<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2800.1400" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV>The close of Raimondo's Mon column:</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>"We are in for a very bad time, and there isn't any way out of it. The electoral system is rigged against the expression of antiwar sentiment through any 'legitimate' channels, and, thanks to Congress, our rights to assemble, to organize, and to protest the actions of our government, without being harassed, spied on, and otherwise intimidated into silence, have been signed away. But, as Ralph Nader points out, our 'representatives' are safe in their gerrymandered districts, while the corporate sponsors of both parties feed at the public trough.</DIV> <DIV> <P>"What Nader calls '<FONT color=#990000>corporate socialism'</FONT> rules the day – and the uncomprehending silence that greeted Nader's denunciation of it at a San Francisco rally last week just underscores how clueless much of the Left is to what's really going on in this country. Nader's rhetoric was greeted with a single cry of 'Down with corporate socialism!' that rang out over the stunned audience. I couldn't help but burst out laughing, and my loud applause startled the people sitting in front of me enough to crane their necks to see who was causing this unseemly outburst. </P> <P>"It's too bad the Democratic party was so successful in its 'dirty tricks' campaign against Nader, keeping him off so many state ballots that he won't be on but a dozen or so. He could have given voice to a large constituency of antiwar voters, and given his own unique – if not always correct – analysis of what empowers the power elite. </P> <P>"I'm afraid that we're just going to have to grit our teeth, endure the next few months as best we can, and wait out the partisan static until the air clears after November. Then we can face what has to be faced and move forward from there."</P> <P><<A href="http://antiwar.com/justin/">http://antiwar.com/justin/</A>></P> <P>Meanwhile, protesters in Boston are put in barbed wire cages by the DNC, the "lesser" evil. Wonder what the RNC, the "worse" evil, has in mind -- crocodile pits? </P> <P>DP</P> <P> </P></DIV></BODY></HTML>