Book: there are now more U.S. voters who identify as independent than as Democrats or Republicans

[rick-day.livejournal.com]

Well it looks like the hens have all come to rest, and The System, like the NBA, as overlooked the rising stars of tomorrow: the common man. A fatal Miscalculation, IMHO.

US Voters Increasingly Alienated by Two Major Parties

 A new book shows there are now more U.S. voters who identify as independent than as Democrats or Republicans, despite the fact that the two major parties maintain their virtual stranglehold on U.S. politics and, so far, on the 2012 presidential election process.

 In his book the “Apartisan American”, Russell Dalton, a professor of political science at the University of California, Irvine, reviews survey trends like the American National Election Studies (ANES), which show the share of U.S. citizens who consider themselves independent has nearly doubled, from 23 percent in 1952 to 40 percent in 2008.

Most of the shift appears to be among people who considered themselves Democrats to those who now consider themselves independent.

( and it is the fault of those damn Occupiers and their youthfulness! )

Richard Winger, publisher of Ballot Access News and one of the nation’s leading experts on ballot access reinforced the Discontent of the Middle:
“It’s a bunch of liberal Republicans who won’t abide with the Republican party,” 

“I think people are afraid the Republican Party is going to nominate someone who is inadequate. They want someone high-quality, thoughtful, and intelligent in the race, other than the president (Obama),” Winger said.

Winger says the quality of candidates seeking minor party nominations is increasing, and that the biggest obstacles to their success are the corporate media which will not let them participate in debates.

So we get to the core of the obstacle, corporate controlled media and money. In my cynical opinion, even if a 3rd major party coalesced, the cancer of corporate control would absorb the top tiers and fund raising, with the people shut out again.

Time to change this 'top/down' system into 'base/up' in mentality.

Is it going to take another Red October to change things in America? What do you think? Will a 3rd party "of the middle ground" rise to counteract the extremes that have become the American Political System?

Naked politics

[luvdovz.livejournal.com]

Leo Brezhnev: "Greetings, comrade! Did you get my bottle of vodka?"
Willy Brandt: "Sure thing, mein Herr. When are we playing water polo?"

It wasn't just Brezhnev and Brandt who used to sweat for the sake of peace. In times of conflict, especially during the Cold War, the sauna was a very popular place for important diplomatic conversations. In politics, especially in the peace & disarming business, sometimes the whole body had to be employed. Oops... this sounded kinda wrong? Anyway. Top-ranking officials, diplomats, politicians and public figures would gladly throw all the clothes away and discuss delicate and hot topics while sitting on their bare asses inside the wooden cabin. Probably the idea of the whole undertaking was that when you're naked you don't have anything to hide, and this creates a sense of trust. Or something.

( Read on, if you're into naked old men )