What's the Problem?
The Party Is The Problem
While inventing what would turn out to be the world’s most successful experiment in government, our Founding Fathers were worried that an individual or group could amass so much power that he or she would become king-like. They created three branches of government—executive, legislative, and judicial—to keep an eye on each other, plus a free press so that “we the people” could keep an eye on all of them. It worked like a charm.
So what’s the problem? We still have three branches of government and a free press to watch over them, don’t we?
Not really. In name, maybe, but not in reality. Our governing institutions and the checks-and-balances created by our Founding Fathers have been overwhelmed by the party system. The party system, believe it or not, is our nation’s most compelling problem, because it’s blocking solutions to all of our truly compelling problems.
It wouldn’t be a problem except that political parties are driven more by the need for power than service to the people. George Washington warned us about this, and now…here it is. No longer does Congress protect us against the misbehavior of our Judiciary and our Executive branches. No longer does our Executive branch protect us against biases in our Justice system and the dysfunctions of our Congress. And no longer does the Judiciary branch protect us against the transgressions of the other two. Now, it’s all a fight to load each of the branches of government with party members, whose loyalties lie with their parties rather than with statesmanship, or the Constitution, or, God forbid, the people. The only remnant of checks and balances we have now are the two dominant parties themselves, but they’re more interested in power politics, staying in office, and imposing their own brand of control over the country, than the well-being of the people.
How’s that working?
It’s not.
Nowadays, we see Congress—both houses—dominated by party loyalties, big money, and obedience to party leaders, rather than statesmanship and the well being of the nation.
We see Senators and Representatives unwilling to stand up and be counted, for fear of losing party support, and therefore losing the next election. The result? Gridlock. Divisiveness. The loss of civility, compromise, and common sense.
We see a presidency that seeks to arrogate power through unilateral action, rather than debate and cooperation.
Most shamefully, we see our top watchdog, the Supreme Court, stripped of its most precious principle—objectivity—which has been corrupted by the appointment of justices with strong political biases. Every Supreme Court appointment is a battle between the parties, a battle to appoint a justice with the “right” political bias, and “right” depends upon which party is in power when a seat on the court becomes available.
A Supreme Court justice (or any other member of the judiciary) who is a “conservative judge” or a “liberal judge”—in other words, a biased judge—is unqualified for the job, and should be removed. If you apply a conservative or a liberal interpretation to the Constitution, you’re perverting it to political ends, and that is not only unacceptable, but borderline criminal. The statue of Lady Justice is blindfolded for a reason; it’s her job to be blind to bias of all kinds, and attentive to truth only.
What about our free press? Sorry, no help there. Journalism yielded to entertainment long ago. Why? Circulation and audience numbers produce profits, but in today’s world, entertainment—not genuine news or objective reporting—produces the numbers that produce the profits.
What about that last resort of democracy, “we the people”? Aren’t we in charge? Can’t we solve the problem with our votes? Yes, we could, but how likely is that? The vast majority of our voters are ill informed, thoughtless, and dazzled by star power. They get sucked in by whichever candidate “feels” good to them, not by any objective evaluation of values, character, or competence.
The only remaining check-and-balance isn’t a check or a balance at all. It’s the fight for supremacy between the parties, and it’s motivated not by statesmanship, but by a desperate need to be in power. The interests of the voters—that’s you and me—have gotten lost in the shuffle. Oh yes, politicians say the right things—their most-used phrase is “the American people”—but watch their actions, and you’ll see what’s true…the party before the people.
The only reason a political party exists is to form a power base for politicians—not to govern, not to look out for the well being of the people, and certainly not to render justice. Political parties’ one and only purpose is to put and keep politicians in office. If we occasionally get statesmanship from our President, our Congress, or our Supreme Court, it’s a lucky by-product, not the result of good governance.
What can we do about it? Well, we can vote, but it won’t matter unless we vote intelligently. “Getting out the vote” is touted as the cure for all political ills. But voting itself is the underlying problem, and that’s because the vast majority of voters are poorly informed and easily swayed by empty promises and charisma. They cast votes with little or no understanding of the candidates or of the true impact of legislation.
Compounding the problem is the fact that the vast majority of candidates, are in thrall to a political party. They subordinate themselves to one of the political parties because they have to. Unless they join a party, they have no hope of getting elected. Occasionally an independent candidate does manage to get elected, but he or she has little impact on governance because the parties are so completely dominant.
Is there any hope for correcting this egregious distortion of the democratic process, this dysfunction of our republic?
People First is the solution.