There was a time when I had some hope for Obama, although being deeply suspicious of his rapid rise to political prominence on seemingly nothing more than a mixed-race heritage and an effective oratorical style. That was before the big FISA sellout.

The vice-president, a heartbeat away from the most powerful position in the world, must be an apprentice president if he is to be worth anything at all. Now, it's true that many of our past presidents myopically did not see it that way...Franklin Roosevelt treated his three vice-presidents as if they were mere room furniture. The wiser presidents (Eisenhower and Clinton, among others) have seen that the vice-presidency is one of the best launch points for the presidency itself and therefore a way of achieving partisan continuity when they themselves have been termed out. Should the Obama-Biden ticket be elected and reelected, Joe Biden would be 74 years old at the expiration of the second term, older than John McCain is now, and seriously questionable in the public eye as a viable presidential candidate.

No party should select a vice-presidential candidate that is more than 52 years of age at the time of nomination.

As to Joe Biden himself, Obama conceivably could have done worse, but by choosing one of the most entrenched of the Washington political elite he has given the lie to his "change we can believe in(sic)" slogan. Expect more of the same shenanigans we have seen over the past 8 years to continue, regardless of which party is elected: more runaway deficits, more military intimidation and aggression, more corporate dictation of national policy, more unwarranted investigations of American citizens, etc.

Various writers are complaining about whether or not McCain and Obama represent the best America can provide as presidential candidates. Well, the answer is that these candidates have been selected not by an informed public, but by a corporate-controlled media that awards or denies coverage and "spin" according to the degree that the candidates conform to the program of the globalist oligarchy. True, Obama represents a "kinder, gentler" leader in the establishment of world hegemony and monopoly of resources, but the end will be the same: death and economic enslavement of millions in other countries, the fiscal ruination of America, and the continuing erosion of civil liberties.

The conventions mask the grim reality of our economic and political future in an orgy of cheerleading and sentiment, of scintillated lights and partying, all of which distracts us from the real issues and the effort that will be necessary to free the human species from the bondage of globalist corporate power.

Dennis Kucinich doesn't just give us mealy-mouthed platitudes about "hope" and "change", he lays out specifically the criminal activities of the Bush/Cheney/Rove Administration and pushes hard for action to remove and prosecute these felons. He doesn't vote for compromises letting corporate violators of Constitutional rights off the hook, he does mess around with voting for something before he was against it. Kucinich is one of the few representatives in Congress that is actually doing the job all are sworn to do: defending the Constitution, investigating abuses, and proposing legislation that serves the GENERAL welfare, not special interests. If the Democrats would take a few pages from his playbook I could get behind their candidates.

Now if only he hadn't been ignored, ridiculed, and slighted by the corporate-controlled media during the primary season, the Democrats may have had a real alternative candidate instead of another corporate lackey.

Sarah Palin thinks that one is good for her campaign and one is not, and that the media should report only on what is good for her campaign. That is our job, and that is our duty. If that is not actually in the Constitution, it should be. (And someday may be.)

It wouldn't make a whit of difference. Few people in Washington DC seems to notice or care what is in the Constitution anymore.

When was the last time the Congress performed its duty to declare war when an international conflict arose? When was the last time it brought a criminally out-of-control Chief Executive to account through impeachment proceedings? When was the last time it denied that Chief Executive the ability to continue criminal aggression by restricting his resources to do so? When was the last time that it insisted in equal treatment before the law (amnesty for corporate felons in the FISA bill)? One could go on and on...

Until the Congress and the American people get off their backs and insist that the business of government be conducted according to the rules, we can all look forward to continuing infractions, abuses, and criminal victimization.

National Sovereignty vs. Corporate Globalism.

Diplomacy based on humane principles vs. "Bush Doctrine" (rub out a small country every decade or so to keep the rest intimidated).

Fiscal Responsibility vs. Perpetually Expanding Debt.

Rule of Law and Equal Protection vs. Executive privilege, cronyism, and violation of human and citizen rights.

The fact is that both the Demonrats and the Rethuglicans embrace to a greater or lesser extent the right (not correct or even politically conservative) positions of these issues.

It was good to see Rep. Dr. Ron Paul get the Greens, Libertarians, Constitutionalists, and Ralph Nader to issue joint statement supporting the left positions on these issues last week. I saw it on C-SPAN, not in Salon.

I'm voting for one of the minor party candidates this time around. If either major party wants my vote in the future, it is going to have to embrace the sides of these issues that insures the continuance of our Republic and put an end to American imperialist aspirations.