...indivisible, with Liberty and Justice for all.

[Brent Young]

Americans need to come together without political party divisions. While we as individuals may have different political ideals, we as Americans all agree that the citizens of this country should have a voice in the policy debates that directly affect our lives.
The two Parties hold us hostage by dividing the people with a Left/Right ideology.
By letting the two party system keep us at odds with one another they know that “divided we fall”.
The 2000 Presidential elections brought this into sharp focus for me. I looked at the two candidates that were selected and thought; Are these two men really the best choices to lead our country that we can produce from more than 300 million people?
They seemed like two complete yahoos! I became very disenchanted with politics.
I thought about it for a long time, and did a lot of reading and studying.
Finally I realized that each party saw them as the “most electable” that they had to offer.
There were most certainly better choices on both sides, but they had not proved themselves to be dependable party robots.
Anyone who continually and constantly toes the party line just accepts what they are told to think. Most people vote for the candidate that is the “least of 2 evils”, this is not the process that our founding fathers envisioned for us to choose a leader for our country.
Many times people agree more with a 3rd party candidate but they don't want to “throw their vote away” on a candidate that has no chance of winning. The only way someone has no chance is when the two main parties convince or coerce the voter into thinking that you should hate the other guy enough to vote for their guy. As long as they can keep us divided they will always pass control back and forth, while each party wants the power they also understand that they have more control over the voters while they remain only two parties. Three or Four strong political parties would divide the votes too much for consistent control.
I don't think that anyone can agree with either party 100% of the time. If they do they cannot be thinking for themselves but just adopting the party line, which is exactly what they need to maintain the status quo. This is how they create “voter sheep” who just vote for the party without thought or reasoning.
If a significant number of voters could come together and support a 3rd party “We the People” would regain control of our country. Then the political parties whether it is 2, 3 or 4 parties in the end would have to offer a candidate that people really want to vote for instead of the “least of 2 evils”.
In the 2004 Presidential elections almost everyone that I know who voted for George W. Bush really only voted against John Kerry. In the 2008 Presidential election the Barrack Obama camp along with the media did such a good job connecting John McCain to Bush that many voters only voted for Obama because they didn't want “ 4 more years of Bush”.
The Tea Party Movement is the perfect opportunity for us to come together as citizens. It is not a Democrat or Republican event. The Tea Party is a very large tent and all are welcome! The proof is the fact that with all the Rallies all across the Nation there has not been any violence at any of the events. I have attended several Rallies and no one has ever asked me with which party I am registered to vote.
The Tea Party issues are very general, such as out of control spending, respect for the Constitution, Free Speech and the citizen having a voice in the policy debates being the predominate issues.
My hope is “We the People” can come together and tell D.C. That we are tired of politics as usual. We are not Red states or Blue states, we are Americans, and this is OUR country. Please consider joining the other Patriots at a Tea Party in your area.

God Bless America!

[Elizabeth Parella]

This is a fabulous posting...and thanks so much for it! Having registered as an Independent many, many moons ago, I have long been a Conservative in my thinking. Thus I generally vote Republican, but I have on occasion voted for a Democrat if they mesh with my own conservative leanings.

It's a tough slog to start a third party, though Ron Paul is just the person to do it for sure. But he's a bit way-out-there on some issues as I recall.

How about a movement to institute TERM LIMITS in both houses of Congress? That keeps out the entrenched, already-corrupted politicians who have amassed tremendous power over their lifetimes of so-called "service" to the people, and it infuses "new blood" into the governance of our country. This seems to work reasonably well in the individual States that have term limits, and it would enable good and decent folks an opportunity to run without going up against an Arlen Spector (when he was doing a somewhat decent job) who has been in the Senate for so long, or a John Murtha who, although he brings home the pork, is about as nasty a fellow from an ethics standpoint one could find, or a Charlie Rangel from my home town of New York.

There are so many ethically-challenged folks in the Congress and we cannot seem to rid ourselves of them, almost no matter what they do! How is it that scandals involving sex get one booted out in fairly short order (or at least these folks are not re-elected), and outright bribery with freezers filled with tens of thousands of dollars take so LONG to get the perp sanctioned and thrown out? It's almost laughable.

[Kathryn Ball]

Dear Mary Ann and Brent,

This venue has been fantastic in allowing all of us to share our thoughts about the current state of affairs in this country.

We've been living our lives, raising our families, paying our taxes and voting at the appropriate time for whomever we thought was the appropriate candidate. You know, the one who was able to verbalize our thoughts better than even WE could. Then, these laudable souls went off to our nation's capital and stepped into a tiny little room where they had their spines removed and forgot all about the 'little people' who sent them to DC in the first place.
They were courted by the 'experienced' statesmen/women, they were promised positions on powerful committees..................as long as they were willing to 'cooperate' with the ;powers that be'.
They lost sight of their original purpose for entering the swamp in the first place and sold their souls to be accepted and a part of the 'in group'.
I really think that ALL of the House members need to be given a ticket home to reunite with their 'ROOTS'. The 1/3 of the Senate up for reelection are more than elligable to retire.
I am too thrilled to be getting to know such terrific individuals..............Also MORE than relieved to know that I AM NOT ALONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! [W H E W !!!!!]

[Brent Young]

Thanks, I appreciate the comments. I also submitted this letter to my local news website they used it on the opinion page. www.beechtreenews.com
I think we all need to remember "WE surround them"

[Kathryn Ball]

My Dear Brent,

I can see where you are coming from in referencing a third 'party'.

However......I think we have reached the point where 'party' is immaterial. We need to focus on principals. I've found myself to be pretty much disgusted with BOTH major parties. I am and will be until the day I die, a Conservative, Constitutional, American citizen.

In 1994, the Republicans were overwhelmlingly elected to both houses of congress under the platform of the 'Contract With America'. That document had very clear, concise plans for this country. When the 'Freshman Class' [of congress] was addressed by Rush Limbaugh they were told that ,in no uncertain terms, to try to be 'FRIENDS' with the left would mean their demise. Rush said 'they will never LIKE you nor will the press......l.just do your jobs'.

Our side, went in and in the spirit of 'bipartisanship', extended the olive branch to the 'other side'.
it is more than obvious that the 'other side' had [nor HAS] no intent to 'work with the 'right side of the aisle'". 'Bipartisanship, to them, means that we [ the opposition] will simply bend over and grab our ankles, then we will remain compliant and do wahtever we are told to do by the left.

Obviously, THAT worked out well for us!!!!!!! NOT!!!!!!!

If we can approach the next election cycle in 2010 with those same principals and then have the intestinal fortitude to actually FOLLOW THROUGH.....we will stay on top.

As soon as 'we' make any attempt at compromise, we will be beaten down, yet again.

Declaring a third party ,at this time, serves only to divide 'our side'.

Brent, this period in the time line of this country is as important as in the 1770's. There were a handful of men willing to pledge their 'lives, their fortunes, their sacred honor' , many of them gave all and lost all.

I'm not sure there are men/women at this time in our history who will, honestly pledge the same and be as willing to follow through for the benefit of future generations.

Our message needs to be as clear as theirs. It needs to be simple, we need to recognise our God given rights to 'LIFE, LIBERTY and the PURSUIT of HAPPINESS'.

We need to re-simplify the purpose of our government, community, state and federal. We need to make certain that none of them over-step their boundries.

Our constitution is not difficult to interpret or understand. It just needs to be taught, as it was meant to be and to be understood and abided by.

Those who try to remove God from our hearts and consciousness need to be told that they are free [under the first ammendment] to worship or not......that is their choice. They, however, under that SAME ammendment do not have the right to prevent us from expressing our faith. The first ammendment guarentees the freedom OF religion............NOT the freedom FROM religion.

In other. simpler words, you can believe or not,but you have no right to prevent US from expressing our beliefs. If, however, you have a problem with that, I will happily see you in court. ENOUGH is more than ENOUGH!

In its infancy , this beautiful experiment became a beacon to the rest of the world. People from every corner and crevice came here because, reguardless of race, color, creed, nationality, skin color or WHATEVER, begged, borrowed or did what ever it took to get' HERE'.....'HERE' meant freedom, 'HERE' meant liberty, 'HERE' meant that no matter what you were 'born with' you were free to become whatever you were meant to be. If you were willing to work, the government got out of your way and you could soar to your highest objectives, even beyond your wildest dreams.

This is my vision..........this is my country.........this is MY AMERICA. She is the land of the free, the home of the brave. She is God's greatest gift to mankind................How about if we TRY not to make more of a mess than it already is.

Abraham Lincoln said " a house divided against itself cannot stand'. In the past 40+ years of my life, there has been a concerted effort by the liberals among us, to put us all in little 'sub groups'....African- Americans, Hispanic- Americans, Italian- Americans, Polish- Americans, ETC, ETC,ETC! They have worked dligently to divide us, to destroy our sense of
Community. Look at your neighbor, tell him/her that you love them, tell him/her, that together, united under our flag and our common beliefs as citizens of this, the GREATEST country in the history of the world that we will persevere, we will continue and we will be.........AMERICANS!

God Bless.
k

[Your Uncle Sam]