My Vote For Obama

By Dave Lindorff

Bill Clinton was the worst thing to happen to the Democratic Party
and to progressives since that racist warmonger Woodrow Wilson won the
presidency and dragged the US into the utterly pointless and incredibly
bloody First World War.

Clinton, by posing as a progressive, confused and undermined, and
ultimately betrayed the liberal/progressive wing of the party,
shattering what was left of the New Deal coalition and leaving the
American left adrift and riven by the conflict between those who
thought the Democratic Party was the only viable vehicle for
progressive reform and those who thought it was hopelessly in the grip
of corporate interests.

Barack Obama offers the hope of bringing that era of debilitating confusion to an end.

To be honest, Obama, you lost me when you voted for the PATRIOT Act reauthorization in 2006. You lost me again when you voted for the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) amendment in 2008. And you lost me every single time you voted for yet more war funding.

Don't even get me started on your vote for the $700 billion Wall Street bailout.

I cast a ballot for you in November, but I just can't share in this moment of collective euphoria over your election.

So, if your transition team really wants feedback on "where President-Elect Obama should lead this country," here's a Top Five list:

I am voting for Barack Obama because we share a common faith in peace, justice, humanity, and social change.

Our faith was profoundly tested during 12 years of Reagan-Bush and 8 more of Bush-Cheney. America has fallen from the leader among nations to the pariah. Our economy is collapsing, our savings are vanishing, and our planet is in peril. Yet the powerful people and institutions who created this disaster continue to rule us - and rob us blind.

Barack Obama is an extraordinary gift to America and the world. Through compassion, intelligence, and hard work, he has overcome the enormous obstacles of race and lack of wealth. He is an inspiration to us all.