Friends,

It is far too early to be thinking about elections, but they are being forced upon us and legitimate issues are being pushed from the headlines…

… like Lindsay… Paris?… or was it Brittany this week?

Anyway…

I encourage everyone to work with the Green Party at every turn and support their (our) every step. The Green Party represents the highest principles and ideals that we should all be striving toward.

I am a registered Democrat as that has been the best way to challenge, confront and dis-empower the NeoCon stranglehold on our nation, but when a viable Green OR Progressive Democratic candidate emerges in any election, help get them elected.

Blind party loyalty is a mental illness. It is a disease.

When the principled Progressive faction of the Democratic Party presents a legitimate people’s candidate such as in my home state of Minnesota: Keith Ellison, Becky Lourey or Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer – GREAT! Support that candidate.

What I cannot abide is supporting the “lesser of two evils” candidate from the outset because “the Green Candidate doesn’t have chance”.

That is how we wind up with two virtually indistinguishable Minnesota Senators dedicatedly voting to perpetually fund this illegal, immoral and endless “War on Terror” Military Industrial Complex construct.

Now is the time – while party platforms are being formed and candidates are feeling their way based upon what WE COMMUNICATE TO THEM AS OUR EXPECTATIONS – to insist that candidates such as Mike Ceresi and Al Franken NOT COMPROMISE and stand strongly for the very highest values and principles that we want them to uphold. This is NOT the time to declare unquestioning and unbending allegiance to a candidate and get that bumper sticker on your car. That is lazy politics – the candidates haven’t even fully defined their platforms yet.

I strongly encourage supporting candidates according to the highest values of your conscience all along and then voting strategically in the polls…

There is no difference between the Green Party and what is best about the Democratic Party (people before profits, the health of children over and above corporate rights). Unfortunately, there is also no difference between the Republican Party and what is the worst about the Democratic Party – especially at the national level (corporate sell-outs in many cases, not representing the people, putting political expediency over what is best for our nation and our children’s future).

Now is the time for me, when the DFL is calling for financial and other support, to make perfectly clear that I will not support ANY candidate from ANY party that is asking me to support them in their quest to win an election and gain the privilege to swear the oath to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign AND DOMESTIC” when they haven’t even taken a moderately strong stand against confirmed domestic enemies to the Constitution: Dick Cheney, George W. Bush, Alberto Gonzales, et al.

I confronted Minnesota Senatorial candidate Al Franken about this at the Pride Festival. I like Al, but Al is not ready to swear that oath. Hopefully that will change – but only if we do not accept anything less from him. Al will be as good a Senator as we insist that he be if elected. Support for any candidate absolutely MUST be conditional at this point or we are contributing to the disconnect between elected officials and their constituents.

All of our political support must be conditional or else we are simply ‘brownshirts’ and ‘yes men’ on the other side of the aisle.

Pick your candidate now unconditionally and you might as well sign them over to special interests and corporate lobbyists as you are giving them carte blanche to do and be whomever they might be influenced to become while in office.

Why should I trust those who don’t hold these White House criminals fully accountable to their oath to be put in a position to swear the same or similar oath?

If you as a candidate do not support impeachment, then you are not ready to take that oath and you will not get my support, financial, volunteer or otherwise. Whether impeachment happens or not, it is most certainly justified and absolutely in the best interests of the nation, and thus support for it is a litmus test for the political awareness and integrity of Democratic candidates.

We have enough sold-out and otherwise compromised ‘public servants’, we most certainly don’t need to aid and abet getting more elected.

Mikael Rudolph

www.ImpeachforPeace.org