I've been holding off on posting lately because I've been trying to fully form this thought, but I don't think it's going to spontaneously happen, so I'll just start typing and we'll see where this leads.

I've been thinking about political parties lately. Specific ones, sure, but also the whole concept of them - or at least how people view them. As I've said before, I'm a registered Green. I'm a Green because I am down with the Ten Key Values. All candidates who run on a Green ballot line are supposed to be down with all of them - not most - all. To me, they're all pretty much common sense, but that arguement is for another time.

The cool thing about this is supposed to be that if you meet a Green you know what s/he stands for. The person may be an idiot otherwise; s/he may have bad teeth (a real probablity) and poor social skills, but you know the cat is down with non-violence, etc.

I realize the world isn't that black & white, even where green is concerned. But I will admit that there's been some stuff going down that has made me question the usefulness of political parties - even Green. There is the stuff going down in Pennsylvania with the candidate getting money from Republicans (how much is being debated, but that's not the point). I'm hearing credible reports about a faction of Greens getting donor lists and calling folks telling them NOT to contribute to the party. I'm also reading about people who aren't Green in their values, registering in the party to harass individuals about the stance the party has taken on Israel.

Greens are people too. They...I mean we have weaknesses and are prone to the same character flaws as the rest of you.

Then I hear about a "dem" running for a seat in the House who is running on basically an anti-war stance. The problem is he's an ex-marine who brags that he is a hunter, owns guns, etc. Now I know of some Greens who are gun-owners. (See previous paragraph) But this guy was asked at a press conference if he's ever hunted a human being with a gun. After some hemming & hawing (because he knew it wouldn't be a good political answer) the candidate threw caution to the wind and bragged that he has hunted human beings and was proud of it.

If you know how politics actually works, particularly the process in which people actually get on the ballot, this isn't that huge of a surprise. Criminals, freaks & nutjobs do get on the ballot when people in a party don't pay attention. The problem is this guy has the ferverent support of the local Democracy for America chapter - which is supposed to be the progressive wing of the Democratic Party. They hate the Republican incumbent so much (with good reason) and are so party loyal, that these "progressives" have become euphoric over a guy who is proud of hunting human beings.

Yes, there's Joe Lieberman. There are Republicans who don't act like Republicans (like The War Criminal), yet they continue to get backed by folks due to party loyalty.

A local blog which supposedly touts anything progressive refuses to link to the local Green Party website. It's not a value-based decision, it's a party-loyalty decision.

The funny thing is, in elections (usually local ones) that are non-partisan ones, Greens tend to win!

I don't have a conclusion to this right now. This is where my thought process is stuck. I'm annoyed with some of the internal crap of my own party, but I still believe it's the best thing out there. I still haven't been able to decide exactly where the line is when/if I would think that the Green Party doesn't uphold the values it claims to.

While unconstitutional, it'd be cool if political parties were banned. But it wouldn't be the first time we did something unconstitutional.