“Lies, lies, everywhere lies

Blocking up the scenery, breaking my mind

Do this, don’t do that, can’t you see the lies”

Pardon me for slightly altering Tesla’s 1990 hit, “Signs” (a version of the ’71 Five Man Electrical Band song).

But this story is all about alteration. And adulteration. And childishness. And stubbornness. And pride. And selfishness. And, of course, money and lies.

Please allow me to introduce you to the Democratic and Republican parties — the two-headed beast that continually pulls against itself to the detriment of our nation.

Please also allow me to present the people who fuel the propaganda fire that these parties keep burning — you and me. I’d be willing to bet that less than one percent of us actually do our homework before we vote for our representatives or know anything about their character.

But I know for certain that many people are brainwashed by the rhetoric of the political broadcast actors they choose to worship and parrot.

We vote based on popularity, looks and appeal — all the superficial stuff that makes for great entertainment, but has no substance whatsoever.

You can almost hear the giddy laughs of other developed nations as they peer into the fourth grade classroom that we call Congress, watching as we right-fight our way into destruction, and knowing that our pride will never allow us to settle our differences on our own.

Who needs to wage war on the United States when we will eventually destroy ourselves?

And it’s not just Congress that is disrupting Uncle Sam’s social studies class.

It’s all of the people who are willfully ignorant to the intricate web of lies that politics has become. And, since trying to see through the smokescreens requires superhuman powers, the vast majority of us take somebody else’s word as gospel and decide they know what they are talking about.

And then we raise our swords, because we have to act like we know what’s going on, and fight against anyone who doesn’t share the beliefs we assumed from this almighty fountain of knowledge.

It’s a civil war of intolerance and hatred for those who do not see things our way.

“I heard (add name of political guru with his own personal agenda here) say this, or that, and since I don’t really have time in my busy schedule to do research, I’ll just accept it as fact,” seems to be the mindset of most political amateurs.

You know the type. They light up message boards anonymously with their views and then go to bed mad because someone else takes a different stance. Instead of attempting to see the other side of the story, they toss and turn all night thinking of ways to belittle the person who dared to oppose their beliefs.

And this is exactly what the major parties do, which is why our best interests are never served in the political arena — while we mindlessly fight amongst ourselves to prove who is right or wrong, buying into and supporting the very system that is going to bring us all down.

Which brings me to the most important part: Both parties are right. And both parties are wrong!

Each party has good ideas. But neither party is willing to accept the other party’s good ideas because it might be perceived as a weakness. After all, they have future elections to worry about, which means money, power, and control.

Pride and entitlement has already begun destroying our country, and we’ve allowed it to happen based upon the beliefs of two opposite and very stubborn points of view.

It’s time we stopped fighting over who is right or wrong and started tossing aside the democratic or republican labels that dictate where we stand in life.

Political parties are lie machines that intentionally block up the scenery to break our minds.

What is it going to take for us to see the signs?

Billy Bruce is a freelance writer from Pedro. He can be reached via email at hollandkat3@aol.com or by visiting his Website at http://www.hollandkat.com.