Color me Independent.

"Elections are won by men and women chiefly because most people vote against somebody rather than for somebody."  - - Franklin P. Adams

I identified myself for many years as a Democrat. When I created my Facebook profile, I even put Democrat. But, that was before Washington went totally bonkers. I now have very strong feelings that neither political party can be trusted, because neither appears capable of making a serious effort to do what is best for the nation. As a matter of fact I think the term politician should be a four-letter word, and anyone who wants to be a politician should be banned for running for any public office. Ever.

There are so many words that seem to escape these jerks in Washington. Words like compromise, deal, agree, progress, or work, just to name a few. They were all elected to do the right thing, no matter what their political affiliation. Evidently, none of them have a clue as to what the right thing might be, however. What is the right thing? Basically, it would seem to logically be to get to work and find some way to try to repair the damage done by a totally clueless Republican Administration during the eight years that followed a very successful Democratic Administration.

Unfortunately, from where I sit, the last two years plus of (in)activity in Washington, D. C., have shown us (and the world) some of the most childish partisan politics that have ever disgraced that once beautiful city. Both parties are to blame for this, and it is truly unfortunate that this had to happen at a time when we so desperately needed to show the world a united front. It was bad enough for the world to see us as a clumsy, unfeeling bully, and to have the world grow to hate us so actively (and rightfully so, in the wake of the bumbling Bush/Cheney/Rove ‘Axis’). But, for the world to now see us as this quibbling, back-biting bunch of spoiled brats fighting over scraps is heartbreaking and truly shameful.

Now, it is true that the GOP has been laboring under the stigma of trying to defend those actions that got us into this mess since after all it was their guys who did this to us. So, in any effort to come up with solutions they start with a serious handicap. While trying to defend an indefensible position, they are clinging to their antiquated GOP methods to fix the mess. The Democrats really have no excuse, other than the fact that they are currently outnumbered in the Congress. Meanwhile, if ever there was a time in the history of this once proud nation for all parties to put aside their differences and do what is best for the nation, this is it (and, has been since 2008). But, what is still happening?

No, I most definitely am not leaning toward becoming a Republican, because I haven’t accepted much of anything from the GOP since Teddy Roosevelt, but even he was a progressive, and I doubt that he would be at all acceptable to today’s crop. As for the Democrats, I just happened to agree with more of what has come from their side of the aisle, and that goes back to FDR, through Truman, to JFK, LBJ, even Carter, then Clinton, and now, it is ending, not with or due to Obama, but because I no longer believe that there is such a thing as a politician who can be trusted, or worse, a politician upon whom anyone can depend for anything (unless you depend on them to lie through their teeth).

So, who can any right thinking person support today? Damned if I know…….I do not see a single individual out there who gives the impression that he or she cares enough to put party aside, and bring the nation back together to clean up the mess.