As a disillusioned former Dem turned Indy, I would like to lob out into the blogoshpere an appeal for the Reluctant Leaders to step up.

Al Gore and Wes Clark:

America needs you.

The Planet needs you.

And it is precisely because you are reluctant to step up and lead, that I feel very strongly that you are the only two potential presidential/vice presidential candidates that can actually stop this trainwreck.

1. Pre-election cycle: Promote unity and diversity of views in a big-tent, we-are-all-in-this-together effort in political solidarity.

2. Encourage Indies and left wing liberals to stir it up as much as possible to encourage a big-tent movement and fundraising effort in support of regime change.

3. Post-election: Begin the purge of all those radicals who refuse to STFU and blindly support the DNC agenda (which is not usually the agenda the aforementioned campaign was based on).

4. Let simmer, rinse and repeat in next election cycle.

For those who have been here for more than one national election cycle, we have observed a pattern. Some of us have adjusted our interaction with this blog accordingly.

In the buildup to a national election- unity is the mantra. United in our cause for regime change we often plaster over our political and ideological differences for the sake of what we hope to be a more sane electoral outcome than we saw in 2000, 2002 and 2004.

And then the election is over.........

As a more-than slightly disgruntled Indy (former Dem) I wanted to share that in spite of my serious and still present concerns about Congressional Dems over the past few years of the Bush Junta- I did vote in this election.

Up until lastweek I was undecided on who I was going to vote for. However, snarky comments on waterbaording ("dunk in the water") made by our VP recently made me starkly aware that this GOP has got to go.

And it was the only issue that mattered in how I cast my vote.

I am a registered Indy and have in no short order been pissed as hell at Congressional Democrats (all of them) over the past few years - five to be specific.

A few weeks ago, I gave up all hope for the Dems in Congress- they had finally blown it and I could find no good reason to keep voting for the same thing and expecting a different result.

I got my mail in ballot today.

Five minutes after I opened it I heard it on the radio.

I heard the dunk in the water crack.

Needless to say, I voted a straight DEM ticket.

Without a doubt.

With conviction.

No regrets.

I have searched the blog FAQs and this site in order to determine how to delete one's membership at kos. Apparently it is not possible (which makes the claims of the number of actual members highly suspect).

I have watched this blog go from being a place of diversity and open debate to a clique of group-thinking rah-rah Dem cheerleaders.

There has been alot of (somewhat arbitrary) censorship going on here recently and it has made me really question the purpose of this blog.

I have no truck with kos or anyone else here but I have lost my connection to this blog and its relevance to the issues I care about.