COMMENTARY
MARK SCHUMANN
The current approval rating of Congress is in the gutter, hovering around 15 percent, and the public is frustrated, largely because hyper-partisanship is preventing the legislative branch of our federal government from accomplishing little more than approving generous and unnecessary subsides for Big Sugar and corporate conglomerates like Monsanto. Pass a budget? Who needs a budget?
Quite simply, hyper-partisanship is choking the life out of our nation’s political process and it is rendering our country virtually ungovernable.
This debilitating partisanship has contaminated the news media, leaving us with 24-hour propaganda networks, namely FOX on the radical right and MSNBC on the looney left. A Fox News fan told me recently, with great pride, that her chosen source of infotainment reports stories you will never see on any other news outlet. That is absolutely true.
Locally, in a display of petty partisanship, the Republican Club of Indian River County will host a forum this evening for the five candidates running for Vero Beach City Council who are registered Republicans. The one candidate who is a registered Democrat will not be welcome to speak. Keep in mind that, at least by state law, this is to be a non-partisan race.
As an aside, Tracy Carroll cannot or will not attend the Republican-sponsored “semi-forum,” but is instead being permitted to send utility activist turned amateur lobbyist Glenn Heran in her place. Heran’s speaking for Carroll is tantamount to a puppeteer dispensing with his puppet. Maybe in the next round of presidential debates each campaign should be allowed to field its most articulate spokesperson. Who needs to hear from the candidate?
For her part, the one candidate for the Vero Beach City Council race who just happens to be a registered Democrat is urging all Democrats to vote for her in this non-partisan race based her party affiliation. In an email to some 300 fellow Democrats, one of her supporters proudly and confidently described this approach as “unprecedented and certainly unconventional.” I could not agree more.
Presumably, Republican voters will be encouraged to support this lone registered Democrat running for City Council for more substantive reasons, such as the fact that she was a registered Republican before October 17, 2012.
Enough is enough, at least for me. Fed up with partisan politics, I stopped by the Supervisor of Elections Office yesterday where changed my voter registration to “No Party Affiliation.”
One right wing-nut, who is a weekly guest on WTTB’s Morning Magazine program, regularly uses at least a minute or two of his free air time to “accuses” me of being a “liberal,” whatever that means. This fellow, who plays all too well the role of court jester at County Commission and City Council meetings, couldn’t care less about my political bent. He just hates the fact that Inside Vero holds him accountable to the truth.
In truth, though my political leanings are really none of that clown’s business, I have more in common politically with House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell than I will ever have with Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi. It is just that I have almost nothing in common with the likes of Ted Cruz, Paul Rand, Michelle Bauchmann, and the Tea Party Caucus. In my view, they are far-right extremists who have hijacked the Republican Party. Their unrealistic policy proposals and their delusional thinking is leading the Republican Party to ruin.
Indian River Guardian 
Congratulations. The fact that the Republican Party has been hijacked by the Tea baggers is why they have lower approval ratings than the Congress.
Those of us who want to see the government — at all levels — are greatly disappointed that a small minority believe that the government should play no role in improving the lifes of the average American.
Your publication is pure liberal trash. Hardly our local “news” magazine. Newsflash! Indian River County is more Conservative than ever. When you have a staff writer boldly referring to members of the Tea Party using vulgar language your lean to the far left is undeniable. I look forward to calling your advertisers and letting them know that I won’t be patronizing them as long as they funnel money to your rag. Good luck keeping those presses running.
I wonder how your bosses at Dyer Chevrolet feel about your opinion Natalie. I wonder how they will feel when somebody tells them where and who to advertise with.
Oh Pat, creating a fake account just to respond to me is just so pathetic. Your veiled threats certainly won’t affect my right to freedom of speech. So typical of a liberal that can’t win the argument on merit. Oh, by the way, I haven’t seen where Dyer has advertised with your rag whatsoever. Please show me where.