It’s hard for anyone to ignore the latest kerfuffle going on in our nation’s capital. The issue surrounds President Donald Trump’s tweet against four freshmen members of Congress — all Democrats and all people of color — to “go back where they came from.”

The fact that three of the four women Trump referred to were born in the United States was lost on the president, but it quickly energized Democrats, who quickly decried the comments. U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi even called them racist, which prompted Republicans in her chamber to come together and push for a vote to strike her comments from the meeting’s record. The attempt failed because the Republicans are the minority party in the House.

That is what our political system has evolved into — perhaps “devolved” would be a more appropriate phrase — a street fight with 535 combatants representing two separate teams. Instead of hundreds of little fights, however, Republicans and Democrats swarm together to hit their opponents with more force than their individual clout could carry.

The two parties would not be a bad thing in the political system if they had the ability to get along with one another. However, someone could probably count on one hand the number of times Republicans and Democrats held hands publicly in support of major legislation. Oftentimes, the votes in both the House and Senate are along party lines, with an occasional rebellious soul daring to think on his or her own.

What happens when they act on their own? Many times, they are chastised by their own party and treated like traitors and pariahs, as though going against the party line was the eighth deadly sin.

The political parties are one step away from being those creepy people in the van offering candy to get into the party only to pull the bait-and-switch later. All they need is some funky Kool-Aid and a big, walled compound, and the Republicans and Democrats could be cults.

Cases in point — Democrats pushing through the Affordable Care Act, Republicans putting in every effort to dismantle that same act, Democrats seeking to impeach Trump, Republicans pushing for a border wall with Mexico. Most of this is within one party with no cooperation with the other.

Looking at all the strife currently going on in Washington D.C., it’s hard not to consider the term “political party” to be an oxymoron. Granted, they might have been considered useful when our country was in its infancy, but now that we’ve passed the 240 mark, political parties are starting to look like that recliner that has been in the family for decades — old, rickety and uncomfortable with a funky smell.

That might be why close to 40 percent of people do not claim to be either Republican or Democrat. Like me, they look at the petty backbiting going on and don’t want any part of it. A meme I saw on Facebook recently said: “It is possible to disagree with both conservatives and liberals. It’s called being a freethinker.”

It’s a shame the freethinkers aren’t a majority (50 percent or more). If they were, we might actually be able to turn the two-party system on its ear. However, independents are a large enough group that they could make a difference in elections — if they all came out to vote.

Unfortunately, apathy and disgust with our current leaders persist enough that the GOP and the Dems continue to flourish despite the fact that neither party really represents the will of the people. We’re lucky if we can get a majority of voters to hit the polls during a presidential election year. Midterms? Forget about it.

There could be some hope in the future, though, as the Pew Research Center statistics show that 44% of Millennials identify as independent, while 35% identify as Democrats and only 17% consider themselves Republicans.

Generation X, my generation, also has a healthy chunk, 39%, who consider themselves independent. It could be my age group and succeeding generations that could put the political parties to rest.

Of course, statistics can only show you so much. In covering the opening of campaign offices last year for the Shawano Leader, there was one consistency between both groups that attended the openings — most of them had little to no color left in their hair. In other words, the grassroots effort of both parties is supported by an aging and dwindling base.

Without fresh blood, the future of the Democrats and Republicans could be bleak indeed. How can they hope to survive?

A good place to start might be to shed the false gods. Pelosi is not the queen of the liberals, and Trump does not rise to the level of sainthood for the GOP. Instead of leaders who demand respect from their parties, there needs to be flexible collaborators who know how to reach across the aisle and come up with a compromise. It’s an old idea, but a good one.

Another thing reds and blues can do is to be open to change, and I mean for the better. While it’s good to have ideals, it’s also important to look at all sides of an argument. There might be a few in Congress with that capability, but they’re usually drowned out by the banging war drums of party leaders and hardliners.

While it’d be nice if the political parties changed, the sad truth is they may never do so, and those who don’t change eventually die from their own rigidness. It might be best to let them die and instead have a society with leaders who are not beholden to a party, who can work toward a better future for us all.