Democrats, you are being played, by Obama, the Democratically-controlled Congress and your party.

There is no way a general would still have a job given the level of insubordination General McChrystal has seemingly perpetrated against the President of the United States. My guess is that his comment about needing 60,000 more troops is being leaked on purpose so Obama, when he only sends 30-40,000, can spin it to make us think he is not a warmonger. And Democrats will buy it. Just like they are buying the health “reform” machinations being played out by the Democrats in the House and Senate. It is by no means just the Blue Dogs who are at fault. It is the leadership, the moderates and even the so-called liberals. It is so sad to see them grandstand for your donations and then vote for fake reform. It is all theater done so they can say, “See, we tried, but just couldn’t get a bill passed.” Or if they actually do pass  Harry Reid’s “compromise bill” (that was so severely compromised from the start as to make it useless) – a 2,000 page ode to the insurance/pharmaceutical industry that will not even kick in till 2014 - it will be such a piece of crap, it will be scrapped, and we won’t have a shot at real national health reform again, certainly not in our lifetimes Single Payer Activists to Congress: Defeat Democratic Health Bill … and from OpEdNews – Article: Weak Public Option Myths That Liberals Believe  “Doctors, nurses, and patients following the de-evolution of health care reform know that the public option (especially the idea of a robust public option) is a carefully calculated political carrot being offered to progressives so they will sit down, shut up about single-payer, and support this current corporate giveaway to private insurance companies, which is moving through Congress right now.”All we hear from the Democrats in the Congress and from the few Democratic-leaning news show hosts and the so called Democratic activist groups is, “We must pass a bill with a public option.” Other than Rep. Dennis Kucinich, who voted against the useless bill in the House, you don’t hear anyone saying, “We must pass a really good bill that takes care of our citizens instead of the insurance industry.”

Whether we are talking about domestic or foreign policy issues, we never see any positive changes because rank and file Democrats are willing to get down on the ground and lick up the few crumbs thrown at them. Remaining a registered Democrat while watching the mind-boggling corruption and abhorrent behavior in what is supposed to be the “party of the people” is servile and cowardly. I was a lifelong Democrat until a year or so ago, and it is time that other Democrats leave the party. Leave and tell them, in no uncertain terms, that unless  they start to act on behalf of the citizens of this country, there will be no more donations to their coffers (how did it happen that 44% of Congress are now millionaires), there will be no volunteer hours, and you will no longer vote for them just because they have a “D” in front of their name.

Even more sobering is the realization that we don’t actually have a two-party system in this country. SCOOP: McCain and Obama Camps Coordinated on Building Staff …

There is only the corporatist party. We are just told there are two separate parties so that we have the illusion of choice when we go to the ballot box. While I disagree with a couple of David Swanson’s conclusions below, one being that we continue to vote for the best of the worst of the candidates (voting for the lesser of two evils still gives you evil), this is a fascinating account of the connections between the players in Washington Which Side Are You On?

They play an interesting game – make the “Republicans” look so crazy that Democrats assume they have have no choice and vote for anyone who calls him/herself a Democrat. We can’t continue to play the game by their rules. As activists, we must go outside our comfort zone and stop repeating over and over again the things that don’t work.Those in power do not care what we think – the letters are tossed in the garbage, the emails are deleted, the phone calls are ignored and protestors are laughed at and then arrested. If we show up in droves they leave town. Ralph Nader has talked about other industrialized nations enjoying such things as cradle to grave health insurance, four weeks of paid vacation, and a whole host of other services that are not available to Americans. He believes, and I agree, that the reason they have this is because they operate under multi-party systems. It has become obvious that change for us will not happen from within. It can only be accomplished by a third (or more) party movement.

One more thing – do not let anyone make you doubt that being liberal is anything other than a good thing. Even progressives will talk in terms of the problems with those on the “far right and the far left.” There is no far left. Real liberals have empathy for the plight of others and believe that everyone on this planet should have a decent standard of living and be free of man-made misery. If that is who you are, be proud and act on your convictions.