The New Democratic Party? The People's Party? The Progressive Party? The Not-The-Democratic Party?

The left has to end its codependent relationship with the Democratic Party.

"Nasty Jefferson/Madison vs Hamilton contretemps created new US politics," I tweeted the other morning, exasperated at reading news about the federal budget negotiations. "Will current political impasse inspire #thirdparty? #progressives."

Gary Gordon replied: "Sitting on the sidelines wondering if someone will create a third party will not create a third party. C'mon Michael Moore, Jim Hightower, Jodie Evans, Medea Benjamin, Dennis Kucinich, John Nichols, Katrina Van Heuval, Tom Hayden, Robert Scheer, Bobby Seale, Oliver Stone, Matt Damon, Joe Conasan, Thom Hartman, Mike Malloy, et al [I'd add AFL-CIO prez Richard Trumka and his cohort - ed]: WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?"

Gordon is on point. It is not news to anyone on his list that our political system is failing. Left leaders who participate in the charade that the Democratic Party will provide the mechanism for rescuing the system will be as guilty as the corporatists and militarists who now and will forever run the party.

There are members of Congress -- people like Raúl Grijalva, George Miller, Barbara Lee, Pete Stark, Jared Polis, John Lewis, Bobby Rush, Jan Schakowsky, Elijah Cummings,  Jim McGovern, John Conyers, Emanuel Cleaver, Donald Payne, Ben R. Luján, Jerry Nadler, Nydia Velázquez, Carolyn Maloney, José Serrano, Louise Slaughter, Marcy Kaptur, Peter DeFazio, David Cicilline, Peter Welch, Jim McDermott, Tammy Baldwin, Gwen Moore, Eleanor Holmes Norton, Bernie Sanders, Sherrod Brown, to name a few -- who give the impression that they'd feel more at home in a progressive party.