Doomsday for political parties may be on the horizon
Published 3:08 pm Tuesday, August 25, 2020
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To the Editor:
In his farewell speech at the end of his second term George Washington warned the nation that, “However [political parties] may now and then answer popular ends, they are likely in the course of time and things, to become potent engines, by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people and to usurp for themselves the reins of government, destroying afterwards the very engines which have lifted them to unjust dominion.” The eternal gong of those words continues to ring loud in our ears even in the year 2020. Once again, we are at the foot of an election that many dubs the most important of our lifetime. Funnily enough, so was the last one, and the one before that. Real change is promised by both Donald Trump and Joe Biden if they get elected, however, change rarely occurs.
During the 2016 election President Trump made promise after promise, as all politicians do. He claimed he would pay off our national debt in 8 years, defund Planned Parenthood, construct a wall along the Southern Border, and repeal Obamacare just to name a few of his larger promises. Four years later and the national debt has grown more than $7 trillion under his administration, Planned Parenthood received their largest amount of tax funded money in 2019 along with money from the coronavirus relief bill, the wall is nowhere near complete, and Obamacare is still law of the land despite President Trump having control of both the House and the Senate when he took over the presidency. Yet we are to believe, or rather he would have us believe, that if we simply re-elect him the next four will be different than the last. That broken promises will suddenly transform into promises kept.
As for Vice President Joe Biden we do not have to fear so much about broken promises (well, maybe just one) because the only promise he has made is to beat President Trump in the upcoming election. Vice President Biden has offered no substance on policy promises or even a platform for that matter. He and the Democrat Party march to beat of a single drum: “Beat Donald Trump at all costs.” Regardless, his 40-plus-year career as a politician shows that if he were to make promises they would be no better kept. Vice President Biden claims to be a champion for both minorities and criminal reform, however, it was he who was a major sponsor and Senate writer of the 1994 Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act that led to mass incarceration of both minorities and non-violent offenders.
Neither the GOP or the Democrat Party are interested in reform, advancement, or the betterment of our nation. In fact, I imagine behind closed doors they do not consider losing the election such a bad thing because that is when they receive the most donations. Both parties continuously promise that if only they could gain power real change would happen. However, no real change occurred from 2009-2011 when the Democrats gained power in Congress and the White House, nor when Republicans did the same from 2017-2019. You owe no political party your vote, and most certainly has neither the Democrats or Republicans earned your vote. Let 2020 heed the advice of our first president and do away with political parties. While it is unlikely a third-party candidate wins the election this year, we can send a wakeup call to Washington. Let the major political parties know their time is running up. Let them know that the American people are going to start demanding more out of their politicians. Let them know that votes are earned, not given. Let them know that the two parties are over.
Tyler Dyer
Roan Mountain