real independent
The latest outrage from our two-party system
A federal judge in Florida is handed an FBI affidavit for a search warrant. From the information in the affidavit, he finds probable cause and approves the FBI search. The FBI conducts the search in, from all reputable reports, a respectful manner, making off with boxes of evidence.
From the information known today, there is zero evidence of impropriety in methodology by the FBI. But since the search was done on the Mar-a-Lago property of former Pres. Donald Trump, the instant and repeated supposition by Trump's party is "This is all political!"
This, among many others, is a classic example of how party control of our government's powers and functions leads to the neutering of critical operations and institutions like the Dept. of Justice and the FBI. Or perhaps worse, the erosion of trust in them. Today, literally millions of Americans not only don't trust the FBI anymore, but they are posting on social media and saying in public all sorts of potentially violent solutions they think are appropriate.
Some say civil war is imminent.
Not a single what-used-to-be-considered legitimate agency, department, or institution of our government is immune now from charges of politicization. Especially if that government group goes after somebody in the opposite party.
Party has neutered so many aspects of our government. Here's a few other examples:
Just do a cursory search for those subjects and you'll get hit after hit of instances in which party alignment, party games-playing, or just -- like above -- the insistence of one tribe or the other that a legitimate function is "just politics."
In my book, The Problem is Party, we explore these circumstances in greater detail.
A federal judge in Florida is handed an FBI affidavit for a search warrant. From the information in the affidavit, he finds probable cause and approves the FBI search. The FBI conducts the search in, from all reputable reports, a respectful manner, making off with boxes of evidence.
From the information known today, there is zero evidence of impropriety in methodology by the FBI. But since the search was done on the Mar-a-Lago property of former Pres. Donald Trump, the instant and repeated supposition by Trump's party is "This is all political!"
This, among many others, is a classic example of how party control of our government's powers and functions leads to the neutering of critical operations and institutions like the Dept. of Justice and the FBI. Or perhaps worse, the erosion of trust in them. Today, literally millions of Americans not only don't trust the FBI anymore, but they are posting on social media and saying in public all sorts of potentially violent solutions they think are appropriate.
Some say civil war is imminent.
Not a single what-used-to-be-considered legitimate agency, department, or institution of our government is immune now from charges of politicization. Especially if that government group goes after somebody in the opposite party.
Party has neutered so many aspects of our government. Here's a few other examples:
- The Federal Election Commission
- The process of impeachment and removal
- Congressional oversight of the Executive branch, including response to a subpoena
- Checks and balances intended to stop another branch from abuse or overreach
Just do a cursory search for those subjects and you'll get hit after hit of instances in which party alignment, party games-playing, or just -- like above -- the insistence of one tribe or the other that a legitimate function is "just politics."
In my book, The Problem is Party, we explore these circumstances in greater detail.
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Real Independent is devoted to advancing moderacy and independence in American politics. Here, you'll find information about candidates considered by the media to be "non-viable" as well as facts and opinions relating to the issues of the day (and some issues that aren't), all from a balanced perspective. Also, we have a few words from the founders about the dangers of concentrations of power like political parties.
About the author.
About the author.
Excerpt from the author's book,
The Problem is Party
In a democracy, the people are sovereign (that is, we hold all the power). But, that power is atomized, spread out to each individual. We control the space in which we live, but we have no power over other people’s spaces.
In a representative democracy, some power accumulation can’t be avoided because, by definition, the people in a district (or state) loan their enormous merged power to officials they elect to government. Those representatives have the solemn duty to use that combined power to represent their constituents and, in certain circumstances, the nation as a whole.
But in the founders’ view, that was the limit of power accumulation: Voters lending their combined power to a representative, who then would be restrained by us and by everybody else’s representatives.
How?
Well, for starters, we the people can “throw the bums out” next election, right? We can take back all that power we lent to that one person. But in between elections, how do we stop abuses of power, corruption, or worse?
Each representative in a governing body is supposed to possess the same amount of power as any other member (that being the combined power from their constituents). And the other representatives from other districts are there literally to check (that is, restrain) the power of your representative.
You’re probably asking: How is that supposed to work? Well, on an individual issue, your representative or mine walks down the hall and finds other members of like mind and they collaborate to do their job—legislating. When a majority materializes, laws are passed on that issue. On another issue, your member or mine collaborates with, perhaps, a very different majority to pass other laws. That was the original intent of how our representative democracy was supposed to work.
Sure, many members might have campaigned and won election on certain policy positions that other elected members share. That’s what’s called majority support for a policy, the basis of how legislation gets passed. That majority support, though, is about one policy, one issue. And that majority is supposed to be forged after the election, in the halls of the legislature. That is true representative democracy.
In a representative democracy, some power accumulation can’t be avoided because, by definition, the people in a district (or state) loan their enormous merged power to officials they elect to government. Those representatives have the solemn duty to use that combined power to represent their constituents and, in certain circumstances, the nation as a whole.
But in the founders’ view, that was the limit of power accumulation: Voters lending their combined power to a representative, who then would be restrained by us and by everybody else’s representatives.
How?
Well, for starters, we the people can “throw the bums out” next election, right? We can take back all that power we lent to that one person. But in between elections, how do we stop abuses of power, corruption, or worse?
Each representative in a governing body is supposed to possess the same amount of power as any other member (that being the combined power from their constituents). And the other representatives from other districts are there literally to check (that is, restrain) the power of your representative.
You’re probably asking: How is that supposed to work? Well, on an individual issue, your representative or mine walks down the hall and finds other members of like mind and they collaborate to do their job—legislating. When a majority materializes, laws are passed on that issue. On another issue, your member or mine collaborates with, perhaps, a very different majority to pass other laws. That was the original intent of how our representative democracy was supposed to work.
Sure, many members might have campaigned and won election on certain policy positions that other elected members share. That’s what’s called majority support for a policy, the basis of how legislation gets passed. That majority support, though, is about one policy, one issue. And that majority is supposed to be forged after the election, in the halls of the legislature. That is true representative democracy.