Reply #30: I don't want to join a political Party, and I shouldn't have to, as a matter of conscience

[alcibiades_mystery]

And I frankly don't give a shit how they do it in Turkey, or Zimbabwe, or Hungary.

You can't have it both ways. Closed primaries are basically extortion operations that force party membership IF you also conclude that the two-party system is the only realistic way of voting in the general.

I'll eat that shit: I have to vote for EITHER a Dem or a GOPer in the general, even though I disagree in principle with the platforms of both parties (one less than the other, obviously). Fucking fine. I'll do that. I'll vote for the Dem. Great. But there is some shit I will not eat. Like registering as a Democrat when I find the Party platform contrary to my conscience.

That's what's at stake in open primaries. In your system, I'm FORCED and COERCED into registering as a Democrat if I want any say at all in my choices, which you say are the only choices. Well fuck that. Angry? Yeah, you betcha ass I'm angry. It's mafia extortion.