Independence from.....

 

    With apologies to Mr. Adams and Mr. Jefferson, as we reflect on 250 years of this experiment in self governance it is our right and our duty to list the long train of abuses and usurpations of Despotism and the malignant influences of empire that interfere with our right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. 

    Please allow a quote "That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness." 

    What has established Tyranny over these states? To prove let facts be submitted to a candid world. Let's declare the causes that impel us to a separation.

      Here is a starter list. Please add to it as you are moved.

INDEPENDENCE FROM....

Intellectual and ethical decline

Ignorance of history and government

Weaponized partisanship

Money in politics-the campaign industry

authoritarian and fascist impulses and practices

Politicized religion

Economic disparity of present proportion

Residual racism

Power of destructive equity investments

Algorithms 

Social media influencers and public ignorance

Opinions without knowledge

Failure of congress to govern by compromise and to serve the interests of all citizens

Worship of celebrity and celebrity culture

Destructive bureaucracy 

Presidential graft

Inadequate Housing

for profit medicine

unaffordable medical care

no term limits

   The Declaration we celebrate this season carried the lines,"In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people." 

    For far too long the legislative branch has failed, exceedingly! I reason we can then apply the idea of a Tyrant to congressional seniority and political "careerism" as well as those who have failed us. Court appointments have been "ideologized" and politicized. The selection of a President has been assumed by a campaign industrial complex where elections, "winning" instead of governance skill, are paramount. There is a dangerous gap between who can get elected and who is qualified and skilled to be Commander in Chief. In our lifetime we have watched a failure to meet the high minded and noble intention of the founders.

    Who is up for this? "And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other, our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor."

      See you down the trail. 

A NEW WAY?

    Is there another way to rescue the American government?

Maybe. Some thoughts, rooted in history, follow below.

first, a breath of fresh air

fiscalini ranch preserve-cambria ca. 

nap time

a few of our marine cousins observing rest hour

 the guy below brings us back to the us congress

a third way

    Whether it becomes more than speculative, or a pipe dream, remains to be seen, but we are hearing more about political reform. Could a third party be a method of reform?

      There is no shortage of third parties in our federal elections, but to this point they have been merely symbolic or protest choices. Ralph Nader's campaign helped elect George W. Bush. They've had more impact, historically.

       In 1912 Teddy Roosevelt's Progressive Party, aka the Bull Moose Party, shook up the nation and the Republican party by winning 88 electoral votes and 27% of the popular vote. 

       Racist George Wallace and his American Independent party won 13.5 % of the popular vote and 46 electoral votes in 1968.  

       Reform candidate H. Ross Perot won 18.9% of the popular vote, but no electoral votes in 1992.

minimum appeal

       The Third Party strategy began to play a role and shape parties and policies in the early 1800's. The list includes:

• Anti Masonic
• Free Soil
• Whig Americans
• Southern Democrats
• Constitutional Union
• Populist

      Today's list includes:

• Libertarian
• Green Party
• America's Party
• Constitution Party
• Solidarity Party
• Citizens Party
• Modern Whig Party
• Reform Party
• Unity Party
• Veterans Party 
• United States Pirate Party
• Communist Party
• Socialist Party
• Party for Socialism and Liberation
• Peace and Freedom Party
• Justice Party
• Socialist Workers Party
• Workers World Party
• Working Families Party
• Black Riders Liberation Party
• New Afrikan Black Panther Party
• Human Party
• Legal Marijuana Now Party
• Objectivist Party
• Prohibitionist party

  and believe it or not, there are more.  Clearly these parties cater to specific positions, splinter groups and attitudes-they are not mainstream.  

    So as observers ranging from party professionals, academics, analysts and voters look upon the failure and disgrace of the trump White House, the collapse of the Republican Party's ability to govern and the Democrats inability to keep their act together, there is growing talk about a new way.

maximum appeal

a platform for all

     I wonder if a kind of grass roots movement, pragmatic in nature, focused on mass appeal objectives only and deliberately geared to be anti polarizing, might not shake things up?   

•      Conservatives and liberals might agree with the idea that members of the federal government, especially the house and senate, must offer all Americans the same insurance and health care benefits they have, or theirs are revoked. 
•      Same for the practice of special "friends and family" insider investment information and opportunities. 
•      The salary and benefits of Senate and House membership would be trimmed to match the median wage of American workers. They would no longer vote for their own raises, instead they would be tied to COLA standards. 
•  PACs and Leadership Funds would be forbidden. Money could not be used personally or kept after leaving office. 
•      Once a member of the Senate or the House leaves office they would be forbidden from working for a consultancy or in a lobbying effort for as many years as they served. The exception is they could accept a position in a presidential administration or department. 

   There are probably other common core values that would appeal across party and ideological lines. 
    If the very definition and nature of the job and its benefits were changed we would find a different quality person willing to "serve."

    By backing out the influence of private wealth and organizational funding we could see a change in the character of the Congress and amongst seekers of public office. 

    I'd like to see restrictions on campaign funding-eliminating the legal influence of special interests of every stripe especially including those President Eisenhower warned us about-the military industrial complex that now controls and benefits from the federal dollar. 

excising the rot

    Donald Trump is the poster boy for a failure of government and the caving of American values.  He is the worst of America and millions of us, in fact the majority of Americans wonder why the hell he was not, or has not been stopped or removed from office. He's not the cause of the rot in our federal election system and inefficiency in government, but he is the face of the cancer and toxic in his own way. 

    Electoral politics is now an industry.  Government is now a business. It is time for a fundamental change and realignment or we are doomed to become a Greece, or Italy, if we survive the antics of the jack ass who is president. 

    A well organized and structured third party-or middle way effort that can unite D's, R's, Liberals, Conservatives, and appeals to all demographic subgroups could change the way the game is played and the power is brokered. 
    There will always be ideological and philosophical differences, but if the idea is about governance and not the aggregation of power or politics by bludgeoning, we could witness our government work the way it was imagined and created by the founders-give and take-compromise-governing for all.

    A fanciful though perhaps, but there have been "inflection" moments in our history and this is certainly one.  Wouldn't you hate to see it stay the same or get worse. It is action time. 

    See you down the trail.