SPOILER ALERT: Hitler isn't on the ballot

Colorado ballot (source: flickr/bad9brad)

(CC BY-ND 2.0)

It's an amazing thing to read posts on Facebook and see links to breathlessly written articles proclaiming that a candidate who stands a very good chance of being elected President of the United States is "the next Hitler." More amazing still is the absolute lack of (intentional) hyperbole in those statements. What a relief that we're all together on this and ready to stop Hitler 2.0 from winning. Oh, wait...

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for avoiding the next Hitler, but I've stuck my head far enough into each of the major echo chambers to be left needing to ask the real Hitler to please stand up.

Sadly(?), a Hitler wannabe capable of attaining a similar level of dictatorial power in a system with far better checks and balances than the basket case Hitler mark 1 was able to take control of, simply doesn't stand a chance. Why then, has the political duopoly of the Democratic and Republican parties resorted to the old Reductio ad Hitlerum?

How do you get people excited to go out and vote when their team's candidate winning will only elicit a grudging meh from them come election night? Simple, make this "the most important election ever!" Everyone wants to help save the world from another Hitler. Nevermind that the same tune is played, on at least one side, every 4 years; who remembers that far back?

Okay, so what? We keep doing the same thing every 4 years and nothing ever changes. Let's try again!

There's a reasonable argument that abstaining is a form of voting; after all, it's done in Congress and the UN. Unfortunately there's no mechanism to differentiate abstention from apathy. The only way to record your disapproval of the duopoly is to reject both of their presidential candidates.

A vote for anyone else is a vote against continuing the insanity. You may not like who wins on election night, but at least you'll respect yourself in the morning.

Voting for either candidate of the duopoly guarantees that this won't be the most important election ever, because it changes nothing. Taking a stand and supporting a third-party now, just might make the next election truly revolutionary.