Major party candidate choices mean looking to third party for president

Like many of my friends and neighbors, I am frustrated with the candidates the two major parties have offered up for president. I do not want to hold my nose and vote for someone I can’t respect, and I don’t want to throw away my right to vote by boycotting the election like some friends say they might.

I’m stuck between my integrity as a voter and my integrity as a citizen. I understand third-party candidates can act as spoilers, and I’ve seen this happen in Montana. But this time, I am re-examining that attitude.

There’s a revealing “Simpsons” episode called the “Two Party System” — find it on YouTube. Homer reveals the two major candidates are actually “hideous space reptiles.” Someone in the crowd offers hope — there’s another choice, a third-party candidate! The “hideous space reptiles” remind the crowd that this is a two-party system. “Go ahead, throw your vote away!” they say, laughing maniacally.

The crowd goes along. Never considering how the reptile candidates’ rebuttal is built only on the crowd’s own controlling belief. (They retained their two-party thinking and were turned into slaves.)

We can get another voice into the debates. Gary Johnson, the two-term governor of New Mexico is closing in on the 15 percent polling required.

I want us to hear from him. I’ll be answering “Gary Johnson” to pollsters. Please consider doing the same.

Maybe we can refuse our “hideous space reptile” masters. Maybe we can do better than the doomed citizens of Springfield.

Cindy Dyson-McGlenn, Whitefish