Medic72 --
I am glad you enjoyed that link. I still have alot to read there, too. But I hope EVERYONE takes that time to check that link out. It is of utmost importance, in my opinion. The two-party system is broken, from my perspective; neither seems to be interested in governing in a manner envisioned and put into place by our founding fathers.
You know, Medic, it's funny that you said...
also wondering what problems could arise for us federal employees if we grab ahold of this new(old) party idea
...as I have been wondering that very same thing myself.
Think about this for a minute. Think about a representative government, acting properly to govern according to the will of the people who elected them, standing for the rights and freedoms of its citizens. When some counter-culture or opposition-type movement would arise, one would expect government to "arrest" the "bad guys" when/if they run afoul of the law. The government, in this scenario, is the "good guy," and the other side, which we often label "nut-jobs," "anarchists," "terrorists," or whatever the case may be, are the "bad guys." The government is the "policeman," with the "opposition" to be tried by the goverment justice system -- all for the protection of the people and our republic.
NOW, consider a different scenario -- a government which, despite being called a "representative government," has actually begun to go its own way; it often fails to represent the people, but instead begins to make decisions and take actions on their OWN accord, from an attitude that "they know best" and the people are "not intelligent enough;" that the peoples' ideas are unworthy and thus disrespected. Well, the frightening part is that when the people have finally had enough, and begin to organize, there is a risk that government has by that time gotten "too big for their britches," so to speak, and has reached a level of power where they could turn on the very people they supposedly represent, calling the organization of the people wrong, or even "illegal." At this point, the citizens who would stand up for the nation and for the freedoms they love could find themselves, in the eyes of government, to be labeled "the bad guys," harassed, or even arrested, by this runaway, tyrannical government. And we the people would have little if any recourse, since the police, the military, the judges, etc. are all part of "the government." A very scary thought, to me. It seems a very fine line, to me. And when you consider the passage of the TARP bill by our Congress, despite estimates of opposition by the people at rates as high as 300 to 1, and when you consider the way the "tea parties" were scoffed at and ridiculed by the powers that be in Washington, one can begin to see glimpses of this "runaway government" scenario that I have laid out. I sure do hope that it never becomes the case where true, freedom-loving patriots, who love the USA as it was founded, find themselves targeted as the "enemy" by an overly-powerful, tyrannical government. And to think...that Department of Homeland Security memo back in April seemed to me to be creeping pretty darned close to labelling a large segment of our population "a problem to keep an eye on..." And you know, it is sad indeed that I have some level of fear (fear of government repercussion) just because of putting my concerns into writing...
Sorry for going off on a tangent. But I am deeply troubled by the seemingly-lengthening arm of our government. Are we still a government "of the people, by the people, FOR the people?" I refer again to the Jefferson quote I alluded to in my previous post...
Maybe it IS time to consider a third party, one that hearkens back to the ideas and philosophies of our founders. THAT is what the anti-federalist party seems to me to be trying to do. The link again:
http://anti-federalist.org
Steve
