US: myth of the two party system - Opinion - Al Jazeera English

US: myth of the two party system Would America look much different if Republican John McCain had beaten Democrat Barack Obama to become president? Cindy Sheehan Last Modified: 31 Oct 2010 17:05 GMT "The two-party system has given this country the war of Lyndon Johnson, the Watergate of Nixon and the incompetence of Carter. Saying we should keep the two-party system simply because it is working is like saying the Titanic voyage was a success because a few people survived on life rafts." —Eugene J. McCarthy, 1978 If John McCain were president right now, we can never be exactly sure what would be happening, but I think we can make some educated speculations. First of all, the "banksters" would be receiving their carte blanche bailouts and Ben Bernanke would have been re-appointed as Chairman of the Federal Reserve. Robert Gates would probably still be the secretary of defence and Sarah Palin would be offering late night comedians endless fodder for their monologues. If John McCain happened to be the one infesting the Oval Office at this time, single-payer health care would surely be "off the table". I am confident that a health care "reform" bill probably would have contained massive giveaways to the insurance and big pharmaceutical industries, with no "robust" public option. We citizens would, I’m sure, have been forced to purchase insurance from the very same insurance companies that spread out a largess of nearly $170m lobbying dollars to Congress in 2009. If we are one of the "lucky ones" that happen to already have coverage, we would have been taxed for the benefit. McCain and 'justice' Without a doubt, McCain’s Justice Department would be protecting war criminals - like John Yoo - of the preceding administration and the McCain Department of Justice (DOJ) would probably be vigorously defending the discriminatory practise of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell for the military. More than likely, under this nightmarish scenario, McCain’s Federal Bureau of Investigation would be committing home invasion break-ins (designated as "legal raids") to intimidate activists. See more here: http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/opinion/2010/10/2010103175555761506.html