Article: Progressives (and Z Net) for Obama?

Every four years, much of the (so-called) Left gleefully drinks the Democrat's Kool Aid. Such liberals spend three years droning on about social justice (as everything gets progressively worse) and then they throw their support behind whatever corporate-funded millionaire the Democrats nominate. This trend is no longer surprising or even noteworthy.

This year, however, Lefty Inc. has managed to take things to a depressing new level of denial and acquiescence...thanks to the presence of a multi-racial carnival barker named Barack Obama.

Exhibit A: The lead article on the March 29 edition of Z Net was called "Progressives for Obama."

Written by Tom Hayden, Bill Fletcher, Jr., Barbara Ehrenreich, and Danny Glover, this piece begins: "All American progressives should unite for Barack Obama." From there, the authors go on to declare that Obama's campaign is, in reality, a "sudden and unexpected new movement" and is not only "just what America needs" but also proves that the (insert drum roll here) "future has arrived."

Get out your barf bags, the Limousine Left is at it again.

For the sake of clarity—and sanity—allow me to provide just a few minor details about Obama's "social movement": He's funded by Wall Street. He voted for every Iraq war appropriation bill he faced. He refused to be photographed with San Francisco's mayor for fear it'd be interpreted that he supported gay marriage. He voted against single payer health care. He supports the death penalty, the Israeli war machine, and the fence on the US-Mexican border. He voted to confirm Condoleezza Rice as Secretary of State and to reauthorize the Patriot Act. (Somebody stop me...I could go on for days.)

Of course, Tom Hayden's by-line attached to mainstream misinformation is hardly breaking news. It also shouldn't surprise anyone that "Progressives for Obama" appeared in pseudo-Left outlets like The Nation and the Huffington Post. But why the hell did Z Net post this absurdity? Sure, I realize the folks at Z Net fully embraced the vacant Anybody-But-Bush strategy in 2004 but (as far as I know) they never publicly mistook John Kerry for Emma Goldman. However, prominently posting "Progressives for Obama"—the kind of self-serving propaganda best confined to Democrat Party press releases and Michael Moore web rants—is shameful.

Let's be clear: The state of global affairs is nearing the point of no return. Barack Obama is part of the problem. Anyone who votes for Barack Obama is part of the problem. Anyone who dedicates valuable space on a popular website, misleading visitors about Barack Obama, is part of the problem.

If this article had appeared just three days later, I would've appreciated the "April Fool's Day" scam. Instead, as always, the joke's on us.

Mickey Z. is the author of the forthcoming novel, CPR for Dummies (Raw Dog Screaming Press), and can be found on the Web at http://www.mickeyz.net.