Voting and the "lesser" of two evils

12 Steps to Overcoming Addiction to Voting for the “Lesser” of Two Evils

The following "12 Steps" piece was originally posted at World Can'tWait. I've modified it and added to it.  -Lisa Simeone [Above photo from World Can't Wait website.  They are protesting the DNC.]

1. Admit you are in a self-destructive relationship with the Democratic Party.

2. Remove conflicting bumper stickers from your collection. “Shut Down Guantanamo” and “Obama 2012” are mutually exclusive.

3. Understand that Kill Lists and more unjust wars are the wrong kind of change to believe in.

4. Stop lying to yourself. The President is not sucking up to the most powerful interests in the world because he lovesyou.

5. Cut off all contact with Obama, Holder, Clinton, Pelosi. No more phone calls or writing letters. They know what they're doing, and they don't care what you think.

6. Realize that Obama is standing up and fighting. Unfortunately, he’s fighting Afghans, Pakistanis, Yeminis, Somalis . . . in your name.

7. No more excuses. The Republicans are not making Democrats increase domestic spying or deport record numbers of Latinos or prosecute more whistleblowers than any other administration in history or shield financial criminals or defend the indefensible NDAA or encourage prisons for profit or agree to tax cuts on the richest of the rich. The Democrats are doing all that on their own.

8. Get over your romantic feelings for Democrats and their supposed commitment to poor people. This election cycle, poverty isn't even on the agenda (except that the president has repeatedly said that Social Security and Medicare are "on the table." He's gambling with your future).

9. Make a list of all war crimes committed under Bush. Cross out "Bush" and write in "Obama." Now you have a list of facts.  Facts, not opinions.  Add support for indefinite detention without charge, expanded drone wars, and invasions of two more countries. It’s healthy to gag at this list. In fact, if you don't gag, you're even more deeply in denial than we thought.

10. Come to grips with this: The only thing scarier than the Republican Party (a party full of climate-change deniers, fundamentalist woman-haters, gay-bashers, election stealers, and racists) is a party that continually moves to the right to accommodate those very fundamentalists and gets Americans to go along. If you vote for them, you're helping move the country to the right. Congratulations.

11. Forgive yourself for being taken in by promises that weren't delivered, and for ignoring troubling signs, because you wanted to believe in change. But remember, insanity is doing the same thing over again and expecting different results. Don't be an enabler. Stop enabling the party that's shi**ing on you and telling you it smells sweet.

12. As a result of these steps, you can now carry the message to those who still suffer from an addiction to the Democratic Party. Nothing is as liberating as resisting something you know is wrong.