"As uplifting as the June 16 events [congressional hearings by Rep. John Conyers, Jr.] were, they demonstrated clearly the constant danger of American voters and activists buying into the least-worst "alternative." The Congress, in a bipartisan manner, still recently voted for the $86 billion to fund the occupation of Iraq. True and complete societal change is endangered when we stop short of our ultimate goal by saying, "There are good individuals in this present party or system." Was Bill Clinton a "better" individual, even though he presided over 8 years of sanctions against the people of Iraq, sanctions that killed over a million Iraqis? "In every corrupt system, there exist great individuals. There are "nice guy" CEOs, warm-hearted military generals, there were even conscientious people in the Nazi party who worked to do the right thing and subvert. The existence of great, progressive individuals is not in dispute -- in fact, these individuals demonstrate clearly the indomitable human spirit and the reason why struggle is necessary. Even in the most desperate, cruel, and seemingly unsurvivable situations, people have resisted, and sometimes won (let's look at the courage of the intifadas and insurgencies in Iraq and Palestine, for example). Great individuals, however, do not justify barbaric, unnatural, inhumane systems - they instead give evidence to why those systems need to be toppled, for without the repression and oppression of these systems, all of us, every one of us, could shine and be great individuals. "The task now is to remind ourselves that the progressive elected officials were pushed and dragged into action by the demonstrators in the streets, by the deluge of calls, faxes, sit-ins by anti-war citizens to their elected representatives. We need to empower ourselves with the knowledge that it was our action in the streets that enabled the recent moves by the progressives in Congress. We then must take this energy, and empower the entire international movement with this new confidence and success. In this manner, we can truly work to end all wars, and the incessant drive of profit over the safety and welfare of the world's people." - - - Virginia Rodino