Today's song is Toast and Marmalade for Tea by Tin Tin, released in 1971.

As this political season heats up with more rhetoric than action by the two main political parties, the Tea Party Movement is gaining its own momentum. I have one idea for the Tea Party Agenda.

I would like to see the Tea Party folks support independent candidates, that is, candidates that don't belong to one main party. It's the party system that causes most of the stalemate in government. If all the Tea Party efforts do is replace a Democrat with a Republican or vise-versa, then we will continue the stalemate.

We need elected officials to move away from belonging to one main political party to see real progress in our nation. I'm an Independent Centrist and will remain so. I choose this identification because there are some liberal ideas I support and conservative ideas I support. Neither of the two main parties satisfies me with a majority of my viewpoints.

I believe the vast majority of American citizens eligible to vote are Independent in nature. We can influence the outcome of elections if we support candidates that are independent. It would be a wonderful thing to witness Democrats and Republicans leave their party and become independents. If enough did that over the next several mid-term and general elections, we could see real change in our nation. If we don't, we will see the same as what we have already witnessed in our lives.

My friend, Gary Plazyk, is giving a demonstration of a hurdy gurdy at the 50th Annual University of Chicago Folk Festival this weekend.

Found on the web links for February 11, 2010

Don