Mike Gravel is the Only One!

With Edwards Pulling Out, Mike Gravel is the Only One. Maybe it's His Time!

With John Edwards announcing that he will drop out of the Presidential race today and Dennis Kuchinich doing so last week, leaves only one Progressive still in the race. This happens to be the one man I originally supported, before I was sidetracked by Edwards, who had promised all of his supporters that he would remain in the race until the end. I guess that Edwards has had enough. Maybe it is a good thing for America, for if he can’t weather the storm of a Presidential race, what kind of president would he have made?

The only Progressive still in the race and who remains true to his principles is Mike Gravel. To line up behind Gravel is easier to do now more than at any time in his candidacy. We have only two corporate candidates that are opposing him, the choices have narrowed to such a point that to support Gravel is now a no-brainer. Am I proposing that Mike could capture the Democratic nomination? Of course not, but a strong bid by Gravel could pave the way for a third party run by Gravel or maybe somebody else. There is nothing that Gravel has said that I cannot support.

The greatest thing about supporting Gravel is that by doing so, you will not hurt any other candidate that don’t need to be hurt politically. Throwing in for Mike Gravel would make a statement nationwide that we understand what is happening to our political process and we are not going to stand for it. Mike is the only one with the tenacity to see this process through to the end. A strong show of support for the only Progressive still in the race is the only logical thing for us to do. Forget about “the lesser of two evils” argument. This is a terrible way to choose a leader and we shouldn’t have to be put in a position like that.

Mike might be a folksy, homespun type of guy, but he is the only one that see’s through the smoke and mirrors that all the rest are using. Hillary Clinton may have been a Progressive once in her life, but the support of the oil and pharmaceutical industries and the banking interests, as well as her membership in the Bilderburg group and her support of AIPAC and it’s objectives, completely destroy her credentials as an agent of change. The exact same case can be made for Obama and his pandering to AIPAC. He has also taken money from the same corporations that have made our democracy nothing but a front for corporate controlled government. His recent remarks about Israel “defending themselves” from the Palestinian terrorists on the Gaza Strip have also negated any call for change that he may have supported in the past.

Supporting Mike Gravel is the only real choice that we can make. The thought of him becoming a player in the political arena would send a message to corporate America that we are not defeated. This would be a message that they would hear loud and clear. The message we must send to these political candidates and their corporate backers is “What are you going to do about us?” We have their number and we shouldn’t go away quietly, or play nice with their candidates. If you think you are beaten you are. Maybe, just maybe, we can pull off a miracle, God knows we need one, As Dylan once said; "You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows".

That’s the way I see it.

Timothy V. Gatto 

Former Chairman of the Liberal Party of America, Tim is a retired Army Sergeant. He currently lives in South Carolina. A regular contributor to OpEdNews, he is the author of Kimchee Kronicles and is currently at work on a new novel

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