quote:

Originally posted by wtg:
Have we outgrown the two-party system?

I've always thought the two-party system was faulty. It allows for kneejerk polarization: "I believe the opposite of what you believe." If somebody came up with something incontrovertibly positive like, say, a cure for cancer, and one party came out in favor of it, the two-party system seems to require that the other party would say, "Curing cancer is for commies!" The existence of a third party would argue against the notion that every question has a yes or no answer or that two parties can never agree on a single thing.

This is why I have sometimes in the past voted third-party at the national and local levels, but history has shown that this is terribly dangerous as long as the two major parties have such a stranglehold that the third party can never win and can only be a spoiler.

We're not supposed to call these people idiots or otherwise demean them...

Wedding Superspreading Casualties

I feel for Cristine Pedersen, and I noted her pointed comment about people she "used to call family." I don't feel for the anti-maskers who caused it, and I wouldn't feel even a touch of sorrow if the step-cousin passed away. But of course, she isn't the likeliest to die. It's the grand dad. So the step cousin will have a long face for a few weeks and move on with her life.

Have I derided the step-cousin too much? Should I make nice and try to understand her needs instead? How terrible it would have been to take precautions, and maybe have a small private wedding instead of a big family event. I understand her reluctance to make that sacrifice. I hope she is comforted in the memory of that blessed event that brought her family together during this difficult time...

i like what biden said in his latest address:

"let's make sure we get to see our loved ones *next* thanksgiving and *next* christmas."