24 June 2008
As a member of the New Left, a term that possessed high regard by me, born in the middle 1960’s, for those progressives of the decade of change. I was two years old when the Demonbratic National Convention turned into a bloodbath, in Peace Park, in 1968. For years, I studied the happenings that surrounded the split of the party, in Chicago, and what led to the ugly reaction by the Establishment. I listened to The Doors and memorized the words to songs that I did not quite understand, at the time. Blood in the streets in Chicago, up to my knees.
This year, my hometown has the honor of hosting the Demonbratic National Convention. It is difficult not to be excited in the hopes of having a huge party in Civic Center Park, in my neighborhood, and on my hometurf. At the same time, I am naturally worried about the protesters, delegates, and police departments. While Rush Limbaugh sings “I am dreaming of riots in Denver,” to the tune of “I am dreaming of a White Christmas,” the leftist organizations bicker and battle over how extreme to be, or if one group is more radical than the others. For reference, look up the rhetoric of recreate68.org and the Green Party of Colorado for examples of what I am referring to, the groups who do not know if they can play nicely in the political sandbox, or not.
While I was old enough to vote before 1992, I did not participate in the electoral process until I was seduced by the “Rock the Vote” sales pitch of the youthful Bill Clinton. He played saxophone on late-night television, and appeared to reach out to the youth movement, promising a new look, and the buzzword of the week, change, from the status quo of the Reagan and Bush administrations that proceeded him. After campaign promises of an environmentally conscious vice-president, I voted for the Demonbrats under the hypnotic promise of change.
Shortly thereafter, I was reintroduced to the Green Party, the watered down American version, a bastard child of the German and United Kingdom parliament seats. Believing in their Ten Key Values, the message mixed well with my neo-Marxist readings of an ultra-liberal arts higher education. Voting for Ralph Nader because he was aligned with the Greens in 1996, after Clinton signed NAFTA, and the promised environmentally conscious administration that continued with the established dependence on oil, I voted my conscience, knowing that it was a symbolic gesture.
By 2000, I was firmly entrenched in politics enough to know that I was not going to see a a Demonbratic candidate that would be interested in a true change from the business-as-usual antics of the Beltway. Again, I voted for the Green Party, and this time, rather hesitantly for Nader. I have often said, over the years, that the Demonbratic Party left me, before I left the Demonbrats. We are left to wonder what would have happened, if Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth had been released in the years of the Clinton administration. Would we struggling with an ever-shortening timeline of possible repair options of global warming?
This brings me to the present campaign season, and the candidacy of Barack Obama. The promise of change is heavily sprinkled through his speeches, and on his website. However, an analysis of his voting record shows that he is, indeed, voting along the special interest party lines of the Demonbrats. In the last weeks, he has voted to allow the Bush administration and telecommunications companies to continue with their illegal wiretapping practices with immunity and secrecy. I hesitate to endorse a candidate, who is unable, or incapable, of initiating the changes that are needed to reverse the devastating impact of the Bush administration. Instead of having experience working the aisles of the Beltway, (the common excuse why Obama is not a viable candidate is his lack of national political experience) the ideal candidate would be willing to take risks that actualize real change to the established rules of the proverbial game of politics.
Mr. Obama, what do you intend to do in order to stop these ridiculous wars? What do you plan to do about the impeachment of Bush and Cheney? How will you save us from this oil and energy crisis, other than what has been put into place by the present administration? What will you do to establish an alternative energy program? When will you close Guantanamo Bay prison complex, discontinue the use of illegal renditions and the practice of torture? Will you continue to allow wiretapping and the immunity of the telecommunication companies? How will you repair the education and health programs, that are, both, rotten at their cores? These questions are just the beginning of a dialogue that you need to have with the American population. You need to convince us that you are not simply presently campaign rhetoric of change. Help us to understand what you intend to do, and you will find that there is a large group of people, who will work to see that your programs are not only elected, but actively supported, once you are the next president of the United States.
