Fear the Silence Part 3: You can take your ball and go home, we have our own.

The election in Afghanistan may serve as an example for the rest of us, depending on one potential outcome.

Dr. Abdullah Abdullah was until recently running against Hamid Karzai for the presidency of Afghanistan. The first round of elections were allegedly riddled with fraud in favor of Karzai, and Abdullah decided to not even bother running through the second round because, according to the BBC [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8336388.stm ], Karzai rejected Abdullah’s demand for replacing the election judges from the first round.

Just because Abdullah’s not running in the election doesn’t mean he shouldn’t be followed. Especially if Karzai’s administration really is rampant with corruption as reported by the Associated Press [http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jWS-iq74Txky__OmsJk0qHgUdJgQD9BMTNBO0 ]

A coup d’état is usually a power grab by a group of people, but what if that trophy stinks? What if the rules for that game have been distorted to benefit certain players and uninvited guests?

Dr. Abdulllah can walk away from the established system and build his own powerbase in a manner similar to Al Gore and his Inconvenient Truth global warming movement that ultimately helped shift the hearts and minds of a whole new generation away from rampant capitalistic consumerism. (Of course GW Bush and friends were equally helpful at pushing).

Unfortunately, once the election of Barack Obama happened, too many old cronies from past administrations came out of the woodwork. The tentacles of Wall Street wind their way throughout Washington, What a cliché. We get fooled again and again.

Too many voters are falling for the same lines again and again.

• “I’ll clean up [__name city, state or government office__] “
• “I promise no nation building.”
• “I’ll cut taxes.”
• “I won’t raise taxes.”
• “No new taxes”
• “I’ll cut waste, fraud and abuse.”
• “abortion, gay marriage, family values.”
• “___________________________________”

They keep getting elected. That’s what they are good at, getting elected. It’s obvious that most of them see their new position as the finish line. After all, they have all the career staff they need to keep the old machine running the status quo, and they can bring onboard their family and friends who helped get them there.

What can those of us who get run over, left behind, used and then tossed away like disposable razors do about it?

We can build our own machine; start our own game.

We can vote with our wallets, any other suggestions?

Send them to sageofspringfield@gmail.com