Politics in the United States: The First Two Party System (1801-1824)

After a vicious campaign that ended in a rancorous decision by the House of Representatives, Thomas Jefferson's inauguration was anti-climactic. He chose to take a tone of reconciliation, wishing to tamp down some of the conflict that was bubbling under the surface of the United States. The switchover from the Federalist administration of Adams to the Republican one of Jefferson was peaceful, if not exactly amicable. No matter how dire the situation, or how little each party liked the other, this transition set a precedent which has still endured.

However, that didn't mean partisanship went away. The Federalist party was still a going concern, and it definitely had differences with the Jeffersonians. All through the Jefferson administration they would push back against Jefferson, with limited success. This was in large part due to the lack of power they had, as the Republicans controlled majorities in both the Senate and the House. In addition, the party suffered from a lack of solid leadership, with Adams retired and Hamilton disgraced (and in 1804 killed in the famous duel with Aaron Burr). As it was until the 17th Amendment, the Senate was selected by state legislatures, so the dominance of this chamber by the Republicans showed how the states were also controlled by the followers of Jefferson, at least outside of New England.

Politics in the United States of America: The Birth of Partisanship (1789-1800)

The United States was officially declared independent by the 2nd Continental Congress on July 4, 1776. This independence became a settled fact after the signing of the Treaty of Paris (1783) by the United Kingdom and the United States. However, our current governmental system was not yet in place during either of these times.

For the first 13 years of the United States of America, the government was under the Articles of Confederacy. It created an incredibly weak central government, reserving most powers to the 13 states that were a part of it. The national government had no ability to raise funds directly, and most important matters could be vetoed by a single state. To say it didn't really work is an understatement.

Politics in the United States of America: An Introduction

There are very few times in American history that have been as divided as we are now. Red states or blue states, liberals or conservatives, authoritarians or libertarians, there seems at time to almost be two nations within one, two systems of politics and "realities". How did we get here, and how do we get out? Or can we even get out of it at this point?

These are all questions I hope to answer as I write on this blog. Look, I know blogs are old fashioned, at least relative to other forms of "content" on today's Internet. But this is a much better format to get these thoughts out then polluting up people's timeline on Facebook, or creating a god-awful /500 tweet thread on Twitter that would chase away the few remaining followers. A big reason for doing this is to regularly write, to get rid of some of those thoughts swimming in my head and dragging me down. It's a way to explore our past, present, and future, while also blowing off steam about the terrible crisis we are fast approaching.

I hope you reading this will get some use out of this, and welcome discussion, whether you agree or disagree. I'm not denying any bias, but instead am honest that my approach is most definitely from a standpoint that sits on the left of the political spectrum. I welcome disagreement and arguments from you who are not, but stale talking points will likely be ignored, and nonsense will be answered with absurdity. Particularly when dealing with historical facts, I feel confident that the information I'm sharing reflects what happened as best as can be told, but if I'm clearly pulling from some apocrypha (and there's plenty of that in our "known" American history to go around) please let me know.

These posts will have a fairly linear trajectory, and will comprise three parts. Part One will be a series of posts detailing how we got here. For the first thirty-five years of the Constitutional United States of America (1789-1824) there won't be separate posts for the two main parties, but once things get going with the Jacksonian Democrats and the Whigs, posts will be split between different phases of the Democratic party, and its two main opponents. Third parties will be explored as well, although only within the context of the eras discussed for the other two parties. While worthy of their own exploration, third parties really only play a small role in our current situation.

Part Two will discuss the situation we currently face. This includes the global situation, and the United States current role in it. It also includes the Federal government, and the governments of our states. Finally, it includes the obstacles and threats facing the Democratic Party (and to an extent, the almost insurmountable task before Republicans who are sick of the current state of their party have before them) as we look towards the 2018 midterms, an election that is arguably one of the most crucial elections in our nation's history.

Part Three will go beyond 2018. I'll be looking at 2020, yes, but more in a bigger picture sense of how to truly move past this awful situation we currently are in. In addition, I'll also discuss how we can prevent this dangerous situation from happening again.

The next post will be kicking off part one with the establishment of the Constitution, the election of Washington, and the beginning of our partisan political system.

On President #45's Reprehensible Executive Order Regarding Syrian Refugees

The MS St. Louis

Stopping the acceptance of Syrian war refugees, even for a relatively small amount of time is the wrong thing to do, and I'm ashamed of my President and my country for doing it.

This is not who we should be. It certainly is in line with how we've acted a lot of the times in our past (for an example see the tragedy of the jewish refugees on the MS St. Louis). However, even still, we've often been the refuge of last resort for many displaced peoples and those who were on the losing side of conflicts in their country. Each time we've done so, these communities of refugees, rather than being dangerous and destabilizing, have made our country stronger. Somalis in Minnesota, Bosnians in St. Louis, Vietnamese in California, even Irish and Germans political refugees from the failed revolutions and rebellions of 1848. They all have made this country a more vibrant, better place, and them and their descendants are the very essence of America, at least the promise and potential of us.

On the Election of...ugh...really?

White house is so small and lacks gold plating. Sad.

[EDIT] This is a second draft of this post. Other than a few scattered thoughts, using "snake oil salesman" once, and the quote from William Lloyd Garrison, everything else is basically rewritten to be a bit more coherent.

Well, 47% of America, you finally did it. After President Bush led our country to the cliff's edge of economic ruin, Barack Obama and his administration sucked it up, got us back on the road, and had us going the right way, albeit slower than we'd like in many places. And now, when you had the chance to keep going in that right direction, you decided instead to throw caution in the wind and swerve right off towards another cliff, this time one hanging over a terrible whirlpool of white supremacy, anti-semitism, international pariah status, and possibly worse.

Where I Pivot away from the Primaries, and Towards the General Election

Putting it out there right now: Bernie Sanders will not be the nominee of the Democratic party for the 2016 Presidential race.

Look, I know the Sanders camp is still beating the drums and saying it's still feasible for them to win. "Wait 'til New York, Bernie's a native." 

"California, folks, that's the place you oughta be. Bernie will win there."

"Don't forget Montana and Idaho. Bernie will do great there!"

Nope. Uh-unh. And true, but those states have like six delegates. It's not enough. The math is just not there.  Anybody who thinks otherwise is either a) Just not ready to face the facts or b) is willfully lying in the pursuit of their own interests. If you're the latter, well, you won't be convinced by me because you're lying. But if you're the former, perhaps you can be convinced.

Another Super Tuesday in the Books

Now that the day of multiple contests is in the book, we have a clearer picture of how this year's Presidential campaign is going to shake out. In short, unless you are a fan of Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump, things aren't looking so good.

The Democrats are first, and the result shows how far Bernie Sanders campaign has come. Unfortunately, it also shows that time has run out for Sanders to find a viable path to the nomination. A year ago it would have been unimaginable Sanders would have beaten Clinton in one state, let alone winning five separate contests (counting his previous victory in New Hampshire). It's a real achievement his campaign has made it this far and racked up as many delegates as it had.