If you're my friend, you can't be his friend.

Have you ever known a couple that was together for a long time, and then went through a bitter , or even downright nasty breakup?

If you have, you've probably noticed that during the breakup, and in the months and weeks afterwards, the couple's mutual friends do one of two things. They either gravitate towards one member of the couple, taking "their side", or they refuse to take sides, and as a result, eventually drift away from being friends with either person. Sometimes, one member of the couple will even outright say "Well, if you're their friend, then you must not be my friend." or something similar.

When a person has been a close friend of both members of the couple, things like this strain their ability to stay friends with both.  Especially when neither member is clearly to blame for the breakup, such as abuse, or infidelity.   The strain of their breakup affects friends, but friends have an out that the couples generally don't - they can often simply choose to avoid both people.

Many people take that option. Consider that for a moment.

Now I'd like you to consider a hypothetical couple - we'll call them Mike & Jill. Mike & Jill have been married for what seems like a hundred years, but have such opposing personalities and fight so often, it's hard to figure out why they're still together. They probably wouldn't still be together, save for the house they live in that neither wants to give up to the other.

Many of their friends have taken sides in the bickering, slinging accusations back and forth not only about Mike & Jill, but about each other as well, simply because of who they support. Meanwhile, a fair number of their friends have simply decided to ignore the entire situation, ignoring what Mike & Jill and their friends are saying about each other. They're not going to get involved.

Of course, without me telling you a bunch of stories, you can't really take a side in this hypothetical argument between Mike & Jill. So if I pressed you, right now, to pick a side, your most likely answer is going to be neither.  You don't have enough invested in either one of them pick a side.

But what if I told you that you were Mike & Jill's landlord? Now you suddenly have a vested interest in their arguments - because what they do could affect the value of your property, and whether or not you receive income for it.

Do you now feel you have to pick a side? Are you curious for more information about Mike & Jill and their arguments so you can pick a side?

Or, are you thinking, I'll just not renew their lease, and get another tenant?

You should be, because frankly, that's probably the wisest course of action - especially when you learn their fighting is damaging your property, reducing its value to you and anyone else.

The hypothetical situation I outline with Mike & Jill really isn't that hypothetical - it's a very apt analogy of our current political situation and the Democrats and Republicans.  I almost made the situation a little more obvious by naming my hypothetical couple Rick & Donna, but opted not to so that you would truly consider it on a personal level, rather than a political level. .

The two major parties are like a bickering couple, and we are their landlords. Their fighting is damaging our home - the United States. And while this Rick and Donna each have their own differing agendas, they both have a shared agenda - they want to stay in our house, they desperately want to stay in power.

And they are doing it by convincing a majority of voters that your only choice is one of them. Where that doesn't work, they're using every legal trick they can find or create to block any alternatives - they have become, in effect, squatters in your house, resisting every attempt you make to evict them.

A landlord cannot give up evicting a squatter from their property, otherwise they risk losing it. Likewise, we the people cannot simply accept the situation and give in to the Democrats and Republicans desire to stay in power indefinitely. They've been in power too long, and it's time to evict them both.

Think about it.