That was the score of the response to the October 5 post asking which option you prefer between supporting the current national parties and a new independent party. The total number of unduplicated votes for the Indy party on both the Daily Blank and Facebook was 19. No one voted for the Redemlicrats; a few people voted for “none of the above” which is how I plan to vote next month. What does this tell us? I think it tells us we are in the last decade of the dominance of the two big parties. Things are broken. They are fixing nothing. There are more registered Independents than R’s or D’s according to a recent Pew survey. The Tea Party is rising and this relatively liberal audience is just as fed up.
Bring it on I say. Then maybe we’ll address the real problems. We now spend far more time discussing “don’t ask/don’t tell” than we do with the wars themselves. I don’t mean to minimize the importance of that issue, but each day the New York Times lists the names, ranks, ages and home towns of soldiers killed in Afghanistan and Iraq. There were seven yesterday. The oldest was 22; there were two 19-year-olds.
We all know they died for access to oil, and yet Congress has no energy to address energy. Did you read Tom Friedman’s recent column on Congress’ unwillingness to commit one billion dollars over five years to speed development of cutting edge energy research? That’s $200 million dollars per year. What does that buy? I believe that pays for 200 foot soldiers in Afghanistan for one year. At the current pace we will have another few hundred dead teenagers in that perpetual Western death-trap of a country over the next year.
But I’m sure the Democrats and Republican have a secret plan to make this all make sense, right?
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Not that I am for it one bit, but perhaps this is what Jefferson meant when he said some blood must be shed for democracy from time to time.
What bothers me is that the populist revolt, collectively called the Tea Party, isn't for anything, rather a reaction against things. And, many elements are extreme. Consider how Hitler rode populism to power. If you read the article on the founding fathers of the Tea Party and you are not left with a sense of unease, you and I don't have the same set of values. Forgive my naivety; I thought Glenn Beck was an entertainer who had some sense of perspective and limits: I don't anymore. His "lessons" on American Constitutional history tap into ultra right wing doctrine. Books he put on his audience reading list fail the smell test. These are paranoid schizophrenic rants that have been condemned by individuals/organizations who are merely on the far right. Mr Beck is breeding a new generation of Timothy McVeighs.
If you recall how Hitler rose to power, people who felt that he was nuts, but would stumble along the way, yet they shared some common agenda, found themselves at the wrong end of a gun. Thus the rise of independent parties might carry baggage akin to bedbugs. Drawing blood, and once ensconced, nearly impossible to remove.
The revolution is now being televised.
Times is hard. The natives are restless. Evolution goes from the simple to the complex. Our current system might be too complex to change quick enough to deal with too many yards to gain in too few minutes on the clock. Expect more darkness before daylight, however dim that light might eventually be.
Meanwhile, the Times reports 6 more U.S. military deaths in Afghanistan today. They ranged from two 20-year-olds up to age 36. Has anyone heard anybody running for national office mention our two little wars lately?
The Taliban are running out the clock on us in Afghanistan. Qaeda is doing likewise in Iraq. Good morning Vietnam.
If our military involvement in the Mideast is a campaign issue, it is so far down the list, below Wall Street bonuses. I don't have a fix on candidates on it.
In the battle of guns v. butter, butter wins every time. Nobody foucuses on these two little "wars" (I don't know what these things are but they're not wars) because only 1% of the country has a stake in them. When no sacrifice is asked for, none is given.
I disagree with the notion of abandoning the political playing field. I think there are choices to be made that can make a difference and leaving the election to the energized right-wing kooks is the wrong one.
When the incumbent is disliked, you run against that person and ignore issues, but for the life of me I can't figure out what the right and tea party are for. The pledge to America was only done because conventional wisdom is that you need to have something to stand on, but nobody actually mentions the pledge.
Best I can tell the reason to vote republican is they are not democrats and the recession and jobless rate was caused by the democrats, and Obama is a foreigner.
The housing debacle was brought on solely by the Teletubby, Barney Frank, and Obama is a Muslim and did you know that Obama is a self appointed elitist.
The right has no position on the wars, except that if you are a liberal you hate the troops and hate America. You know in your heart that they want to criticize Obama's handling of the wars but they can't appear to be soft like a bunch of Democrats even though neither party knows what we are fighting for anymore.
Although many people voted for the Democrats in 2006 because they couldn't stand the republicans, after four years it is time to throw these bums out because there is nothing else to do.
@ Birdman -- enlighten me. what are the choices that will make a difference?
Allow me.
What do you want the make up of the Supreme Court to look like?
@ Hank - that's point, but the Prez still picks and it's been a long time since the Senate has stopped one.
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