SAN FRANCISCO - Election season seems to have started a year earlier than normal, as Howie Hardcore, and approximately six other deadbeats and militia men shown in an exclusive internet video, have latched on to the seemingly most anti-establishment semi-mainstream presidential candidate they could find in libertarian-leaning Texas Repub Ron Paul. A demonstrated racist and alleged anti-semite (I disagree with the latter claim), Paul advocates a "return to the Constitution" approach, a logical choice for HH and his cohorts since the best anti-establishment ideas obviously come from 250 year old rich white men living in a plantation society facing approximately zero of today's issues/problems.
But that's really not the point. I make no secret of my opinion that the U.S. electoral process is a joke, at the very least, up until the general election. The "primary elections" are merely an expensive ruse during which each party gets the person it wants to run elected by controlling the press, strongly encouraging voters in demographic(s) backing its candidate to get to the polls, etc. This is why Howard Dean never had a chance to get anywhere as the '04 primaries progressed, and Paul is not even Howard Dean.
What I don't understand is why Hardcore wastes his time, and all of yours, loyal readers, with the prattling on and what almost appears to be genuine hope that something revelutionary is happening here. I know that the philosophical fantasyland that the Bay area offers makes a slight departure from reality possible, but anyone looking at this objectively realizes that we have, at its most effective, a Nader-like uprising in the works. In other words, a completely irrelevant fringe of people who, however logical their arguments/platforms may be, seem completely unfazed by the fact that the crap they do and the things they think make no difference to anyone else (except in Florida every once in a while). My thinking is that people enjoy latching on to a cause they know is going nowhere, because it validates their thinking that they are being held down by the establishment and that they are really unique and cool and free-thinking and insightful whilst the rest of us sheep march off to slaughter.
Is it because someone stomped on a sign? Now THIS I can relate to. When I went to a basketball game in 1993, I had a sign that said "Fuck Montross," and this was also ripped out of my hand and stomped by a big dude who didn't say anything. I think any time you walk into one candidate's rally carrying another's sign, and you are generally chanting stupid chants and disruptive to the goings on, you can expect to be not very well received. I don't think this is a sign of any growing realization of a free-thinking RP insurgency...but...this got me thinking...
I now have my pick for president in 2008: Eric Montross.
As an aside, if I gave a fuck about politics, this would be an interesting election to follow, because for once I really don't have a clue who each party is going to put in the general election. My early picks were Romney and Clinton, respectively, which would be a safe play by the Repubs and a disasterous one by the Dems, as Hil is utterly unelectable. Nothing in the past few months has changed my picks, but I have considerable doubts about both, especially since Romney appears to be the very preliminary frontrunner but there's no steam being put behind him, if that makes any sense.
In the end, it makes no difference.
