Partisan Tyranny v. Independence, circa 2010

Not since 1776 has the cry for independence been so loud, so adamant and so sustained by the people of our country. This time it's the parties, not King George, who are the tyrants. They sit in office year after year, writing the rules and regulations that restrict voting to a select grouping of party loyalists through closed primaries, gerrymandering and partisan control of boards of elections; they keep insurgents and independent candidates at bay through unfair ballot access restrictions and media smear campaigns.

King George III wrote in his diary on July 4, 1776, "Nothing of importance happened today." That's a sign of a successful revolution in the making. The powers-that-be, whether the parties, the politicians, or the mainstream media, just don't get it. And that's in our favor. We're creating something entirely new that doesn't register on the established radar screens of today's authoritarian partisan forces.

Today's independent movement is an attempt to reform our less-than-perfect democracy through structural political reform. Independents, unlike the partisans, put the country first. Can we reform America?

And now for the news:


REDISTRICTING

• Hear citizen’s voice in redistricting debate (EDITORIAL Fort Wayne IN Journal Gazette) “Politically motivated redistricting turns democracy on its head,” Crooks said.

OBAMA

• Obama Reclaims Some Independence (By GERALD F. SEIB, Wall Street Journal) In that sense, the most important movement Mr. Obama has made since the midterm election hasn't been toward the ideological center, or toward Republicans. It has been to move toward his own independence—or, more precisely, back toward his own independence.

NO LABELS

• Left And Right Attack No Labels Movement (By LINDA J. KILLIAN, US News & World Report) Nearly 40 percent of American voters consider themselves not Republicans or Democrats but independents and they are particularly disgusted with the current state of politics in this country.