First things fist: Gloria is a fine human being; I've had the pleasure of talking to her, and she strikes me as a very pleasant and capable woman.

But you do have to ask yourself if Marty Markowitz, for all his faults and his tackiness, is the right person to target in this day and age.

Let's review: repugs have lied us into a war. They have turned a surplus into a gargantuan deficit, they're impeding scientific research, and trying to bring creationism into our schools. Pollution is up, the environment is being trashed, and our kids face higher mortality rates and have less health insurance. Repugs have already put military recruiters into the schools. American citizens are being held without trial and access to counsel in navy brigs. Our government is torturing people in secret gulags around the world. The Bush government can monitor your phone and your library records, and has made it a crime for you to be told about it. By contrast, the repugs have no problem with leaking a covert agent's name to the press.

But the big problem in the country is that we really need a third party on the left, and the ssentially academic problem of only two real ballot choices? WTF?

My advice to GreeninBrooklyn and others like him/her is this: get your head out of your butt and smell the torture. Markowitz isn't the problem. Democrats aren't the problem. The problem is a radicalized right-wing movement that's in control of the entire federal government and most state governments. If you weaken the only viable force that can stop the radicals - that would be the Democrats - you're helping Tom DeLay and Bill Frist. Electoral outcomes are a zero-sum game - do the math, for crying out loud. Ralph Nader in 2000 is directly responsible for the Bush nightmare - isn't it time to close up shop, guys?

Funny.

Yo basically just proved my point. I guess running in the Dem primary - which would be the only way to actually get Marty to change course on the Ratner project, but hey - was out of the question, hmmm?

This is what's happening with Miz Mattera. She's been involved with the Green party of NY for quite some time, and run a number of races. This newest effort is of a piece with her previous ones, and probably not motivated by spontaneous outrage over Ratner. Rather, the goal seems to be to establish a presence in Democraic strongholds, with the larger aim of building a third party on the left - because, gee whiz, three party choices rather than two is just so much better. Did we not learn a lesson from 2000 - thanks again, Ralph Nader - to nip this in the bud?

Mattera is runing a cynical vanity campaign that will not change anything, least of all affect what she professes to care about. Before you give money to her or to any green in any race, just go directly to the beneficiaries and make your check out to the RNC. Cut out the middleman.

If you're interested in changing the Democratic Party and creating some actual progressive change, volunteer with a progressive organization like NDM or DFNYC. Their web sites are, respectively, www.newdemmajority.org and www.dfnyc.org. Marty Markowitz is not going anywhere until he's challenged from within - but as I noted, Gloria and her core supporters know this full well. And they're counting on you not to realize this. Beware.