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I’ve stated this often. I feel both parties are entrenched in corruption and zero-sum gain thinking. Evidently, Colorado state Sen. Kevin Priola has come to a similar conclusion. He’s switched parties, citing dissatisfaction with continuing Republican election denier claims and support of the previous President’s tripe.

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Notes thehill.com: “Colorado state Sen. Kevin Priola announced on Monday he is switching to the Democratic Party, saying he could not ‘in good conscience’ be silent about Republicans who baselessly cast doubt on the validity of the 2020 election and the existence of climate change. Priola, a moderate who served four terms in the Colorado House before arriving in the state Senate in 2017, said the GOP has changed since the presidencies of Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan, and he had hoped the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol would cause Republicans to distance themselves from [the former President].”

The article continues, “‘Our political affiliations have become too tribal and too much of a litmus test,’ he wrote in an open letter posted to his Twitter account. ‘I’ve [always] been an independent thinker and sometimes buck the conventional wisdom of my party, and I don’t plan to change that,’ he added. ‘I do not believe either party has a monopoly on the truth.’”

True dat. While Republicans appear to have made “fake news” their mantra in way too many cases, Democrats are no angels in this regard. Politics in this country always have been a rough and tumble sport, but now the Greek poet Hesiod’s ancient pronouncement, “Observe due measure; moderation is best in all things” seems to a rare exception rather than an important guiding philosophy and practice in a democratic republic.

This toxic state of affairs has many looking at alternative choices, both within and apart from the two entrenched parties.

I have become a fan of Liz Cheney. Her obvious bravery and candor exhibited during the January 6 hearings makes me willing to consider her if she makes a run for president, regardless of positions I don’t support. I need to do my homework and check her out more thoroughly.

Then, there’s the Forward Party, trying to establish itself as a viable third party. So far, I can’t tell if it’s the same, tired rhetoric of a bunch of “inside the Beltway” politicians disgusted with both major parties. But I’m willing to watch and see.

NBC News calls out the immense hurdle any third party will have in trying to elect a president: “Third-party presidential runs are apparently all the rage. Earlier this month, former Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang of New York, former Republican congressman David Jolly of Florida and former Republican governor Christine Todd Whitman of New Jersey formed the Forward Party as an alternative to the Democratic and Republican parties. Then Republican Rep. Liz Cheney sparked third-party presidential campaign talk after her defeat in the Wyoming primary last Tuesday.”

The report notes, “Pundits on both sides of the aisle are discussing her electoral chances in the Republican Party or as an independent. But right now, any discussion about an alternative to the two-party system in place is just talk. No third-party candidate will win the presidency until the state electoral system is reformed — which is exactly why Cheney likely wouldn’t run as an independent.”

Jack Kerouac, American novelist and poet tied to the non-conformist “Beat Generation,” asked decades ago, “Whither goest thou, America, in thy shiny car in the night?” If we continue going the way we are now, it’s likely going to be right over the cliff into some form of authoritarian government.

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