Editor:

Upon seeing the cover of the Aug. 21 Journal and the article about Barack Obama following I could not help but be amused and dismayed (“Dreams of Obama,” Aug. 21). Amused because we continue to praise a politician who has already and will continue to violate the laws he is supposed to be making and enforcing, dismayed because we continue to avoid the truth of the matter which is that the system is corrupt and you can’t work inside a corrupt system and not become corrupt yourself. This is evidenced by his recent treasonous vote on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act as well as his appointment of the war hawk Joseph Biden as his vice president. While I don’t doubt Barack once had good intentions, he has made a tragic mistake by seeking more power. The more invested in the system you become seems to correspond to how corrupt and hypocritical you become as well.

Barack Obama may not threaten “our institutions and culture” more than John McCain but he does not represent “the unexpected and unauthorized future” to me, at least. His values (integrity) are already weakening before he has even become president. As far as radicals being perceived as “negative do-nothings” because we refrain from voting for the lesser of two evils I would say that we are doing more than most by resisting the ignorant belief that voting among so many dishonest and immoral politicians who created the problems we face can actually solve these same problems.

— Benjamin Grunbaum, Arcata