Guest Column: Truth has more than two sides

With Wednesday's conclusion of the presidential debates and Election Day drawing near, everyone seems to be chomping at the bit to cast their vote for one of the candidates. But my fellow Americans, I am sad to say you have been duped. Run amok. Put on. Had.

The Commission on Presidential Debates, a "nonprofit, nonpartisan" corporation has deprived us of the chance to hear political voices other than those that Wall Street has approved. If you look at the commission, you'll find it is co-chaired by Frank J. Fahrenkopf Jr. and Paul G. Kirk Jr. Fahrenkopf is the former chairman of the Republican National Committee and Kirk is the former chairman of the Democratic National Committee. From any viewpoint, a corporation that is co-chaired by a Democrat and a Republican is not "nonpartisan," but in fact bipartisan.

Now this bipartisan committee doesn't directly block any third party or independent candidates from getting into the debates - the only stipulation is that a candidate has to make 15 percent in the polls. However, the polls only list two candidates to choose between, and this year those two candidates were Sens. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.). Despite the fact that Ralph Nader, Bob Barr and Cynthia McKinney are all listed upon enough state ballots to affect the outcome of this year's race, they were all excluded from all three debates.

So where does Wall Street come in? A look at the center for responsive politics' website, www.opensecrets.org, will reveal that Obama has received $739,521 from Goldman Sachs, $475,112 from JP Morgan & Chase Co., $429,548 from Citigroup Inc. and $391,774 from Lehman Brothers. On top of that, Obama was the second largest recipient of campaign contributions from Fannie Mae. Fannie Mae is one of the big names associated with the ongoing financial fiasco, which led to the passing of Congress's $700 billion bailout ... which Obama voted for - imagine that. McCain has figures almost as high. Of course, any Obama flunky can go onto the website and read, "the organizations themselves did not donate; rather the money came from the organization's PAC, its individual members or employees or owners, and those individuals' immediate families." Whether the corporation itself or the CEOs and their families are donating the money, it is coming from the same place. It is clear why Obama and McCain voted for the bailout; the same corporate crooks who needed the bailout funded their campaigns.

Nader makes an important point when he refers to Obama and McCain as Tweedledee and Tweedledum. The majority of Americans have been led to believe there is a chasm separating the two candidates. But for the most part, they are practically identical. Both candidates continue to support the Patriot Act; an expanded military budget; nuclear power; and the mythical "clean coal."

Here's a personal favorite example of Obama's flip-flopping: He is morally opposed to gay marriage, but is for the introduction of a civil union that has the same rights as heterosexual marriage. What self-respecting black man would propose a separate but equal institution?

The corporate ownership of Washington has truly begun to shine through. An acquaintance of mine used to tell me that to vote Independent is to waste a vote. The truth is, a vote for "McBama" is the real waste of a vote because you are not voting for change, hope or progress; instead, what you are voting for is corporate government, militarism and the continuation of a two-party dictatorship.

Greg Schlein is a sophomore French major. He can be reached at gschlein@umd.edu.