Pacifist Party Claims The End Is Coming…Someday
By Glenn Church | Related entries in 2008 Election, 3rd Party
(A series on little-known Presidential candidates)
The small United States Pacifist Party has run a Presidential candidate as a write-in candidate in previous elections, but this is the first time they are on the ballot in a state. That state is Colorado, which has 16 candidates for President — the most crowded Presidential general election ballot in history.
Why is the ballot so crowded? That is because Colorado, like Louisiana, requires only a $500 fee to get on the ballot. Apparently, no signatures or other symbol of support is needed. So if you have an extra $500 in 2012 and want a footnote in political history or just want to embarrass your family…
The Pacifist Party seems to take some pride in running a Senate candidate in Colorado in 1998 who came in last with 1,900 votes. Somehow they have extrapolated this out to mean that there “are at least 100,000 in the U.S.” who would support their party. That would equal about 1 out of every 3000 Americans; that will not win very many elections.
The party’s founder and Presidential candidate Bradford Lyttle has also written a paper called “The Apocalypse Equation.” It is explained here, but basically spells out the risk of a nuclear disaster in a mathematical equation. It is supposed to mathematically prove that unless nuclear weapons are eliminated civilization is doomed. The only hard fact to come out of it is “that in 50 years the probability of the launch of at least one missile is about 52%.” Since that only suggests a nuclear disaster is about as likely to happen as not to happen, it is rather meaningless.
Lyttle received notoriety after 9/11 when he was interviewed by CNN and Bill O’Reilly. He proposed the pacifist response to the 9/11 attacks. Knowing the tone of the country at the time, Lyttle must have made for an interesting interviewee.
The Pacifist Party platform is what one would expect, such as “Preparation for nonviolent resistance against possible invasion and occupation attempts.” They also support a crash program to create a global solar power program, Canadian-style healthcare, unrestricted immigration, full employment and a guaranteed minimum income. Of course, all this is going to be paid for by eliminating the defense budget.
Interestingly enough, while they support banning handguns and assault weapons, it appears they will leave rifles alone.
(from Foolocracy.com)
This entry was posted on Monday, October 27th, 2008 and is filed under 2008 Election, 3rd Party. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
