polarized

  Our political parties have become more polarized in recent years than ever before in history. The Republicans stand for this and the Democrats stand for that. There are other parties that few pay attention to, and few know what they stand for. Those folks that can't decide just how they feel about the overall platform, the big picture and will sometimes vote for those third party candidates. It's a situation I understand, although I myself won't do that. I hear quite a few people saying they think ( insert your candidate here ) is a horrible person! Then they go to say they feel the same way about the opposition. But they say they will vote for the lesser of two evils. I can't help but point out, you are still voting for an evil, if that is truly your belief. That's also the reason I wouldn't do that. I would never choose to vote for evil. It's the same thing as voting for one murderer over another because, well one only murdered two people instead of three. 

 But I think we need to understand that our political parties are still composed of people, not just ideological concepts. Are there any people that believe and support every proposition their party proposes? No, I don't believe that there are. Donald Trump is a prime example of that. He does make many of his own party members uncomfortable, to say the least. It is something I said about him before he ever became the president. he's not a politician. To Donald Trump being president is like running the biggest corporation in the world. To him, it's all about business. Success is measured in numbers, not necessarily in popularity. He doesn't really care if you like him or not, truth is, he admires himself enough for everybody! I get it, there isn't anything much better than saying, I told you so. It's an emotion we all enjoy, but not all will admit to it. Politicians practice the art of saying what they believe people want to hear, whether they themselves believe it or not isn't as important. It's the power and position they desire. The job they do isn't the impetus for that, it is just having the power and position. 

 This polarization has grown over the years as politicians attempt to define everything, all the while mudding the waters to obscure the real agenda. The Constitution was ratified 229 years ago, and the politicians have been arguing about what it says for 228 years! Well, at least the lawyers have and the politicians going right along with them. We have reached the point where they are now arguing about what did it mean when they wrote, "All men are created equal" does that include women, transgenders and gender fluid people? What about gender neutral? And is a fertilized egg in a woman's womb a person? Some think it's just a clump of cells. Since 1869 the number of Supreme Court Justices has remained stable at nine. Prior to that the number was routinely changed to benefit the partisan politics of whichever party was in control. That happened six times. There is talk of doing that again, a legal maneuver now called packing the court. Also argued about is this phrase, "the right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed" In my opinion that right has indeed been infringed upon. But were I a politician I'm going to start talking about stinger missiles and nuclear bombs as "arms" and how you have no right to own them. Well because when they wrote that they didn't know or have any conception of such arms. That's true they didn't, if they had they most likely would have excluded them, they were talking about what they knew. Rifles, pistols, and canon. Do you know it is perfectly legal for you to own a canon if it is a muzzle loader?  Yup, no more paperwork required than buying something at the grocery store. You have to remember during the revolutionary war soldiers were expected to bring their own guns, restricting the right to own one would have been ridiculous. 

 The problem, as I see it, is today the parties are defined by bullet points. Like some meeting at a major corporation, a power point presentation. This is it! Politics and governance isn't that cut and dried. It is all about negotiation, compromise and enforcement of the rules. When any of those components are weak or missing the system will fail. First things first! We all need to agree and understand the definitions. That's why all the name reassignment these days, an attempt to reassign meaning. When we speak of the rights of man, we are talking about all of humanity, that's my understanding. Abortion is the termination of a life, that's what it is. Equal means equal, not favored because of past injustices or gender. It has been my observation that everyone wants equality, until they are treated equally. It is at that point exceptions are made, excuses are formed, and inequity begins. 

 It's a sad state of affairs. Take the recent debates as an example. All the experts agree, few people will change their mind about their chosen candidate, few people will form an opinion from those debates. We tend to listen to debates these days to receive reassurance that we have chosen the correct person. It has become the listen to respond scenario, not the listen to learn that they should be. There was in excess of twenty candidates running for the Democratic party nomination. Did any of them say anything really different from the others? Why Joe? I'm betting even the most staunch Democrat couldn't answer that question. Perhaps name recognition was the deciding factor. Did it really matter? No I don't think so, the bullet points were established far in advance. I'd suggest the results were a forgone conclusion and all of that was just an illusion to satisfy party members. The deep state? It's a cliché, but the truth is follow the money. It will always come back to money and power. Popularity is just a tool. And like all tools can be used and misused. The objective always being the same, gain the popular vote. And that is why the founding fathers created the electoral college. The intent being to prevent political manipulation of the election process. You do have to take a view past your own self interests to fully understand the process. The founding fathers did, they were pretty smart guys you know. Modern day "scholars" should take a lesson from them, look beyond your own horizon!