2 parties or not 2 parties? That is the question!

The last time I was truly excited by a presidential candidate, his name was Robert F. Kennedy. The time before that, John F. Kennedy. It seems more and more obvious to me that our two major party system is consistently making US choose the “least worst alternative.” Here’s a listing (from Wikipedia) of the Democrat and Republican nominees since I was old enough to vote:

Year Democrat Republican 1968 Hubert Humphrey Richard Nixon† 1972 George McGovern Richard Nixon† 1976 Jimmy Carter† Gerald Ford 1984 Walter Mondale Ronald Reagan† 1988 Michael Dukakis George H. W. Bush† 1992 Bill Clinton† George H. W. Bush 1996 Bill Clinton† Bob Dole 2000 Al Gore‡ George W. Bush† 2004 John Kerry George W. Bush† 2008 Barack Obama† John McCain 2012 Barack Obama† Mitt Romney 2020 Joe Biden† Donald Trump

There are a few in the list who have done a decent job, especially among Democrats, but none who truly turned me into a committed “D.” As much as I admire the job President Biden is doing, I’m not looking forward to a rematch of 2020 in 2024. 

I believe that one of the biggest problems we’re facing is that both parties, and most politicians, have become more dependent on the dollars that corporate persons provide than on the votes provided by registered voters. Is there a way we, as citizens, can honor the country and the Constitution while destroying the political parties that currently offer US a choice no better than which eye we want a sharp stick in? If the baby is the Constitution and the parties are the bath water, how do we throw out the latter and keep the former? Remember the old saying “More of the same never solved a problem.”

[UPDATE: Analysis: How the 2016 Election Changed Rural Organizing in the South]

Who’s organizing the rural North?

I, Too

Langston Hughes     1901 – 1967

I, too, sing America.

I am the darker brother.
They send me to eat in the kitchen
When company comes,
But I laugh,
And eat well,
And grow strong.

Tomorrow,
I'll be at the table
When company comes.
Nobody'll dare
Say to me,
“Eat in the kitchen,”
Then.

Besides, 
They'll see how beautiful I am
And be ashamed—

I, too, am America.

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