The pointy haired tea bagger…….

Scott Adams imagines a world without political parties:

I’m fascinated by the fact that the freedom to organize into political parties limits our other freedoms more than most people realize.  Political parties make the government incompetent, and the result of ineffective government is that citizens are less prosperous. Poverty is the ultimate restriction of freedom.

If Thomas Jefferson sprung back to life today, and learned about the Internet, I wonder how he would recommend changing the Constitution of the United States. I think he would favor banning political parties.

One of his commenters makes a great point-that while political parties may be difficult to get rid, compulsory voting-like they have in Australia-would go a long way to limiting their damage. This because, “It would shift the focus away from the fanatical and the terrified, and force moderates to get into the game. They could still write in candidates or spoil their ballots (effectively voting “none of the above”), but they’d have to turn up and do it in person. As a bonus, it would also put a stop to most voter-suppression shenanigans.”