"From time to time, things have to change in order to stay the same"

i had seen david vest's article in counterpunch referenced in a couple of other blogs, but i hadn't clicked over there to read it myself... in a way, i'm sorry i did... democrats... republicans... what the hell difference does it make...?

For the corporate powers behind the candidates, the rule is as it ever was: from time to time, things have to change in order to stay the same.

[...]

Once upon a time, Bill Clinton filled the Interior Department with "environmentalists." Bush filled it with oil company hacks. Who was more honest?

Lo and behold, when they cut down the old growth forest, it didn't make much difference to the trees and the rivers and the critters, whether oil company insiders or professional environmentalists were sitting at the desks in Washington. Eight years of Clinton-Gore, two terms of Bush-Cheney: the toxic dumps remain, and only the rhetoric has changed, to protect the naïve.

Demonstrably now, it makes no difference to the war whether Republicans or Democrats control Congress. Do you suppose the shooting will end, on the day when a refined, well-spoken Democrat, who reads poetry perhaps and scorns the religious right, and who doesn't embarrass us when receiving foreign dignitaries, succeeds the bumbling oaf Bush?

Think so? Or do you suspect people will soon be wailing, "I don't understand these people! They control Congress, the White house, and the military! Why don't they stop the war?"

i think this may be one of the reasons why i'm finding it so hard to get any energy going today... i bounced out of bed on a beautiful morning and, not long afterward, felt the malaise slowly creeping in, accompanied by thoughts of "why bother" and "what the hell difference does it make..." i think most of us who spend time seriously keeping up with what's going on and putting ourselves out there through blogs and political action, would like to believe we can actually make a difference... while i don't deny that it's possible, sometimes the enormous power of our entrenched and incredibly powerful system seems just too overwhelming to tackle and our efforts too puny and too futile to continue to pursue... when does commitment and dedication turn to masochism...? today, it feels like masochism...

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