Why I (probably) Won't Be Watching the Presidential Debates

LET'S FILL ALL THOSE PODIUMS! FILL EM UP! FILL EM RIGHT UP!

Mark your calendars, everybody! Come September 26 let’s all pop some corn and pull up a chair to watch yet another two-party presidential debate. There’s sure to be some biting one-liners and salty tongue-lashings to keep us on the edge of our seats even though we might as well be re-watching any one of the past debates dating back until 1912: the last year a third party candidate beat out one of the major parties’ candidates (I see you Teddy!).

Is that.... Is that a... SERIOUSLY TEDDY? YOU'RE MAKING US LOOK BAD

“STALE!” I cry. “CONTRIVED!” I wail. It’s enough to make those more paranoid amongst us start to think… Maybe the game is rigged…Could it be possible? Is the two-party system hiring thugs to make sure only their candidates have the ability to spread their message on a national stage?

Do these look like faces that would lie to you? Yes, yes they do.

Introducing the Commision on Presidential Debates! Lead by past Republican National Committee Chairman, Frank Fahrenkopf and past director of communications for the Democratic National Committee, Mike McCurry, this private corporation sets the rules for who gets to participate in presidential debates. So when the CPD claims, “no sitting officer of either major party has had any affiliation with the CPD and the major parties have no role whatsoever in running CPD or setting its policies”, it is my duty as an informed citizen to fall to my knees, spread my arms to the heavens and call bull shit.

The face of someone who knows bullshit when they see it. Mess with me and I will make a face so horrifying you won't be able to sleep for days.

I’m not alone, by the way. Skip to 2:30 in this video to watch Donald Trump describe the CPD’s actions as “disgraceful. It’s amazing they can get away with it.”

By now many of us are aware of the revolving door between the Capitol and the lobbying industry. This is just another example of how when we start to think D.C. couldn’t possibly get any more incestuous they cackle amongst themselves and prove us wrong.

What they are doing behind closed doors in the halls of power...

It has been shown time and time again that these rules result in limited political discourse on the debate stage and the stifling of third parties at the voting booth. Regardless of what party you support, I hope we can agree that voters deserve more than two options. I hope we can agree that two parties can’t truly represent all of the diverse interests and opinions of all the different people in our society!

If we are to have a well-functioning democracy we need at least one third-party candidate on that stage to bring up the issues the major parties don’t want to discuss. To represent the interests of the people who are dissatisfied with options a and b. The best candidate selection policy is simply to include the four highest polling candidates, which at this time would add Jill Stein and Gary Johnson.

Jill Stein said it best in her Guardian op-ed when she described the debates as a “choreographed and carefully scripted farce that prevents honest discussion of the real issues our country faces”. The LA Times also has a good op-ed on the subject here.

If you want to see truly democratic debates here’s what you can do:

Tweet @HillaryClinton and @realDonaldTrump to tell them to refuse to participate in the debates unless the four highest polling candidates are in attendance

Call Clinton at (646) 854-1432 and Trump at (646) 736-1179 or write them letters!

Write them letters! There mailing addresses are here and here.

Tweet @ABC @FoxTv @CBS and @NBC to let them know you won’t be watching any debate coverage unless Jill Stein and Gary Johnson are on the stage, participating

Ask your friends on Facebook to join you in threatening to boycott the debates. Share this post with them! Let them know the above accounts and numbers to contact with their demands.

If you have any more ideas of what we can do to help get Stein and Johnson on the stage comment, tweet me @criticallyali or email me at jackson.ali.c@gmail.com.