"Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote."Benjamin Franklin
Every Presidential election is important in this country. However, some are more important than others. Similar to how every Beatles record is important, but Rubber Soul matters more than Beatles For Sale.
This fall we will be involved in a vastly significant election. One that will help shape our future.
That is one of the main reasons I have made some changes in my personal political ideology.
Recently, I have told America's two major political parties to get lost and "don't let the door hit ya where the good Lord split ya."
I am now a registered Independent.
Let's be clear up front, this has little to do the Left or the Right's stand on individual issues and more to do with the glaring problems in the two party system itself. Both sides of the aisle have heroes and villains. True civil servants and preening phonies. Gifted orators and complete dullards. Or the plain old rotten.
Where the fault lies in the modern two party system is that one is expected to fall in line with whatever the Elephant Team Captain or the Donkey Team Captain tells you that you should believe. If you are a Democrat, you believe the following ... A Republican you say? Okay, you believe this ... And when you disagree, you are labeled disloyal. I don't believe that kind of blind loyalty is what the framers of the Constitution had in
mind. It's that kind of thinking that has led to the hate the right has for the left and the disdain the left has for the right. The Blue States and the Red States have become a modern day Hatfield's and McCoy's. That idiotic feud began in 1865 and wasn't officially ended until 2004. How long did it take before both sides didn't even know what they were fighting about and hated each other because that's what they were told to do? Sadly, that is what America has become.
American political beliefs have become red and blue. Or better stated, black and white. Friends, our world is not that simple anymore. Each political problem should be examined individually, not decided by pundit-issued talking points. There is some grey. With most issues, the farther one moves to the left or right, the farther from the truth you become. These topics usually have a logical solution somewhere near the middle. Leaning to one side or the other, sure, but not that far.
By abandoning the political party that I have been registered with since turning 18, I am freeing myself to vote for who is the best candidate for my country, state and beloved New York City. My definition of "best" will no longer be based on a (D) or (R) next to their name in the voting booth.
The nonsense of each side's spin doctors white washing mistakes to look like passable activity is more than I could stand. Listening to blowhards like Bill O'Reilly, Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, Paul Begala and James Carville blindly defend the errors of their party, I became more and more disillusioned. Disgusted. Angry. Some of the talking heads have gotten to the point that they are playing a character in the media for money. They're like Guy Smiley from Sesame Street with the hands of biased press secretaries moving their mouths. When Jon Stewart went on Crossfire and dismantled the whole operation, it was a wakeup call to cable news. Many Americans were tired of being told "if you're with us, you believe this." Many were tired of listening to the partisan hackery. Many were tired of the hollow justification for political blunders.
Jon Stewart's Crossfire appearance.
There will be some from the left and right flanks that say an Independent is a lukewarm fence sitter. Unable to take a stand. Rubbish. Laughable junior high logic. It's a decision to be more thoughtful about each issue. Not surrendering to the idea that an individual needs to believe one of two sets of options. Column R or Column D.
This decision means that I will disagree with a candidate I support on an issue or three. So be it. Pick your battles. I have many friends that I don't see eye to eye with ideologically and still love them like family. One that lives in the next room in my apartment. Why can't I respectfully oppose a point or three with an elected official? The odds of 100% agreement with a politician is pretty slim anyway.
There needs to be a broader discussion of issues as a whole. Too often "hot button" topics dominate candidacies and elections. How about less chatter about gun control and more on education? The Supreme Court has become a one issue judicial body. Pro-Life or Pro-Choice decides the makeup of the Court. That is too simplistic in our complex society.
What happened to political discourse? Real debate? It's been replaced by who can yell the loudest. People don't listen to each other on the political television shows. They ignore the other person screaming, waiting to butt in with their already prepared statements. Why do they do that? Because the big boys in Washington do the same damn thing. The State of the Union is delivered, and the opposition waits three and a half minutes to go on the networks and read the prewritten rebuttal while the partisan ovation is still roaring in the Capitol Building.
Some may be like myself, comparing a political party to one's favorite sports teams. I was guilty of this practice. That is my team, have to support my team. Short of the Seattle Seahawks sporting swastikas on the helmets and halftime shows becoming book-burning Nazi rallies, I am not changing my NFL affiliation. Slowly, I've learned to take politics more seriously than athletics. Barely, but still.
To register as an Independent only took a few simple steps. I printed out the form online, filled it out and sent it in. A couple weeks went by and another form came in the mail. I signed that one and sent it back. A couple more weeks went by and a another piece of paper came in the post saying I was a registered Independent. That was it. The hard part had already taken place. Deciding it was the right thing to do.
The birth of a third major political party is probably folly. The Republicans and Democrats are too powerful and too well funded. The Libertarians and Green Party are too inaccessible for most. In recent years, the addition of a third party candidate has, some say, swayed elections to the side that might not have won without them. That is why I believe it makes more sense to support a competent politician and perhaps disagree on a handful of moral or social issues.
The real hope is that maybe, just maybe, we can elect a President who is honest and competent. Think of the Commanders in Chief since rough ridin' Teddy Roosevelt took office in 1901. How many fit that profile? Roosevelt, Taft, Wilson, Harding, Coolidge, Hoover, FDR, Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush 41, Clinton and W. How many were honest and competent? Depending on your outlook, I'll wager some will count the number on one hand.
Our country is at a dangerous crossroads. She is as divided as ever before. We owe it to ourselves to do whatever we can to make an honest effort to improve America. No matter what talk radio tells us what we should believe.
Selah.
Where the fault lies in the modern two party system is that one is expected to fall in line with whatever the Elephant Team Captain or the Donkey Team Captain tells you that you should believe. If you are a Democrat, you believe the following ... A Republican you say? Okay, you believe this ... And when you disagree, you are labeled disloyal. I don't believe that kind of blind loyalty is what the framers of the Constitution had in
mind. It's that kind of thinking that has led to the hate the right has for the left and the disdain the left has for the right. The Blue States and the Red States have become a modern day Hatfield's and McCoy's. That idiotic feud began in 1865 and wasn't officially ended until 2004. How long did it take before both sides didn't even know what they were fighting about and hated each other because that's what they were told to do? Sadly, that is what America has become.American political beliefs have become red and blue. Or better stated, black and white. Friends, our world is not that simple anymore. Each political problem should be examined individually, not decided by pundit-issued talking points. There is some grey. With most issues, the farther one moves to the left or right, the farther from the truth you become. These topics usually have a logical solution somewhere near the middle. Leaning to one side or the other, sure, but not that far.
By abandoning the political party that I have been registered with since turning 18, I am freeing myself to vote for who is the best candidate for my country, state and beloved New York City. My definition of "best" will no longer be based on a (D) or (R) next to their name in the voting booth.
The nonsense of each side's spin doctors white washing mistakes to look like passable activity is more than I could stand. Listening to blowhards like Bill O'Reilly, Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, Paul Begala and James Carville blindly defend the errors of their party, I became more and more disillusioned. Disgusted. Angry. Some of the talking heads have gotten to the point that they are playing a character in the media for money. They're like Guy Smiley from Sesame Street with the hands of biased press secretaries moving their mouths. When Jon Stewart went on Crossfire and dismantled the whole operation, it was a wakeup call to cable news. Many Americans were tired of being told "if you're with us, you believe this." Many were tired of listening to the partisan hackery. Many were tired of the hollow justification for political blunders.
Jon Stewart's Crossfire appearance.
There will be some from the left and right flanks that say an Independent is a lukewarm fence sitter. Unable to take a stand. Rubbish. Laughable junior high logic. It's a decision to be more thoughtful about each issue. Not surrendering to the idea that an individual needs to believe one of two sets of options. Column R or Column D.
This decision means that I will disagree with a candidate I support on an issue or three. So be it. Pick your battles. I have many friends that I don't see eye to eye with ideologically and still love them like family. One that lives in the next room in my apartment. Why can't I respectfully oppose a point or three with an elected official? The odds of 100% agreement with a politician is pretty slim anyway.
There needs to be a broader discussion of issues as a whole. Too often "hot button" topics dominate candidacies and elections. How about less chatter about gun control and more on education? The Supreme Court has become a one issue judicial body. Pro-Life or Pro-Choice decides the makeup of the Court. That is too simplistic in our complex society.
What happened to political discourse? Real debate? It's been replaced by who can yell the loudest. People don't listen to each other on the political television shows. They ignore the other person screaming, waiting to butt in with their already prepared statements. Why do they do that? Because the big boys in Washington do the same damn thing. The State of the Union is delivered, and the opposition waits three and a half minutes to go on the networks and read the prewritten rebuttal while the partisan ovation is still roaring in the Capitol Building. Some may be like myself, comparing a political party to one's favorite sports teams. I was guilty of this practice. That is my team, have to support my team. Short of the Seattle Seahawks sporting swastikas on the helmets and halftime shows becoming book-burning Nazi rallies, I am not changing my NFL affiliation. Slowly, I've learned to take politics more seriously than athletics. Barely, but still.
To register as an Independent only took a few simple steps. I printed out the form online, filled it out and sent it in. A couple weeks went by and another form came in the mail. I signed that one and sent it back. A couple more weeks went by and a another piece of paper came in the post saying I was a registered Independent. That was it. The hard part had already taken place. Deciding it was the right thing to do.
The birth of a third major political party is probably folly. The Republicans and Democrats are too powerful and too well funded. The Libertarians and Green Party are too inaccessible for most. In recent years, the addition of a third party candidate has, some say, swayed elections to the side that might not have won without them. That is why I believe it makes more sense to support a competent politician and perhaps disagree on a handful of moral or social issues.
The real hope is that maybe, just maybe, we can elect a President who is honest and competent. Think of the Commanders in Chief since rough ridin' Teddy Roosevelt took office in 1901. How many fit that profile? Roosevelt, Taft, Wilson, Harding, Coolidge, Hoover, FDR, Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush 41, Clinton and W. How many were honest and competent? Depending on your outlook, I'll wager some will count the number on one hand. Our country is at a dangerous crossroads. She is as divided as ever before. We owe it to ourselves to do whatever we can to make an honest effort to improve America. No matter what talk radio tells us what we should believe.
Selah.
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JW, welcome to the fence....there's a nice view from here...we get to pick and choose our friends, why not look at politics the same way?
That cheekiness is why you are one of my favorites of the Loyal 77, Sarcastic One.
May I suggest writing in Paco Bell, Florrisant, Colorado mayor.
My Thoughts exactly JW. Political parties are as antiquated a notion as fighting a war with broadswords. The politicians in washington today are nothing but a bunch of corporate shills anyways. there isn't a senator, congressman, or supreme court justice i would let babysit my kids, for fear of coming home to find them sold into white slavery or meth addicted. At what point exactly in our country did the people running it become a group of such unbelievable low class shitheads? these people don't have the moral compass of a 419 scammer.
I wish there were a way to throw the whole bunch out and elect a whole new congress. With the stipulation that none of them have ever made more than $250,000 a year in their entire lives. And if you're caught taking a bribe from a corporate interest or lobbyist, we brand your forehead with a dollar sign and fire your ass.
Make 'em think twice wouldn't it?
Historically, we've seen third parties in this country. Take a look at electoral maps from the 1800's. However, we lack a parliamentary system where parties can temporarily ally with each other, so what we see in America is the birth and death of parties at the cost of others, or that they die off very quickly. This kind of goes hand in hand with the electoral college and requiring a mojority of electors. We don't have run off elections, or parliament choosing a prime minister, so if we don't get a majority, the House decides.
Examine the birth of the Republican party in the 1850's and 1860's at the cost of the Whig party. A new prominent issue (slavery and the civil war) came up that split the party in two. Ultimately we saw the republican party rise to prominence in this timeframe.
However, further examine the Bull-moose party in the early 1900's. They split off from the republican party, and this resulted in Woodrow Wilson being swept into office due to a split republican party.
Personally, I'm independent, but not because I'm a fence sitter, but because I hate the actual parties being fence sitters. They too scared to make-up their mind, and never do what they said they'd do anyway.
I guess I don't have a final point here, except that parties evolve and change, and damnit, I'm ready for some evolution and change. But to get some, we might have to tolerate losing some elections. I think I posted this thought before, but I still hold it dear to my heart: If you don't like the choices, not choosing is a choice, and you have a right not to choose.
Thanks for the thoughts KBK.
If the GOP was good enough for Jesus it's good enough for you. God Damn Hippies! If Patton was alive he'd slap your fat face.
Thanks Johnny...in my state they refer to us as Unaffiliated...which I kind of like because it doesn't make me sound like I'm Nader's bitch....
Interesting side note....we tell people to vote, we tell people to sit it out...turns out studies have shown that the people who would have voted agree with the ones who did on the majority of issues and candidates...
And Patton flunked out of West Point his first time in....
what's the point of voting anyway? your actual vote doesn't count for crap anyway. the electoral college picks the president.
"I'll show you politics in America, here it is right here:
'I think the puppet on the right shares my beliefs.'
'I think the puppet on the left is more to my liking.'
'Hey, wait a minute! There's one guy holding up both puppets!'
'Shut up! Go back to bed America, your government is in control. Here's 'Love Connection', watch this and get fat and stupid. By the way, keep drinkin' beer you morons."
- Bill Hicks
Ahhh....but we are spared from someone with a battering ram knocking our doors down in the middle of the night, putting us in jail because we mouth off against our government....
Say what you want about the idiots at the top (because you can!) but I'd rather be here than many, many places all throughout history....
Senor, that's a fallacious argument. If a few thousand less people had said that eight years ago in Florida, we might not be in the sorry state we are now. You have to put aside your ego about how much your single vote counts, and contribute to the greater community.
I think anyone who uses that argument not to vote is acting pretty selfishly.
Every vote does count. The 2000 election taught us that. That aside, I feel it is a moral obligation to vote in a free society.
Is your registration as an independent purely a symbolic gesture? What will you actually do to fix the problem with the two party system? Will you vote for a third party candidate?
Nobody cares what your registration is if you're still going to keep voting for the same party anyways.
Also: Stewart got owned on Crossfire. He used his "comedy" as an excuse to avoid accountability, and proved that he has no ability to take part in serious discourse.
On a side note, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Scaramouch..:) Love you !
Yes, Patriarch, the registration is somewhat symbolic.
Stewart got owned on Crossfire? His appearance led to the program being canceled. Jon is a comedian, not a pundit. He isn't trying to have serious discourse. Nor was serious discourse ever evident on Crossfire. You're in a very small minority thinking that performance was a loss for Stewart. He embarrassed both Carlson and Begala. He left them a stuttering mess.
On a side note, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Scaramouch. I like you as a friend.
JW, great post. I couldn't agree with you more.
I've always felt that we have been, and will continue to be, missing out on some great leaders for this country simply because of the party system we currently utilize. The real answer seems to be the creation of a financially-supported avenue for other candidates to get their ideas out and be able to campaign effectively.
Media coverage/support might just hold the answer.
Thanks Tim. Of course I am not saying I have any kind of solution. I wish I did. My only point is that we as responsible Americans can think differently. Not falling into one of two categories.
what a waste of 5 minutes i spent reading the first paragraph. all i have to say is GO HOME HIPPIE and smoke a joint.
OBEY
It took him 5 minutes to read the first paragraph?
I will concede the point about the popular vote vs. the electoral college. (still would be nice if the guy that actually GETS the most votes wins the election). As for it being my moral obligation to vote? Give me someone worth voting for and i'll vote for them. since i have been a registered voter, i have yet to see a presidential election where i can actually support a candidate. It always feels like i'm choosing between the lesser of two evils, and that is not a choice you should have to make when it concerns choosing the leader of your country, and the commander in chief of the armed forces.
JW.....5 minutes--wow--makes me feel a bit MENSA.....
and sounds like he might have killed a few too many brain cells with his very own hydroponic farm....
Have we found the guy who grew the mall weed?
There hasn't been an announcement of who is behind the Miami Mall Weed Caper of 2008. I'm betting it is the staff of Spencer's Gifts. I'd start there. Freakin Sherlock Holmes.
I loved how the guy told me to go home. I don't know what that means.
hmmmm--yep, Spencer's...but in cahoots with the food court folks...
Tracey Ullman used to tell her audience to go home...maybe it was her--what's she doing these days? (she needs a comeback to launch the next Simpsons)
for the mall weed thing, i'd just watch and see who destroys the orange chicken at panda express.
JW - The five minutes included time spent Googling 'Rubber Soul' to find out what kind of record those beatles set.
Perhaps it was the folks over at the Pot-tery Barn. Or maybe Billa Bongs.
Well done, kids. It frustrates me when you lot are funnier than myself.
Oh, come now. Chin up, Johnny.
What you need is to retool. You need to go back to your pad, share some herb with the old lady, listen to some Joan Baez tunes and lose yourself in thoughts of what could have been baby.
............... what ever happened to the lunch hour veggies?
....... i miss those.....................
I'll try to do a couple Lunch Hour Veg's this week. Of course, mine might not be universally liked. Like Great Authors Interviewed. I'll try to do a couple.
I'm so glad you feel a moral obligation to vote. Every citizen should. Yes, sometimes we vote for the lesser of two evils, but that's better than not voting and getting the greater evil.
Johnny, you're too thoughtful to belong to the party I used to belong to. They are the ones who do most of the yelling, and who are absolutely certain they are right on everything. Give me a man or woman intelligent enough to examine new evidence and change his or her mind. That's the reason Malcolm X is a hero of mine--he continued to learn and think and change his mind and speak out. It got him killed, but he knew the chance he was taking when he broke with the Nation.
I hope your thoughtful piece encourages reluctant voters to get out and vote this year.
That's very kind of you Barb. I hope that maybe my ramblings get a handful of people to take the privilege of voting more seriously. Then I can justify going back to writing about monkeys and Johnny Cash.
It's an interesting thought about Malcolm X. While I wouldn't call him a hero of mine, it is to his credit that near the end of his life he had made attempts to join Dr. King in the more peace oriented civil rights movement. Who knows what kind of public figure he would have become. Something to think about.
And, I was very careful not to mention the mention the political party I have abandoned. It isn't in there. Maybe I wasn't as cryptic as I thought.
JW
Nice post Rev. Party affiliation is about as remedial as Bloods and Crips these days. I agree with Chris Rock when he talked about taking a side without first hearing the issue. Being an Independent voter means that you're going to elect the best candidate, not the person your fellow gang memebers tell you to. Although I will admit, it's kind of entertaining to see the 'hard core gangsters' have to eat crow when there's an embarrassment within their 'sacred party'.
I think that when a person registers independent, that person is simply agreeing that they do not have the balls or drive to change what is wrong in his own party.
Johnny for example was probably at one time a hard core conservative, republican, voted for Bush. Da da da.... Supported going into the war, now doesn't like the war, doesn't like Bush......
Instead of having the nuts to take a stand in his own party and work to fix it. He simply decided to "piss on" his former party and take the easy neutral route, agreeing with some disagreing with others.
Hopping on the fence to please all.
Iv'e got news.
The fella that jumps on the fence crying about those who are building the fence rarely get a say in how the fence gets built.
Johnny- you registering as an independent is kind of a nice way to say: I don't want reponsibility for the decisions that my party made now that we have the end results. I'll space myself from that party so I don't have to accept the blame. I don't have the nuts to get out and make a difference so I'll change my name and become a fence sitter. My voice will not count, but who cares, people like me better.
Sell out.
I'm with ya... well, almost. A couple years ago I quit the Democrats and registered as 'no party'. Not even Independent. No party.
I'm a registered Indecisive. The great thing about it is that I'm beholden to every party. The bad part is that the registered Wafflers get quicker service at IHOP.
DSB - I see what you're doing there. You're just trying to get us unregistered wafflers to register for IHOP by spreading lies that they have quicker service than some of the older waffle chains.
DSB, I charge you ... here in open YBNBY court ... with being "l'agent de waffle" for IHOP!
Tim - IHOP rules. What the hell is wrong with you man?
Tim,
Ha. "Older waffle chains." You speak madness. Besides, there's no way I would ever work for IHOP. I don't even LIKE steaming golden wafers of light, crispy, melted cream cheese-stuffed grids of delicious, flaky joy swathed in layers of fresh fruit and tucked in a blanket of cinnamon, resting on pillows of pure American whipped cream.
Only at IHOP.
IHOP, Inc. IP. LLC.
Retract your false charges, sir, or answer to my blade. Which happens to be slicing into a stack of syrupy, rectangular joy with a side of crepes from heaven. But not at IHOP.
(Come Hungry. Leave Happy.)