By Jessica Arellano, Alpha Eta
The 2016 Presidential Election will undoubtedly go down in history as the worst on record. In one corner you have Hillary Clinton, the career politician who has been involved in scandals throughout her career, who profits from those that she claims she is against, and who will continue our endless wars throughout the Middle East. As a former Secretary of State, how exactly does one go about putting classified data in your own private email server (set up in your very own home), the go about deleting those emails and not consider that unsafe and reckless? How do you go about charging $200,000 a speech from various Washington lobbyists (ultimately making 22 million dollars) and claim that you will not be partisan to their interests? And more recently, how does your campaign go and hire the former head of the Democratic National Committee, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, after she resigned due to leaked emails showing she and the DNC favored you, over Bernie Sanders? The latter is absolutely unethical, dishonest, and screams of blatant cronyism. Yet I am somehow supposed to go against my own morals and support that?
And then there is Donald Trump. While he has yet to have the lengthy political career that Clinton has, he has not brought anything but ignorance, hate, misogyny, and his constant lack of a real plan to the American people. I know quite a few people who will vote for him because he “speaks his mind” and “isn't a career politician”. But ultimately, what is his plan to make “America Great Again”? I have unfortunately watched his speeches and performances in the debates, and all I am left with is my head spinning in circles because he will not answer questions and is more concerned about pointing fingers at his opponent. His latest spectacle was his leaked audio where his “locker room talk” found him boasting about trying to have sexual relations with a married woman (he was also married at the time) and believing that his celebrity status grants him the authority to grab women by the genitals. This is absolutely unacceptable and disgusting behavior, and I will not condone or accept it with my vote.
With those individuals being the best that the Democrats and Republicans could come up with, I really began to look at third parties and their candidates. I am tired of voting for the lesser of two evils. I am tired of not having more options and more candidates that are closer to my beliefs. This is when my husband began to introduce me to Ron Paul, the Libertarian Party, and its platform. So what exactly is a Libertarian? According to the national party website, they are a party that wants “maximum freedom with minimum government”. Their chairman, Nicholas Sarwark, states, “We are the only political party that stands for your right to pursue happiness in any way you choose as long as you don't hurt anyone else and as long as you don't take their stuff.” It is a party that wants to decrease the growth of the US Government, decrease taxes, get rid of the IRS, and to decrease US involvement in foreign countries. It is a party that wants government out of our bedrooms, out of our decisions to do what we want with our bodies, and supports marijuana legalization which in turn decriminalizes marijuana possession. Ultimately, they want American Citizens to be free to make their own decisions regarding their lives without government involvement and fear of being reprimanded.
This is where we meet Gary Johnson. He is the 2016 Libertarian Party Candidate, and I'm proud to say that I will be casting my vote for him this November. Johnson has a political background, having served two terms as the Governor of New Mexico. During his time in office he cut taxes, vetoed entire bills or specific line items to the tune of a balanced budget and leaving the state with a surplus. He has been very vocal about government intrusion into our lives, specifically when it comes to our Fourth Amendment rights. He is a proponent of term limits for those in Congress, believing that career politicians spend more time trying to raise money from lobbyists and pushing their interests, instead of focusing on the interests of their constituents. He is the only candidate that has mentioned federally removing the criminalization of marijuana, and allowing each state to decide if they want to legalize it. This alone would reduce the number of non-violent criminals we have in jail, stop the wasteful time and money spent on “the war on drugs”, and allow the DEA to declassify it as a Schedule I drug and free its use for medicinal and experimental purposes. And most important, his foreign policy is one of bringing our troops home, to stop the US from policing the world, to use our troops when necessary, and to help bring an end to our fifteen plus years of war in the Middle East. Those are the reasons why I want Gary Johnson to be our next president.
I know that a lot of you reading this are thinking, “A vote for Johnson is a vote for Clinton/Trump” or “A vote for Johnson is a wasted vote”. Actually no, no it's not. Johnson is on the ballot in all fifty states, and if it was a vote for the other two candidates, then I would be checking their box and not his. My vote for Johnson is a vote toward my belief that we all deserve to be free, to stop government theft of our hard earned money, and to keep government out of our personal lives. My vote for Johnson will get him and the Libertarian party higher in the polls than it has ever been, and to help reach 5% of the national popular vote in this election. Why is this important? Because once a party reaches the 5% mark, they are entitled to funds from the Federal Election Commission—funds that will help the party continue its push to be heard in the next election cycle. A vote for Johnson is a vote that will help turn the tides of politics in the US, and to one day allow for real choice in a multiparty system.
Jessica graduated from The University of Nevada, Reno in 2007 with a Bachelor's in Nursing. She is a Charter member of the Alpha Eta Chapter located there, and a member of The NonConformist Family. Jessica is currently living in Portland, OR., working as a Charge Nurse in the operating room.
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Top to bottom, heart to heart
sisters we are til death do us part
Why I'm Voting for a Third Party
and Initiating Change