>Democracy is the rule of the people. In an X party sytem
>the people do not rule, they arbitrate between X parties. I want a
>democracy, not a republic.
I sympathize with you on the sentiment expressed above, but you wrote:
> > Millions of people writing in their own name would send a
> > better message about refusal to participate in the sham.
>
>Perhaps. This would probably be as good an option as not voting. The
>more done to screw up the system the better. Participating in the
>system only legitimizes it.
You might also consider a possibility that capitalism is now so triumphant and challenges to the system so negligible that the system may need no "legitimization" in the form of mass electoral participation. This country may be simply changing from a republic with universal franchise (which existed only for a short period between the victory of the civil rights movement and the beginning of the war on crime) to a republic with de facto property-based franchise -- in other words, back to the foundation of liberalism. :)
Just a thought from a "non-resident alien" with no right to vote in America....
Yoshie