In what many fear will be one of the most predictable and uninteresting presidential contests in recent memory, with two political dynasty figures battling for “their turn” to serve as the oligarchs’ corporate puppet in 2016, the first opposition voice in the Republican party has stepped forward and officially announced his intentions to challenge Jeb Bush and seek the Republican nomination:  Ted Cruz.

Many establishment figures in Hillary Clinton’s campaign camp rejoiced at this news, as did some liberal pundits, mistakenly believing that because the Republican primary field will be crowded with far-right conservatives and Tea Party candidates, that Mrs. Clinton will sail into the White House on a white cloud untouched by the dirty fights that will sully the eventual Republican nominee, whom they take for granted to be Jeb Bush.

While it is true that the last Republican primary race for president was filled with many memorable clowns and laughs during their numerous debates – who can forget Governor Rick Perry’s “oops” when he couldn’t name the three federal agencies he would get rid of right away if he became president – any Democrat who thinks they will win the presidency because of the Republican primary fight is a fool.  It was still a hard fought campaign for Obama to win re-election, even after Mitt Romney was caught on camera at a fundraiser characterizing almost half of the country as a bunch of entitled takers, and dismissing them completely.

But as a progressive independent, I envy the Republican party on a couple of important strengths that too many Democrats view as shortcomings.

First, the Republican base is a passionate group that doesn’t settle easily on a candidate that their party’s corporate owned establishment tells them is to be their nominee.  Mitt Romney was always the republican establishment’s pick last time, and as their primaries drew out into a long and protracted fight, they were forced to out spend all the other candidates by incredible amounts in order to secure his nomination.  This time around, they have already shortened their primary schedule and limited the number of debates in order to secure their nominee quickly, being able to swamp the other candidates with huge sums of money at once, and limiting free media exposure through debates.

Second, elected Republicans collectively have more guts and spine than the timid group of cowards who call themselves Democrats, and it shows in the way they campaign and the way they govern.  I have written about this extensively in the past, so I won’t rehash all of the cowardly deeds and political strategies that Democrats used to lose the Senate and the House, and the squandered opportunity that President Obama once offered them briefly when they had the so-called super majority – before he too demonstrated his weakness and lack of an appetite for a fight.  Ask any diehard Democrat today what they don’t like about Obama or their party the most, and they’ll tell you it’s their lack of guts to fight.

So, what is an independent or liberal voter to do to ensure their voices are at least heard in the 2016 race to the White House?

Number 1, and most important:  REJECT HILLARY.

Number 2:  Support another Democratic primary challenger, or vote for a third party candidate.

I realize that there are many progressives, liberals and democrats in general who already break out into a cold sweat at the idea of rejecting outright, from the very beginning, Hillary Clinton.  She is the presumed nominee, the media tells you so, she has raised the most money, she is the wife of a popular ex-president, it’s her turn, it’s a woman’s turn, if she doesn’t win a Big Bad Republican will.  But does anyone actually like her?  And if you answer yes to that, can you tell me why, other than the reasons I just listed?

When it comes to progressive values, such as strengthening the middle class, reigning in the criminal fleecing of America by Wall Street, protecting Social Security, protecting workers from unfair “free trade” policies, not engaging in more wars of aggression, not being a corporate puppet for pharmaceutical and genetic engineering food and seed companies, etc.,..Hillary Clinton is not only lacking in these values, but damn near souless, as her well documented history in politics proves beyond any shred of doubt  for anyone willing to assess her actions objectively.

The first step, and I reiterate, the most important, is to REJECT HILLARY now. There are other good, potential candidates out there, with real values, that have so far been too intimidated by the perceived inevitability of a Clinton nomination to announce their intentions to run.  A firm rejection of Hillary Clinton by the liberal and democratic base now is needed before it becomes too late to build the campaign infrastructure and donor base that will be needed to compete with the mega-dollars of Wall Street and trans-national corporations that are investing heavily in both Jeb Bush and Hillary Clinton.  Thanks to the split decision of the Supreme Court that declared that corporations are people too and overturned most campaign finance laws, the upcoming election will be dumbfounding in the amount of money spent to elect the millionaire’s and billionaire’s candidate of choice.

Secondly, please encourage other potential candidates to challenge Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primaries.  While Senator Elizabeth Warren has repeatedly told the press that she is not interested in running for president, there are grass-roots liberal efforts that are engaging in a serious effort to recruit her as a candidate.  Last Sunday the Boston Globe ran four different editorials, one from the Editorial Board, encouraging Mrs. Warren to run.  This unprecedented enthusiasm from the Boston Globe this far in advance of next year’s primaries speaks volumes about the desire and desperation for voters to have a real choice for the next president, instead of Puppet number 1 or Puppet number 2.

Independent Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont is considering a run as well.  Mr. Sanders, a progressive independent who caucuses with Democrats, has said he is exploring the possibility of raising enough money to run, if their is enough enthusiasm for someone other than Hillary on the left, and whether or not he would seek the nomination of Democrats or run for president as an independent.  Third party candidates have the laws and media stacked completely against them, so it seems likely that seeking the nomination for the Democratic ticket would be his best chance running for the Oval Office.

This brings up another important issue.  Year after year, and election cycle after election cycle, the American public’s cynicism for politics grows, and its enthusiasm wanes to the point of not even bothering to vote.  Given how corrupt our government and political process is, and how very rarely the public’s will is ever carried out by politicians, no matter who they vote for, the frustration is understandable.  It can become hard to convince friends to even bother voting, which is exactly what the real powers and elite owners of the country really want, a disengaged public that grudgingly accepts the puppets they sponsor as the only viable candidates.

The corporate owned media is so fully dedicated to the propaganda of the “two party system” that you would think it was written into our Constitution.   This is demonstrated by their virtual blackout of all candidates who challenge the two party system, and their refusal to allow any third party candidate into the presidential debates.  Independent billionaire Ross Perot once challenged the all powerful media  and two party propaganda machine when he ran for president by buying up unprecedented 30 minute infomercials on his candidacy, and was allowed to participate in the presidential debates.  After winning 17 percent of the popular vote, the corporate oligarchs issued new rules to their sponsored Republican and Democratic parties and their media, and no third party candidate has been allowed in the all important nationally televised presidential debates since Perot’s first run against Bush 1 and Clinton.   Al Gore was so dedicated to not having to share the stage with Ralph Nader, that state troopers actually forced Mr. Nader off of a public college campus in a viewing room of the debates, for which he even possessed a ticket for.  If you are unaware of that gross offense against democracy, that is not surprising – the media barely reported it.  Interestingly, though few seem to notice, the excuse given for only allowing a Republican or Democrat into the debates is that the time and stage is so limited, that only those with a realistic chance of winning should be allowed, otherwise the stage is too crowded.  The networks never have trouble though finding the room for numerous primary debates with numerous candidates sharing the stage at the same time.  Their real motive is clear: give voters the illusion of choice, so long as the candidate is one of the two corporate owned parties.

Polls have consistently shown that Americans view our political system as rigged for the super rich, controlled by corporations, and corrupted by big money.  Polls show many voters see little difference between the two parties.  Yet the media tells us that only a Republican or Democrat can win a presidential election.  So far, through our actions and theirs, they have been correct.  And now, the media is trying to tell voters who can win each of the two party’s nomination.

It is time to challenge our political system and media with passion and conviction, and say HELL NO to continued corporate occupation of our country.