Jacqueline S. Salit
3.0 out of 5 stars TIRED — Out of Touch with Substance and Reality,November 10, 2012
I've gone through this book, it is a very fast read, in part because there is no real substance here. I list ten better books at the end. If you seek out my summary reviews you can get the gist of all that is not in this book by Jackie Salit.
After years of trying to understand Salit and her ostensible web site for IndependentVoting.org, I finally got it one day as I watched 30 non-profit and advocacy leaders struggle with the concept of transpartisanship.
In that moment I realized that they are all — and certainly including Salit — bound hand and foot to the concept of a two-party tyranny. They are comfortable with the corruption that they understand, and each limits themselves and their group to seeking a foot-hold within that very corrupt system.
Salit and Michael Bloomberg “made” each other, and this properly puts IndependentVoting.org, which does not stand for anything other than “give us a place at the table,” in the Bloomberg/Wall Street circus act that includes NO LABELS, Americans Elect, former Comptroller David Walker with his movie and bus tour, and now the Bloomberg PAC that buys influence on Member at a time. All of this is TIRED.
Salit has had multiple chances — as has Ron Paul and other third party presidents — to break away from trying to do the wrong thing righter, and in each instance has failed to rise to the challenge. A national Electoral Reform Summit concluding with a Statement of Demand and an Occupation of every home office of every federal Senator and Representative, is the WIRED approach to changing the rules of the game.
There is nothing wrong with America the Beautiful that cannot be fixed by restoring the integrity of our electoral system and thence of our governance. Salit means well, but she and her organization are on the margins (as are the Paulistas betrayed by Ron Paul, the Greens, the Justice Party, etcetera).
I am what McGregor would call an indirect leader — an idea leader — still lacking today in America is a direct leader, a leader that can integrate intelligence with integrity and provide holistic comprehensive moral leadership Of, By, and For all of the citizens, transients, and illegal immigrants in the USA.
Obama has a chance to be that leader, but it is highly doubtful that he will rise to the occasion, surrounded as he is by Axelrod, Ploufee, and other hacks who delight in squeezing the last drop of blood out of the old corrupt system that disconnects the voters from the government the minute the election is over.
See Also:
Grand Illusion: The Myth of Voter Choice in a Two-Party Tyranny
Running on Empty: How the Democratic and Republican Parties Are Bankrupting Our Future and What Americans Can Do About It
Where Have All the Leaders Gone?
Transforming Leadership
Voice of the People: The Transpartisan Imperative in American Life
We the Purple: Faith, Politics, and the Independent Voter
Griftopia: A Story of Bankers, Politicians, and the Most Audacious Power Grab in American History
Empire of Illusion: The End of Literacy and the Triumph of Spectacle
National Suicide: How Washington Is Destroying the American Dream from A to Z
They Dare to Speak Out: People and Institutions Confront Israel's Lobby
There are nine nations in America, each capable of secession by region. There are predominantly good people in America, all greviously harmed by the corruption of Washington and the greed of Wall Street. Ron Paul could have led We the People Reform Coalition to victory this time around, but his own inability to rise beyond the two-party tyranny–no doubt tempered by the financial losses he would incur if he challenged the aging lion–betrayed every one of us who prayed for a new solution truly Of, By, and For We the People. Rocky Anderson is completely wrong to think that the Justice Party will be relevant; Jill Stein did well for the Greens but will never be more than a fringe player (as am I). No third party can win in America — what CAN win is populism focused on the ONE THING we can all agree on: an Electoral Reform Act of 2013. If Obama sponsored that, he would get the mandate he needs to actually BE President. I am not holding my breath.
Best wishes to all,
Robert David STEELE Vivas
ELECTION 2008: Lipstick on the Pig
