Given the tight race between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, the normally ceremonial "super-delegates" of the Democratic party may turn out to be the deciding factor in selecting their presidential nominee.

So, what is a super-delegate? Well, for example, Bill Clinton is a super-delegate. So is Nancy Pelosi. In other words, super-delegates are party fat-cats who are given hugely disproportionate say in who their party nominates simply because they hold powerful positions.

In other words, they represent the antithesis of democracy. Does anyone imagine that Bill Clinton, when determining which candidate he will support, will ask himself who the rank-and-file Democratic membership wants or who will best serve the country? No, he will ask himself which of the candidates is his wife and which isn't?

What this all boils down to is that both of the mainstream political parties are nothing but corrupt organizations with no agenda other than to perpetuate their own power. The existence of super-delegates, much like the electoral college, is an institutionalized example of great distrust of the masses on the part of the political elite.

What other possible explanation is there in a system that claims to be based on "one man, one vote"? There is no reasonable explanation other than that those in power will do whatever they can to hold onto power, and they will stack the deck against any outsider who threatens their privileged position.

And, this is the prospect we are faced with in the Democratic race. Barack Obama is clearly emerging as the people's choice, but Hillary Clinton may still manage to steal the nomination by pulling strings behind the scenes and swaying the votes of the super-delegates. If she does so, I predict a collapse of the Democratic Party. And, who knows, maybe in the end that would be for the best.

If we the people had any sense and any integrity, we would abandon both of these archaic relics (i.e. the Democrat and Republican parties) en masse. But, the sad fact is that the American people, generally speaking, operate not from a position of strength and integrity, but from one of fear and weakness.

It is beyond obvious that most Americans these days pick their candidates not based on conviction that their candidate is a good and honorable person, but rather on the fear of someone even worse taking control of the country.

This is a pathetic state of affairs, and we have no one to blame but ourselves. Until we stand up and say "no more" to the politics of the "lesser of two evils", we will continue to get fatally compromised shit-heads from both parties as our leaders. And, unless we hurry up and get our heads out of our asses, the "American Century" will soon be nothing but a memory.