The election cycle is upon us and once again we (the American Voter) have an opportunity to make better choices of whom we elect to represent us in Congress. To push back against the tyranny of the DUOPOLY, the Republican and Democratic Parties veiled in a cloak of Representative Democracy. Once the hallmark of constructive politics but now, ever more radicalized, seeking political dominance to advance extreme ideological preferences that do not represent the collective interests of most Moderate Americans.
Mr. Trump's ascendance to power was a manifestation of the Duopoly's partisan war waged by prolific networks baked into our neighborhoods, SuperPAC's spewing negative and divisive campaign adds, and mainstream media platforms carrying their divisive rhetoric straight into our living rooms.
If we want to restore balance, civility, and prosperity for ALL, this can only be achieved by Disrupting the Republicans & Democrats in the 2024 Election – denying either party from achieving a simple majority in Congress!
As we all struggle to achieve the American Dream, true to form, the Duopoly disgraces American Democracy with petty squabbles over partisan differences instead of collaborating to deliver meaningful legislation. A feckless modus operandi perpetuated by the Republicans and Democrats alike, defaulting on their constitutional responsibilities to deliberate, build consensus, and pass legislation representing the interests of the Total Majority not the Party Majority.
The Duopoly has hijacked America's Political System. They continue to broadcast obstructionist positions while blatantly refusing to compromise as Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell publicly declared, "he is 100 percent focused on stopping President Joe Biden's administration." Or, the previous House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, refusing to consider the "bipartisan" infrastructure bill unless the Senate agreed to pass the Democrat's Build Back Better Act which passed the House along party lines without any Republican support and one Democrat voting Nay. This extreme political divisiveness perpetrated by the Duopoly has become a cancer eating away at the heart of what makes America Strong!
The American People have become Political Pawns in a new Great Game. An ideological battleground serving the primacy of self-interested actors.
A BIPOLAR PARTIOCRACY singularly focused on protecting identity narratives and prioritizing the collective interests of lobbyists over the will of the people. The Duopoly has little interest in creating moderate policies or passing substantive and responsible legislation. Party allegiance is more important than passing laws advancing the collective interests of the people. Party agents have created a self-perpetuating zero-sum system whereby significant legislation passes along party lines with a SIMPLE MAJORITY (51%) – representing the collective interests of less than a third of American Voters.
Only 31% of Americans identify as Democrat and 26% as Republican (Pew). Therefore, any legislation that passes with the simplest of majorities – along party lines – representatives the collective will of the party only, whose ideological preferences represent a minority (~1/3) of the American population.
How is this Democracy???
Remember the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Democrats) and the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (Republicans). When it comes to new legislation, even seemingly innocuous legislation dealing with America's crumbling infrastructure does not pass with true bipartisan support. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act touted by the Biden Administration as a "bipartisan bill" passed the House with a 52% majority – 94% of the Republican representatives voted Nay.
This new autocratic norm for passing legislation along party-lines is not emblematic of Democracy whereby laws passed represent the collective will of a true MAJORITY! Moreover, compromise is no longer seen as the litmus test for success. Instead, elected politicians waste time and energy appeasing their party-base through vitriolic discourse characterizing the opposing party's representatives as an enemy of the state when in fact they both are.
Read the GOP Censure of Representatives Cheney and Kinzinger. They no longer have the full support and backing of the Republican Party because they chose to be responsible citizens by participating in the January 6th Select Committee. Herein lies the cancer eating at the heart of our political system. Elected representatives of the Duopoly must always advance party interests or they are at great risk of losing their party's support and its vast network of supporters and funding streams necessary for reelection. Sadly, most of our elected representatives are serving the select interests of oligarchs controlling the Republican and Democrat parties. This is not democracy.
Furthermore, the censure goes on to state the primary goal of the GOP is "[w]inning back the majority in Congress, including the United States House of Representatives" for the critical 51% Majority Vote to unilaterally pass bills without any democratic processes for building consensus and compromise.
The greatest THREAT to America's Strength and Prosperity is not trade imbalances, revanchist powers, election interference, nuclear weapon proliferation, illegal immigrants, transnational terrorist organizations, nor pandemics. It is the destructive political schism perpetrated by the Duopoly whose divisive rhetoric and practices sustains their collective stranglehold over our political system, creating ideological fissures ripe for exploitation by extremists, anarchists, criminals, and State Actors inciting chaos within the information domain through deceptive hyperbolic news.
If the American Public continues to acquiesce our civic responsibility, rejecting misleading hyperbolic information, our beloved country will remain at Great Risk!
WE have an opportunity to actualize a better future for our posterity by disrupting the status quo plagued by vitriolic discourse, feckless action, and partisan paralysis. Support the Keep America Strong project by seeking alternative Congressional Candidates, ideally INDEPENDENTS, for the 2024 election. Only be denying the Duopoly a simple majority in either house can we create an opportunity for real change and a return to centrist politics.
Senator Joe Manchin's personal courage to challenge his party's consensus is a brief glimpse of an alternative universe where denying either party a simple majority to pass unilateral legislation can create opportunities for meaningful discourse and consensus building.
The only way to achieve a lasting positive effect in our Representative Democracy is to elect Independent Candidates not bound by party allegiance. A vote for a Republican or Democratic candidate is a vote for a party agent socially obligated to advance the party's agenda regardless of any election campaign claims suggesting otherwise.
56% of Americans fall within the moderate spectrum on socioeconomic issues, including the 26% who have been categorized as politically disengaged (Hidden Tribes). Collectively, we hold the power to restore our beloved Democracy and to be the voice of reason.
By linking America's greatest strength – its Diverse Citizens – can we overcome the challenges our Great Country faces and restore balance to our fractured political system. A renewed focus on the basic tenets that define our country – moral strength and character, global leadership, and a beacon of hope for humanity.
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