Compromised citizens.

• Position: Letter to the editor

Howard Zinn is absolutely correct to criticize the equivocating stance of Democrats in Congress on bringing the war in Iraq to an end ("Are We Politicians or Citizens?" May issue). But in reading the article, a persistent thought kept injecting itself into my acceptance of his arguments. I had seen similar equivocating by our leading progressive intellectuals and progressive magazines during the 2004 election.

The "anybody but Bush" position told the Democratic machine that these major progressives were willing to turn their backs on their principles and the Democrats were safe in their regressive positions.

If, instead, leading progressives had stuck to their anti-war position, and supported the anti-war candidate, Ralph Nader, I believe they...