Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Progressive To Do List

The last candidate who was willing to go through even a pretense of advocating progressive positions is out of the race. Now that John Edwards is gone, we know that one of the dysfunctional political twins, Clinton or Obama, will be the democratic nominee.

The only course of action for true progressives is to disengage from this sham. The presidential election must now go on the back burner. Our priorities should be as follows.

1. Keep Dennis Kucinich in Congress - He is in a tough primary battle for his House seat. That primary will take place on March 4th. He has no ads on the air, but his opponent does. His opponent also has endorsements from the Mayor of Cleveland and the city's daily newspaper.
A Kucinich defeat would be disastrous. Make a contribution today.

2. Put impeachment to the table - Impeachment is the only way to stop Bush from doing further damage in the next 12 months. As Glen Ford said in his introduction to my Black Agenda Report column, "Lame duck presidents still retain the power to destroy the planet, and to set in motion policies that corporate Democratic successors will fail to dismantle."

Bush can be put in check with impeachment hearings. The Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee who refuse to support impeachment must face primary challenges. The fear of electoral defeat is their only motivation to do the right thing.

It is difficult to focus on these actions when the press inundates us with nonsense about Billary/Obama sniping. We should not put our hope in a now useless campaign. Our hope lies in challenging them, in making it clear that business as usual will not be tolerated after one of them is sworn in next January.

Next Tuesday, February 5th, primaries will be held across the nation. I am a New Yorker but I will not be voting for Senator Clinton. I won't be voting for Obama either. Dennis Kucinich is on the ballot and he will get my vote.

You are free to vote for whomever you choose. If other candidates are on the ballot in your state they should get your vote. You have the right to write in a candidate. Use your rights while you still have them.

Next Tuesday tell Billary and Obama, "A pox on both your houses."