Throwing The Bastards Out and So On ....
Last night I attended my first ever gathering of the Michigan Green Party, where we heard from various Green candidates for the upcoming election.
Although I have been a life-long Democrat, with only occasional forays into the Republican Party, I am becoming increasingly convinced that the only way politics will change for the better in this country is that there must be more voices at the political table! For too long in the United States, the political system has been like a cozy little romantic table for two at a ritzy restaurant [a meal a corporate lobbyist provided!!!]: the couple may disagree, may have some serious fights, but when it gets right down to it, they will do what is necessary to preserve the relationship, even if it means living in denial about whether or not it is really working, about whether or not it is corrupt to the core. I haven't yet created a table-analogy for a political system for the US that might work better ... but I am working on it.
Anyway, there are three things that spur me into exploring 3rd and 4th party alternatives. First, I am extremely pissed that Democrats are not standing up to the Executive Branch's rape of the constitution and I DO NOT CARE when they whine that they are in the minority and can't do anything. At least TRY, for Christ's sake! I love the Feingolds and the Conyers and the Boxers and the Kuchinichs and the Waxmans --but there aren't enough of them. You see, that makes me wonder if, when we throw the bastards out, if we're not just replacing them with another set of bastards ...
Second, I do not like that the top dog 2 parties have too much power over their players. Here's a stunning example from local politics. There's a Republican candidate for our state senate who, while he wants to support GLBT civil rights, is afraid to do so openly lest he lose his party's support --i.e. funding! He feels unable to vote his conscience ... and I have to ask, how can he represent his constituency effectively? If there are more voices at the table besides two, there has to be more give and take in the conversation ... and it gives him a way to represent me by building coalitions with other parties.
I will write more later ... my DH, who is currently a member of the "I-want-to-be-working" class needs me to print off some resumes for her for a job fair she is attending today.
Although I have been a life-long Democrat, with only occasional forays into the Republican Party, I am becoming increasingly convinced that the only way politics will change for the better in this country is that there must be more voices at the political table! For too long in the United States, the political system has been like a cozy little romantic table for two at a ritzy restaurant [a meal a corporate lobbyist provided!!!]: the couple may disagree, may have some serious fights, but when it gets right down to it, they will do what is necessary to preserve the relationship, even if it means living in denial about whether or not it is really working, about whether or not it is corrupt to the core. I haven't yet created a table-analogy for a political system for the US that might work better ... but I am working on it.
Anyway, there are three things that spur me into exploring 3rd and 4th party alternatives. First, I am extremely pissed that Democrats are not standing up to the Executive Branch's rape of the constitution and I DO NOT CARE when they whine that they are in the minority and can't do anything. At least TRY, for Christ's sake! I love the Feingolds and the Conyers and the Boxers and the Kuchinichs and the Waxmans --but there aren't enough of them. You see, that makes me wonder if, when we throw the bastards out, if we're not just replacing them with another set of bastards ...
Second, I do not like that the top dog 2 parties have too much power over their players. Here's a stunning example from local politics. There's a Republican candidate for our state senate who, while he wants to support GLBT civil rights, is afraid to do so openly lest he lose his party's support --i.e. funding! He feels unable to vote his conscience ... and I have to ask, how can he represent his constituency effectively? If there are more voices at the table besides two, there has to be more give and take in the conversation ... and it gives him a way to represent me by building coalitions with other parties.
I will write more later ... my DH, who is currently a member of the "I-want-to-be-working" class needs me to print off some resumes for her for a job fair she is attending today.
posted by Reverend Dona Quixote @ 7:15 AM
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