In a recent article on The Washington Post's The Fix, columnist Chris Cillizza discusses the disturbing hyper-partisan trend in American politics and how it has worsened since America's news sources "splintered into a million pieces." The article describes the following paragraph from Dan Pfeiffer as the single-most depressing paragraph about American politics:

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senators Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) introduced a bill Tuesday that would end the federal prohibition on medical marijuana. The bipartisan "Compassionate Access, Research Expansion and Respect States Act" will be the first bill to be considered by the Senate that would legalize marijuana for medicinal purposes.

OAKLAND, CALIF. -- CBS News recently revealed the results of an investigation that further proves that the problems with the Veterans' Administration not only continue, but are systemic and widespread within the organization.

OREGON -- Oregon native and entrepreneur Mark Frohnmayer no longer believes that the top-two primary system is a viable solution to the problems facing America's political system. While top-two aims to solve the lingering issues surrounding a hyper-partisan political environment by opening the voting process to all voters, Frohnmayer does not believe that it solves the most contentious and unappealing aspect of political campaigns: the overabundance and influence of money.

Step 1: Seeing what the situation really is

One explanation for the present state of this world is that the Age of Ideology is in the final throes of its protracted demise. Following the internecine savaging of Nationalism in World War One, the defeat of Fascism in World War Two, and the implosion of totalitarian Marxism in the Soviet Union and its empire, ending the so-called Cold War, the only multi-nationally applied ideology left afloat and intact was Liberalism. Now it, too, is foundering.

NATIONAL -- There are numerous systemic problems with proportional representation (PR).These are rarely ever discussed when comparing and contrasting the U.S. system with most European systems. Oftentimes dissatisfied voters in the United States look longingly toward European systems as the answer to their problems. Unfortunately, proportional representation is not all its cracked up to be.

In January, State Rep. Kelly Cassidy, a Chicago Democrat, introduced Illinois House Bill 218 to amend the Cannabis Control Act. If passed, the amendment would eliminate criminal penalties for marijuana possession of up to 30 grams and replace them with a $100 fine.

CALIFORNIA -- On Friday, March 6, the California Republican Party (CRP) filed a trademark infringement complaint against the Asian American Small Business PAC, claiming that it unlawfully used the Republican trademarked elephant image in a mailer supporting Michaela Hertle (a Republican) in the special election for Senate District 7.

A recent study on the growth of wealth inequality instantly drew the usual finger pointing and denials between hardcore political opponents even though the chart clearly shows a steady trend across all administrations of either party.

As a result, the usual arguments about the failure of trickle-down economics and the failure of tax and spend policies fall short. But the bickering continues.