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So These are the Democrats?

Hillary Clinton wants to be president so badly that she is now wrapping herself in the flag. It was reported this week that she will now be co-sponsoring a bill in the Senate with Sen. Bob Bennett (R-Utah), who is one of the very worst right-wing reactionary folks in Congress. The bill would make it a crime to desecrate the flag. Hillary is doing this to try to win conservative voters to her side. The move shows just how much contempt she has for people. Does Hillary think that conservatives are so stupid that they will rally to her side just because she makes this blatantly political move?

Hillary is also saying it would be “a big mistake” for the U.S. to end the occupation of Iraq. She has told the American people to relax and be patient, we will be in Iraq for a long time. We’ve been in Korea for 50 years she said last February on Faze the Nation….I heard her with my own ears.

So these are the Democrats….the opposition party……Joseph Biden, John Kerry, Joe Lieberman (who is now considering becoming Bush’s next Secretary of War after Rumsfeld resigns after the first of the new year), and many “leading” Dems are saying they would do a better job of running the war in Iraq. And they want my vote? Forget it.

Hillary and the rest of the reactionary Dems think people like me are so desperate that we will settle for anything but Bush….but I don’t see much difference. I’ve spent my entire adult life working to end war….what makes them think that I will just roll over and vote for another version of the same thing?

People in the progressive movement should not fall for this slight of hand by the Dems. We should have more self respect. We need to think long-term right now and demand real change in America. We need to withdraw our support from a political party that ignores the truth and is ultimately a partner in this whole deception.

We should put our energies behind local and statewide candidates that will tell the truth….whether they are good Dems, Greens or Independents. Don’t worry if they win or lose. We win by going out and organizing people and showing that there are people out there who will speak the truth. That will give people hope. We need to rebuild this thing from the ground up and quit thinking that electing a compromised president will change things. We’ve got hard work ahead of us. There is no magic bullet or easy way out of this.

BRUCE K. GAGNON is Coordinator of the Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space. He can be reached at: globalnet@mindspring.com