Hue and Cry

"Insanity in individuals is something rare; but in groups, parties, nations, and epochs it is the rule." - Nietzsche

How many political parties should we have?

The correct answer should be either:

(A) None, or
(B) A zillion

Here's how I see it...

Suppose we all felt about things the exact same way, that we logically examined every issue and then took the best, most educated path to reach a satisfying conclusion for all involved. (I hear Vulcans work this way.) The end result would be one single political party which, in this case, is also be equal to none.

The sad reality is that we all see things just a wee bit differently from one another and will fight the other guy to the death rather than admit faulty judgment or outright bone-headedness.

This logically means there should be a zillion differing political parties, all taking a defiant stand, for example, over just the right shade of green to go on the country's flag. After all, what do those neon-greener's know when the best green is sea-foam green?

Better sea-foam green or dead, right, comrade?

So how is it, apart from a couple of splinter groups and the always-suprising but always-expected appearance of Ralph Nader, that we'restuck with just two political parties?

The biggest reason has to do with demographics. The Republicans, for example, have decided their target audience is most interested in God, guns and greed. If they can shoot it, bank it, or damn it to hell then they're happy as a clam nailing it to the platform.

The Democrats are for the exact same things, except different, see? Oh, and the health and welfare of women, blacks, immigrants, seniors, and anyone else that doesn't own an oil company.

Yes, there are Libertarians but they spend most of their campaign time and money trying to explain why they're different, though there's apparently less than total agreement within the party about this one.

The Green's are Democrats who recycle.

So we really only have two parties and that's because they both want it that way, and each has gone to great lengths over the decades to make sure it stays that way. For example, some states actually force you to vote for only one party during the primaries. That's neither fair nor big-D democratic.

Congressman make a good living by cursing their foes across the aisle and they damn sure don't want another party coming in and cutting-in on the deal. Or making them actually work for their money.

=mike=

BTW, about today's cartoon... this is not a pointed comment regarding the good cops, the one's who truly try and make a difference. Those are the one's I appreciate because I know it's a shitty job at times and I, for one, could not do it.

The cartoon is instead about the bad one's, the one's who took the job because they unsuited for much else and met the height and weight restrictions. The one's who have always basically been bullies and now secretly enjoy abusing their power. Those cops. They exist and they 're much too common.

There are those who are born to do it, who find nobility in trying to make a difference and do a great job. For the others, it's just a way to make a little extra money and work out their anger management on the public. If they're lucky, they even get to shoot people.

Or, in this case, they get to "screw you over" at their pleasure.