It Ain't Easy Being Purple

Your civics teacher should have taught you at some point that George Washington was not a fan of political parties.  In fact, in his farewll address, he said, " However [political parties] may now and then answer popular ends, they are likely in the course of time and things, to become potent engines, by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people and to usurp for themselves the reins of government, destroying afterwards the very engines which have lifted them to unjust dominion."

How is it that all those years ago, he could see into the future and know what damage this would cause?  He was actually concerned about the hearts of men and what they are capable of.  He didn't need ChatGPT to get a grasp on this.

All the red state, blue state stuff is a movement away from what we are supposed to be.  A purple country.

Recently, there has been a race on both sides to redistrict congressional maps to help create red or blue states.  Some say that it's because Republicans can't win enough seats on their own.  Others say that Democrats have to play this game to win back much-needed seats.  I say both sides are trying to vote for you instead of you voting for them.  This was not the intention of the founding fathers, but rather the power grab of, see above, "cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men."

I am a moderate Democrat who has voted for many Republican candidates in the past.  It's not difficult to look at your candidates and select who you think would be most effective for that particular office.  Being purple means you can dismiss the cults of personality and see your candidates and their views for what they actually are.

It ain't easy being purple these days.  Those cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men know how to separate us and convince us that government isn't about actually governing, but about whose ideas make you the most angry.

Government was meant to work for the people.  Government is about service, and if the shutdown fiasco is teaching us anything, it's that we, the people, are no longer part of the equation.  If we want to be the change, we have to think purple in the voting booth.  It's the only way to send the message.  Being purple means we can take the best parts from both sides and select politicians who will do the same for us when they are in office.

I know this means having to admit that the other side might be right sometimes, and that will be hard for many.  But it also means that we are capable of electing people who are willing to serve.  This is what Washington and our other founding fathers were after all those years ago.