The courage to be foolish

Yes, I know, I'm being foolish. Expecting folks not to be afraid is just plain silly. I know most of you are saying to yourselves, "I have no idea what he's talking about. I'm not afraid of anything." You couldn't be more wrong. Take this scenario:

In just under three weeks Americans are going to go to the polls. Most of you, I'm sure have already made up your minds how you're going to vote, simply because - as I said before - you're afraid to vote differently. Seriously. I know there are a lot of you voting for Romney because you don't like or want Obama. Mitt, however, is heartless, cruel, mean, deceiving, conniving, and ruthless. He has no idea what he's talking about, I have no idea what he stands for (other than money and moneyed interests) and his running mate is every bit as bad, if not worse. I also know there are a lot of you voting for Obama, because you don't like or want Romney. Obama, however, is weak, ambivalent, misguided, deceiving, conniving and, in domestic policy, at least, ruthless. He does know what he's talking about, but I'm only sort of clear on what he stands for, and his running mate is harmless. I don't think I need to remind you all that neither of these descriptions are reasons to vote.

Granted, the Republicans are trying to make an unreasonable voting system even more unreasonable with this whole ID thing that has no basis in reality, and there are some of you who are even contemplating - perish the thought! - voting for a third party candidate, just to protest. And that, my dear friends, is about as courageous as the American voting public will become. In the secrecy of the voting booth, they'll pull the lever for someone else. But to what avail? None.

Regardless of how the election turns out, it will be the people who "wasted their votes" that will have screwed everything up, just like Nader was accused of in 2000. First, we have to realize that the very concept of "wasting a vote" only exists in America, and it is far from the concept of "democracy" as you can get. So, here's my suggestion, here's how you make your wasted vote count:

Vote for Mickey Mouse. Write him in on the ballot. It's that simple. Let's face it, he gets votes in every election anyway, but never enough to get electoral votes to really make a difference (because, remember, Americans aren't even trusted to elect their own president ... how insulting is that!). So here's your chance. Forget the Greens, the Libertarians, the Socialist Workers. Rally for Mickey Mouse! Take a stand, show the system how silly it really is and for once in your life, cast a vote of which the system is worthy. Why? Because if you all did it, you'd finally get the much-needed discussion started to get things sorted reasonably. Maybe, just maybe, you could even turn your electoral system into a democratic one.

But, I know that most of you just don't have the courage, so you'll bow your head, lower your eyes, "do the right thing" (which in this case is wrong), and pull the lever for who you believe is the least of all evils. But remember, that's still choosing evil. You need courage to face up to evil ... or are you just too afraid?