A Pack of Wild Dogs: Congress

(Why America is a Failure)

Editor@TheIndependentDaily.com

House (of Representatives) members do not any longer represent the needs of their district electorate: What must necessarily be an amalgam of varied views, financial status, racial diversity, and inclinations.

Instead, predominantly their personal mandate appears to be to represent and adhere to the strict partisan dogma of the party to whom they owe allegiance, completely setting aside the perspectives of those who put them into office. That is why America is failing. That is why we are in debt. That is why as a society we are so factionalized. And, most importantly, that is why we are doomed.

Was this always the case? No. But in today’s America, in the House and in the Senate and Executive Branch, and most regrettably reflected heavily in our Judicial overseer - the Supreme Court whose mandate is to serve as the fulcrum of rationality - Partisanship has overwhelmingly insinuated itself into every crevice of action and thought leaving us stagnant and crippled.

There are some exceptions: There are those in each of the above divisions of our government who continue the odd practice of thinking, but largely they do not.

At http://GovTrack.us, a tool we frequently use to evaluate how a (or our) representative is behaving with respect to any issue, you can easily assess how Partisan your representative reacts to both legislation and Resolutions - those issuances reflecting the (relative) collective opinion of the House or Senate.

Understanding Partisanship Today

Below is Paul Gosar’s (R-AZ) statistical position. He is the small pink triangle in position 4. He is also the Editor’s representative in the House. Blue is, of course, House Members of Democratic affiliation, and conversely, Red are Republican.

At the moment there are 233 Republicans, 200 Democrats, 2 Vacancies, and Zero Independents in the House of Representatives, and therein is the problem. Let me explain why I believe that...

Looking at the above graph Sections 2 and 4 represent those who strictly follow the sway of their party’s leadership. Seemingly, they have no thoughts of their own since it’s highly unlikely that any creative and thinking individual would subscribe to the direction of a party’s leadership thus disregarding the needs and desires of the (probably) very diverse electorate he or she was sent to Washington to represent, instead shilling for those of greatest influence (money) within that district.

...looking to their party’s leadership...(they are) Sheep...

Yet, like many, that is exactly what people who fall into those categories represent: Plainly, Sheep, without will or fortitude; without the ability to evaluate a piece of legislation predicated on the merits of that legislation and what is best for (the collected needs of) those who put them in office; rather looking to their leadership to devise an approach based on a nationwide political agenda.

And that is why things are not getting done in Washington DC.

That is why we waste money, time and resources. That is why the system is broken. And, most importantly, that is why we urge our readers to think and act Independently.

“Yes, but I’m wasting a vote if I vote Independent...”

Obviously, you’re wasting a vote if you vote Democrat or Republican. You’re also wasting money, time and, very importantly, digging us deeper into a trench - a way of thinking - from which we will never emerge.

Who are the people in Section 3?

Democrats and Republicans who examine the issues and vote largely predicated on the needs of their constituency - you and me. They are not my first choice: my first is always an Independent candidate; one who reflects intelligence and individuality rather than arrogance and simple-mindedness. There are a few in each party who are capable of this sort of intelligent thought.

Sections 1 and 5 are those whose ideologies are extreme in one inclination or another. I believe that in a representative government they serve a very valuable purpose - causing us to consider the extremes of views and examine our motivations and quality of conclusions.

(Might we take away from the above graph that Democrats are more intellectually versatile? I think that might be a truncation but I’m not certain...perhaps. Perhaps the more influential members of their constituency hold less influence. Or not. Recall, we’re Independents. Clearly, the bulk of both parties are Pack-oriented animals, following their Alpha members under pain of punishment.)

But, when there is a clear and unbridgeable division such as there is presently, and when Partisan leadership controls the movements of the vast majority of either party, we go nowhere, fast. And that is why so many Arizonans, as an example, are switching to Independent registration. Read, Horse’s Mouth, column left.

Who did this to us?

We did: We allowed ourselves to turn away from the fundamental process of thinking. We are not involved in Politics to the extent we ought to be. We default to Party Status without regard to the quality of those being offered up by the party of preference, as the results show.

In a very real sense of the word, with some noted exceptions, we too are Sheep, and that is why, unless defeated in the Senate or the Executive Branch, 16.1 million of America’s children who live below the Poverty Level in the richest country in the world, face going to bed hungry...for Partisanship. Read, Food Stamps and Eric Cantor, following.