One of my favorite satirists is Scott Ott. He is one of the many jewels that have been discovered thanks to the ease of self-publishing enabled by the internet. He recently nailed both parties with this commentary:

(2006-02-08) — Democrat National Committee (DNC) Chairman Howard Dean today accused White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove of engineering a series of Bush administration failures and scandals in order to highlight the Democrat party’s inability to capitalize on political opportunity.

“I think it’s more than coincidence,” said Mr. Dean, “that Scooter Libby, Tom DeLay and Jack Abramoff get indicted, Social Security reform is DOA, Iraq is a quagmire, Bin Laden is on the lam, Iran and North Korea have nukes, FEMA lets black people die in New Orleans, gas prices go ballistic and yet, Democrats get no bump in the polls…Oliver Stone, phone your office.”

A White House spokesman denied that the administration ever intentionally fails at anything, but acknowledged that the key to Republican electoral victory in 2006 and 2008 is to “give Democrats numerous chances to publicly highlight their own ideas and to spotlight their own integrity.”

Scott spoofs my greatest frustration with American politics today. As an Independent, what are my options? The Republicans are acting like a party that has grown accustomed to majority status – many of them, including the president, seem to be fans of big government, massive spending, and cronyism. However, at least they have three strengths – most Republicans are pro-life, strong on defense, and believe that laws should be enforced by judges, but created by legislatures who face reelection. They also recognize Social Security is going to be a problem and some of them tried to address this issue.

Other than supporting the "right" to abort a baby at any point, up to and including delivery, for what do the Democrats stand? Some of the students on my campus (who I would judge as libertarian, not conservative) disdainfully call the Democrats the terrorists' rights party.

The Democrats' lack of ideas is harming America. If they were a serious option, there would be real pressure on the Republicans to shape up or the electorate would throw them out. However, given the choice between today's Republicans and today's Democrats, I will hold my nose and vote for big government Republican who are at least trying to tackle today's pressing issues vs. voting for clueless Democrat who is more concerned with a terrorist's right to privacy than keeping their oath to protect the United States from enemies foreign and domestic. When you cannot tell the difference between a press release by Bin Laden and any ranking Democrat, you know the Democrats are in trouble.

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