As Americans, we are constantly receiving messages about our military forces. There have been countless books written, major motion pictures made and political careers launched based on the experience of military service, the reality of combat and the lessons of war. With regards to works of art, many of these venerate and honor our forces with stories of great heroism and sacrifice. Others tell sobering tales, not always with happy endings, about the best intentions gone horribly wrong. Many of the greatest of these works somehow do both.

There have also been many detractors. People who speak out about on topics of misconduct, war crimes, influence of military industrial corporations, and gargantuan mistakes that cost trillions of dollars are voices that must be heard and acknowledged in a republic that values liberty and free speech. As Americans, we have a right to expect that our armed forces and their leaders will learn from mistakes made in past conflicts and past administrations. Fair criticism of policies, tactics and results - what you might call peer review in the world of science - should be fair game when you truly understand the meaning of “we, the people.”

Are you a team player? That is a question often heard in job interviews and other situations. It’s a meaningful and important concept that can apply to corporate function as much as it can apply to four people trying to form a musical group. Obviously, it comes from the idea of sports teams, and these are concepts that are familiar to most Americans. Almost to a person, we either are supporters of a team or know someone who is. Many of us have multiple allegiances, such as a college and a pro team in American football. It is also true of almost any immigrant group and, indeed, Americans are often surprised and impressed by the sports enthusiasm displayed by those making a new home in the United States. Sports, teamwork and the achievements associated with these endeavors are things that transcend language and culture and are among the first ways that we begin to relate to one another as cultural entities.

“Teamwork” is something you hear almost non stop from the leadership of any organization. In America, we grow up being immersed in and socialized by these concepts which begin as simply as “picking teams” on the playground. The best players are snapped up jealously by those doing the picking, no different than the NFL draft. Teams are organizations. They have positions. They have captains. All of this boils down to confidence - confidence that you are supporting the best team, confidence that you are on the right team, confidence that your team has the best players, confidence that your team has the best captains, confidence that your team has the skill to execute the best plays. You want to be confident that you have chosen a team that prioritizes performance and demonstrates this by fielding the absolute best players they can find. This wins fans as well as games and we all know it.

Members and supporters of political parties are also part of a team, as are those who work together “by the people and for the people” to provide our government. It is critical that the people of the United States realize the very basic human nature that governs our world, and that we are judged by how formidable a “team” we field on the world stage, no differently than we were judged in those “drafts” on the playgrounds of our youth.

Is Kamala Harris a legitimate presidential candidate? One of the tools we use most often here at the Third Rail Party to evaluate a position is the concept of “turnabout.” Turnabout, as they say, is fair play and we believe that it is fair to question policies that exclude or disenfranchise certain groups of people if a perfectly valid turnabout would somehow not be acceptable.

Let’s use the current state of the legacy parties as an example. It is indisputable that Joe Biden’s last minute drop out is unprecedented. The primary process had all but run its course and Mr. Biden was the presumed nominee of his party, as you would expect an incumbent president to be. Now, we could go on at length about Mr. Biden’s fitness for office during his term, but let’s focus on the fact that almost all primaries had taken place by the time that he decided to bow out. Millions of people had voted for him and he did, truly, have many loyal and vocal supporters.

Every one of those primary voters has been disenfranchised and robbed of their right to help select their party’s nominee. It is preposterous to assume and even worse for that party to enforce the idea that Kamala Harris would have won a fair primary. It is also pretty indisputable that the legacy, corporate media immediately glossed over this fact and are so enthralled with hero creation and worship at this point that they seem hopelessly lost in the cult of personality they are fabricating around the annointed nominee.

Journalism in America, as it existed as a liberal art form and occupation in the 20th century, is all but dead. The journalism of today looks drastically different than it did during the time of Edward R. Murrow or Walter Cronkite, and it's not just because of technology.

Today's journalists are not really journalists, it seems. Clearly, they have either not been taught or have chosen to forget Rule #1 of Journalism: you must remove yourself from the story and only report what is observed.

Indeed, most of today's "journalists" are the product of universities that seem set on turning out idealists in all areas of study, rather than competently trained professionals. Join us for a discussion of what we have termed #jactivism...

At the Third Rail Party, we believe it is the duty of all Americans to protect and preserve the American Way of Life so that it may be passed on, intact, to future generations.

There is a reason that so many immigrants wish to come here. It's our way of life. They want what we have, and it's not necessarily what you may be thinking.

Join us for a multi-part series on the American Way of Life - what is it and how we can preserve it? You've read the Constitution, now come see how we interpret it...

In the election of 1912, former President Theodore Roosevelt formed what was known as the Progressive Party. He was opposing the Democrat party as well as his former party, the Republicans.

Roosevelt was a maverick and a controversial president. His contributions are quite significant, however, having given us the wonderful National Park system that we cherish and protect today. The Panama Canal was another of Roosevelt's seemingly superhuman achievements, paving the way for global trade.

However, 1912 was a controversial time. Roosevelt, though now out of office, felt that his priorities (many of which centered around progressive ideals such as conservation of natural resources) had been abandoned by his handpicked successor, and so chose to challenge him.

After ultimately being denied the nomination of his own party, Roosevelt founded the Progressive party and mounted a third party run for the Whitehouse. In the election of 1912, Theodore Roosevelt placed second in the Presidential election. 112 years ago is the last time any Presidential candidate who was not either a Republican or a Democrat even got second place...