Wulfran wrote:Al wrote:To paraphrase the great Western philosopher Spang, "It is not the merits of the political party one should assess when determining the best candidate, for that will surely lead to folly. One should base ones opinion on the merits of the individual. Only in this can we bring our world to the peace and prosperity that we all dream of."
Thats a nice thought but in our partisan political systems, the needs/desires/philosophy of the party invariably trump those of the individual wishing to represent his/her constituency. There are very few instances an individual can do (vote) what they want, regardless of everyone else because in politics they need to play the "favour trading" or "compromise" game to gain enough influence to get anything accomplished... and even for independants or 3rd parties its a treacherous path because for every favour point you gain in supporting someone's bill/resolution you lose one with their opponents. Thus most politicians end up choosing a party whose philosophy is at least somewhat similar to their own.
Your entire statement is exactly what I am talking about. We need to stop the partisan crap and work together. Our nation has become so dependent on a 2 party system, it no longer matters what the actual issue is. A Democrat who says he is for the war in Iraq is labeled a Republican sympathizer by his fellow Democrats. That says to me that all Republicans must be gung-ho for killing people not like us. I know for a fact that that just isn't true. If this hadn't been going on 20 years ago we wouldn't be in this mess. If it stops now we can work towards a better world instead of a better Republican or Democratic (or, albeit unlikely, Green) Party. I cannot recall one situation in my life where the better course of action was to belittle and undermine someone who I was supposed to be working with. It gets us nowhere, and it costs the taxpayers money for that lack of progress.
I am an independent, like every other person in this entire world. I have my own opinions, and I am free to speak those opinions whenever and wherever I like, as long as it doesn't oppress or harass one of my fellow citizens. For my believing that I am an independent person, I am legally persecuted, for there is no "Primary" for people who refuse to sign up with a party. I was never given the chance to vote for the person I felt best suited for the job in either of the past Presidential elections, and not because there wasn't someone running. It was because the "Party" decided to go with a buffoon instead of someone worthwhile. I never had my say in it because I was not involved with the "Party". Because of our current system the laws of this nation have been undermined (this statement applies to several recent Presidents, not only our current one), and our freedoms have been stripped. Because of our current system we have bickering among people who are being paid(!) to work together. If I were to behave like that at my job, I would be fired and replaced by someone who wouldn't do that. Because of our current system, that cannot ever happen. Regardless of who is elected, without a complete change, the bickering and partisan bullshit will continue, and it can and will only result in the downfall of the greatest nation this world has seen. The only way for complete change is for everyone who votes to vote based on the merits of the individual rather than the party.
Continued partisan voting will result in continued partisan politics.
