Cops Nab Liberal, Green Party Presidential Candidates  

By James Donahue

If you think those publicized debates between George W. Bush and John Kerry weren’t highly controlled, and this election rigged, think again.

Believe this or not, two other presidential candidates, Libertarian Michael Badnarik and the Green Party’s David Cobb were arrested and handcuffed by police just outside the Oct. 8 debate at St. Louis, Mo., because they dared to cross a police line.

The two made a planned political protest because they were excluded from the debate, even though their names will appear on the ballots beside those of Bush and Kerry in most states.

Badnarik said he was attempting to serve the Commission on Presidential Debates with a court order from an Arizona Superior Court judge. This judge ordered a representative from the commission to appear in court and show cause why the debates show special treatment to Democrats and Republicans.

The two candidates were placed in handcuffs and taken to jail where they were held for several hours before being released sometime after midnight.

This incident clearly points to the fact that America has secretly grown into a police state where its citizens are more tightly controlled by big government and big business than most people realize.

It also makes a mockery out of the so-called democratic system of government that Americans have boasted about for over two centuries.

In the media-frenzy to portray an exciting horse raise between candidates representing the two major political parties, we seem to have forgotten that several other legitimate political parties exist. They represent a growing number of people who have become disillusioned by the old guard and would like to make a change.

Unfortunately, it is big business that really runs America these days. The elections, especially on the federal level, are so rigged that candidates like Badnarik, Cobb and Nadar rarely, if ever, get press coverage. Most people don’t know they exist or what they have to say. Voters are quite conditioned to slide their hand right over their names when they finally get to the polls and see a ballot.

It is a disgrace to think two presidential candidates were actually cuffed and tossed in jail because they dared to approach a nationally televised presidential debate from which they were excluded. Both men should have been offered a podium before television cameras during all three debates. And they should have been afforded the protection of the secret service, just like Bush and Kerry get.

If this were a real democracy, all of the presidential candidates would be receiving equal treatment on all levels. Had this been the case, we would have had a real debate over issues, and the voting public would be given real choices on Election Day.