I posted this at Common Dreams earlier (URL: http://www.commondreams.org/view/2008/10/29-9#comment-1068796):

First, let me mention that I received a personally singed campaign letter from Ms. Sheehan yesterday, and feel very thankful that she exhibits such grassroots decency and courtesy. Thanks- Ms. Sheehan, for your letter, and my best wishes for your efforts. I cannot sufficiently emphasize the importance of getting her, and many more like her, into the United States Congress and Senate.

Literally, the survival of human civilization depends on this nation's ability to break out of the tiresome, deadly and destructive Duopoly that is corrupt to the core, and in which the D and R labels are simply that- utterly false and disingenuous labels.

For the longest time- breaking the Duopoly (or Oiligarchy, or Plutocracy- pick your favorite poison) has been impossible. The neo-Fascist machinery is firmly in place to inhibit the growth of any genuine democratic dissent, let alone representation, in this false excuse for a "democratic" nation. The political clowns and rogues that run the show are deeply marinated in corporate funds, answer to the likes of GE, General Dynamics, Lockheed Martin, Halliburton, ExxonMobil, and of course, the most deviant and loathsome of them all- Rupert Murdoch. And this list does not even include the various special-interest lobbies- foremost, of course, being AIPAC and its various allies. So vile and corrupt is this setup that even otherwise decent and honorable individuals (such as a Dennis Kucinich, a Russ Feingold, or a Paul Wellstone) are either rendered impotent, or in some cases, drawn into the whirlpool of corruption by the radioactive contagion of the system.

Despite the resilient efforts of a social activist such as Ralph Nader (one needs also mention here how such leading intellectuals as Noam Chomsky are systematically marginalized or ignored in the Fascist Duopoly; for slightly lesser campaigners, such as Norman Finkelstein, or a Ward Churchill, the price of intelligence and clarity is even much stiffer)- the status quo in this dysfunctional system is firmly in place. A major movement, comparable to the Civil Rights campaigns of the '60s, or the Women's Suffrage campaigns of the late 1800s- is absolutely essential to move this country towards a fair, race-blind, non-xenophobic, and just plain humane and progressive future.

A friend recently pointed out to me that the continuing emphasis on "voting for the lesser evil" is simply a vote to continue the status quo. I do agree, though, that the criminal Bushco regime's manipulated ascent to power in 2000 has led to irreparable damage to the world- including, foremost, the genocide of at least one million human beings at the hands of remorseless, accountability-free war criminals.

Yet, in retrospect, if there is a vital lesson to be learned from Nader's campaigns- it is the relative indistinguishability of the Ds and the Rs, and that both are vicious war-mongers, where so-called "hawks" (actual cowards and ignorant opportunists to the last one) simply browbeat and shout out the few "doves" (wise and actually Jesus-like human beings).

As my friend correctly points out- one mechanism by which this hopeless and destructive stalemate can be changed, albeit slowly- is to provide great public support and funds to non-Duopoly candidates for the U.S. Congress, such as Ms. Sheehan. In my past 28 years in the U.S.- I have seen no more than perhaps half-a-dozen "Independents" in the U.S. Legislature. This is beyond pathetic. One Bernie Sanders cannot be expected to do much at all (it is to his credit that regardless of this fact, he often does get noticed and is heard giving voice to the people and their concerns).
Corrupt and beholden politicians such as Nancy Pelosi and Diane Feinstein must be removed and replaced by peace-loving, humanitarian and uncorrupted representatives such as Cindy Sheehan, in increasing numbers.

Voters of San Francisco- an exceptional, iconoclastic, and proudly Liberal city within the otherwise narrow and bigoted backwaters that abound in vast pockets in this country- please vote in large numbers to oust the repulsive, traitorous "Impeachment is off the Table" enabler (Pelosi)- who has shamelessly offered support and shelter to a murderous, soulless regime of neocons and mafioso con-men (and women- look at Michele Bachman). PLEASE DO THE RIGHT THING AND SEND CINDY SHEEHAN TO THE CONGRESS, and begin the much-needed national atonement for the needless and obscene killing of her son, and hundreds of thousands of others.