Some in GOP Fear Glenn Beck, Other Polarizing Figures

Recent polls indicate that more Americans consider themselves Independents (39%) than either Democrats (33%) or Republicans (22%), which would seem to indicate that people are becoming increasingly uncomfortable with the message of both parties. As with anything in this country - and perhaps in the world - as the traditional political parties in this country became humongous entities unto themselves, they lost the ability to evolve at the same rate as society at large.

The U.S. political machine is so stifled by politicians and politics that are horribly outdated that Barack Obama managed to get elected almost entirely based on the idea that he didn't fit neatly into any existing political mold. People voted for any kind of change they could find, even if it turns out that the actual "changes" won't look much different than any previous administration.

The real changes have to come at the very foundations of government and politics. Some argue that a third party is needed - Libertarians, perhaps, who seem to tend toward fiscal conservatism and social liberalism. But perhaps going beyond that, political parties in and of themselves seem to be an outdated concept. Ideas and concepts can stand on their own in a world where those ideas and concepts can be accessed in detail by the vast majority of the people. People are smarter than ever before and, as a result, far more cynical. Government is far more corrupt than it's ever been before, now managing to corrupt at every level.

Change is a word that is used far too frequently in today's world. One has to wonder if we'd know it if we saw it.