I Smell Democracy

from a far away state

Last nights PBS NewsHour included another segment in the series called “America at a Crossroads” by Judy Woodruff.

The whole hour was important. There is a thread through it that speaks to the abuses of Native American children and a culture trying to maintain its traditions while participating in the great experiment called the United States.

There is also an interview with former Republican House Representative Joe Walsh. He was part of the “Tea Party” crew that brought more extremism to Congress. He admits that they ushered in the MAGA movement. But he nails it when he says that the Tea Party was about policy. MAGA is about Donald Trump running to be a dictator. I think Walsh regrets his role in this chain of events. But I digress from the primary purpose of this short post (pun intended).

Our primary system is throwing gasoline on the fires of extremism in our times. Alaska has recently employed “Open Primaries” and “Ranked Choice Voting” to open the field to campaigners who tack more to the middle - people who are more concerned about serving their constituencies than preaching and pontificating about political idealism.

Here’s the show. The whole thing is a good watch. But the segment I am referring to starts at about 37 minutes. Judy’s profile of the election process in Alaska was inspiring to me. Please watch.