NO WAR ON IRAN & OBAMA TWO-STEPPING AGAIN

I am thinking about Obama right now. I just read that he had changed his position on "Super PAC" money. In this particular case Obama gave his blessing to a pro-Democratic Party “Super PAC” that will work to help his reelection. He's changed his position on so many crucial issues. Most of you are aware enough of these step-backs so I don't have to repeat them all here.

The bigger point for me is the needed discussion about why anyone who considers themselves a serious "progressive" could now vote for him. The drum beat has begun and in recent days I am hearing from those who are susceptible to the fear campaign - "I'm going to have to vote for Obama just because I can't watch a Republican get elected".

I just want to put my head in my hands and sigh. Here we go again.

I have to remind myself that voting is a sacred right and my friends do indeed have the right to use their vote as they wish. OK, I get that.

But..... after you've (I'm referring to the collective you) been working hard for years - endless meetings, travel, organizing protests and conferences, handing out flyers, writing letters to Congress, getting arrested.......how can you then just swallow a line that has a "hook" on the end of it? You know better than most that the oligarchy runs this show and they run two horses in every race. How can you allow yourself to fall into this old trap?

Some folks reply that they are being pragmatic. They are not happy with Obama but that he will have smoother edges than a more rough and tumble Republican would.

Alright, so I acknowledge that Obama is smoother than George W. Bush. He has kept the "left" under wraps (until the recent Occupy movement blossomed) while at the same time going further than Bush did on many issues like attacking our civil liberties and more aggressive war making.

I fully admit that we have no "winning" electoral option. The Green Party candidate or the new Justice Party candidate Rocky Anderson are not going to win. But is "winning" the election the real solution to our problems? I don't think so.

We need a massive global anti-corporate movement. Anything that builds that movement is good. Giving our energy, money, or votes (that are ultimately interpreted as an endorsement of the status quo) to either of the two corporate-war parties I believe negates much of what we are trying to build.

In the end we each go into the voting booth and make our mark. What counts most of all though is what we do when we come out of it.