New York Times reporter Ginia Bellafante also promoted this in her notorious critique in which she quoted a New York Stock Exchange trader who said, "Look at these kids, sitting here with their Apple computers. Apple, one of the biggest monopolies in the world. It trades at $400 a share. Do they even know that?"
In both instances, the only reason why Green Party supporters at McDonald's or Occupy activists using Apple products matters is because the people writing these critiques do not want the public to take them seriously. They also lack the ability to imagine a society, which manufactures products in mass quantities without relying on wage slavery. They fail to contemplate a world, where affordable food options do not center on fast food establishments that sell frankenfood. (It also never occurs to either of the journalists that someone trapped in a McDonald's job may be just the type of person, who may break away from Democrats and vote Green in this election.)
The announcement of Baraka as Stein's vice president pick inspired pieces intended to label Baraka as a "fringe" candidate. Charles Pulliam-Moore called attention to his "questionable" views on, of all things, Beyonce.
Emma Roller wrote a piece for the New York Times in which she declares, "Third parties have become little more than attention-seeking mechanisms that pop up every four years, then settle back into obscurity."
While one can take serious issue with the characterization of third-party candidates as "attention-seekers," Roller at least considers the nature of the country's two-party system. But she seems resigned to the fact that what the country has is the best society could ever do.
Deciding between two less-than-ideal presidential options isn't just common; it's in our heritage. First-past-the-post systems, in which multiple candidates vie for one seat, tend to produce two-party democracies, while parliamentary systems allow for a more diverse slate of political parties. So barring a constitutional amendment that fundamentally restructured the executive branch, America's two-party system is unlikely to change soon.
Slavery and genocide are also in America's heritage. That the political system is part of the country's heritage is no reason to maintain a "first-past-the-post system" if it keeps the population trapped in a vicious cycle, which mainly serves corporations and the richest one percent of Americans.
John Aravosis was delighted to take his Democratic Party tribalism to the next level and inform Sanders supporters Baraka "hates" Bernie Sanders.
Baraka once argued, "As much as the 'Sandernistas' attempt to disarticulate Sanders 'progressive' domestic policies from his documented support for empire, it should be obvious that his campaign is an ideological prop--albeit from a center/left position--of the logic and interests of the capitalist-imperialist settler state."
While Aravosis clearly put up this post to alienate Sanders supporters, who may think they could support Stein, he failed to grasp the fact that many Sanders supporters wanted him to be a fiercer advocate against U.S. wars for empire during the primary.
Clinton will not address Sanders supporters during the general election. Her strategy for winning is to be a better and more sophisticated Republican than Trump. She also has the progressive establishment to berate, ridicule, and lecture those who align with Stein. With their policing of progressive activists, she does not have to worry about them developing into any kind of a threat to her electoral chances. Or, so her campaign believes.
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