Horse manure

After reading this morning's editorial page in Hernando Today, I must comment on this the guest column, "Declaration of the Independents: The case against a third party." A large number of words were printed and said absolutely nothing. This piece purports to examine our political process, and yet I do not see the message unless it is "no change." I don't believe that we will ever achieve real "change" in this country until we vote out every career politician.

Blaise Ingoglia says that recent Gallup polls indicate that 40 percent of all voters considered themselves conservative, while 35 percent considered themselves moderate. Only 21 percent considered themselves liberal. He then proceeds to say that the formation of a third party would "inevitably fracture the Republican vote" but fails to explain how this happens. He does not delineate where the third-party voters come from except to suggest they will all be registered Republicans. If Republicans are all conservative, and Democrats are all liberal, it would seem to me that the moderates would be (wait for it) - independent.

Mr. Ignoglia does not indicate how the third party would give our government to the Democrats other than to say "the sky is falling" (my quotes, not his). Mr. Ingoglia closes this guest op-ed with the answer, "purge the people who do not uphold the values and core ideology of your" (wait for it) "party affiliation."

So, what's wrong Blaise? Using this approach the conservatives will be Republican, the liberals Democrats and the moderates will be Independent. This would tend to indicate that the Republicans would be the leaders, as they would control the most votes - 40 percent. This would indicate to me that the people really in control would be the moderates who might be willing to do what is right for the country and ignore the money, lobbyists, etc.

The message from this op-ed is do not bolt your party and turn independent. This is the typical horse manure the public gets from our politicians. Our current problem is our "party affiliation." We need to recognize that the constituents of a party affiliation have diverse views. The party politic does not possess one core ideology, but the career politicians who control the party will insist voting en-block as the only option.

Our system is supposed to be a representative system. Politicians should go to Washington to represent all of the citizens in their district, not just the party of their affiliation or at any time their own views.

Our current two-party system is the problem. Every vote taken in Washington seems to be 100 percent of Democrats versus 100 percent of Republicans. We even have politicians who will add $100 million to a bill just to get it to the floor of the Senate. What does this say about party politics?

It is the excrement dripping from the rear end of the horse!

Stephen Endsley

Spring Hill