In 2004, the presidential race involved two white guys who went to the same privileged university. Some of us thought we had a choice even if it looked like a choice between bad and worst. Voters were led to believe that Bush and Kerry stood on fundamentally different platforms when in fact, they were both committed to supporting the best interests of the rich.

To me, it looked like a clear choice between vanilla and vanilla. Bob and I knew that whichever guy got to sit in the oval office, things weren’t going to change much. We voted for Ralph Nader and left the country to prevent our tax dollars from going to war.

In 2008, the voting public was led to believe that this time their choice would matter. For the first time in American history, a black man was running for president. And a well-spoken man he was, wooing liberals with promises of change and hope they could believe in. A groundswell of euphoric support ensued and Barak Obama took office.

Two years later, that change has not happened. The new administration left Guantanamo untouched and sent another 30,000 troops to Afhanistan. Under Obama’s watch, the FDA has approved genetically modified salmon, sugar beets and alfalfa. With HR 3200, the 50 million citizens without health insurance were handed to the for profit health insurance companies on a silver platter after the public option was removed. And he signed a Patriot Act extension with no reforms.

At this point in the political evolution of the United States of America, the country is run by the money makers, the CEO’s of corporations. Politicians, especially those at the top, are not much more than figureheads. It’s a two party system in which both parties support the 10% who control 80% of the wealth in this country.

Many of us thought a vote for Obama would be a vote for change. Come to find out it was really just a vote for chocolate over vanilla, breeding a whole new generation of disenfranchised voters.

Peace
Health care
Civil Liberties
Fair Trade
Solar Energy
Electoral Reform
Instant Run-off Voting
Impeachment for Bush and Cheney
A Foreign Policy based on Diplomacy
A Wall Street Securities Speculation Tax

I voted “No” to:
Militarism as a way of life
A Foreign Policy based on War
The Bailouts
Nuclear Power
Clean Coal
Free Trade
Corporate Crime
Anti-Union Laws

I voted for issues, not rhetoric. I voted for people, not corporations and their rich CEOs.
I voted to cut the huge, bloated, wasteful military budget to a level needed to protect the country.
I voted to reverse U.S. Policy in the Middle East, including a rapid withdrawal of troops from Iraq and an end to support for the militarists in Israel.
I voted to adopt single payer national health insurance that would save $350 billion and apply those savings to comprehensively cover all Americans for all medically necessary services.
I voted to end Corporate Personhood. See Licensed to Kill.
I voted to stop subsidizing entrenched oil, nuclear, electric, coal mining, and biofuel interests and to invest heavily in solar and wind and in more efficient homes, automobiles, businesses and government facilities.
I voted for a first-class, high-speed passenger rail system that will save more than it costs.
I voted to tax the buying and selling of blocks of derivatives for profit so as to help lower income taxes on the working class, reduce speculation in the markets and increase stability in the oil and mortgage industries.
I voted against NAFTA and the WTO, which make commercial trade supreme over environmental, labor, and consumer standards.
I voted against the winner-take-all election system which often pushes voters to vote their fears and not their beliefs – or to simply not vote at all.

I voted with my heart, with my brain, and with my values. I voted for Ralph Nader and Matt Gonzalez.

“There are those that are gonna say that what we’re doing is gonna take votes from other candidates. Let me just emphasize this: There’s nothing that we do that can force anybody to vote for us, but we very much want the opposite not to be true – that anybody that wants to vote for us should not be forced to vote for other candidates.

If there is any candidate that fears what we’re trying to do here, then I invite them to go out and earn the votes that would otherwise be cast for us. We are in a democracy, that’s how it works. Candidates with different opinions put them forward and go compete for votes.” – Matt Gonzalez

All American troops have been withdrawn from Iraq
The Defense Department has been replaced by a Department of Peace
A single payer system provides everyone with health care
College education is free for every citizen
A minimum 40 mpg has been set for all new passenger cars
The passenger rail system is being rebuilt

Other signs of progress:
The human population is down to five billion and is steadily dropping
Only 5 million children (down from nearly 10 million in 2006) died last year from preventable causes, due to a steadily increasing adoption rate
Air travel has decreased by 30%
There is a huge resurgence in Victory Gardens or Community Gardens
The average food item travels only 800 miles, down from 1500
Worldwide meat production dropped another 5% last year
25% of all new homes have built in composting toilets, water catchments, grey water recycling, solar panels, passive solar and wind power
Traditional Main Street towns are making a come back
Big Box Stores are showing a 20% decline in sales
Farmers Markets are on the increase
Locally owned businesses are booming
And so on…

Ahhhhh – one can dream, can’t they?