Tuesday, April 6, 2010

A Thousand Lies


By Alan Caruba

The question is, how long can a nation sustain itself when its president, its government, and its news media tell a thousand lies every day?

Americans are drowning in lies. The biggest lie is the budget, burdened with trillions in debt, and behind that are the virtually insolvent entitlement programs, Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid.

Despite the judgment of legal scholars, the healthcare “reform” is unconstitutional and will be challenged in the courts by many of the States affected by it. These are, however, the same courts that have resisted addressing Obama’s eligibility to be president.

A thousand lies every day.

Americans must now get ready for a new flood of lies. These are already coming out of the Environmental Protection Agency, now completely in the control of radical environmentalists. The big lie is that carbon dioxide is a “pollutant” and, as such, can or should be regulated by the Clean Air Act. The EPA has already moved to increase its demand for more mileage from autos when it is common knowledge that lighter cars just mean more deaths from collisions. People will die.

So we are being lied to regarding entitlement programs, regarding the budget, regarding environmental issues, and then there is the biggest lie of all, that the man sitting in the Oval Office is a natural-born American citizen qualified under the terms of the Constitution to hold the presidency.

I spent decades since the 1980s being called a “denier” and a “skeptic” as I wrote repeatedly that global warming was a complete fraud based on bad science. In November 2009, leaked emails revealed it has been based on deliberately falsified data by a handful of British and American scientists colluding together to maintain the hoax.

The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has been the vehicle for this fraud, but the president, members of Congress, and various U.S. agencies continue to speak of “climate change” as the code word.

Now I and many others are being derided as “birthers” because we know Barack Hussein Obama is not a natural-born citizen. The issue was important enough for a congressional hearing to determine if Sen. John McCain, born in Panama where his father was serving in the U.S. Navy, qualified as a natural-born citizen, but not for his opponent whose Kenyan grandmother says he was born there.

As Michelle Obama so eloquently said in a recent speech, “When we took a trip to Africa and visited his home country in Kenya…” Many Americans can claim a foreign heritage, but unless they are recent immigrants, they do not refer to their “home country” except in the past tense.

Then there is the question of why Obama would reportedly spend more than a million dollars in legal fees to ensure that his alleged Hawaiian birth certificate would remain, as it is, under seal. Almost anyone can find and produce their birth certificate with ease; anyone other than the man pretending to be president.

A thousand lies every day.

Meanwhile our southern border, long neglected as a route for illegal aliens and drug smugglers, worsens as word of increased murders drive some Mexicans to flee and seek asylum here and Americans living near the border to fear for their lives.

No word of any action regarding the 10 to 20 million illegal aliens living here except for the intention of the Obama administration to grant them all amnesty, the implications of which hold little good for the millions of native and naturalized Americans, an estimated 16 million of whom are currently unemployed or have given up seeking employment.

A thousand lies every day.

There are some signs of hope.

Newly minted Massachusetts Republican Senator Scott Brown was elected because he told the truth.

The new Republican governors of Virginia and New Jersey were elected because they told the truth.

Four out of every ten members of the Tea Parties are self-identified Democrats and independents who joined because they want the truth and want an end the depredations of this administration. The majority of members are women, but the mainstream press continues to depict them as violent, racist vigilantes.

Neither the White House, the Congress, nor the arrogant press understand that it is their lies that will defeat them. They hold Americans in contempt, but Americans are determined to rid themselves of these liars.

In the meantime, though, Obama appoints hard-core socialists to positions of power throughout his administration.

This is a time in which courage is required until America can be saved by November’s midterm elections. Are Republicans perfect? No, but they are not socialists.

© Alan Caruba, 2010

32 comments:

TellerIP said...

Obama's Kenyan grandmother did not say that Obama was born in Kenya. She actually said "America, Hawaii" when asked "whereabouts was he born?"

This is what the National Review had to say about the Kenya theory:

"The theory that Obama was born in Kenya, that he was smuggled into the U.S., and that his parents somehow hoodwinked Hawaiian authorities into falsely certifying his birth in Oahu, is crazy stuff.”

Obama has posted the official birth certificate of Hawaii. He is the first and only US president to show his birth certificate. The Certification of Live Birth is the official birth certificate of Hawaii, and it is the only one that Hawaii issues. It no longer sends out copies of the original birth certificate (http://www.starbulletin.com/columnists/kokualine/20090606_kokua_line.html).

So, it is the only birth certificate that Obama can show. That is the birth certificate Hawaii sent to Obama in 2007, and it is the birth certificate that it sends to everyone. And the facts on the birth certificate--that he was born in Hawaii in 1961--were confirmed twice by the officials in Hawaii, and they are members of a Republican governor's administration.

Alan Caruba said...

Sorry, but I have several afidavids asserting that Obama's grandmother acknowledged his birth in Kenya.

Below is an excerpt from a telephone conversation with her:

Ron McRae: Amen. I am so thankful. Could I ask her, uh, about his, uh, his actual birthplace? I would like to see hi actual birthplace when I, when I come to Kenya in
December. Uh, was she present when he was, was she present when he was born in Kenya?
Ogombe to Sarah Obama: Alikuma zalima Obama [unintelligible].
Kweli Shuhudia: He is asking her, he wants to know something was ah she present when he was born?
Ogombe: Yes. She says, “Yes she was! She was present when Obama was born.”
Ron McRae: Okay.

As to the Hawaiian birth certificate, they were routinely given to anyone requesting them.

TellerIP said...

You said: "As to the Hawaiian birth certificate, they were routinely given to anyone requesting them."

But NOT birth certificates saying "born in Hawaii" on it. You could not get a birth certificate that said "born in Hawaii" on it unless there was proof that the child was born in Hawaii. Obama's birth certificate had "born in Hawaii" on it, as the officials in Hawaii have repeatedly said.

Besides, Obama's mother did not have a passport in 1961--so how did she get to Kenya?

Alan Caruba said...

Clearly this is not the place to argue out the various aspects of the case that Obama was born elsewhere, etc.

What remains unanswered by you and others is why he has had his birth certificate put under seal in Hawaii, whether he was registered as an Indonesian citizen when his mother lived there, what passport he used to travel to Pakistan as he is alleged to have done, etc.

There are great empty spaces in Obama's "paper trail" that raise these and other questions.

Unknown said...

Ellen, as a private citizen, you have every right to every bit of privacy you want.

A person seeking the only elected office in America where the place of one's birth and one's history of citizenship are pertinent to eligibility does not.

The efforts toward restricting access to a full background history are hypocritical, at best, for one whose fundamental campaign issues included openness and honesty.

No matter, though. His foreign policy heartens those who hate us. His fiscal policies are 180 degrees off course. From an engineering standpoint, there is no rational energy policy. Just those items make his administration a failure.

Enough. Suffice that this is one of the most corrupt adminstrations I've ever seen--and I've now voted in thirteen presidential elections.

Guy said...

I've said this before, but I'll say it again for all the good it will do ...

Obama could put an end to this debate by simply allowing his records to be seen, like any normal person would. The fact that he continues to conceal them, and is spending millions of dollars to prevent anyone from seeing them is a smoking gun.

The snide "birthers" label that the media and the left continue to slap on those who want to know the truth is also a big smoking gun, and adds fuel to the fire. It fits right in with their typical tactics of denying, smearing, and misinforming until the truth is lost in the fog ...

I especially love how the Obama worshipers always rush to tell us, with resounding confidence, that he must have been born in Hawaii, since he's produced a Hawaiian "certificate of live birth". Any fool knows that a "certificate of live birth" is NOT a birth certificate. It is a piece of paperwork, generated by someone in a government office. How much cash do you think it would take to produce a piece of paperwork like that? Just show us the actual birth certificate, from the hospital, signed by the doctor, and we'll shut up. I have mine and will gladly show it to anyone. Why won't he show us his?

I doubt that, given the control he has over the media at the moment, we'll ever be able to root out the truth, until perhaps years after he's gone. Sadly, the damage he's doing to our country will last forever. Meanwhile, even Michelle calls Kenya his "homeland" ...

Guy said...

I've said this before, but I'll say it again for all the good it will do ...

Obama could put an end to this debate by simply allowing his records to be seen, like any normal person would. The fact that he continues to conceal them, and is spending millions of dollars to prevent anyone from seeing them is a smoking gun.

The snide "birthers" label that the media and the left continue to slap on those who want to know the truth is also a big smoking gun, and adds fuel to the fire. It fits right in with their typical tactics of denying, smearing, and misinforming until the truth is lost in the fog ...

I especially love how the Obama worshipers always rush to tell us, with resounding confidence, that he must have been born in Hawaii, since he's produced a Hawaiian "certificate of live birth". Any fool knows that a "certificate of live birth" is NOT a birth certificate. It is a piece of paperwork, generated by someone in a government office. How much cash do you think it would take to produce a piece of paperwork like that? Just show us the actual birth certificate, from the hospital, signed by the doctor, and we'll shut up. I have mine and will gladly show it to anyone. Why won't he show us his?

I doubt that, given the control he has over the media at the moment, we'll ever be able to root out the truth, until perhaps years after he's gone. Sadly, the damage he's doing to our country will last forever. Meanwhile, even Michelle calls Kenya his "homeland" ...

Anonymous said...

That the democratic process is in rapid decline in America is now amply demonstrated by the ramming through of the latest legislation and that to follow.

On the header of the Canada Free Press website sits the following phrase:
'.....Because without America there is no free world'.

This should now be ammended to:

'.....Because without A FREE America there is no free world'.

Obama is consigning America to undemocratic process and the Hell to what 'We, the People' think or want. He is busy ensuring his next term in office and more destruction over the vestiges of a free America.

What is coming over loud and clear, on the Blogosphere especially, is how much freedom you are losing.

The Obama background activity is making a construct of containment to coral any 'freedom seekeers'. The camps and prison box car trains are not for nothing;
the militarisation of sections of once peaceful officialdom is not for nothing.
The coming control of energy and water - and hence the food supply - and health services is not for nothing.
The implementation of radical and extreme (is there a difference?) Czars to railroad off the tracks all due proper process is not for nothing.
That Obama is surrounding himself with dictatorial despots is showing the way.
I truly hope that come this November you honest folks out there will have an absolutely and honest open choice. As things look, with vote counting in alien hands, the chances are slim - and Slim is legging-it out of town, sharpish.

Mark said...

This birther nonsense is the political equivalent of young earth creationism. It shows how frivolous, silly, ineffective, and pointless the opposition to Mr. Obama is. The present opposition couldn't organize a lemonade stand much less an effective counter to Mr. Obama's policies, which continue to reshape America from top to bottom while birthers fritter away time squabbling about what Mr. Obama's grandmother did or did not say sometime, somewhere, about something. Maybe birthers could organize themselves better if they adopted a uniform to wear at birther rallies. I suggest a bright orange wig, a shiny red nose, polka dot pants, and big floppy shoes.

mdf1960 said...

Here's the actual transcript of the conversation Mr. Mc Rae had with Obama's grandmother through Mr. Ogombe. Obviously there was some mistranslation. You can check the sound recording if you don't believe me.

MCRAE: Could I ask her about his actual birthplace? I would like to see his birthplace when I come to Kenya in December. Was she present when he was born in Kenya?

OGOMBE: Yes. She says, yes, she was, she was present when Obama was born.

MCRAE: When I come in December. I would like to come by the place, the hospital, where he was born. Could you tell me where he was born? Was he born in Mombasa?

OGOMBE: No, Obama was not born in Mombasa. He was born in America.

MCRAE: Whereabouts was he born? I thought he was born in Kenya.

OGOMBE: No, he was born in America, not in Mombasa.

MCRAE: Do you know where he was born? I thought he was born in Kenya. I was going to go by and see where he was born.

OGOMBE: Hawaii. Hawaii. Sir, she says he was born in Hawaii. In the state of Hawaii, where his father was also learning, there. The state of Hawaii.

Case closed.

Anonymous said...

Are Republicans perfect? No, but they are not socialists.

nonsense. "republican" socialism merely regards topics not traditionally viewed as socialist. any tactic centered on confiscating property, throwing it into a pile, then arguing about who gets what, is socialism. "republicans" love that practice at least as much as the people they pretend to oppose. "inflate the state" is the modern "republican" reality mantra... for their pet topics and even hideous crossover into "leftist" areas.

you write that "Scott Brown [...] told the truth". he's a blatant "health care" socialist who merely opposed obama's nutjob version of essentially the same thing. that's a modern "republican" — my football team's better than your football team.

each plays football.

Under The Hood said...

"common knowledge that lighter cars just mean more deaths from collisions. People will die."
Allan, this is bad logic, enshrined in "print".
Lighter cars can NOT mean more deaths from collisions. Move the weight from, say, half a ton to a quarter of a ton, to 100 pounds. Move all the way to the limit and build a car out of paper (I know: How to support the engine?) and you have a vehicle that can't even hurt a pedestrian.
Move everyone to the other extreme - centurion tank - and again nobody gets hurt.
it's the differential in mass 9and power) that has the occupants of an SUV come off better.

Fred said...

Republicans arent socialists but they are Janus, the other side of the same wretched coin;hundreds of billion dollar deficits for unconstitutional bloodletting, running a global empire, and firing up the Police state. Bush clearly proved this.

Obama spends trillions on bank and housing bailouts, health care,etc. But putting Republicans back in power is tantamount to SSDD.

We must have a viable 3rd party in this country, as it could represent more moderate people, those who see the fallicies of the major parties. The last time we had a chance to vote for an electable 3rd party candidate was Ross Perot:too bad Americans are too dumb to see they are being constantly conned.

Unknown said...

Mark, yes, he's re-shaping the country. Unfortunately, for the worse, not the better.

His healthcare bill will raise costs and reduce the quality of medical treatment.

His monetary policies are leading us toward fiscal collapse.

His ideas about taxation will dramatically increase unemployment over the next several years.

His foreign policy is creating more and more contempt for this nation. It emboldens our enemies and has already increased hatreds. It causes distrust among our allies.

Yes, there is change--but certainly not for the betterment of liberty and freedom as well as individual sovereignty. This last, of course, is a matter of indifference to those in positions of power...

dc.sunsets said...

Much ado about nothing. A rose is a rose, and bullshxx is bullshxx because it all stinks.

Western civilization is in terminal decline due to the toxic pollution of politics. Politics (and its main organ, the state) have infected every aspect of human existence in the West. Our rulers even dictate how much water a flush toilet can use. How much deeper can their talons dig into the flesh of human society?

All discussion about Dems vs. Repubs (vs. Greens vs. Constitutionalists vs. Tea Partiers, ad nausam) is just another part of "once they get you asking the wrong questions, they don't have to worry about the answers."

The decline and fall of the West is already baked into the cake because citizens of the West have become fat, lazy, and IGNORANT of the foundations of prosperity (e.g. property rights and a recognition that all politics rest on violence and threats). Prosperity comes from markets, property, and production. Misery comes from politics (institutionalized theft).

Laura said...

"The Republicans aren't perfect, but they're not socialists"????

You have got to be kidding. I totally agree with Judge Napolitano-we have one party in this country and it's the Big Government Party. The sad thing is, in November a bunch of neocon Republicans are going to get voted in. Then the Iron Hand of Socialism/Fascism that began with Woodrow Wilson will have completely circled the neck of this country and strangled it to death.
Sorry, I am so tired of supposed "conservative" sites that parrot the "Republicans=good/Democrats=bad" nonsense. THAT is part of the thousand lies. Wake up one and all. Our problem is spiritual, and we have left the God of our forefathers. There will be NO political solution whatsoever.
Laura

dzinto said...

Putting aside the intrigue about Obama's birth...

The thousand lies will never end, because this society is based on them. They are not only coming from the government or news media. They are coming from every corner.

The media is based on commercials. Make an honest evaluation, what percentage of the commercials is truthful.

Every website is funded by commercials, including the most progressive ones like whatreallyhappened.com and infowars.com. Now go to these website, or any other for that matter, look at their commercials, and make an honest evaluation, what percentage of the offerings is not blatant fraud obvious on the first glance. Do you think it 5%, or whopping 10%?

Look at the happy faces of the models pretending to be bank customers reading bank statement in bank's commercial. Try to find a happy face in real life when someone is looking at anything coming from the bank.

Listen to the commercial of cellphone company claiming that their customer service is "award winning". Try to find out about that award.

The sticker on the gas pump says that these premises are under video surveillance, and this is for your protection. Sure, why else would it be. Not to mention that the surveillance itself is also a lie, there's none in fact.

Someone who meets your glance smiles at you. But the smile is false, the eyes don't smile. It's also a lie.

You say, it's all small matters that adult people don't attention to? Yes, each one probably is. But then they accumulate, and in the end, there's not much left.

Why would the government be any different?

Anonymous said...

IT'S NOT JUST THE BIRTH CERTIFICATE

(see bottom of page, under "Wild Thing's comment.........")

"Original Birth certificate -- Unavailable
Obama/Dunham marriage license -- Unavailable
Soetoro/Dunham marriage license -- Unavailable
Soetoro adoption records -- Unavailable
Dept.of Education Hawaii Kindergarten Records -- Unavailable
Punahou School records -- Unavailable
Occidental College records -- Unavailable
Passport (Pakistan)-- Unavailable
Columbia College -- Unavailable
Columbia thesis -- Unavailable
(Topic: Nuclear Disarmament, written during Cold War ’83)
Harvard College records -- Unavailable
Harvard Law Review articles -- Unavailable
(Evidence that one may have been written, yet it is unsigned)
Baptism certificate -- Unavailable
Medical records -- Unavailable
Illinois State Senate records -- NONE
Illinois State Senate schedule -- "LOST"
Law practice client list -- NOT AVAILABLE
University of Chicago scholarly articles -- NONE ON FILE

Indonesian Besuki School Application -- *Located
(Enrolled with name Barry Soetoro-faith “Islam”

Selective Service Registration -- *Released, but under investigation as fraudulent"

Also, it isn't necessary for Obama to have been born in Kenya, because at birth his father was a British citizen, making Obama NOT a "natural born" American, by the definition the Founding Fathers used when they wrote that requirement.

Now that would make Ellen and her friends the "birthers," because they are the ones who are subscribing to a fantastically oversimplified and manufactured narrative fiction of Obama's worth, in order to avoid dealing with reality.

Also see HERE, and HERE.

Unknown said...

Sorry for posting again Alan, but I wanted to correct Under The Hood. "Lighter cars = more deaths" is the reality of the roadway, in this case trumping logic.

The problem Alan refers to with light cars increasing fatalities is due to the occupants of the light cars being killed by the impact with heavy cars or trucks. If a Smart collides head on with an 18 wheeler, the Smart gets crushed and pushed backwards down the highway. The momentum (mass * velocity) of the truck is much, much greater.

In theory, a collision between two light cars would be "safer" then that between two heavy cars, because there is less energy to be dissipated. However, velocity is much more important than mass, as energy = 1/2(mass * velocity^2). On the whole it is a good trade off to add weight to a car by adding energy absorbing components.

All in all, at the moment of impact I'd greatly prefer to be in the heaviest car possible! (not that I use that rationale when buying a car - I take responsibility to be a defensive driver.)

If we moved more freight be rail and all drove smaller cars, the story might be different. And I sure don't see it happening by government mandate. That would be a huge fiasco.

Alan Caruba said...

Paul, you have redeemed yourself by citihg facts. Welcome back.
AC

Unknown said...

Alan - You may be tempted to change your mind again! (despite the fact that decades in high school I was voted "least likely to pick a fight")

I do not wish to participate in the "A Thousand Lies" discussion, other than to share my personal feeling that I was more bothered by what I felt was a lack of intellectual integrity in the prior administration than by any political/governmental issue I have seen in my lifetime.

I read your blog because you comment on complex issues and I'm intrigued by the thoughts that get expressed. I don't always agree, but I don't place much faith in the correctness of my own opinions. Complex issues are ... exceedingly complex. Opinions, while important, turn out not matter all that much. (well, in politics they do, but not so much in understanding the issues) Rigor and integrity in the study are the only way to increase understanding.

Unknown said...

As an old hot-rodder who has spent many an hour pulling parts in junkyards, I guarantee you that the larger cars' occupants do better in a collision than the people in smaller cars.

I'll go by what I actually saw over some twenty-five years, over what anybody "studies".

WOLF said...

Obama Was Born In Indonesia
http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2006/Jan/08/ln/FP601080334.html

HI Paper Erases Obama Indonesia Birth In ARCHIVED Story
Honolulu Advertiser newspaper caught censoring and manipulating the news...the dirtiest kind of journalism.
http://www.rense.com/general88/fd.htm

TX Woman Sues Illegal Obama Over Indonesian Citizenship
http://www.newschannel10.com/Global/story.asp?s=11023507&clienttype=printable

TellerIP said...

Since no president before Obama ever released his birth certificate, and since Obama released the official birth certificate of Hawaii (the facts on which were confirmed twice by the officials) it is absurd to complain that Obama did not release the original birth certificate. He released the OFFICIAL birth certificate.

The Certification of Live Birth is the official birth certificate, and it is the only birth certificate that Hawaii currently sends out (http://www.starbulletin.com/columnists/kokualine/20090606_kokua_line.html). The Certification of Live Birth is what Hawaii sent Obama when he asked for a copy of his birth certificate in 2007, and it is what Hawaii sends to everyone. It is all that Obama can show because it is all that Obama has, but it is sufficient since it is the official document.

As for the other records that Obama has not shown. Virtually none of those types of documents were shown by other presidents either, and they have no bearing on eligibility. Some of the documents are said to be sought based on the belief that Obama became a citizen of Indonesia, but the Indonesian government has denied that.

Alan Caruba said...

Ellen:
Let it go! You have made your point now.

Even I am willing to concede Obama was born in Hawaii, but his father was a Kenyen citizen and that renders him ineligible to be president.

No more comments on this, please.

Alan Caruba said...

Ellen:
I have received and rejected your most recent comment. All further comments will be rejected because you have worn out your welcome here.

Guy said...

LOL!

These Obama lovers are incredible. They're just like a dog on your leg ... You can smack them upside the head with facts and figures, but they just keep right on humping, because it's all about their love.

You just have to shoo them away before it's too late...

Ronbo said...

Allen and Guy:

I'll bet if Obama is ever hauled in front of a court and charged with treason his lawyer will make a motion that the charges be dismissed on the grounds his client was born in Kenya.

Anonymous said...

Another recent article on the topic, with a number of references to older material. This one, from 20004, is especially intriguing.

There's just too much that doesn't add up about Obama. And where he was born is only one of the many disturbing things that should have been investigated prior to his even running for president.

dc.sunsets said...

Obama was Editor of the Harvard Law Review yet has no paper trail. These two facts strongly suggest that he was being groomed for higher office a long, long time ago.

Who is naive enough to believe that the two-party system does not pre-select acceptable (to the political elite) candidates for every election? It's a big con game to delude the masses into thinking they can actually guide political policy.

Any cursory look at history reveals that the trend of the polity veers not one bit from its trend over long, long periods of time. There's a reason that most intelligent people 250 years ago saw democracy in any significant form as synonymous with mob rule, and why today we have "democracy" no different than the USSR where the re-election rates for U.S. congressmen are higher than those for the Soviet Politburo. Our "elite" wants no input from the peanut gallery.

TellerIP said...

You said: "his father was a Kenyen citizen and that renders him ineligible to be president."

Who says? You?

Here are some federal court cases that rule that the children of one or two foreigners are Natural Born Citizens so long as they were born in the USA (as Obama was):

Mustata v. US Dept. of Justice, 179 F.3d 1017 (6th Cir. 1999) (children born in US to two Romanian citizens described as “natural born citizens” of the US):

Petitioners Marian and Lenuta Mustata are citizens of Romania. At the time of their petition, they resided in Michigan with their two minor children, who are natural born citizens of the United States.


Diaz-Salazar v. INS, 700 F.2d 1156 (7th Cir. 1983) (child born in US to Mexican citizen is “natural born citizen” of US):

Petitioner, Sebastian Diaz-Salazar, entered the United States illegally [from Mexico] in 1974 and has been living and working in Chicago since that time. *** The relevant facts which have been placed before the INS, BIA, and this court can be summarized as follows: The petitioner has a wife and two children under the age of three in Chicago; the children are natural-born citizens of the United States.

Nwankpa v. Kissinger, 376 F. Supp. 122 (M.D. Ala. 1974) (child born in US to two Biafra citizens described as “natural born citizen” of the US):

The Plaintiff was a native of Biafra, now a part of the Republic of Nigeria. His wife and two older children are also natives of that country, but his third child, a daughter, is a natural-born citizen of the United States.

dc.sunsets said...

Hi Fred,
I respectfully disagree with your call for a viable 3rd party. The entire political game is constructed to keep the sheeple clamoring for a White Knight to ride in on a new Party Platform and Save The Day. This keeps the sheeple consenting to the system as it IS, which is the whole point of electoral politics.