I am a progressive. I Am A Progressive. I AM A PROGRESSIVE! This is my mantra, which I wrap around me like a cloak to protect against the onslaught of the Celebrity Candidates and their round the clock media love fests.
Absent of style and substance, but chock full o' hubris, catch-phrases and "bank", Hill-billy and Obama are busy barnstorming the nation, selling their presto-change-o snakeoil to the unsuspecting masses who are so eager for a switch from the Bush administration that they would vote in Alf if only he would declare himslef a Dem.
They leave me cold, these rock-stars of the political stage. Hillary with her crocodile tears and Barack with his faux-Kennedyesque mystique. I am left to wonder "Where is The Beef?". Sadly, in this contest, there is no beef - just 2 slices of moldy bread without even a slice of cheese in the midddle to make the offering more appetizing.
Where are the visionaries? Where are the idealists? Where are the leaders upon whom we can rely to make this country and this world a better place? Alas, this contest no longer is about who best to put progressive ideals into action, but about who has the staying power and star-wattage to get on Leno, Conan and Letterman all in the same night.
Of course, I am a disaffected John Edwards/Dennis Kucinich supporter. These two men, of such lofty goals and such dreams, are no more. They have been forced to leave the game early. One too handsome, the other not telegenic enough, disparate in their looks, but not in their outlook. The were the true agents of change. They called out for an end to the abomination that is the Iraq invasion. They pledged to end the healthcare crisis and offered, gasp, heaven forfend - REAL SOLUTIONS. They vowed to protect the environment and spur the economy by ending America's reliance on foreign oil and creating green technologies. They were for the common man, the downtrodden, the marginalized. John spoke about and ACTED UPON his belief that poverty needs to be eradicated in this country and beyond.
And yet, while Louisiana remains a disaster zone, veterans are left to sleep under bridges, gas is over $ 3 a gallon and home foreclosures are skyrocketing, what do we, the Democrats, do? Why, we eagerly promote the ascension of our version(s) of GW; tall on charisma but short on, umm, subtance. We are ready to coronate the Empress or Emperor who has no clothes. We care not that our candidates are simply empty heads and empty hearts, as long as they are not empty wallets. All that I can say to that is "Caveat Emptor".