The great mystery of American politics, a mystery which no one in the world can fathom, not even most Americans, is why so much money, hot air and spittle is being spent on literally paralyzing the American political system and making it impossible, not just to negotiate solutions, but to even have an intelligent conversation about solving the problems facing everyone, everywhere today. For that is what the Tea Party is really about: making first thought, then negotiation, and finally action impossible.

What is all this sound and fury covering up?

The system is designed to split us, and we are the ones who have to engage in education and conversation in order to come together to reform the political structure.

Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee (I) signed SB 2253, which decriminalizes the the simple possession of up to an ounce of marijuana. Last week the bill received its final vote in the state House of Representatives. This new law will make Rhode Island the 15th state to have decriminalized simple possession.

The Rhode Island House and Senate voted overwhelmingly in support of two bills to decrease penalties for small marijuana possession in the state.

The bills (which passed 50 to 24 in the House and 28 to 6 in the Senate) now await a vote in their opposite chamber before heading to Gov. Chafee, who said he was ‘inclined’ to sign it.

Our country’s Congress–especially the Senate–is incredibly broken. The disproportionate power of the minority in the Senate, the amount of money it takes to run for office, the overwhelming power of lobbyists, and just good, old-fashioned corruption have been slowly ruining our country. Good policy reform in this country has been made impossible because of how terrible our political system has become. What this country needs is government reform before we can ever truly get good policy solutions to problems like health care, immigration, global warming, or financial regulation.

Threats to private healthcare insurers? Single payer leading to socialism? As the House and Senate move further in on their dissection of healthcare reform, we had our own house call from Dr. Howard Dean.