Take a moment and rewind the clock back to 5 November 2008.
Remember the elation you felt? The sense of civic pride? That humbling feeling of having altered the course of history? After thirty years of "trickle down" Reaganomics and Ayn Randian "austerity" and all manner of top-down, corporate-driven attacks on working Americans, you thought you were finally getting someone into the White House who'd govern on your behalf.
You remember.
Single-payer health care ? U nion jobs ? Raising taxes on the wealthy? Advancing worker-friendly trade deals? How about closing Guantanamo ? Ending the "war on terror "? Prosecuting Wall Street banksters? Investigating Bush officials for war crimes? Maybe if he'd kept one or two of the promises he campaigned on you'd feel more like an equal partner in the democratic process. Like your vote counted. Like your concerns about the direction of the country had been taken seriously.
Eight years later, so much potential betrayed. From the very beginning the new president was making secret deals with his corporate handlers to cheat average citizens . Then came the appointments. You knew something was seriously wrong when he began putting the criminals who'd fleeced the country in charge of the government agencies tasked with investigating their crimes.
It appears some people actually are above the law. Or, as Bill the Butcher might say, "woopsy daisy!"
So here you are, eight years later, with another presidential election on the horizon, and you're starting to get that funny dej vu feeling all over again. You've been following the dazzling display of corporate power in muted disbelief, having already been marginalized by a rigged voting system. You campaigned tirelessly to help a true progressive win the Democratic nomination, but now, with the DNC's corporate stooges -- that is, superdelegates -- poised to appoint a candidate who is to the right of Ted Cruz on matters of war, you're not even sure you'll vote. The entire process is corrupt. You have no voice. And you know you have no voice. It's been documented.
What to do?
It appears you have three options.
You can accept the inevitable and refuse to vote altogether. "f*ck it. I'm outta' here." Like the imaginary townsfolk in " Parable of a Small Town ," you close your eyes and fade quietly "into the ideological abyss."
You can throw your hands up and vote for one of the two corporate candidates. As in, you know, what's to worry? Turn on the teevee, pop open another brew and settle back for the latest episode in state-sponsored violence.
Don't tell anyone, but there are only two Channels.
Channel One features that long-running hit comedy, "American Exceptionalism at Home." Watch as militarized police open a can of whoop ass on a bunch of fun-loving, free-loading, Constitutionally-protected protesters . You won't be able to contain yourself when they try arresting a Staten Island street vendor and end up holding on for dear life. Go ahead! Laugh it up! You're sure to feel your funny bone dancing when those jokesters in blue start blaming the victims of police violence for the violence. It's a hoot!
Over on Channel Two is that long-running hit drama, "American Exceptionalism Abroad." Watch as freedom-loving Marines bomb their way across six Muslim countries . Cheer as they lob canisters of "Willy Pete " into crowded hospitals . Feel their pain as they struggle to contain civilian populations that refuse to see large-scale military assaults as liberating . Listen closely as media personalities educate you on the benefits of eternal war, courtesy of a government-run propaganda program . Let yourself be swayed by a true believer . You too will be swollen with pride .
Or, finally, you can vote for a candidate who not only says she shares your progressive values, but who has an actual record to prove it.
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