Political seperatism and public dissention is never greater within our populace than during times of war. We have become a nation divided, mainly on two fronts but not necessarily between "For" and "against" the war as one would suspect. Instead, citizens have used this "for" and "against" attitude as justification to dedicate themselves to the political party that shares their opinion of the war even if the party's overall views are far skewed from those of the individual as a whole. It is American's blind faith towards their party's support or opposition to the war that is feeding power to two major parties that equally share the burden of society's slow decent into ruin. The Libertarian party and Green party aside, America only has a two party system. I don't count the previous two because in the current state of voter loyalty, they are yet to garner enough votes to have a significant voice. So that being said, let's focus on The Democratic Party and the Republican party and how majority rule by either is guaranteed to fail us as a society.

The Republican Party: Morally Oppressive
It doesn't take a Mensa member to see that this party's major platform and thus the rationale for a considerable amount of its decision making is religion Christianity to be exact. Although not ALL Republicans are bible waving Christians, it CAN be said that all bible waving Christians are, in fact, Republicans. Here in lies the problem. Christians, as history has proven, are an incredibly oppressive group whose duty is to persuade and/or force all non-Christians to adopt their views and policies because they feel that the Bible is a concrete guideline for living. They have the power to call the shots because they possess God's rulebook. Unfortunately, the Bible is open to considerable interpretation so this rulebook now can be manipulated to serve the explicit purposes of the interpreter. This is where control by the Republican party is a problem. The party uses the Bible to justify all of their actions and can do so by manipulating verses to support their claims. Thus, peoples of other religions or views have no say because the scripture is against them. Rights to freedom of religion, the right to control ones body, even the right of women to vote can be contradicted and struck down by Biblical passages. Right wing Republicanism is not the answer for a country that prides itself on equality, freedom of religion and freedom of expression.

The Democratic Party: The Morally Vacant
On the other end of the spectrum is the Far Left. Now one would think when compared to the oppressive Christian right that this group would sound pretty good. Unfortunately, the ideas of family, monogamy, sexual responsibility, capitalism and hard work are quickly downtrodden by the far left. Hard core Democrats view religion as an oppressive force whose ideals have absolutely no merit and serve not as social guidelines but as restrictions on how they should choose to live. This way of thinking, ala the "hollywood lifestyle" leads people to think that promiscuity, irresponsible drug use, government handouts, socialism, and general laziness are A-OK. They feel that people have the right to seek the life that best suits them regardless of its affect on others. Hard work is a pointless venture because all individuals deserve the same compensation for working the same job regardless of the quality of their work or the amount of work they do. This is the reason that hippies don't accomplish anything. Far Leftist ideas are best suited for countries that embrace their lazy and equal opportunistic ideals such as Amsterdam, France and Communist China.

Let me know what YOU think.

While I would hope that change is on the horizon for this system and I do things to help move toward a change, it seems that we will see the oppression of liberty by both of these parties for some time to come. There are far too many sheep in this country that are led, without any thought or consideration, to repeat behaviors over and over. Get up, eat cereal, go to work, come home, vote republican. OR get up, eat cereal, watch cartoons, get check in the mail, run to the bank and cash it, come home, vote democrat. (OK - there are working democrats and republiucans on welfare as well)

The point is - the current batch of rogues in our nation's capitol have turned the second term into a massive cash grab for big business on a scale that has not been seen since the Grant administartion. More and more people are realizing this and will likely remove many of these people from office in November. The secondary selection will likely undergo a seduction to the dark side of politics as soon as they hit the door of their congressional office. The current activities will remain. The entire system needs a restructuring and we need to make it easier for the people to remove someone from office when they display irresponsibility in their role.

I hope that many more will read your post and initiate a thought process that leads them to act locally to manifest the changes needed and to vote for the best possible outcome each time they have the opportunity to use a ballot.

Mr. Bunk,

WOW. Reading that made me feel like I was back at West GA preparing for a final Exam or researching for a Paper. It was interesting though. I actually had to start thinking about hard core stuff again.

I agree with you. But here is my issue; How do you garner change when the system is set up to allow none? I feel as if I am beating my head against a wall most days...

I certainly agree with you about Republicans using Christianity to suit their current platform. I disagree about the Democratic viewpoint though. A huge difference in the 2 parties that you didn't mention is the environmental platform. Democrats tend to believe more in keeping man's imprint on nature to a minimum while the Republicans would love to see the indigenous plant and animal life wiped out in order to build a pipeline through the Everglades and put a Walmart up in Yellowstone. My feelings (left, yes-Communist, no) about the other topics that you mentioned are based more on scientific theory than on politics. Based on Darwin's Origin of Man and Survival of the Fittest theory,if people are allowed to make their own decisions, rather than the government making their decisions for them, than the unsavory characters will weed themselves out anyway. That may sound harsh but it's nature.