Recycle democracy: Throw out the two-party trash

I like the American lifestyle. I live in a community where my safety is all but guaranteed by a stable environment where the worst I have to fear from my neighbors is a meth lab in their garage. In America, we can trust our leaders.

Or can we?

What if I lived in a country where the President also wears the uniform of army chief, where he can have me and my family detained without being charged? What if that leader discredited or imprisoned the opposition, completely side-stepped the Constitution and ruled as a military dictator?

Then, the media tells us, you have General Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan. Really? Wait. Let me re-read that.

Still reads like George W. Bush to me. It sounds as if our “strongest ally in the War on Terror” is only copying notes out of our own President’s playbook.

It’s so much easier to get angry about because it doesn’t reflect poorly on us – for once, it’s one of our allies.

It’s either because we’re tolerant, or disinterested in fixing the coop by removing the foxes. While Musharraf trampled Pakistan’s Constitution, students took to the streets, not to commend him for a job well done protecting the people, but to demand his resignation.

Sadly, that’s where our mirrored coexistence with Pakistan ends. The Pakistani people are actively fighting corruption in the highest levels of government.

What do the American people do? Go to work, sign a petition, but where is the mass outrage directed at Bush that the international community was so eager to bestow upon Musharraf?

During the Las Vegas Democratic debate, Dennis Kucinich used one word – impeachment – and while Hillary plants in the crowd may have had the numbers on cheers, nothing else said by any other candidate on that stage received a louder, angrier cry for change.

Most of those Democrats racing for top position haven’t been listening to the people, and the Republicans no better. When Kucinich brought up his Cheney impeachment vote on the House floor, House Speaker Pelosi said immediately that such an option was off the table. In a strange twist of irony, Republicans voted to keep it on the table.

We are in a state of national emergency. We have the highest poverty rate of any industrialized nation, and if you trust Obama’s numbers, only six percent of Americans make more than $97,000 per year.

With insurance premiums and oil prices skyrocketing, these numbers are indeed chilling. What happened to the America that welcomed the world with open arms, promises of equality and principles of egalitarianism?

Gone with legitimate rule, gone the way of an American politic in danger of losing itself in a mess of bipartisan nonsense.

Do you think like a Republican or Democrat? Chances are that if you’re one of those six percent Obama mentioned, probably one or the other.

Neither of the money-making machines known as our American political parties represent the majority of people anymore. I know we live in a democratic republic, not a true democracy, but our elected leaders are still supposed to represent the majority.

So if they aren’t representing the people, are they just legislators for the business and by the business?

As long as we keep signing trade agreements, none of us should worry. The more we outsource, the more we serve French fries and rotate tires.

Cynicism aside now, it makes good sense to riot in the streets to make things better for our children. But we’re not brave enough, and we’ve lost the will to fight for what’s right.

Now check out those brave lawyers in Pakistan. How many members of the American Bar Association would still practice, even if it meant their life? That’s bravery. I think the American people lost their will to fight once we realized crooks corrupted the whole system.

If it’s only six percent against the 94 percent majority, why are we so eager to once again elect two-party rule that only represents a meager bunch of greedy dogs?

MICHAEL J. MCLASKEY
Opinion Writer

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