There are some major news stories coming out of Maine right now; especially from independent Terry Hayes' campaign for governor.

On Monday, the Hayes for Maine campaign announced that independent State Treasurer Terry Hayes became the second independent candidate to qualify for clean elections funding since the law was approved by voters in 1996.

In a news release from the Committee for Ranked Choice Voting, the organization announced its intention to seek a court-ordered injunction against Maine’s Secretary of State forcing him to follow Maine’s voter-approved Ranked Choice Voting Law.

Dick Woodbury, the Chair of the Committee said, “In the 15 months since voters enacted Ranked Choice Voting as Maine law, Secretary of State Matt Dunlap has consistently avoided its implementation."

Jordan Peterson, the Canadian professor of psychology who in the last year has become North America’s most popular public intellectual, has spent many decades studying tyranny and its antecedents. As a result, he frequently warns his audiences of the unparalleled destructive power of “ideological possession."

As someone who has long been writing about the threat posed by this all too prevalent epistemic disease, I am delighted to see the attention that is now being paid to it.

Duality. Duel. Dynamic Duo. Two.

Sometimes against; yet, sometimes together.

I propose an examination of our apparent love affair with Comic Book and Sci-Fi movies since there is so much money invested in movies pitting "dark sides" against "light" Jedis. (Admittedly, my bias is that I slumber through such cultural followings as The Lord of the Rings; I only rustle from my slumber when the orcs run through the forests).

People over Parties.

It's the DNA of independents.

The freedom and liberty to choose the candidate or initiative we think is best for the country has always been the hallmark of who we are.

Independents have been working for years to elevate our national political conversation that better educates and serves our country, not two political corporations.

Following up on the 4-0 vote by the Orange County Board of Supervisors to join a lawsuit from the Trump administration fighting the state's "sanctuary city" laws, the Counties of San Diego and Escondido are now wading into the Sanctuary State Debate.

The County of San Diego has docketed a closed session hearing on the same issue for April 17.

Is the Trump administration a decisive break from the Clinton-Bush-Obama status quo—or an extension of it?

This fundamental question has hovered over Washington since the shock result of the 2016 election.

On Friday, March 23, 2018, the president provided an unmistakable answer. President Trump set aside the sword of reform. He took the pen to sign a $1.3 trillion budget. The national debt, which doubled under the respective administrations of George W. Bush and Barack Obama, remains on a steep, unsustainable trajectory.

Maine’s first independent filed signatures with the Secretary of State’s Office on  Monday to qualify for the November election as the only independent, Clean Elections candidate for Governor in 2018. Terry Hayes submitted signatures from all 16 counties two months ahead of the June 1stdeadline.

The $1.3 trillion beast of an omnibus spending bill was way too thick for anyone’s staff on Capitol Hill to properly read before voting on it. Nevertheless, Congress passed it, less than 24 hours after setting eyes on the 2,232-page stack of papers, thus keeping the government's lights on through September. And now we’ve got a big box of surprises to go through, don’t we?

The President went on to ink the deal before he could read it, but the military must be paid and domestic expenses must be met so...

This week on Deconstructed, T.J.’s guest is Greg Orman, an independent candidate for governor in Kansas.

Orman discusses how his business background makes him well-suited for governing and problem solving, his refusal to take PAC or special interest money, the breakdown Orman’s 5 key priorities, and the challenges of running as an independent candidate.