I have read so many news stories and blog posts about how people who consider themselves progressives are deeply disappointed in Obama that I don't know whether to laugh or cry. Didn't you KNOW this would happen? I certainly did, and I tried to tell you.

Folks, I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Your hearts may be in the right place, but you will not see any of your laudable goals realized as long as you keep putting your faith in the Democratic Party - or, to put it more broadly, in the illusion that real change can be achieved through the electoral process, and without doing away with the capitalist profit system.

I don't have time right now to explain further, but you can read back through some of my earlier blog posts to get an idea of why I'm saying this. I plan to try to get more active again on OS, and I hope that those of you who used to read and comment on my musings will come back around and share your thoughts. I'd particularly be interested in ideas about how to get the message out that those of us who want to see real change are going to have to do the hard work of confronting the plutocracy not just through demonstrations and rallies, but also through mass, united, direct action in the workplaces, schools and colleges, and communities, and eventually at the barricades. It just ain't gonna happen any other way.