by James Clingman, NNPA Columnist
On November 7, will you fall for the politricksters’ games again? Will you believe their hypocritical speeches and be lulled to sleep by their empty promises?

Will you, once again, be tricked by the notion that all you have to do is vote and things will be all right for you and your people? Will you continue to be the fodder from which "politicians for life," political crooks and thieves, and political charlatans gain their wealth while ignoring you?

Will you allow yourself to be played by the same old, worn-out refrain of, "Vote for me, and I’ll set you free?" Will you be a "sucka" for the umpteenth time in this biennial, obligatory, political, mating dance?

Will you buy-in to the tired, played-out, electoral bait-and-switch charade?

I truly hope and pray you won’t. And the best way to assure the politricksters will not trick you again is by not voting for them. So don’t vote on November 7 and show these "smiling faces that tell lies" you will not take their shenanigans any longer. Show these disingenuous, pandering, condescending baby-kissers that you are an intelligent, informed, and rational person who has decided not to vote for them.

Don’t get hung-up on the fact that you are a "lifelong" Democrat or a Republican. Don’t be led by a false sense of loyalty to any party. Don’t feel guilty for not voting for party favorites. After all, who made them the favorites anyway? It certainly wasn’t you. We only vote on choices that have already been made; we vote for folks who have already been selected by others. Take Bush, for instance, (to borrow a line from Henny Youngman, "Please take him"). He was selected as the party favorite and you had to vote for him or one of the other guys.

In local races, we are "allowed" to vote for politicians who are selected by party bosses. Why are they selected? It could be to return a favor; it could be patronage; it could be cronyism, it could be nepotism; it could be collusion; it could be corruption.

Whatever the reason is, we get to vote on somebody else’s choice rather than someone who will do our bidding, someone who will finally get something done for Black people.

By and large, Black people play the political game just to play, not to win. We just love to feel like we have some political juice. But we always lose in this cutthroat game of chance.

If we played to win, by leveraging our so-called voting power, a voting bloc that everyone says can determine the outcome of an election; we might have some juice. Our children’s future might be considered in those secret caucuses held by politricksters. We don’t count because all we do is vote. So, this time, don’t vote.

To show how politically weak we are, in the 2000 presidential election, one black (small "b" intended) man had more power than all of the Black people who voted. That Black man was Clarence Thomas. Although his wife was said to be collecting applications from prospective Bush employees, Thomas failed to recuse himself, as did his god, Anton Scalia, who supposedly had two sons working as lawyers for Bush.

The final 5 to 4 "selection" by the Supremes meant that Clarence Thomas had the power to determine whom the next president would be; he picked George Bush. Who did the vast majority of Black voters pick? Remember: "It’s not the people who cast the votes that count; it’s the people who count the votes that are cast.’

Because the political game is obviously too sophisticated for the Black electorate, because we just can’t seem to understand that politics is about self-interest, and because we don’t seem to get it when it comes to our allegiance to the Dems or the Repubs, let’s not vote. We are ensconced in the Democratic Party, just like we were loyal to the Republican Party 75 years ago; what have they delivered to us?

So, once again, I say, "Don’t vote!" Don’t vote for crooks. Don’t vote for liars. Don’t vote for cheaters. Don’t vote for smiling faces. Don’t vote for candidates who have shown their lack of regard for you by their past actions.

Don’t vote for incompetent sweet-talkers. Don’t vote for Black-skinned people who are not also Black-minded people. Don’t vote for popular people who are not interested in the Black populous. Don’t vote for every-now-and-then politicians, both Black and White, who come around every now and then but mostly during election time.

Don’t vote for promises made but never kept. Don’t vote for weak-kneed hypocrites. Don’t vote for sellouts.

Don’t vote for dunces. Don’t vote for lapdogs. Don’t vote for smoke-and-mirror solutions. Don’t vote for issues that are not in your best interests.

Don’t vote for nonsense. Don’t vote for arrogance. Don’t vote for elitists.

Don’t vote for racists. Don’t vote for movie stars and ex-football players--at least not this year. Don’t vote just to make history. Don’t vote for empty suits. Don’t vote for religious zealots. Don’t vote for dreams rather than realities. Don’t vote for hopes rather than substance. Don’t vote for speeches. Don’t vote for the dumb stuff.

Now that you have a long list of what not to vote for, your checklist of what to vote for should be short enough to make your voting decisions much easier.

Of course you have to do some work, be informed, do some research, and watch the count on election night (they cheat, you know). But if you are not willing to think independently and put in a little work before and after you exercise your precious franchise, "Please, don’t vote."

James E. Clingman, an adjunct professor at the University of Cincinnati’s African American Studies department, is former editor of the "Cincinnati Herald" newspaper and founder of the Greater Cincinnati African American Chamber of Commerce.