You remember the old political joke: The candidate goes to an Indian Reservation to drum up votes for the upcoming election. The Chief greets him and introduces him to the community. The candidate starts giving a speech, filled with (false) promises etc., and each time he pauses the crowd yells ‘Tawanka!’. He goes on and on, each time hearing the same ‘Tawanka’. At the end of the visit, the Chief is walking him back to his election van. As they pass by a corral filled with cattle, the Chief says “Just be careful not to step in the Tawanka.”

Well, having spent some time this past few weeks watching a myriad of political debates on C-Span, all I can say is ‘Tawanka’! Regardless of what congressional seat or what state the seat is in, the formula is always the same. With this Two Party/One Party system, both the Republicans and Democrats each have their candidates well scripted. The Republican ones focused on Trump’s  needed tax cuts (the ones already passed that overwhelmingly favor the mega rich), border security (Keep those ‘dangerous’ spics out of here), repealing Obama Care and substituting it with something more viable (to better aid the private insurers, who were already well resourced under ObamaCare); though purposely not mentioning getting rid of Roe V. Wade (too dangerous if they want to get those white ‘Soccer Moms’ to vote Republican), and of course having a ‘strong defense’ (as if already spending over 50% of the working stiffs tax money on it is not enough).

Their opponents, the good ole reliable Democrats, scripted their puppets to have ‘fairer and kinder’ immigration reform, keeping a woman’s right to choose, keep Obama Care but ‘make it even better’ (though tens of millions of Americans see NO value in it at all), more tax relief for the ‘middle class’ by rescinding some of the mega millions the super rich now save (yet not really giving much more to hundreds of millions of working stiffs), keeping our military spending at the record levels it now is at (to keep us safe from the Russkies who are destroying our democracy, and of course from the jihadists who Obama and Mrs. Clinton helped nurture by our destruction of Libya and instigations in Syria’s domestic unrest), targeting Wall Street, yet not too drastically, as their party gets lots of moolah, along with their opponents, from Wall Street. Need I go on?

You watch these debates and it can sicken any rational thinking person. Both candidates have to tell the audience how they will ‘Fight for the middle class’ etc. Of course, this is in between the majority of the one hour event being spent on throwing ‘Tawanka’ at each other for whatever monies they have been taking from the ‘special interests’ AKA mega rich corporate and private sources. Foreign policy is never big on the debate agenda, and why should it? After all, both parties are ‘in the pocket’ of the War Economy and of course Israeli Zionists. The preponderance of nearly 1000 USA foreign military bases and fighting soldiers worldwide is what both parties support. Even Bernie Sanders, when he ran as a ‘Democratic democratic socialist’, failed to hammer home those points. No, this election cycle keeps the conversation on domestic policies. Of course, to anyone who connects the dots, cutting the well over $ 800 billion a year in military spending and using even 25% of it for domestic programs (duh, like total National Health Care for ALL, or real infrastructure repairs and upgrades) would, in one case, ease the fear and burden of personal health crisis, and in the other case create millions of well paying jobs.

This writer, for one, has seen the trend in my beloved country move drastically towards both a Fascist and even Neo Nazi manner. It is quite scary to this baby boomer, even worse than in the turbulent 1960s and early 70s. Many friends and colleagues on the Left have disagreed with what I have done as to my recent early ballot voting. In my state of Florida this far right wing element has to be stopped. If that meant me voting for the ‘Lesser of two evils’ Democrats, then so be it. I did. If we can curtail that train from leaving the station, good for us. Then, we who ‘know better’ can focus as always on protesting the Military Industrial Empire and the two parties who serve it.

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Philip A Farruggio is a son and grandson of Brooklyn, NYC longshoremen. He has been a free lance columnist since 2001, with over 400 of his work posted on sites like Global Research, Greanville Post, Off Guardian, Consortium News, Information Clearing House, Nation of Change, World News Trust, Op Ed News, Dissident Voice, Activist Post, Sleuth Journal, Truthout and many others. His blog can be read in full on World News Trust, whereupon he writes a great deal on the need to cut military spending drastically and send the savings back to save our cities. Philip has a internet interview show, ‘It’s the Empire… Stupid’ with producer Chuck Gregory, and can be reached at [email protected]

Featured image is from Massoud Nayeri.