LISTEN DEEPLY TO WHAT THEY SAY

Everybody is talking about Hillary and Obama. Which one do you like they ask? As if they were the only two choices we have.

They are, on the Democratic Party side, the only two real options that the power boys are going to give you. They are going to get most of the media, most of the money, and since the Dems now have front-loaded the primaries, they will get most of the votes as the system has been rigged to make it a quick strike and then it's all over. What I mean is that the primaries are now being set up so that you have to have big money to advertise on the TV. They are going to stack primaries together making the old shoe leather process of actually visiting states and talking with the public obsolete. The days of an also ran making a dramatic come from behind victory,after losing early primaries, are over. The power structure can't afford to leave democracy to the public. You are much too dangerous. You might pick the wrong candidate.

My prediction is that it will be a ticket on the Dems side of Clinton-Obama. Hillary has some serious negatives with voters. She does not inspire folks. A "fresh" face like Obama will help give her the momentum to pull it off.

It should be remembered that Hillary told AIPAC in recent days that the U.S. and Israel would not allow Iran to develop nuclear weapons. Translate that to mean Hillary would use the nuclear bomb on Iran to stop them from building nukes. "All options are on the table," Hillary said. I've also heard Hillary say that "The American people need to relax. We're going to be in Iraq a long time. We've been in Korea for 50 years."

I watched a Chicago Tribune reporter on CSPAN a couple of weeks ago being interviewed about Obama. "Isn't he too radical?" the reporter was asked. "Actually no he is not. He has a very good relationship with the Chicago banking community," the reporter told the CSPAN host. There you are. Obama passes the test. He will play the game.

Obama announced his candidacy this past weekend saying he wanted to "strategically redeploy" the U.S. troops by March 2008. You've got to listen closely to catch it. Strategic redeployment does not mean bring the troops home. It means move them into Kuwait and then send them back into Iraq on special forces assassination missions and Air Force bombing missions. Obama, and others calling for strategic redeployment, just want to get most of the troops out of the direct line of fire. When asked this weekend in New Hampshire if he'd be willing to vote against further funding for the Iraq occupation - Obama said no. Same position as Clinton and most of the rest of the bunch now running for president - except for Kucinich.

The American voter has to get smart fast. But a lot of voters, including many of those who are against the occupation, don't want to hear the details because they still want to believe that the Dems are going to rescue us from this burning building. Problem is they won't.

This is the big leagues of politics. If you want to play ball then you have to learn to hit the curve. Otherwise you will keep striking out.

The curve can be mastered but you've got to keep your eye on the ball. You've got to watch the face of the politicians so close you can see the twitch in their eye at the same time they are mumbling bullshit from their mouths. Once you get the hang of it it becomes much easier to do. Pretty soon you are hitting each pitch they throw you out of the park. You'll find yourself saying, "Don't throw me that crap no more Jack. I can see it coming."

Once you can do that you become a free human being with a mind that is not shackled to the slavery of contemporary politics. And once you become a free agent you can then begin to make your own way in the world, helping others to find liberation from the oligarchy that rules us today. You can become a real organizer who suffers from no more illusions. The slight-of-hand will no longer fool you.

Until we become free from the rigged game nothing changes. That's a promise you can take to Obama's bank.