The Politics of Change?

The people have known something was wrong in Washington for a long time. Their longing for change has even brought a superficial shift in the political climate.

Two candidates were nominated based on the promise of change -- McCain to stop earmarks and corruption, and Obama to change from the policies of Bush -- without addressing the underlying lack of control by the American electorate, nor what can be done to reform the system that has allowed things to spiral to such depths.

Bur rather than address the abuses resulting from the tendency of those with power to use it for their own ends, our desire for change is being turned back upon us as an inducement to pick one side or another in their ongoing struggle for control of our national destiny.

And as it looks, they know us pretty well.

They are once again trying to curry our favor by promising so much that we probably will never get, including meaningful action on pressing issues like health care and immigration.

They use terrorism and preservation of our national interests as a basis to argue about in which country we'll make war, yet conveniently ignore issues of American imperialism and the stationing of troops around the world to preserve it -- policies which, not coincidentally, both parties equally participated in establishing.

They ignore the continual erosion of our freedoms and expansion of the federal government's power to impose its will upon those who dissent, much less commit to doing anything about it.

They distort what the other offers and tell lies and half-truths about their opponents to gain advantage at every turn

And they continue to pit us against each other in class warfare through a tax system that should never have been imposed in the first place, much less used as an instrument of policy by which to shift power between their warring sides.

Imagine, an election ostensibly about change potentially coming down to who will be taxed at what rates.

Where's the change in that?