Very often, I feel like a cat in a roomful of dogs, especially politically. For example, I would prefer a more peaceful approach to foreign policy, cutting down our military spending. Especially when there doesn't seem to be any military forces attacking us. Both Romney and Obama seem to disagree, as do many of the "dogs" I associate with. Be afraid.
I would prefer a single-payer health care system. That would solve a whole bunch of problems all in one blow. But that would be way to "socialistic" for Romney and the Republicans, as well as their sponsors, the insurance industry and Big Pharm. And even Obama, in spite of all of his pre-election talk, refused to put that option on the discussion table.
Romney touts his "plan" for creating millions of jobs, but as he speaks, 170 jobs in Indiana are planned to be sent to China in a Bain Capital plan to increase the wealth of its investors. At least Obama can blame the Republican House majority, whose sole priority seems to be his demise.
Privatization of the post office, prisons, Social Security, you name it, seems like a bad idea to me. But Romney and his Republicans are all for it. Anything that would make him and his friends more money. Any casualties along the way are just the price of doing business.
It puzzles me when I hear people say, "I don't really know which one to vote for", or, "I don't really like either one." When I remind them about other alternatives, like the Green Party, the Libertarian or Constitution parties, people don't seem to consider them viable options. I guess I can blame the media for that one, since they rarely give any exposure to anyone except their favorites. There are still a few non-corporate funded programming broadcasts, like Free Speech TV, or Link TV, which hosts Amy Goodman's "Democracy Now." Even C-Span's "Washington Journal" often presents both sides. And then, of course, there's the Internet.
But wouldn't a large vote for any of these alternative candidates be every bit as strong a message to the powers that be as the large percentage of votes for the convicted felon during the primaries here in West Virginia?
Fred Dawson
Munday, W.Va.
