The deep seated political divide between the political parties and the American people in general is tearing our country apart.  The serious problems we face today will never be solved by a divided people relying on "party manuals" to provide the proper solutions.  Our problems are not liberal or conservative problems...they are basic survival problems that are affecting us right now universally, regardless of political party or ideology, and will affect our children and grandchildren.  This is your life and your families lives at stake.  Watch Survival Man closely for tips while you still have a TV.  That's how serious it is.  Liberals and conservatives may need to depend on each other, sharing vegetables from their gardens for sustenance in a dark future.  Before we are driven to sharing vegetables maybe we can opt to cooperate and cohabitate now.

   It may ring hollow to some, but we are facing uncertain times and it's time for us to unite and drop the petty garbage....our future is at stake.  We can do that by dropping the liberal, conservative, democrat, republican terms from our lexicon and our thinking and replace them with the simple concepts of right and wrong.  Most of us can agree upon those concepts.  A jury can come to a conclusion based on the facts they are presented.  Party names or social ideologies do not come into play for the jury to decide. We must BE the jury.  We must demand and embrace the truth regardless of what side of what line we are standing.  Truth, justice and liberty do not have party affiliations.

   Before we try to solve issues like global warming we must solve the threat of "nuclear winter".  And we can't solve a nuclear threat by BEING a nuclear threat.  The best way to stop proliferation is to lead the way in non-proliferation.  The best way to stop violence is to stop being violent.  This is a basic moral concept that cannot and should not be ignored.  It is a human social concept that's been passed down for ages.  It starts deep within each of us and we have to perpetuate it in our daily lives.  We are constantly bombarded by "party think".  Don't listen to it.  Shun it.  Just as the jury is not allowed to read newspapers or watch TV news to come to a just decision, so should we avoid outside influences on our decision-making.   

   Here is a personal example of the conservative/liberal divide being foisted on us.  I joined the Libertarian Party because I believe in its platform of non-intervention, personal liberty, respect for the Constitution and free markets.  Yesterday I received an email from the party that invited me to attend the Conservative Leadership Council.  In that email, the following sentence appeared:

    “Should conservatives and libertarians vote for the presidential candidate most ideologically similar to themselves…or for the candidate polling says is most likely to defeat Barack Obama?”

   This sentence pissed me off.  It told me that the party is not its self-proclaimed party of principle but rather, a party of conservatives vs. liberals, us against them mentality... that the election is about conservatives vs. liberals.  I responded as follows:

  "This isn't some kind of liberal vs. conservative ideology debate.  It's a fight for the survival of the Republic.  You guys just don't get it do you?  We're sick and tired of liberals and conservatives...we are looking for PATRIOTS. 

Now that I know where you are REALLY coming from, you can count me out pal...the checkbook just closed, the Libertarian Party sticker is coming off my car, and Bob Barr just lost my vote."

   Who to vote for now? I'll just write my vote in the space on the back of the ballot this year.  The choice isn't really very hard.  There are only TWO congressmen who are honoring their oaths to defend the Constitution.  Ron Paul and Dennis Kucinich.  One happens to be a Republican, the other a Democrat.  They aren't "liberals" or "conservatives" or "kooks"; there is no issue of party affiliation, they are patriots first and foremost and the only leaders in our government who are truly putting their country first and offering us a view of true change.  What did their co-workers and the media do to these men?  They marginalized them, called their ideas kooky or radical, wouldn't let them be a part of the political debate or process.  They had the gall to trivialize the same Constitution they swear on the Bible to defend and protect.  Why ?  Because the powers in government are afraid of such men!  They are afraid that the populace will  wake up and exert its forgotten right to change the government when it no longer represents the people.  To combat their own fears they put fear in our minds.  We are being programmed (via fear) to be obedient mindless robots. We are fed garbage by a propagandist government and complicit media. The internet is our last bastion and strongest weapon for truth.  That will be taken away because it is too powerful a tool in the hands of a discerning public.  Without a free press exposing the wizard behind the curtain, we would have emporers running around naked with nary a peep from their sheepish subjects.  Time to politely ask them to get dressed...the sight is offensive. 

   The Ron Paul movement is not going away.   Its main demographic is the informed youth, but it resonates with people of all ages and social standing.  It's across the spectrum.  The message is simple (liberty) and the movement is nonpartisan.  The guy behind it is a Republican, but it's not a Republican movement.  It's a Republic movement.  The "Revolution" will not be fought by liberals or conservatives.  It will be fought and won by patriots who have the gonads to stand up and say "No!  This is bull<snip> and we're not gonna take it anymore!"

Rick G.