America's Two-Party System

[Republicans] continue to insist on maintaining in the twenty-first century every ounce of the poverty, ignorance, prejudice and class apartheid that marked the eighteenth.

- David Michael Green, AlterNet. Posted March 3, 2009

But don't the rest of you gloat; for example:

The Democratic Party -- especially of the last decade -- is a shameful thing...

So, to business:

This is the first major politician in my lifetime who talks to us in living color, in three dimensions, and without a subtle but sickening constant pandering of built-in contempt. I doubt we can underestimate the effect this alone will have in raising permanently the quality of our discourse. There will be no going back after this...

There is our challenge: Whatever our beliefs, let us - all of us - discuss them as adults, come to some conclusions and move forward.

Whether we do that in a two-party system or create something new, we have work to do.

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Interestingly enough, I say this from Vermont - almost the last bastion of direct democracy, the Town Meeting. Perhaps we should reclaim this from the movement toward Australian Ballot.

Admittedly, Australian Ballot has a theoretical advantage in that each voter can have their say, at a time that's convenient for them (ex: regardless of work schedule).

However it's only for those few issues that make the ballot. And the theoretical advantage is balanced against a real and tragic loss.

Town Meeting is the active making of law by way of face-to-face discussion with one's neighbors; the ballot box is not even a shadow of this.