Those were the words I heard over and over again during every election season. "A pox on both their houses" would be the grumbled reply from my father as we discussed any number of political topics over the dinner table. That phrase was the distillation of everything that was wrong with American politics - the lies, the backstabbing, the pursuit of power for its own sake.
I grew up with that phrase and it's still with me; disfiguring marks of disgruntlement with Republican and Democratic parties alike.
And so, for the 14 years I've legally been able to vote, I have registered as "Decline to State" (Independent in California terms), violently rejecting the position that a person must, as if it were a football team, choose a party for the sake of the party. But something is starting to change for me.
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