Partisan politics is killing America. We are a nation of Democrats and Republicans, and, by God, you had better be a member of one of those two parties if you wish to effect any real change in America. This two-party system has so polarized the country I fear we may never recover.

Lately this has become far more apparent.

President George W. Bush’s last two Supreme Court nominations were both highly contested by the Democratic Party. While John Roberts’ nomination was confirmed by the Senate 78-22, some of the Democratic Party’s most hard-line members still voted against him even though he was one of the most qualified nominees in recent history. These included Sens. Hillary Clinton, John Kerry, Ted Kennedy, Barbara Boxer, Diane Feinstein, and Joseph Biden.

More controversial was Bush’s second nomination, Samuel Alito, whose confirmation fell almost completely down party lines. His confirmation of 58-42 was the one of the closest in the last century, second only to Clarence Thomas, who was confirmed 52-48.

Both of these men’s nominations were highly contested by the Democratic Party because of the nominees’ strong conservative viewpoints. They did not want to place anyone on the bench of the Supreme Court who did not agree with their political ideals, regardless of his qualifications or experience. But Supreme Court nominations are not the only recent events to highlight the perversion of our governmental system by partisan politics. One only has to look to the debate over border enforcement to see this problem in action.

The Sensenbrenner Bill, which, among other things, sought to strengthen the borders and criminalize illegal immigration, was passed in the House of Representatives 239-182, with only 36 Democrats supporting the final version of the bill, according to CNN.com. The debate over the Senate’s version of this bill raged on for weeks, with each party entrenching itself along the familiar sides of the issue – Democrats for illegal immigration, Republicans against it. Only a very few members of either party have braved crossing over to the other side, and the ones who have, like Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., draw staunch criticism from their former allies.

It seems that any person, group or legislation that wishes to gain the support of one of the parties must first agree in principle with the viewpoints of that party, and vice-versa.

If you are a Democrat, you are a liberal and you support civil liberties, legalized abortion, gun control, social programs like Medicare and social security and the environment. If you are a Republican, you are a conservative and you support minimal government and reduced spending. You value individualism. You are in favor of the death penalty and against gun control.

These are your options, and you must choose wisely, for while the true party will bring you life, the false party will take it from you.

This is what we are left with in America. We have two vastly different parties in terms of ideology, and there is little hope in reconciling them. We are forced to make a choice – a choice that is often difficult – between two people who tell us the other is wrong and they are right. We are forced to decide which is the lesser of two evils because no one candidate perfectly reflects our own personal beliefs.

This is not democracy. When the government tells its people what their options are, it is called tyranny. In a true democracy, the people dictate to the government how they want the country run. Far too often, however, this is not the case.

From the very beginning of this great nation, our battles have been for democracy and the right to govern ourselves. Now, we rely on political parties to determine what values and ideals the country honors. This must end, and the only way that can happen is to vote.

Theodore Roosevelt once said, “A vote is like a rifle: its usefulness depends upon the character of the user.” Show your character in the next election. Tell the government that your will should be done, not the will of some political party. Make sure we keep Abraham Lincoln’s promise in the Gettysburg Address that government of the people, by the people and for the people shall not perish from the earth.