I have come to the conclusion that, for myself, I am tired of playing the same old song and dancing to the same waltz that has been going on for so long. In particular, I have a problem with the current system where we are to believe that we have 1 of 2 choices. A phrase I hear time and time again is

"But if you vote for anyone that is not representing of one of the 2 main political parties, you are throwing your vote away".

Until now, I have never voted for ANYONE that I felt was the best choice; until very recently, I voted for what I felt was the lesser of two evils and this is a sad state of affairs. EVERYONE I have ever voted for is a person I thought would do the least damage to my rights as a citizen of this country.

I have written many letters to my congressional representatives and get the same type of reply that Miss blue mentioned in a recent DAY ONE article (when I get any reply at all, that is). In my experience, people stick to party loyalties.

Take the Common Decency Act (CDA), for example. It was only the result of court action which saved the population of the US [from abrogation of rights] on that one. Try to write your so-called representative to put forth a motion to cut military spending by 25% and put it into anything else that is a worthwhile cause and see where you get.

I feel that it is time for the people of the United States to attempt to take back our government, yet I don't have a formalized method of approach to this. The LOUD REPETITION of the attitude that a vote for a 3rd party candidate is worthless has been seeping into my head. Why? Who is hurt by a vote for a 3rd party candidate? For the time being, it will hurt both the Democratic and Republican Parties by taking votes away from them.

Nothing hurts a politician more then not being re-elected.

Thomas Paine wrote in Common Sense; "Society in every state is a blessing, but government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worse state, an intolerable one". In looking at the actions of the 2 major parties, things have gotten out of control and they have morphed into 2 sides of the same coin (I just got through watching my two DEMOCRATIC Representatives in the Senate vote to cut funding for the National Endowment of the Arts). Both seem to want to occupy an area that is right of the center to one degree or another. Both are but pawns or part of the small minority of those who control the majority of the money (For an interactive database of the top campaign contributors in the 1996 elections, check out The Mother Jones 400 (1996)).

Now, I understand that an elected 3rd party head of state who represents the people would be hindered in the beginning of his term.

That Individual would run into the problem of an inability to do much because of a Congress controlled by one political party overriding vetoes and not supporting that President. It would possibly give the public a view of how incredibly screwed-up everything really is --- and in 2 years, the votes of the people for 3rd party congressional candidates could (hopefully) reflect the dissatisfaction of the people.

I feel that it is good that third parties are focusing on local government, congressional seats, and so forth, at this point. I do have a fleeting hope that the leaders of the Democratic Party will wake up to the fact that the people who occupy the area that they have abandoned might see that they, as a whole, have gone too far right. Recent history does not seem to show this to be the case, but one can hope.

In conclusion, I want to make one thing perfectly clear: I am a pacifist and I do not advocate violence in any form unless it is an act of self-defense. I believe that one important course of action for political change is to vote for individuals that are concerned with the Will of The People, especially if those individuals are members of 3rd parties. Getting active in letter writing campaigns when bills are proposed that attack the personal freedoms embedded into the Constitution of the United States of America is another important factor. We the People MUST hold our elected officials accountable for passing laws and regulations that strip away our rights as free people. As Jefferson said, "The price of liberty is eternal vigilance."