Everything No One Is Saying About Russian Bots on Twitter

Hello fellow independent voters! This is your weekly Independent Thought Alarm: Hashtag Russian Bots Edition. In case this is your first time reading Independent Thought Alarm:

These are thoughtful missives about controversial subjects with some thoughts that are so novel, independent, and outside the mainstream of acceptable opinion, that repeating them might trigger a call to security to have you escorted off the premises!

IVN Readers React: Congress Is a Dysfunctional Dumpster Fire

Will the government shut down again in 2018? IVN readers took our Facebook poll on this exact question and most said yes, they believe it will.

Congress allowed the government to shutdown for a couple of days last week as Senate Democrats and many Republicans argued over the future of immigration reform and the fate of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and the nearly 800,000 DACA recipients.

Did the shutdown accomplish anything?

The One Bill In Congress That Could End Gerrymandering for Good

 The Gerrymandering Project at 538 has begun an interesting conversation by producing eight sets of national congressional maps, each with a distinct goal.
They demonstrate what maps would look like with a GOP or a Democratic lean, and then also zero in on other objectives often sought by mapmakers, such as compactness, competitiveness, maximizing majority-minority seats, or matching the likely statewide outcome to the state’s partisan breakdown.One of the great contributions of

Social Security: The Worst Run Ponzi Scheme In World History

Over 5 years of researching the financial mess familiarly known as “Social Security,” I have found one constant. At some point in the discussion, opposing sides will be reduced to labels. The program is either a “Ponzi scheme” or “the greatest invention of government.”

When these tags come out, it is time to go home. Trust me, the discussion is over. These labels are less about adding insight to the debate, and more about getting people to forward the emotion with someone else.

12 Ways Political Parties Are No Different Than Cults

Hello my fellow independent voters and friends, and thank you for reading another one of my articles that just might get you escorted off the premises for making an earnest attempt at some critical reflection and independent thought about a complicated subject!

What Hat Should I Wear: The Complicated Journey Of Today’s Voter

Note: The author of this article is Emily Matthews. Emily has worked in a vast array of jobs in the political arena and strives to find common ground across party lines.

As the one year anniversary of the 2016 presidential election passes into history, an election people will continue to analyze, critique, and study for generations to come, I, a responsible voter, reflect on what was one of the most exhausting yet meaningful years of my life.