by Charles Beadnall, John Roulac, Dr. Jared Kohler, Lisa Pedersen, Lydia and John Miller
Orcas Island
The 4th of July is a good time to reflect on our collective right to select the next leader of our constitutional republic. Nothing in our founding documents defined or constrained elections to a red and blue political party. It is ultimately our individual responsibility to evaluate candidates on the ballot to determine which can best steer our nation.
We have had eight years to fully evaluate the blue and the red options on the menu. Neither choice in this gerontocracy will result in a restoration of a government focused on the interests of American citizens. The many issues facing our citizens will continue to be relegated to donor interests that promote military, pharmaceutical and other corporate misadventures.
Neither of the two has heeded the wise farewell addresses of George Washington warning that political parties allow “unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people” or Dwight Eisenhower to “guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex.” We are at war with the world while failing to nurture our own children.
This election year, there is another option and one that has the greatest chance of electoral success since Teddy Roosevelt ran outside the two-party system. Each of us must make up our own mind and live with our conscience, but making that decision requires intellectual honesty and curiosity, and not just relying on opinion makers from corporate partisan media. At 3 p.m. on Sunday, July 21 at Seaview Theater we will be screening the 30-minute documentary “Who is Robert F. Kennedy Jr” and his State of the Union address with the producer, Jay Carson, a former communications director for the Clinton Foundation as well as press secretary and senior advisor for Hillary Clinton’s campaign. Join us to learn about Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and his optimistic vision for America.
Choosing to live on an island requires independence from the mainland mainstream. When we islanders fully evaluate the options granted by our constitution on the November ballot, many of us will decide the partisan straightjacket that has produced the least capable red and blue candidates in a century is not worth gaming one bad candidate against another worse candidate. The alternative is to vote for a new path, one which will heal the divide, reset partisan chaos, and return the country to its rational founding principles.
