FOR WELL OVER 150 YEARS the U.S. has had two major political parties. There have been multiple attempts to form a third of course, most recently the Tea Party. That effort was the most successful in recent memory, though after a lot of hubbub, it faded into the background with barely a whimper. Some would argue that the movement still has influence on the far right conservatives in the Republican party. Perhaps so, but it has not blossomed into a functional third party. 2016 may be viewed in the future as the year that we had the best chance of forming a viable third party.
It has become increasingly difficult to even have a reasonable conversation about the two parties and their platforms because of the smudging of terms and the effort to be “politically correct”. It seems that term is an effort to not offend anyone. Like that would send the offender directly to Hell without passing go. Liberal, progressive, conservative, socialist, and many other terms that used to mean something that everyone understood are becoming more and more blurred. I, for one, think a bit less politically correctness and a lot more of saying it like it is may be needed.
Democrats, long considered the liberal thinking party, is moving more and more to the left of center and embracing socialism. The movement has been put into action at an unprecedented rate over the two terms of Obama. More government, more regulation, more central control, and more socialistic programs have been put in place by the current administration. Much of that has been done by executive order without any action by congress. Now, for the first time, we see a serious presidential candidate on the Democratic ticket openly claiming to be a socialist and introducing the term of “Socialist Democrat”. The most alarming aspect of this movement is the strong support being given to him by the under 35 age voters. That does not bode well for our Republic over the longer term. While Sanders is unlikely to capture the nomination to represent the Democratic party in November, he clearly is in a position to influence the party platform and will do so.
In the meantime, the Republican party seems bent on self-destruction. Early on, with 17 “wanna bees” in the running, at least 14 of them with zero chance of winning the nomination, the Republicans have spent a lot of effort and money beating each other into submission. Until recently the NRC didn’t even acknowledge Trump as anything more than a troublesome house fly. Now they have finally and grudgingly said that he is the probable candidate. Even so, many of the power players in the party refuse to accept him as such and openly swear they will not vote for him. Am I the only one that sees these people as acting like spoiled children that didn’t get their way? Children stamping their feet, screaming and holding their breath until they turn blue? How can they ignore the fact that he and his stated positions have resonated with the rank and file voters, many not even republicans?
So now we are faced with two parties that have shared power for generations one sliding into socialism and the other imploding. The “socialist” party will present a candidate for us that is being investigated by the FBI, and has shown unprecedented bad judgement on everything from email servers to failing to protect our people overseas. The fractured Republican party will put up a person that is often bombastic and with no political background, which some say is not good (though I feel that may be a plus considering the graft and greed that seems rampant in government at all levels).
I am reminded of that song “It’s my party and I’ll cry if I want to…” Democrat or Republican it is time for us all to cry.
