I've been trying, in my humble way, to help jump-start a renewed Progressive Party presence. But a question that is often asked of me is why not just join the Green Party. I could go into a long and detailed explanation, but the short of it is that I don't think they're very organized and some of their campaigning methods rub me the wrong way. (For the record, the reason I don't say much about the Libertarian and Socialist Parties is because I don't know enough about their organizational structure or their methods of campaigning to make an informed assessment.)

First, my distaste for the Green Party's methods in campaigning. As reported by CBS News, they accepted money and assistance in 2006 from then-senator Rick Santorum of the Republican Party in order to get on the ballot. The state's high court threw candidate Carl Romanelli off the ballot citing insufficient signatures, but the story exposed an even deeper rot within the Greens' political machine in Pennsylvania: the willingness to be compromised just to try to stick it to the Democrats, whom Greens consider little or no better than the GOP.

If America wants to dominate the globe in the name of spreading democracy (sic), how about giving some love to the subjugated? For example, let’s extend the ballot to the citizens of occupied Iraq. Their daily lives are inescapably intertwined with US foreign policy so what better way to teach them about democratic values than to give them a say as to which millionaire is the next figurehead of empire? As Rosemarie “RMJ” Jackowski sez: “No occupation without representation.” (Why am I positive that such a plan would result in a landslide for Obama’s pastor?)

Speaking of Rev. Wright, Senator Obama is taking a lot of heat for things that genuinely shouldn’t matter. It’s quite an illustration of how backward, blind, and racist America is that the worst thing the right wing can manage is Obama’s middle name or what his pastor says. The end result is a general public that sees Obama as a liberal (sic) who wants to change (sic) things. The issues, as always, are ignored. The richer get richer, the sick get sicker, the bombs continue to fall, eco-systems decline and vanish, and American Idol is down to its final 10 contestants.

The Clinton campaign’s response to the Ferraro flap provides another indication that the macrocosm is reflected in the microcosm.

One who considers both remaining Democratic candidates classic examples of the DLC strategy for destroying the party may attempt to innoculate himself against ism charges by pointing to past votes for Presidential tickets headed by a black man, Ron Daniels, and seconded by a woman, Geraldine Ferraro.

Self-Respect Regained

I remain a big fan of Daniels, the kind of guy who, in a (subscription only) conversation with Lewis Lapham, Nader, Kevin Phillips and others, might say:

We need a transformative vision, one advancing the notion that America can be more than it is today for average, ordinary people. The Democratic Party should advocate a program of basic rights, like the one enjoyed by many social democratic countries in Europe. Americans really feel that they have the best standard of living in the world. They don’t, but they don’t know they don’t. Virtually every nation in Western Europe has universal health care. In Sweden, Norway, and Holland, the social benefits are so generous that poverty has been practically eliminated. Wages in most European countries now outpace wages in the United States.

Why do we continue to support The Democrats in this day and age? I said the same thing in 2004 and I was told that we must change the party from within. Hogwash, the Democrats won’t change because their base is just fine with the way they are. The so-called “progressives” that vote for Democrats are not really progressive at all, the point being that if you vote for the “lesser of two evils” you are still voting for evil. The Democrats have supported this war since the beginning. Hillary Clinton supported the war and Obama supported the funding for this war.

The Democrats have not done the will of the people since they took control of Congress in 2006. We have heard only excuses on why this is so. The long and short of this matter is that a large percentage of Democrats have voted in lockstep with George W. Bush. They have not been censored by the Democratic Party because they are the majority of Democrats. This charade that the Democrats have been running on the American people has got to stop. The reason that progressives have not had a voice in the government can be laid at the feet of the Democrats. If the Democrats did not exist, there would be nothing to stop Progressives from getting behind Progressive candidates.

Last night I had Senator Mike Gravel on my radio show Liberalpro. I have my opinions on this Presidential race and talking with Senator Gravel allowed me to understand that my opinions on the Democrats and Republicans are in line with both Senator Gravel’s opinions and the people that tuned into the show. I came away from the show with a desire to state my views on this sham of an election with a renewed sense of urgency; I no longer feel that I am the only one that feels the Democratic Party has been hijacked by the Military industrial Corporate Complex. This will be the subject of this article. I’m sure that I could write a book about this. Since I really don’t have the time to write a book at this particular point, and that if I did, it would be virtually impossible to write one, find a publisher and get it printed before the election, I’m forced to write an article. The book will have to wait. Please indulge me while I write an article that will attempt to cover the most important areas of what will eventually be in the book.