This is for u hard ass Conservatives & bleedin' hearts

[Nicobie]

There is another way U know...



RIGHT ON TARGET: Randy Alcorn


Another election year is upon us, and everywhere are the surly sounds of acrimony and recrimination as candidates for public office denigrate each other and affect indignation over the conduct of their political foes.

The combative histrionics of politicians are so transparent it's hard to believe anyone really takes them seriously -- but then, lots of folks love to watch professional wrestling.

And, it seems that is what American politics has become, a form of gaudy entertainment. In the corner to the right, wearing money-green trunks, and wrestling for the conservative cause, we have the Republicans. In the corner to the left, wearing the bleeding-heart red trunks and wrestling for the liberal cause, we have the Democrats.

Let's get ready to rrrrrum-ble!

Listening to the radio, watching TV, or reviewing the best-seller list, one gets the impression that American politics have deteriorated into a choice between two extreme, mutually exclusive ideologies, each contending that the other is absolutely wrong, even evil. The conservatives dominate the radio venue while the liberals dominate much of network TV and the big-city press. Each side has its own best-selling authors whose books are often derisive, bitter indictments of the other side. There are numerous TV talk shows dedicated to political polemics that are all too often devoid of civil debate. Late night variety talk shows, hosted by sardonic wits, have become the source of political education for many Americans. A timely salvo of glib sarcasms from these clever clowns can cripple a candidate's political career.

All of this nonsense might be tolerable if it actually addressed the critical problems confronting America, but rarely does any of this bitter debate and bombastic diatribe result in effective resolutions to real problems. Rather, it is a contest to see which side can recruit more adherents to its particular brand of zealotry. Once enlisted, each side's devoted followers limit critical thought to the jargon and dogma of the party line. Each side is so convinced of the righteousness of its particular ideology that it will reject, or conceal, any facts or logic that conflicts with that ideology, often launching a barrage of spittle-flecked, invective recriminations to camouflage irrefutable facts or to interrupt opposing arguments.

Most Americans are political infidels who worship neither political party and, apparently, want neither of them to dominate government. Over the years, independent voters seem to have adopted a strategy of mutual deterrence, shifting allegiance between the two parties just often enough to prevent either party from dominating government too long and really screwing things up.

Although, in recent decades, the Democrats have dominated Congress, Republicans seem to get more mileage out of their tenures in power. Perhaps because they know their imperium is usually shorter, Republicans impose their agenda on the nation with a certain desperate efficiency.

The problem with the mutual deterrence strategy, however, is that regardless of which party is in power, the results are always the same. Government gets bigger at the expense of personal freedom and taxpayers' incomes. The Democrats want us all to live like over-protected children of benign, enlightened parents, sharing our wealth with the less fortunate who are somehow entitled to it. Of course, they'll handle the redistribution and keep us all in line. The Republicans, meanwhile, are living in a John Wayne movie and want us all to attend church every Sunday, work hard, especially for them, and keep a little more of what we earn. Of course, they'll be certain to keep the most, and with a formidable police force and the help of God, who I am told is a Republican these days, they'll keep us all in line.

Government ceased serving the best interests of the entire nation when public service became a career rather than a tour of duty. It has become the feed stall where politicians, bureaucrats and well-financed special interests fatten up on taxpayers' money. The Democrats and Republicans perpetuate this situation. They are shameless opportunists who use the invective demagoguery of the two-party system to induce voters to keep them in office.

These political sophists aren't interested in objective facts and impartial reasoning. Honest civil debate is too risky for them. It could mislead the citizenry into demanding logical decisions and reasonable policies that might deviate from the party agenda.

The voting statistics indicate that many Americans reject or ignore politics. They don't vote. Many Americans who do vote do so based on misleading propaganda from the two entrenched parties. That limits understanding of issues to stereotypes, sound bites and distortions. This will continue until the media includes other voices into the political forum and insists on conducting fair and civil debates among all of them.

Ideologues believe in absolutes, but life is not static and truths can change with expanding knowledge. Frank voices of common sense need to be heard above the din of the current two-ring circus. Imagine a party whose candidates examine each issue on its merits, without reference to some stagnant ideology; a party that really supports constitutional freedoms, ignores self-serving special interests and acts in the best interests of the entire nation.

Imagine a party that actually confronts the real problems facing this nation and employs impartial logic to arrive at reasonable solutions.

The Democrats and Republicans continue to demonstrate that they are not that party, but they don't want any other competition in the political arena. They've been allowed to monopolize political power, and to reduce all issues to a choice between simplified ideologies of the left and the right. They have perpetuated the notion that a vote for any other party but their own is a wasted vote that only risks helping the other "evil" party in the two-ring circus.

But, it is never a waste when well-informed citizens vote their consciences. It is healthy democracy. Americans must realize the gravity of their responsibility to maintain the health of our democratic republic and the opportunity and freedom it provides for today's Americans as well as tomorrow's. We need another choice. We need a new party.


Randy Alcorn is the director of operations/CFO of the News-Press. The opinions in this column are Mr. Alcorn's and not those of the newspaper. Readers may e-mail him at ralcorn@newspress.com.