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June 19, 2007 at 19:15:30

The End of Political Parties?

by Timothy V. Gatto     Page 1 of 1 page(s)

http://www.robkall.com


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Michael Bloomberg has forsaken the GOP. That’s good news for anyone that likes Michael Bloomberg and has a vested interest in good government. Bloomberg is one of those rare birds that come along all too infrequently that have no personal agenda except leaving the world a little better than when he found it. He a guy that has conquered the private sector, achieving all of his goals (or so it would seem) and now wants to “give back” to the world that has given him so much.

I’m not saying that I approve of everything he stands for; I don’t know that much about him. All I know about him is that he has managed to run New York City well and that many in New York, a Democratic stronghold, love him. I know he only takes a dollar a year for his salary, and works hard for the people of New York City. The fact that he brought a giant kiss-off to the party of Lincoln, the party that gave us George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, warms my heart. The fact that he did not run to the pretenders for political backing, tells me that he realizes what many of us already know, that the Democrats are no catch either. It would be the greatest thing that ever happened if political parties in the nation just suffered a quick and brutal death at the hands of those that realize that party politics leads to bad governance.

I would like to see Michael Bloomberg run for President and win. It would send a message that should have been heard when Ross Perot almost took out the Republican Party. When is the American public going to learn that power breeds corruption? Could you see elections without party politics based on the Clean Elections initiative that is slowly making its way into the political jargon of some states? Wouldn’t it be wonderful to vote for a person instead of a party? Could you imagine if political parties were a thing of the past? How very different our lives would be when the Congress could vote for a bill and not for the party that sponsored it. How very different if people could vote for a real person with their own values instead of a platform of ideas put up by a group of people with shared agendas.

This idea of having no political parties scares some people that have been attached to one political party or another. While it is true that I was once a Democrat, I am no more. Will I ever vote for a Democrat? Maybe, but I could vote for an Independent or a liberal Republican or a Green or even a Socialist. It all depends on where they stand on issues. I will say one thing through, and I wish that all Progressives and Liberals, in fact everyone one would do the same; I will NEVER send money to another political party for the rest of the time that I am here on Earth. Political parties achieve nothing in our world of today.

In the world we live in, through the internet and all of the mass communication venues we have, ANYONE could launch their own campaign and let people know where they stand on any subject. It doesn’t take a party affiliation to run a campaign. Back before they had the internet, newspaper and television campaigns took an extraordinary amount of money. No you can go to Mike Gravel’s website for example and learn everything you want to know. No longer to we need to rely on vast financing from a group of corporate controlled people. I didn’t bring this development on them; the technology of today has brought it to this point. The bottom line is that we don’t NEED political parties. People are bright enough to decide for themselves on who supports what they believe in. The two party system will eventually die. I just hope that it does during my lifetime. They have done enough damage in the last decade. All of the money that has been spent on political parties investigating each other (courtesy of the federal budget) and the gridlocks on legislation; witness the Immigration Bills, National Health care and the minimum wage, not to mention this debacle in Iraq. Maybe Mike Bloomberg is just the first of many; maybe someday we won’t have this artificial divide splitting people into one group or another. Maybe we are witnessing the end of the political party as we know it, one can only hope.

 

http://liberalpro.blogspot.com

Former Chairman of the Liberal Party of America, Tim is a retired Army Sergeant. He currently lives in South Carolina. A regular contributor to OpEdNews, he is the author of Kimchee Kronicles and is currently at work on a new novel.

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6 comments


Blue Pilgrim

Parties

One healthy possibility is no political parties; another is a half dozen or more. What is deadly is just 1 1/2 -- or two -- maybe even only three. That's too much a concentration of power and money. Spread it out: we will undoubtedly run into corrupt politicans at times, but a corrupt party is a problem of far greater magnitude, and particularly when there is little or no competition. Is it any wonder that we have monoplie of politics considering the power of monopolistic corporations -- not just price fixing but also vote fixing? That's the way "business" is done now.

by bluepilgrim (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 457 comments) on Tuesday, June 19, 2007 at 8:11:49 PM
 


Richard Mynick

The problem isn't parties per se -- it's that there are only

2 of them, and both serve the needs of the same social interests. The "range" of American politics is only a tiny sliver in the range of the possible.

What's actually possible includes such wild ideas as cutting Pentagon spending by 80% or so; guaranteeing national health care,  quality education, & a dignified retirement to all citizens; getting serious about global warming; rapidly transitioning to alternative energy & efficient mass transit, restoring the Bill of Rights; etc etc. But all these things are "off the table" in our country because official politics is wholly dominated by the oil corps, Wall St, the military-industrial establishment, etc.

If there really was a party that fought for the above-named progressive goals, it might well become fantastically popular. So the problem isn't "parties," per se -- it's that there are only 2 of them, and both primarily protect the interests of the corporate oligarchy, while merrily screwing everyone else.

by RichM (1 articles, 0 quicklinks, 227 comments) on Tuesday, June 19, 2007 at 10:44:03 PM
 



Blue Pilgrim

speaking of two-party systems...

Well, I don't know if this has anything to do with two party systems -- maybe --  but I thought it was very interesting:  link

Published: 11 hours ago, 13:30 EST, June 19, 2007

Brain's voluntary chain-of-command ruled by not 1 but 2 captains

Scientists exploring the upper reaches of the brain's command hierarchy were astonished to find not one but two brain networks in charge, represented by the differently-colored spheres on the brain image above. Starting with a group of several brain regions implicated in top-down control (the spheres on the brain), they used a new brain-scanning technique to identify which of those regions work with each other. When they graphed their results (bottom half), using shapes to represent different brain regions and connecting brain regions that work with each other with lines, they found the regions grouped together into two networks. The regions in each network talked to each other often but never talked to brain regions in the other network. Credit: Washington University

A probe of the upper echelons of the human brain's chain-of-command has found strong evidence that there are not one but two complementary commanders in charge of the brain, according to neuroscientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

It's as if Captains James T. Kirk and Jean-Luc Picard were both on the bridge and in command of the same starship Enterprise.

In reality, these two captains are networks of brain regions that do not consult each other but still work toward a common purpose - control of voluntary, goal-oriented behavior. This includes a vast range of activities from reading a word to searching for a star to singing a song, but likely does not include involuntary behaviors such as control of the pulse rate or digestion.

"This was a big surprise. We knew several brain regions contribute to top-down control, but most of us thought we'd eventually show all those regions linking together in one system, one little guy up top telling everyone else what to do," says senior author Steven Petersen, Ph.D., James S. McDonnell Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience and professor of neurology and psychology.

[...]
"One man with a brain injury started undressing everytime he saw a bed, regardless of whether it was in a furniture store or his own bedroom.
[...]
.... yeah -- that would be the Republican side ...  :-D

 

by bluepilgrim (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 457 comments) on Tuesday, June 19, 2007 at 11:58:14 PM
 


Max Ward

Interesting

Thanks for the reference!

Hmmm. Are Republicans stimulus-bound as with the guy who involuntarily undresses whenever he sees a bed? It's a humorous prospect but I think the way Repugs work is quite contrary: they turn a wide variety of different stimuli into the same response. Call it stimulus-funneling. ... Regardless of the stimulus, they'll say "You hate America. You don't support the troops.... That's socialism."

by UncleMax (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 32 comments) on Wednesday, June 20, 2007 at 4:47:17 PM
 


Barker

the end of political parties

Timothy V. Gatto,

As you know civil servants are prohibited from running for partisan office. I have recently considered what would happen if the presidency were considered a non-partisan office, candidates would not have a political affiliation. It would mean your mailman could run for president.
Leftists remember with glee when Ross Perot defeated George Bush. What they conveniently forget is that Ralph Nader defeated Al Gore.
There are several candidates that are basically non-affiliated. Ron Paul is a Republican opposed to the illegal wars - he could just as easily run as an independent. Alan Keyes opposed the abuses of the Republican Party as well.
I would like to see true competition. The Natural Law Party, the Green Party, the Libertarian Party, the Consitution Party, and of course the Prohibition Party, which carried large numbers of votes in the '92 and '96 elections - the 1892 and 1896 elections.
I hope the recent abuses of power by President Bush and the abuses of spending by the newly elected congress are a wake-up call for true reform.

by danielbarker (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 27 comments) on Wednesday, June 20, 2007 at 1:51:24 PM
 


JEM

End of Political Parties

I agree, it is time we start to rethink government in general. Franklin said, "A government that can give you everything you want, can take everything you have." Both parties have long since abandonded the idea of "phsyical concervative". Instead they just hope we are not paying attention. I just want to know why we have so many congressmen, senators, aids, and ect... The last time I voted there were probably 50 to 100 different positions up for office. I only recognize a few of the names, but you can believe the ballot stated which party they were affiliated with. I don't think anybody else knew who all these people were either, or what they stood for, or even what there duties (as dedicated public servants) envolved. We have to start asking ourselves why do we have so much government, is it working, and if not, how do we cut it back. Anytime a successful businessman want to go into politics, I'm all for it. It time to start weeding out the professional politician and start enacting some term limits on anyone who serves in the government.

by josepherik (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 1 comments) on Wednesday, June 20, 2007 at 3:15:45 PM
 

 

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