By Britt Nelson

Editor’s note: The views expressed by guest columnists are not necessarily those of The Costa Rica Star, its advertisers, or its staff.

Things are really getting strange in the political world of the wannabe presidents. It seems as if the two-party election process in the Unites States has gone to the dogs.

Huge flocks of black buzzards will be circling overhead during the upcoming Republican and Democratic National Conventions set for July. Civil disobedience may disrupt the conventions.

On the Democratic side of presidential politics it’s all about big money, influence and power of the establishment to maintain itself and give up no territory. The old-time Democratic machine is fully in place and aimed solely at electing former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to the presidency come hell or high water. Nobody seems to care that Clinton has so much baggage revolving around past scandals, lies, controversies and ongoing investigations.

Clinton’s opponent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders has been left in the dust, but he continues to stay in the race in the face of total denial of his ‘Political Revolution’ by the Clinton campaign. Perhaps, Sanders is still in the race because of a possible FBI recommended indictment of Clinton for her use of a private email server set up at her home, something no other secretary of state had done before.

It appears that Sanders will not mount a third-party independent run for the presidency, opting instead to work with his fellow Democrats to defeat the Republican presumptive nominee New York billionaire Donald Trump.

Sanders also wants to fundamentally change the way elections are held in America. He is asking, before the convention, that the current leadership of the Democratic Party be changed because they are not unbiased as they should be. Before the first vote was cast during the primaries, Clinton had amassed hundreds of voting super delegates in her corner. Both Sanders and Trump have consistently said the primary election process is “rigged” in favor of the establishment candidates.

“We must get rid of super delegates,” Sanders said. “The fact that we had 400 superdelegates pledged (to Clinton) eight months before the first ballot was cast is absurd.”

Independent voters, who now comprise about 44 percent of all registered voters, are not allowed to vote in the majority of Democratic and Republican primaries and caucuses because they are closed to only registered Republicans and Democrats. So 44 percent of the voters have little say until the end of the election process — the national election set for Nov. 8.

For example, Sanders says, “The idea that in the State of New York 3 million people could not participate in helping select the Democratic nominee is incomprehensible. We need real reform within the Democratic Party. And that means open primaries.”

On the other hand, Republicans do not use super delegates.

On Monday, Republican New York billionaire Donald Trump fired his national campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, just like he said “You’re Fired” to all those contestants on his highly-rated reality TV show ‘The Apprentice.’ News reports said they “parted ways.” It’s hard not to wonder why? Maybe, just maybe, Trump’s campaign manager tried to talk some sense into him about the way he acts and speaks everywhere he goes. For goodness’ sake, Donald get your act together for once.

Fellow citizens of the USA, it’s time to circle the wagons and fight back against the influence of big, big money in presidential races and that influence extends into the living rooms of every home in America.

There is another choice besides Clinton or Trump and that is former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson, a third-party Libertarian candidate who will be on the voting ballot in all 50 states. If he receives a 15 percent national poll standing he will be on stage debating both Trump and Clinton, according to USA Today. As a Libertarian, he wants far less government intrusion into the lives of citizens, stronger gun laws, legal marijuana, less taxes and a strong military with limited involvement in foreign wars and disputes. Candidate Johnson is a true alternative to the failed two-party system.

Voters are angry and disgusted with the state of America today; they are angry with an economy that only feeds the rich but not the poor. These are the voters who will decide who will be the next U.S. President.

About the Author

Britt Nelson relocated to Costa Rica in 2011 from Florida, where he served as news editor for the Palatka Daily News, a newspaper owned by the New York Times Regional Newspaper Group (NYT-RNG) for 20 years.

Nelson served the NYT-RNG for 18 years in Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, North Carolina and Florida as a correspondent, reporter, staff writer, senior staff writer training new reporters, copy editor, page designer, editorial writer, editorial page editor and editorial board member.