Just Say No

I just finished watching one of the Sunday morning political interview shows. They had representatives of both parties talking about the gridlock in Congress. As usual, each side blamed the other. They both spent all of their time trading talking points without any discussion about how to solve the problem. I seriously doubt that either one was interested in solving the problem.

It is obvious that the current political system has broken down to two sides pointing fingers at each other instead of working to make this a better country. Enough! My solution to ending the gridlock, unlike those usually put forth by the government, is very simple. I propose a Constitutional amendment requiring that every election, from President to dogcatcher, list the names of those running for office. At the end of the list would be a space marked "None of the Above". If "None of the above" gets the most votes, you throw the current bunch of losers out and start over.

This would put an end to the current tide of petty bickering. Any time you had two candidates calling each other names, they would both be campaigning for "None of the above". Think of it this way. Let's say you are a prosecuting attorney. You have two defendents. Defendent A is saying Defendent B did it. Defendent B is saying Defendent A did it. Who should the jury believe? As the prosecutor, I would tell the jury to believe both of them and lock them both up. My proposal would have a similar effect.

Hopefully, this would force political candidates to address the issues and offer constructive solutions instead of telling us how horrible their opponent is. The voters could then weigh the opposing views and vote for the candidate who best reflected their views. The winners could then work together to solve our problems rather than stirring up distrust and hatred. The result would be a government working for the good of the voters so they would have positive results to announce in the next election. I believe that's how the system is supposed to work.

All too often, we are faced on election day with choosing between the lesser of two evils. The lesser of two evils is still evil. We deserve better.