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Ballot access wasn’t the intended topic for this, but recent events couldn’t be ignored. 

Almost every state in America only guarantees ballot access in federal, state and even some local offices to Democratic and Republican party candidates. Let that sink in. There are so many obvious questions. Why? How did this happen? How can we exist within a Republic which claims to value democratic principles yet the only people guaranteed the opportunity to run for elected office must belong to coalitions which the very man responsible for our independence, George Washington, warned us to avoid?

The answer to all those questions begins with a very simple reality, humans fear more easily than we hope or will. Coalitions in government form out of fear and they become cemented when profit becomes involved. And no nation does profit in government like the United States. 

A profitable system surely must be bolstered, or else those in power become subject to the repercussions of their actions. What better way to bolster a system of profit than to legislate protections for it? There are literally laws in most states which clearly read that only Democrats and Republicans may appear on ballots for elections unless ridiculous and nearly unobtainable qualifications are met by outside candidates, qualifications which sometimes aren’t even met by the two-party system candidates, which is disgusting. 

Of course only legitimate candidates should have ballot access. But how does a government, corrupted by profit as it is, justly decide who has and who doesn’t have legitimacy? Arguments for another day. The reality that this nation’s laws are written to only support two parties and actively attempt to exclude all others instead of defining ”legitimate” and then providing a level playing field for all candidates is sickening and it only further proves that the two-party system which has done this to us is evil and irredeemably corrupt. 

Bobby Kennedy has spoken at length about this issue, stating clearly that the system should not be rigged and even going so far as to state his concern over former President Trump being disallowed from primary ballots now, at this moment, in Colorado and Maine, which only proves him to be a man of principles, though I would argue sedition, according to the United States Code of Military Justice, carries a far greater punishment than simply being excluded from an election. But that too is an argument for another day. I’m still voting for Kennedy, he’s willing to argue for his opponents’ rights just as much as his. Good luck finding that in a two-party politician. 

I hope the point is obvious, we are ruled, not governed, by a corrupt system. The only way to even begin to change that is to elect the only man talking about making things legal and fair across the board. To date, that man is Bobby Kennedy Jr.

Tom Noehren is a resident of Farmville and can be reached at tomnoehren@yahoo.com.