ALL Elections Are Exercises in Cynicism,

but this year is more obvious than previous election years.

I have never been so disinterested in a presidential election since I first followed them beginning in 1968, some five years before I was old enough to vote.

It's just that the power grab by the elite few over both political parties is so nakedly obvious now.

Despite the electoral trappings—caucuses, primaries, debates, rallies, conventions—and the accompanying onslaught of media coverage, there is not a shred of genuine democratic content in the selection of the next American president. The election provides the illusion of choice, but there are no fundamental differences between the two corporate-controlled political parties. Both the Democrats and the Republicans defend the wealth of the super-rich and the worldwide interests of American imperialism.

From the standpoint of working people, it does not matter in the slightest whether Barack Obama is reelected to a second term in the White House or replaced by any of his Republican challengers. The next president, whatever his name or party, will function as the representative of the political, military and corporate elite that controls all the levers of power.

I am not going to feel guilty when I write Elizabeth Warren's name in the blank for president. I am going to exercise my opposition to neoliberalism in all its forms.