The case for being a true Independent

Don’t you just love seeing the two major political parties urinating down their proverbial legs this election season?

On the Republican side, Trump, a Washington puppet master, decides to run for president and won’t follow establishment rules. Seems funny that the GOP liked him when he was writing the checks but now that he is trying to eliminate the middle man, they are imploding over the prospect of a Trump presidency. Kind of like feeding the grizzly bears in Yellowstone: It is a great idea until you run out of Twinkies.

On the Democratic side you have a 74-year-old democratic socialist activist continuing to carry the banner for the masses and doing his best to bring about a political revolution that kicks status quo establishment politics to the curb. The DNC is so worried about defeating the Republicans they have all but forgotten about the masses and hold as their darling a candidate whom, according to several polls, over 50 percent of Americans feel is untrustworthy. Even more comical is how this candidate says she will crack down on Big Banks if she feels there is a problem.

As an aside, from 1999-2016 here are the top 10 donors to HRC per www.opensecrets.org: Emily’s List, Citigroup Inc., DLA Piper, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase & Co, Morgan Stanley, University of California, Time Warner, Skadden, Arps et al, and Corning Inc.

Price of admission to make the top 10 list = $492K to $939K. There is about as much chance of HRC “Breaking up the big banks, if needed” as there is for this 5-foot-8, 49-year-old starting for the Golden State Warriors this playoff season. I want no part of another Presidential Library bearing the Clinton name. (Yes, both private citizens and taxpayers pay for these.)

As a true Independent, my hope is that both of these political parties go by the way of ShoWalter in Fargo — actually, I would feel more empathy for the wood chipper. If you stop to think about your life and what you value most, you will quickly see that neither of these parties nor any party fueled by massive dollars from private individuals, corporations or law firms could ever represent your interests.

At some level we are all fiscally conservative and socially liberal. We must live within our means, support our family and prepare for our family’s future. This takes a diligent effort to “BUDGET,” allocate capital and invest for retirement.

When a friend, family or community member is in need, we reach out and offer to help these people any way we can. It doesn’t matter that your neighbor believes the universe was created from a massive explosion, the hand of an omnipresent being or the anus of a huge space cow; we pull together to help those in our community despite our personal beliefs.

So why do we allow ourselves to be sucked into divisive political party ideologies? Why are we not exclusively choosing independent politicians who represent the interests of the majority? Maybe we are scared or slightly brainwashed by all of the political garbage coursing the airwaves or Internet? Maybe we are fearful of change or the vast unknown? Or maybe we are just plain stupid?

Whatever the reason, it is time to grow a pair (metaphorically speaking) and rid our political system of the corruption and greed that panders to us for our votes yet adds very little value to our lives.

The first step in the process is to “Separate Corporate and State.” Representative government will not be possible until this occurs. Our elected form of government should provide essential services and serve as a check and balance on the private sector. The government should not be owned by the wealthiest individuals and corporations. Every time a candidate gives a high-dollar paid speech to a private individual or corporation, a debt is being accrued. The pervasiveness of former Goldman Sachs employees being appointed to positions within last three presidents’ administrations is not by chance. (Navigate to http://www.factcheck.org — amazing.)

Here is why I am backing and caucusing for Bernie Sanders, exclusively. With campaign finance reform serving as the cornerstone of his candidacy, Bernie has devoted his entire political career to fighting for economic equality for the masses and against government being for sale to the highest bidder. In my opinion, he is the best person to lead the charge toward cleaning house in Washington, D.C..

That having been said, I do not see eye to eye with Bernie on many of his promised proposals. The economic feasibility of his proposed entitlement programs and how they will be paid for and managed remains to be seen. Like Bernie, however, I firmly believe that society’s most vulnerable require government intervention to have any chance of breaking the cycle of poverty.

Sometimes a major upset in the status quo is the catalyst required for meaningful change. If he does not get the nomination I will not vote for HRC or any other candidate and will write Bernie in. If Bernie decides to run as her running mate, I will still not vote for an HRC/Sanders ticket. I will not vote.

For those of you who say this is just a proxy vote for Trump, I would agree. With any of the other candidates besides Sanders and Trump we have to reward all of the special interest groups who contributed to their campaigns.

This reminds me of a former neighbor who worked at a popular strip club in Colorado. With a difficult family situation and her education level, the best she could make working a regular day job was slightly above minimum wage. At the strip club she was making $400-$600/night working the pole and would buy her best repeat clients steak dinners.

Once the bought and paid for establishment politicians take to the political pole, they will be forever owned by the pole except that we the taxpayers end up paying for the show while the large special interest donors get the steak dinner. By his own admission, Trump has a track record of being one of Washington’s better clients when it comes to buying and selling politicians and manipulating the system. He would hands-down be the next best choice for president based on the singular goal of reforming or eliminating the special interest influence in Washington and fixing the trade issues, assuming he followed through on his promises to do so.

Unfortunately, Trump has all of those other rather unsavory characteristics that would make him a complete wild card. If I were a betting man I would bank on Congress keeping him collared on immigration and take the risk should Bernie not win the presidency.

Paul Plummer is a self-employed freelance mechanical engineer living in Coeur d’Alene with his wife and two young children.