14) Continued use of a "state of war", when in fact no war has been declared, to justify actions ranging from pre-emptive wars to drone strikes and targeted assassinations
15) President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder proclaimed that courts were not needed to determine which Americans should be targeted for assassination, and that the administration itself could provide "due process"
16) Continued and expanded use of civilian contractors and CIA personnel to perform military activities including drone strikes
17) No attempt at even the most basic, common-sense gun control laws, for example limiting the size of ammo clips or closing the gun show loophole
18) Candidate Obama promised a transparent administration open to scrutiny, but has instead been highly secretive about his meetings with lobbyists and corporations, while simultaneously waging war on whistleblowers
19) The White House was staffed with people from Wall Street. Tim Geithner, one of those involved in the financial collapse, was appointed as Treasury Secretary. Rather than holding Wall Street accountable, President Obama has made those responsible for the financial collapse even more powerful, with substantial influence over his agenda
20) President Obama has made deficit reduction his top priority, and set up the deficit reduction super committee that will make major cuts to social programs at a time when Americans critically need more help, not less
21) Full support for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a secretly negotiated free trade agreement like NAFTA which is certain to bring even more pain to American workers
22) Rather than working for peace in the Middle East, President Obama has pursued expanded war across the entire region
23) No attempt to limit corporate campaign funding.
This is not a list of trivial grievances - these are among the most important issues facing our Democracy and the world today.
Summary: If you are a progressive that objected to or perhaps even despised Bush administration policies then you need to ask yourself how much you are willing to compromise your principles based solely on your fear that the Republican is worse than the Democrat. A vote for President Obama is a vote in favor of his Bush era policies, not a vote against Republican campaign rhetoric. There is no "lesser of two evils" checkbox on the ballot, so no one will know that you were holding your nose as you voted. It will be an endorsement of policies you strongly disagree with. The only way to vote against those policies you reject is to not vote for either President Obama or Governor Romney. That means voting for a third party candidate such as Rocky Anderson of the Justice Party or Jill Stein of the Green Party wherever possible - or if no other choice is available, writing in your choice or leaving the presidential box unchecked. There is no other way in this election to vote against the status quo. You are not throwing your vote away if you vote with your conscience. It is imperative to tell the Democrats that you don't agree with the Obama agenda. It is also critically important to help third parties like the Green Party to gain momentum and qualify for federal matching funds.
Voting for the lesser of evils is not a plan for changing our country; it is acquiescence to endless war, unregulated capitalism and a corrupt system whereby corporations control Washington and the News Media. In 2008 President Obama did not campaign on delivering more Bush administration policies -- on steroids - but that is precisely what he did. Now, on the campaign trail once again President Obama is predictably talking about bringing change to Washington and moving forward. Why would any rational progressive think that he really means it this time around? Unrestrained by another run for the Presidency, Barack Obama will be free in his second term to move his agenda even further to the right than he already has, just as Bill Clinton did in his second term. There is no greater audacity I can think of beyond President Obama promising hope and change in his campaign, but instead embracing nearly every Bush/Cheney administration policy despised by progressives, and then expecting progressives to come out to vote for him again.
Governor Romney is as disliked by the far right as President Obama is disliked by the far left, and for good reasons -- they are both wholly owned subsidiaries of corporate America. What this country needs now is a defection on both sides of the political divide, a mass exodus from the corporate-owned parties to alternative parties. On the right there is the Tea Party or Libertarians, and on the left there is the Green Party or the Justice Party. The only way the corporate politicians will get the message is if large numbers of voters opt for alternatives. Much higher than normal vote counts for third party candidates will send a strong message to the Republicans and Democrats that we don't like their policies and most importantly - that they don't have a mandate to continue them. One of these two corporate candidates will win, but we can make sure that their win is dampened by very high turnout for third party candidates. Make your voice heard this November. Don't help give President Obama a "mandate" to continue Bush/Cheney era policies for another four years.
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