Okay, where to begin? I guess that I should start out by saying that I had considered myself a Democrat (although I have voted all across the political spectrum--Republican, Reform, Democratic, and others), and that I will support any government that does what the people want. This would generally be any government that participates in free, open elections without having to rely on fraud or intimidations. This does NOT include the United States of America, circa 1998. I have a hard time accepting a Congress that refuses to do what the people who sent them there want them to do. The people are steadfastly telling Congress that they do not want Clinton to be impeached, but the Republican controlled "do-nothing" Congress has openly stated that they don't care what the American people want. Or I should say, the Republicans have said that. After all, they have no issues to stand on, so they have to do something. I wonder what the founding fathers would say if they knew that a sitting President, who had been in the White House for six years, is more in touch with the American people than members of the House of Representatives, who are elected to their posts every two years. And they would be absolutely appalled to learn that a sitting President was facing impeachment over something as minor as lying to the American people. Every President has done the same thing (remember Bush's "Congress will push for taxes, and I'll say no, they'll push again, and I'll say 'Read my lips, no new taxes'" and then proceeded to sign into law a tax increase with no fight what-so-ever). And for those who are upset about the fact that Clinton has lied to the American people, well, yeah he lied. He lied when he said he smoked marijuana but didn't inhale. He was still elected President--twice. It's abit too late to be whining over the fact that he lied.
I also have a problem with a Congress that offers up less than full support for military action initiated by the United States military forces and immediately questioning the timing of such an offensive. Just because the Republicans are insistant on engaging in a partisan effort to get rid of Clinton, doesn't mean that Clinton is going to not do anything. The rest of the world does move on, even if the Republicans think that they should get the center stage. If they can't deal with that, maybe they should find a job in waste treatment. I have a serious problem with a Senate majority leader commenting that he cannot support US action while the US is actively engaging in that action. Our men and women in our fighting forces deserve our unconditional support, as they are putting their lives on the line for the rest of us. But again, it just interferes with their attempted partisan non-military coup of the United States government.
Because of these two actions by the Republicans that control Congress, they are succeeding in one thing, if nothing else. That one thing is ensuring that I am being moved even further away from the Republican party, and while I have voted for the Republicans before (as previously stated), I seriously doubt that I will do it again. They have proven just how far removed from the people they are and proven that they do only what big business wants. That's not a political belief that I can support.
So, from now on, I think the parties that I will find myself voting for in the future would be the Democratic party and the Green Party, and depending on how Governor Jesse Ventura does, maybe the Reform party. And with any luck, the Republican party will get absorbed by the Reform party and will fade into nothing.
CNN/TIME Allpolitics
Green Party of Minnesota
If Not Now
Debunking Reagan
Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party
Political Resources on the Net
Project Vote Smart
Washington Post Politics Page
eVote
Wellstone for President 2000
Political Site of the Day