By now the election results have been totaled – with a few exceptions – and the direction this country is headed will change drastically in the coming months. It was expected that Republicans would gain control of the House of Representatives (they did) due to a perceived voter backlash against the struggling economy, high unemployment, and an overall dissatisfaction for President Obama’s policies. Likely, political pundits of both MSNBC and Fox News are still analyzing the good, bad and ugly of what’s about to take place in Washington D.C.

Regardless of what happened Tuesday, the citizens of this country must continue to expect – no, demand – the best government its elected officials can offer. The media grandstanders that currently sit in the Halls of Power offer little hope in solving the problems affecting our country.

Partisan politics have handcuffed this nation to the wills and whims of the few, regulating the minority party to bystander status.

Honest and open discussion about laws and spending has been sacrificed at the altar of the great gods “Democrat” and “Republican.” Consequently, everything ascribed by the other party must be bad, while everything we do is good. The politicians of our two-party system long ago stopped making decisions based on what was good for the people. Instead, it is what is good for the party.

To quote Eugene McCarthy (1916-2005), the Democratic senator from Minnesota, “Saying we should keep the two-party system simply because it is working is like saying the Titanic voyage was a success because a few people survived on life rafts.”

We long for a future when the collective individuals that we call “government” cast aside their partisan shackles to govern our country in the manner expected.

Until then, we must guard against icebergs.