I don’t agree fully with Chris Hedges in this column — he is correct about the dangers and the damage done to our institutions, but then ignores he mechanics of the system in assuming that third-party candidates do anything more than syphon votes away from the two majority parties.
“The United States is extremely lucky that no honest, charismatic figure has arisen,” Chomsky went on. “Every charismatic figure is such an obvious crook that he destroys himself, like [Eugene] McCarthy or [Richard] Nixon or the evangelist preachers. If somebody comes along who is charismatic and honest, this country is in real trouble because of the frustration, disillusionment, the justified anger and the absence of any coherent response. What are people supposed to think if someone says, ‘I have got an answer, we have an enemy’? There, it was the Jews. Here, it will be the illegal immigrants and the blacks. We will be told that white males are a persecuted minority. We will be told we have to defend ourselves and the honor of the nation. Military force will be exalted. People will be beaten up. This could become an overwhelming force. And if it happens, it will be more dangerous than Germany. The United States is the world power. Germany was powerful but had more powerful antagonists. I don’t think all this is very far away. If the polls are accurate, it is not the Republicans but the right-wing Republicans, the crazed Republicans, who will sweep the next election.”
Hank Kalet 
Eugene McCarthy? Shouldn't that be Joe McCarthy? Even to this day we are suffering the after effects of McCarthyism. Socialism is a dirty word and taints anyone who dares to identify him or her self as a democratic socialist. It's true that the sting of the word socialism has abated but it's still a high hurdle to overcome. Bernie keeps getting reelected in Vermont and he made a tremendous showing nationally. Due to all the red baiting, we do not have true universal health care because, you know, the right wingers and the libertarians say that it would lead to that evil socialism and cause a lack of freedom. Those were the exact arguments used against Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. Chris Hedges is right about so many things but I think he was grievously wrong about voting third party and especially this time around with a vicious demagogue like Trump. If more of those people voting 3rd party had voted for Hillary, we might not be where we are today. Actually, Hillary did win the popular vote by more than 200,000 votes so far. Thanks to that useless electoral college, we have Trump who will stack the SCOTUS and the lower courts with right wing nuts. We have just had a far right wing coup d'etat and the Democrats have been cast into the abyss of irrelevance.