I read the “We the people” letter by the “53 year old woman in Arizona”. I believe that the letter was written by a 53 year old woman in Arizona just like I believe that the Long Distance Dedications so eloquently read by Casey Casem were actually written by people whose high school sweethearts were in car accidents, lost their memory, moved to Tulsa with their parents, only to find a message in a bottle on a trip to the Aegean Sea from a person a thousand miles away who, years after meeting in person and eventually getting married, discovered that they were the long lost high school sweethearts separated all those years ago.

But I digress.

One line in “her” pretty accurate tirade states “political parties are meaningless to us.” I’ve had this discussion with the Spy several times. I hate political parties. Nobody can explain why they exist, other than to give lobbyists a target.

“I’m a Republican. That means that I stand for this, this and this.”

Try, “I’m Joe. I stand for this, this and this.” Is that so hard?

Why do we have to side with one or the other when there are hundreds of millions of us who need representation as varied as our ideas? Maybe it’s because everyone needs a foil. What’s Batman without a villain? What’s Magic without Bird? What’s Manchester United without Arsenel? What’s the Cubs without, well, they’d still suck.

These days, if you’re not far right or far left, you’ve got nobody speaking out for you. I think the two party system is ridiculous, but again, that’s beside the point.

Before anyone starts with the whole, “it’s the greatest system in the world, and if you don’t like it, move!” response, let’s get one thing clear. I love our system… on paper. People representing me, working for me, looking out for me, speaking for me… it’s great. In theory. But not when there are two parties too busy having a pissing contest to actually listen to the people they were elected to represent.

Somebody, anybody, needs to speak out for us in the middle. Sure, everybody claims that they’re moderate around election time. Once they’re elected, though, they’re essentially forced to choose a side. It’s “us versus them.”  “You’re either with us or against us.”

It’s stupid.

The Democrats will oppose any idea put forth by anyone with an “R” next to their name, simply because they’re supposed to, and vice versa. That’s why there are almost no ideas and policies that address the needs of the overwhelming majority of American citizens.

Also, there’s been a lot of talk lately about how our elected officials are supposed to speak for their constituents. I agree. We elect them to be our voice (it’s why we’re a Republic and not a true Democracy), yet they’re not.

We elected you. Now do your job.