"What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly."
-Thomas Paine "Crisis"

We live in a country where the 2 major political parties sleep in the same bed. [It is] a State that is similar to the final scene in the book Animal Farm, where the pigs morph into human beings, and the animals are still animals to be used and exploited by the ruling class who are part of, or pawns of the upper-class.

The reason that I am in a state of re-evaluating my political views is that the Democrats as a group have gone too far from the left for my taste. I see this as a big problem in the presidential elections of the year 2000. [The Democrats] have passed the center and are heading farther and farther right.

I don't personally see myself as that far left of center. I just have a problem when personal freedoms are spit on, the constitution is put through the shredder, and what small... voice the individuals of the country have is ignored by elected officials.

The direction that I see this going is that by the year 2000 ... because Republicans will stick to party loyalty..... the center will be split between Republicans and Democrats [fairly evenly.] But the left will be scattered... There will be Democratic party loyalists, but [many will defect to] 3rd parties, thus giving us a conservative government with no checks and balances, the first since the Eisenhower administration, in my opinion.

I do not believe the end result of this scenario is something that most day to day Republicans would be comfortable with. The total control of the Leaders of the Republican Party is a spooky concept. It opens the door to many a possibility for our country to go the direction of England in recent years. In a Nutshell, think of what the Regan/Bush years could have been like in the event they had a congress of their peers behind them.

What I find to be frightening is the thought that Clinton may be stupid enough to go down a dangerous road in which he attacks not only Starr, but also the whole concept of the Office of the Independent Counsel(OIC). I suspect that there will be reasons for some Republicans to go along with this since certain revelations could come to light that the OIC may not have been as "independent" as it should have been. The possibility exists that OICs could become things of the past.

At worst, we may be on the verge of a political revolution. Jefferson felt that this sort of thing "is a medicine necessary for the sound health of government" and something that should happen from time to time. Being a pacifist, I would personally prefer that things not degrade to the point of an armed rebellion. When push comes to shove, I feel that the majority of the people would embrace Paine's quote that "Those that expect the blessings of freedom must undergo the fatigue of supporting it". I do hope that a violent revolution can be avoided.

At best, actions proposed [by advocates of] 3rd party action will begin to effect change.

Apathy is a hard habit to kick; I have been there, I understand the mind-set of those that are there since I fight the urge to just forget everything and go back to that comfortably numb state of existence. There are no easy answers in this world of gray, of smoke and mirrors, of lies and half-truths. I believe that we are at a crossroads here, one where individuals make a difference. Do we allow things to continue this way or do something about it?

The outcome will be freedom or oppression.