More Required Reading

Via Drudge, I ran across the following article by respected Reagan speechwriter Peggy Noonan:

Third Time: America may be ready for a new political party

In the article, she suggests that:

"Something's happening. I have a feeling we're at some new beginning, that a big breakup's coming, and that though it isn't and will not be immediately apparent, we'll someday look back on this era as the time when a shift began."

I must say that I share her sense of, well, let's call it foreboding. She highlights the problem here:

"The problem is not that the two parties are polarized. In many ways they're closer than ever. The problem is that the parties in Washington, and the people on the ground in America, are polarized. There is an increasing and profound distance between the rulers of both parties and the people--between the elites and the grunts, between those in power and those who put them there. "

The fact that a candidate like Rick Perry (for governor of Texas) will be facing such credible third-party/independent challegers like Carole Keeton Rylander Strayhorn Mellencamp (seriously, "one tough grandma" needs to pick a name and stick with it) and Kinky Friedman (who'da thunk it!), it's clear that even the stalwart Texas GOP is in a state of disarray. Her conclusion:

"I don't see any potential party, or potential candidate, on the scene right now who can harness the disaffection of growing portions of the electorate. But a new group or entity that could define the problem correctly--that sees the big divide not as something between the parties but between America's ruling elite and its people--would be making long strides in putting third party ideas in play in America again."

When a thoughtful pundit of her erudition, experience and vision sees such things, I grow concerned that our nation is disintegrating before our eyes. More on why in a future post. For now, read the article and take heed.