I was wondering why there wasn't a symbol or totem for the Independent Party? I wondered about the origins of the symbols for the two major political parties in the US, the donkey and the elephant.. It turns out they were both figments of the imagination of cartoonist Thomas Nast in 1874. Thank goodness the original Whig party no longer exist, can you imagine the cartoons today. Abe Lincoln was a Whig leader in Illinois. In 2008 the Modern Whig Party was born. What made this group interesting to me was that most of it's leaders were ex-vets. I decided all by myself, I might add, that there should be an animal totem for the Independent Party.
Even more interesting to me is that Native Americans believe the Elephant stands for; strength, power, affection, loyalty, royalty, and wisdom,...makes ya think. Never mind that the elephant is not even indigenous to America. Reports are that Nast chose the elephant because of it's size, intelligence, strength, and dignity. Nast was a republican. The democrats simply said the elephant depicted the republicans as impossibly large, foolish and bloated.
There is no Native American symbolic meaning for the donkey, just the horse, which just ain't the same. There is a reference in a Chinese sex novel, "Jin Ping Mei" regarding the donkey but we are not going there. Donkeys on the other hand are known for their stubbornness, foolishness, loudness and unintelligent behavior. It's said that after being called a "jackass" so often by the republicans, Andrew Jackson decided to accept the donkey as his symbol. For a time the democratic party used the rooster as it's symbol. I found references from the Celtics to several far eastern communities that as a totem, the rooster symbolises pride, honesty, courage and vigilance.
The Modern Whig Party uses a red, white and blue owl. The owl is associated with wisdom, truth, patience. I am not sure what animal the original Whig party used if any.
The Independent/Independence Party
The word, "Independent" has been used over the years to come to mean not democratic or republican. If there were to be totem or symbol it would have to encompass ideologies ranging from the extreme left to the extreme right. There is the American Independent Party, America's Independent Party, The Independence Party of New York and Minnesota, and the Independent Green Party of Virginia just to name a few. Third parties are more often than not formed by some really pissed off individuals wanting to make a statement separate from one of the major parties. These parties frequently are formed in response to specific "Base" issues such as, taxes, abortion, immigration, gun control, on-going issues all. For example, the original Whig party separated out due to their belief that Congress should reign supreme over the executive branch and supported economic protectionism. The Libertarian party formed in 1971, believe in total individual liberty. Libertarians are pro-drug legalization, pro-choice, pro-gay marriage, pro-home schooling, and anti-gun control. They support total economic freedom and are anti-welfare, anti-government regulation of business, anti-minimum wage, anti-income tax, but are very pro-free trade. Go figure.
In 2000 The Independence Party split off from the Reform Party over "Base" issues and huge ego's. A fine time was had by Ross Perot, Jessie Ventura and toward it's demise, Pat Buchanan. Now if that is not an example of democracy at it's finest, one does not exist. A billionaire obsessed with protectionism and taxes, an ex-wrestler concerned with social issues and a religion based extreme right winger concerned with power.
I guess an Independent symbol would have to be something wise, strong, large, independent, patient, truthful, proud, dignified, intelligent, loyal, courageous and vigilant. I should not forget patriotic. Patriotism is the one attribute that every party claims. Hmm, animals don't know that.
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