Now, as if we ever had any doubt, both parties have openly declared themselves to be parties of, by and for the rich, the looters, the .01%. The main effect of the Republicans presidential slate will be to give Obama cover so he can pirouette back to the center right, broadening his appeal to rightist voters and maintaining his lead with centrist independents.

Unless the economic situation suddenly deteriorates a lot, instead of steadily getting worse a bit at time, Obama has it in the bag even though he remains a bigot, a union buster, a Bill of Rights buster and a ‘leader’ whose mass murder of GI’s and civilians from Palestine to Pakistan is continually ignored by his supporters.

Likewise ignored is the fact that his VP candidate, Biden is notorious for leading the fight to pass the Bankruptcy Act of 2005, an act that guaranteed that predatory bankers and lenders would get the last drop of blood from mortgage, auto and credit card borrowers. Ryan couldn’t have done worse.

What we’re left with is another election, another magical ‘lesser evil’ candidate of the ruling class who’ll win and screw us sans lube and sans condom.

In case anyone wondered, the system is not broken. It was designed to be anti-democratic, beginning with the Electoral College, which has been extended over the years with hundreds of state, federal and local anti-democratic laws meant to keep the left off the ballot, giving us only two choices, the party of war that Democrats support and the party of war that their Teabagger cousins  support.

Not voting or lodging a protest vote is the option chosen by roughly one third of eligible voters in most elections. They’re the smart ones who’ve concluded that ‘elections’ in a banana republic are futile at best and a diversion from the real struggle, which is rebuilding unions, organizing the unemployed, small farmers and GI’s for a movement to create a real alternative – workers parties that can create a workers government.