Politics nothing but G-thang (gang politics) 8.16.02

Since the dawn of history, mankind has run in gangs of one kind or another. Any excuse to draw distinctions between us and them. Tribes, clans, nations and within, nations, political parties. It's part of our human need to identify ourselves with a greater entity for protection.
Parties are a big part of the problem with our current system of government. Instead of spending time debating issues on their merit, finding practical solutions for modern living and getting something, anything done, we waste what little political effort we are willing to make on defending our parties of choice.
Right now we have a two-party system that takes money from the same corporate sponsors in an effort to keep things as homogeneous as possible. Straying too far from the pack is a death sentence.
These parties don't matter. The Republican Party hasn't done anything truly great since Lincoln freed the slaves and the Democratic Party should have folded up shop the second Bobby Kennedy was shot. Two-party mud-slinging is all we really have.
We might just as well go back to the Whig and Bull Moose parties, at least their names put things in perspective. Who could get seriously worked up about being a member of these parties? "Whigs rule!" "I'm a proud Bull Moose." Of course, you are.
Lord knows Hitler would never have gotten as far as he did if the National Socialist German Worker's Party had been called Dolfie und die Apfelstrudel Miststücken. It's all about image, substance got lost in the shuffle so long ago even its mother has moved on.
The purpose of any political parties, first and foremost, is to consolidate power. Sure, most of them start out with the best intentions, namely, to shift power from someone else who is hording it. Political movements start out seeking change and turn into political parties that want to maintain the status quo. The parties have sought power for so long they forgot what they wanted the power for in the first place.
Under the best of circumstances, a party needs a simple majority to take charge. A mandate from the people, control of the executive and legislative branches is needed to make any real progress, but when that happens, the party in charge is so worried about maintaining their control they soft pedal themselves out of office because the people generally believe it isn't good to have one party with too much power. So what is the point to parties? No one has even gotten it all and proved that yes, indeed, they were right all along. They won't it isn't possible.
Right now, the two major American political parties have things evenly divided between them. We can argue and quibble over who has a slight lead at any given time and believe me, we DO and WILL argue about who squeaks by with a few heads as if a few thousand one way or the other in a country of over 200 million people matters much.
Debating about whose gang is bigger and badder is ultimately pointless because in 25, 50 or 100 years there could be two other parties vying for the same mandate from the same people who don't see that our system doesn't care about who is right and who is wrong so much as who can get what from whom and how fast.
What are we, Bloods and Crips? Basically ... yes. Reds vs. blues. Republicans vs. Democrats. You could meet people all the time who agree with you on a vast majority of issues who just have to know what political party you belong to so they can know whether or not it's OK to agree with you or dismiss you out of hand.
Does it really matter if your produce manager is a liberal or conservative? A Republican or Democrat? He could be SLA, Quebec Liberte´ or a boy from Brazil so long as he keeps the cabbage stocked, what do we care?
City politics are the same thing. Who cares what party a city mayor votes in national elections? That has nothing to do with maintaining the streets, sewers and tourist industry.
I myself can say 1+1=2 time and time again and it doesn't matter how sound the logic is, somebody still wants to know how I'm registered before they buy into my line of reasoning ... such as it is. Why does that matter? Is it OK for me to say spanking is OK as long as I'm a Republican? Is it suddenly wrong if I'm a Democrat who says the same thing?
I am fiercely independent and will remain so. I vote the issues and the candidate, never straight party. I encourage you to do the same. We don't need term limits because voting is all the limitation we should need. If a professional politician is good, he should stay in office for as long as we keep pulling the lever by his name. If he stinks, we should vote him out.
If you want political change, drop out of the two-party rut, because honestly, when was the last time you were even invited to the party?
Thank you, thank you very much. Elvis has left the building.
- Greg Jerrett is a Nonpareil staff writer. His column runs on Wednesdays and Saturdays. He may be contacted at 328-1811, Ext. 279, or by e-mail at gjerrett@nonpareilonline.com.