This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

The deed is done. Time now to pick through the political litter and decide if what we did to ourselves on Election Day is good or bad.

As I see it, there are only four possible conclusions. None of them applies to all of us, but you'll probably find yourself in at least one of them.

Republicans: "Hooray! Salvation is at hand."

Democrats: "$%#*! We lost."

Realists: "Nothing much will change."

Most of America: "Wait. It was Election Day?"

One thing is a dead certainty: Most of us will spend the days until the next election trying to ignore politicians bragging about the good things they accomplish while blaming their failures on someone else.

I ignored the post-election noise until I glimpsed something that made vague sense, a glimmer of hope that somebody in Washington, D.C., might actually be paying attention.

Much as I hate to agree with a politician, I found myself nodding in response to a comment reportedly made by Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R+++, Utah. In an Associated Press story, Chaffetz warns his political party not to celebrate their wins too soon, saying, "We better produce or they'll kick us out, too."

Presumably he was talking about voters, you and me, doing the kicking. It's a warm and fuzzy thought. There's just one problem. I'm not so sure we're up to it anymore.

Not counting the occasional assassination, the American people haven't had much luck kicking politicians out in time to keep them from doing the country any real damage.

Worse, it's sometimes impossible to distinguish between benefit and damage until it's too late.

For example, whatever the newly empowered Republican Party does now will be heralded by them as victories. It will take us years to discover how much of it was actually dimwitted travesty.

Democrats aren't much better. If they managed to accomplish so much good for us during the last four years, why did so many of them get the boot on Tuesday?

Elections will see-saw like this for the next … well, however long we let it. The entire problem with American politics comes down to being locked into an ineffectual two-party system.

I don't mean Republican and Democrat. I mean Politicians and Us. For years, we (that's the "us" part) have been electing people (politicians) to represent us who instead almost always end up representing their particular parties.

That's why no matter what they promise us, they always end up doing what their party tells them.

Politician: "But I promised the folks back home—."

Party: "You'll vote the way we tell you or you won't get invited on any junkets."

It's time for a change. We need a viable third (or fourth) party which actually represents the feelings of America. It has to be a party that listens to us instead of itself, a party that doesn't increase taxes with every new Congress.

I don't know about you, but the "We'll Kick You Down a Flight of Stairs" party sounds pretty good to me.

Robert Kirby can be reached at rkirby@sltrib.com or facebook.com/stillnotpatbagley. —

'Evening with Robert Kirby'

You're invited to "An Evening with Robert Kirby," a celebration of his 20 years at The Salt Lake Tribune and the release of his latest book, "The Essential Kirby Canon." Kirby and The Tribune's Jennifer Napier-Pearce will chat about his life as a columnist and his cheeky observations about all things Utah. You can also expect a cannon video and a bit of roasting.

Join us Thursday, Nov. 13, at 7 p.m. at The Depot, 13 N. 400 West, Salt Lake City. Admission to this family-friendly event is $5 per person. Find ticket information here.