Shame & revulsion are positive if they spark change and the change is positive. This time of year, the two major political parties celebrate presidents each claims as its own. In 2016, the Indiana Democratic Party dropped the moniker “Jefferson-Jackson dinner.” [FN1] 1/9

Jefferson, 3rd POTUS, wrote a 1st draft of The Declaration of Independence, [FN2] but claimed to own human beings, whose numbers moved “above and below 200.” [FN3] Andrew Jackson had > 200 slaves & oversaw…

If you want to see how corporations would run elections so as to be free of human interference, look at the Commonwealth of Virginia and how the two “major” political parties have opted for two different ways to nominate candidates for Governor, Lieutenant and Attorney General.

Democratic Party candidates are on primary ballots. Voting started April 23 and on June 8 is in-person voting. A voter is not required to show proof of, or declare loyalty to, a political party to vote in that…

On Tuesday, May 11 at 9 p.m. John Schmitz hosts a discussion of “The 2-Party Hangover” on “Mouthwash,” his podcast on Facebook. John Schmitz invited me and Andrew Horning, who has run for U.S. House and U.S. Senate as a candidate in the Libertarian Party.

Political parties are odd as corporations. The most American of acts is to contract, protected by the original Constitution (Art. I, § 10) before any Rights were enshrined by the Bill of that name.

Only individuals, partnerships…

   There only is one real party in the United States, and it is a Party of Green.

   I did not write the Green Party—the left-wing, environmental-focused party—is the only real party in the United States. That would be a silly statement to write.

   The “green” of which I write is the color that has figured so dominantly in United States currency. Money controls the United States. Voters, except in the immediate run-up to elections, can be damned. In the time immediately before an…

  In Georgia, a State that appears to be “purple”—to use the popular parlance of color to describe party affiliation as a spectrum between one extreme of red (pure Republican) and blue (pure Democratic), and the shades of magenta, violet, and purple between—a voter registration drive was held this year. Ninety thousand (90,000) voters were registered. Shortly after the deadline for registration passed, the office of the Secretary of State somehow “lost” 40,000 of those registrations. New…

   In the middle of the night, as I flushed my contribution to the White River and prepared to return to bed, I was startled by two sharp raps on the bathroom door. From behind the door, a gruff voice said, “Boss wants to see ya.”  In my jockey shorts, I opened the door and was face-to-chest with the specter of a large, rough man. “I said da Boss wants ta see ya,” he repeated.

   “I heard you the first time.” A glow came from around the edges of the door to the Study. In that room,…

   The absence of a declared Republican Party candidate for Indianapolis Mayor got me to ponder last night about tossing my Cubs or DePauw University baseball cap into the ring for that slot on this spring’s ballot.

   First, I wish to set forth the main points of the platform on which I would run.  Second, I shall address questions of logistics. Finally, I shall set forth the political philosophy I embrace and my qualifications.

MY PLATFORM

   1) The process by which any…

   Saturday will be St. David's Day, a national holiday in Wales.

   Since childhood, my father led me to believe I was of Scottish descent. In 2008, on a trip to Kansas City and a detour to an Irish heritage museum, a guide ran a computer search of family trees. When she asked if I wanted mine run, I blew her off and said there was no need to do a search on me. She said perhaps I would be surprised. She ran the search, called over a co-worker, and pointed at the screen. She uttered…

   On the blog Indy Vanguard this weekend, Christian Mosburg, City-County Councilor Zach Adamson's spouse, wrote that the candidacy of a Democrat for the Office of Mayor of Indianapolis is long overdue. Over at Ogden on Politics, Paul Ogden suggested Zach Adamson be that candidate. Both Mosburg's and Ogden's pieces deserve a read. Once in a while my friend Paul comes up with a decent idea. I think Zach would make an excellent Mayor.

   Jon Easter responded to Ogden on Politics to note…

   The president of the National Rifle Association yesterday stated the NRA has chosen the vehicle by which it will advance its political agenda. That "vehicle" is the Republican Party.

   For years members of each party have crawled over each other to seek NRA support. NRA support means money, as in $$$$. Members of the House of Representatives, who are in a constant fund-raising mode (one estimate is that 25% of a member's time is spent in fund-raising endeavors), take money when…

  This the second part of a series of blogs about how the Libertarian Party can become more relevant.

   I want to clarify why I have chosen to write on this topic.

   I am not a member of the Libertarian Party. I voted for Ed Clark in 1980 because I thought he wanted to legalize drugs and where I lived (Indiana) was going to vote for Reagan anyway. My vote was a statement. I did not know who the Koch brothers were or that one of them was Clark’s running mate.

   My…

   The Libertarian Party has seemed to be an also-ran in elections in Indiana, and other States. This year the Libertarians ran Rupert Boneham for Governor and Brad Klopfenstein for Lieutenant Governor. Rupert impressed me as intelligent, thoughtful, and caring. He is not fine-polished as a public speaker, but makes up for that in sincerity and smarts. (Brad’s smart, too, but the focus was on the lead on the ticket.) Still, Rupert garnered only some four percent (4%) of the vote.

  …

   We did not shoot "Civil Discourse Now" yesterday because today we have a Special Show.

   Our guest will be Stewart Alexander, Socialist Party of American candidate for President of the United States. Cameras will roll at 11. The Show should be up on the internet by 3.

   Two weeks in a row on the same topic?

   Yes, we are doing that—but look at the topic: efficacy of third parties in American politics.

   Today our guests will be Chris Spangle of the Libertarian Party and Timothy Platt, Executive Director of the Socialist Central Committee, Ltd.

   Other local shows do not cover alternative parties. Most voters—look at the numbers in the elections—do not give alternative parties the benefit of thought enough to vote for a candidate…

   At the time of the Constitutional Convention, the issue of whether to continue the institution of slavery was critical. The States of Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, and, in particular, South Carolina, were greatly reliant for slave labor on their plantations. It was feared the delegates of those States would walk out of the convention were slavery to be abolished. At least 20 of the 53 delegates who attended the convention claimed ownership in other human beings as…

   Our Civics textbook freshman year of high school had a right-wing slant. It had to have been the most right-wing textbook available, given our teacher’s views. He did not "lean" right-wing. He fully fell over the railing and down into the abyss.

   One section of the textbook really angered me. Four or five paragraphs, blocked-off on a page  with gray background, explained the "folly" of third parties. I took issue with the book and argued there have been successful third parties…