Choices
Captain Ed has a post up about choices - specifically about choosing the "lesser of two evils".
The phrase "lesser of two evils" gets a lot of use in politics, but it gets taken too literally in order to make an excuse for inaction. In the literal sense, it almost never applies anyway. Not many political figures in American history have been downright evil. We have had incompetents, malcontents, benighted fools, the hopelessly naive, and Jimmy Carter, but thankfully only a handful of outright crooks and genuinely evil men and women. The odds of having two choices in an election where both are evil are very, very slim. Perhaps if David Duke ran against Tom Metzger for Congress, that would excuse the district from voting for either one. Even then, I would argue that in that rare case, the responsible action would be to vote for a third party candidate to ensure neither got the seat.
I think that pretty well hits it on the head. It's not really the lesser of two evils. As Captain Ed says it's not evils - it's mediocrities. Which gets to the point of this post. All too often these days, I end up voting for the "least worst" candidate. But, and this is vital, I always vote, every time, no exceptions. So should every, single American citizen, no matter what. It is vital to this nation that we not "sit this one out".
Blogosphere | Gaius Sunday, 14 May , 2006
By Juggler, Sunday, 14 May , 2006 @ 11:23 pm
Here’s a radio talk-show host who just admitted he made the wrong choice:
http://www.kabc.com/mcintyre/listingsEntry.asp?ID=432586&PT=McIntyre+in+the+Morning
Food for thought.