So what do we have here? We have two political parties, neither of which represent their base all that well. And we have people that will continue to vote for one or the other knowing this. We are enabling the theocrats and the neosocialists by our unwillingness to tell them to go to hell.

OK, so I’m not really a cowboy

The more I consider the current established political practices the more I believe that the system is in need of a pretty big overhaul. I realize it doesn’t take a genius to arrive at such a conclusion (humor me here) but I think we should really take a moment to create a definition of what really needs fixing and where we can head in terms of a national dialogue on the subject. Here are some easy pickings: 1) money in politics (corporations, I’m looking square at you), 2) the two-party system (why is there such a high barrier to entry for third parties?) 3) putting better checks and balances in place for all three branches of government and 4) stiffer penalties for ethics violations, fraud, corruption, etc while holding a government office (something that will actually be a deterrent). Ok, so who’s got item number 1? Anyone? Bueller?