Noam Chomsky on this sham we call a presidential election. Powerful special interests and corporations trump the will of the American people. The public is irrelevant.
http://www.informationclearinghouse....
On Barack Obama: "His party handlers presented him as a blank slate; you can write whatever you like. And there are a few slogans: Hope, Unity, Change... now write down whatever you like there."
When asked what is an actual progressive system of changing the American electoral system, Chomsky replies:
"We have models right in front of us. Say Bolivia, the poorest country in South America. They had a democratic election that you can’t even dream of in the west." "A couple of years before this they managed to drive Bechtel and the World Bank out of the country when they were trying to privatize the water." "They didn’t have to change the country’s electoral laws, they had to change the way the public acts."
And THAT is the promise of the Netroots. Change the way the public acts. Not cheerlead for one corporate/special interest bought-and-owned candidate over another corporate/special interest bought-and-owned candidate – thinking you’ve actually gained something.
The Netroots is at a crucial moment right now. It can be a force to HOLD Barack Obama to his progressive promises, and to shape his agenda (since there was so little substance to it to begin with; this is our opportunity to SHAPE it).
Or, the Netroots can sit around jerking off with in-fighting and pissing matches. The Netroots can piss away its promise, or it can make a REAL difference. The choice is ours.
Don't FOLLOW Obama; push him and call him out to make OUR aganda HIS agenda. LEAD him; he is representing US.