutional Republic based on the rule of law, states' rights and individual rights. We seek to enshrine the original intent of our Founders to foster respect for private property, seek justice, provide opportunity, and to secure individual liberty for ourselves and our posterity.


    A police state is a small price to pay for living in the freest country on earth.

  8. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by CaptUSA View Post
    How easily they chase you away. Instead of fighting harder to wrestle power away from them, you just admit defeat and run with your tail between your legs? "Do with me as you like! I won't complain any longer!"
    Actually I just accept that Satan rules and controls ALL human governments and always has. Nothing I can do will change nor effect that. So why bother even playing the rigged, corrupt, evil game?

    "Any compromise between good and evil only works to the detriment of the good and to the benefit of the evil."


  9. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by mad cow View Post
    A least voting is free.
    People who donate money,time and effort to politicians like Ron or Rand Paul,Massie or Amash must be morons,huh?
    And people who donate money to political sites like RPF's,C4L or LewRockwell dot com must be absolutely brain dead in your opinion,right?
    I believe that a persuasive case could be made in support of that argument.

    "The ultimate consequence of protecting men from the results of their own folly is to fill the world with fools."



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  11. #9

    Statement of Purpose: Voluntaryists are advocates of non-political, non-violent strategies to achieve a free society. We reject electoral politics, in theory and in practice, as incompatible with libertarian principles. Governments must cloak their actions in an aura of moral legitimacy in order to sustain their power, and political methods invariably strengthen that legitimacy.

    Voluntaryists seek instead to delegitimize the State through education, and we advocate withdrawal of the cooperation and tacit consent on which State power ultimately depends.
    http://voluntaryist.com/

  12. #10
    We in America do not have government by the majority. We have government by the majority who participate. - Thomas Jefferson
    Tacit consent is not present when you have consistently voted against everything that has become policy. You get a couple days a year to register your displeasure; and it doesn't cost you anything.
    "And now that the legislators and do-gooders have so futilely inflicted so many systems upon society, may they finally end where they should have begun: May they reject all systems, and try liberty; for liberty is an acknowledgment of faith in God and His works." - Bastiat

    "It is difficult to free fools from the chains they revere." - Voltaire

  13. #11
    Quote Originally Posted by CaptUSA View Post
    Tacit consent is not present when you have consistently voted against everything that has become policy. You get a couple days a year to register your displeasure; and it doesn't cost you anything.
    Over the last 200+ years what is common denominator for all of the accumulated crap and tyranny in D.C.?

    VOTERS!

  14. #12
    Quote Originally Posted by Ronin Truth View Post
    Over the last 200+ years what is common denominator for all of the accumulated crap and tyranny in D.C.?

    VOTERS!
    I guess you could just as easily say the common denominator is "people".

    I wonder how fast they'd take your rights if the only people who voted were the ones who voted FOR their policies?
    "And now that the legislators and do-gooders have so futilely inflicted so many systems upon society, may they finally end where they should have begun: May they reject all systems, and try liberty; for liberty is an acknowledgment of faith in God and His works." - Bastiat

    "It is difficult to free fools from the chains they revere." - Voltaire

  15. #13
    Quote Originally Posted by Ronin Truth View Post
    Over the last 200+ years what is common denominator for all of the accumulated crap and tyranny in D.C.?

    VOTERS!
    Why do you know who Ron Paul is? Why does RPF exist? because voters in Texas sent a doctor to DC. What if they had all stayed home, and let the Democrat and Republican establishments pick their Representative?

    Well, then they would be exactly like the average American who does not vote. Strangely, some people now preach not voting as if it is this great wonderful strategy that will change things. But it's really just called sitting on your butt, and most slobs do that already.
    Quote Originally Posted by dannno View Post
    It's a balance between appeasing his supporters, appeasing the deep state and reaching his own goals.
    ~Resident Badgiraffe




  16. #14
    Quote Originally Posted by CaptUSA View Post
    I guess you could just as easily say the common denominator is "people".

    I wonder how fast they'd take your rights if the only people who voted were the ones who voted FOR their policies?
    It just has to get much worse before there is any chance for it to get better. Bring on the collapse. Sooner is better than later.

    "It is easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled." – Mark Twain.


  17. #15
    Quote Originally Posted by Ronin Truth View Post
    It just has to get much worse before there is any chance for it to get better. Bring on the collapse. Sooner is better than later.
    Wanting the collapse is insane, until such time as most people are educated about liberty enough to resist the next tyranny.
    Quote Originally Posted by dannno View Post
    It's a balance between appeasing his supporters, appeasing the deep state and reaching his own goals.
    ~Resident Badgiraffe




  18. #16
    Quote Originally Posted by CaptUSA View Post
    I wonder how fast they'd take your rights if the only people who voted were the ones who voted FOR their policies?
    Hate to be a news breaker... but its pretty much that way right now. Most people vote red or blue with little more intellectual involvement than choosing the 49ers or the Raiders.


    'We endorse the idea of voluntarism; self-responsibility: Family, friends, and churches to solve problems, rather than saying that some monolithic government is going to make you take care of yourself and be a better person. It's a preposterous notion: It never worked, it never will. The government can't make you a better person; it can't make you follow good habits.' - Ron Paul 1988

    Awareness is the Root of Liberation Revolution is Action upon Revelation

    'Resistance and Disobedience in Economic Activity is the Most Moral Human Action Possible' - SEK3

    Flectere si nequeo superos, Acheronta movebo.

    ...the familiar ritual of institutional self-absolution...
    ...for protecting them, by mock trial, from punishment...




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  20. #17
    Quote Originally Posted by William Tell View Post
    Wanting the collapse is insane, until such time as most people are educated about liberty enough to resist the next tyranny.
    Well, to me waiting and hoping for better, is insane. Freedom, peace and prosperity just ain't never coming out of D.C..

    Of all of the elections I've boycotted since 1972 (all of them), the outcome of not one would have been changed by my vote. I'd bet the very same is true for your's too.

    It is hard to fight an enemy who has outposts in your head.

  21. #18
    Quote Originally Posted by presence View Post
    Hate to be a news breaker... but its pretty much that way right now. Most people vote red or blue with little more intellectual involvement than choosing the 49ers or the Raiders.

    Take the spread.
    "And now that the legislators and do-gooders have so futilely inflicted so many systems upon society, may they finally end where they should have begun: May they reject all systems, and try liberty; for liberty is an acknowledgment of faith in God and His works." - Bastiat

    "It is difficult to free fools from the chains they revere." - Voltaire

  22. #19
    I stand firmly on the pro-Voting side of this discussion. If we vote hard enough, anything is possible. Just keep on voting, keep on electing local deputy zoning ordnance assistant administrators, and eventually we'll have enough political clout to win a majority in the Senate&Congress, and we will vote our freedom back, one great democratic vote at a time.

    We have done great work with our voting so far. Just look at Rand. He's what can happen from voting hard. Just imagine what we can accomplish if we vote even harder.
    It's all about taking action and not being lazy. So you do the work, whether it's fitness or whatever. It's about getting up, motivating yourself and just doing it.
    - Kim Kardashian

    Donald Trump / Crenshaw 2024!!!!

    My pronouns are he/him/his

  23. #20
    Quote Originally Posted by bxm042 View Post
    I stand firmly on the pro-Voting side of this discussion. If we vote hard enough, anything is possible. Just keep on voting, keep on electing local deputy zoning ordnance assistant administrators, and eventually we'll have enough political clout to win a majority in the Senate&Congress, and we will vote our freedom back, one great democratic vote at a time.

    We have done great work with our voting so far. Just look at Rand. He's what can happen from voting hard. Just imagine what we can accomplish if we vote even harder.
    Let's just sit on our butts harder, OK?
    Quote Originally Posted by dannno View Post
    It's a balance between appeasing his supporters, appeasing the deep state and reaching his own goals.
    ~Resident Badgiraffe




  24. #21
    Quote Originally Posted by CaptUSA View Post
    Take the spread.
    With millions of clueless voters whose votes count just the same as mine would, I can always find something better and more sensible ways to spend my time, efforts and other resources.

    "If voting made any difference they wouldn't let us do it." -- Mark Twain

  25. #22
    Quote Originally Posted by Ronin Truth View Post
    With millions of clueless voters whose votes count just the same as mine would, I can always find something better and more sensible ways to spend my time, efforts and other resources.
    Hmmm.... Like spouting off on a political forum about the futility of politics? You are doing yeoman's work.
    "And now that the legislators and do-gooders have so futilely inflicted so many systems upon society, may they finally end where they should have begun: May they reject all systems, and try liberty; for liberty is an acknowledgment of faith in God and His works." - Bastiat

    "It is difficult to free fools from the chains they revere." - Voltaire

  26. #23
    Quote Originally Posted by bxm042 View Post
    I stand firmly on the pro-Voting side of this discussion. If we vote hard enough, anything is possible. Just keep on voting, keep on electing local deputy zoning ordnance assistant administrators, and eventually we'll have enough political clout to win a majority in the Senate&Congress, and we will vote our freedom back, one great democratic vote at a time.

    We have done great work with our voting so far. Just look at Rand. He's what can happen from voting hard. Just imagine what we can accomplish if we vote even harder.
    Gee, that sounds just a whole lot like we all heard about Ron too ......... twice.

    Bubba twice, W twice, Obama twice, what is wrong with this picture?

    "Those who cast the votes, decide nothing. Those who count the votes, decide everything." -- Joseph Stalin

  27. #24
    If bitching on the internet made a difference, it would be made illegal.

    Quote Originally Posted by dannno View Post
    It's a balance between appeasing his supporters, appeasing the deep state and reaching his own goals.
    ~Resident Badgiraffe






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  29. #25
    Ronin wins this thread hands-down.
    Quote Originally Posted by Torchbearer
    what works can never be discussed online. there is only one language the government understands, and until the people start speaking it by the magazine full... things will remain the same.
    Hear/buy my music here "government is the enemy of liberty"-RP Support me on Patreon here Ephesians 6:12

  30. #26
    The founders of this country would be rolling over in their graves if they saw us not using the votes they fought so hard to give us.
    It's all about taking action and not being lazy. So you do the work, whether it's fitness or whatever. It's about getting up, motivating yourself and just doing it.
    - Kim Kardashian

    Donald Trump / Crenshaw 2024!!!!

    My pronouns are he/him/his

  31. #27
    Quote Originally Posted by Ronin Truth View Post
    With millions of clueless voters whose votes count just the same as mine would, I can always find something better and more sensible ways to spend my time, efforts and other resources.

    "If voting made any difference they wouldn't let us do it." -- Mark Twain
    The national elections are totally rigged. However the state and local still have some semblance of democracy. Now they are flooding our country with illegals who will vote more socialism to get their welfare check, the states are going to have problems too.
    “The spirits of darkness are now among us. We have to be on guard so that we may realize what is happening when we encounter them and gain a real idea of where they are to be found. The most dangerous thing you can do in the immediate future will be to give yourself up unconsciously to the influences which are definitely present.” ~ Rudolf Steiner

  32. #28
    Quote Originally Posted by CaptUSA View Post
    Hmmm.... Like spouting off on a political forum about the futility of politics? You are doing yeoman's work.
    It's a dirty job, but some folks need to do it.


    Politics Is a Sociopathic Cult
    Last edited by Ronin Truth; 10-21-2014 at 04:16 AM.

  33. #29
    Quote Originally Posted by Ronin Truth View Post
    Actually I just accept that Satan rules and controls ALL human governments and always has. Nothing I can do will change nor effect that. So why bother even playing the rigged, corrupt, evil game?

    "Any compromise between good and evil only works to the detriment of the good and to the benefit of the evil."


    "It is hard to free men from the chains they revere." -Voltaire
    Quote Originally Posted by Torchbearer
    what works can never be discussed online. there is only one language the government understands, and until the people start speaking it by the magazine full... things will remain the same.
    Hear/buy my music here "government is the enemy of liberty"-RP Support me on Patreon here Ephesians 6:12

  34. #30
    Quote Originally Posted by bxm042 View Post
    The founders of this country would be rolling over in their graves if they saw us not using the votes they fought so hard to give us.
    The founders pretty much hated Democracy. So they are rolling because people keep falling for the illusions.
    “The spirits of darkness are now among us. We have to be on guard so that we may realize what is happening when we encounter them and gain a real idea of where they are to be found. The most dangerous thing you can do in the immediate future will be to give yourself up unconsciously to the influences which are definitely present.” ~ Rudolf Steiner

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