As I have documented in this space, despite the impression you may have gotten from the media coverage of Mark Penn's fate, he continues to play an important leadership role in the Hillary Clinton campaign -- even after it was revealed that he was working with the Colombian government to push a "free" trade deal with that country, despite its record of tolerating violence against union activists.

Therefore, today we issued an open letter to Senator Clinton's campaign calling on them to reject the politics of cynicism and do the right thing by severing their relationship with Penn completely, rather than just changing his title and hoping we will all forget about him.

The letter reads:

Dear Senator Clinton:

This year presents us with the unique opportunity to change the politics of the past where big corporations and special interests are put before the interests of working Americans. It presents us with the opportunity to bring people together to change this broken system and forge new solutions to help restore the American Dream for America's workers.

While you were talking to workers in Pennsylvania last week, your chief campaign strategist, Mark Penn, was advising Colombia's ambassador on how best to advocate the passage of a job-killing trade agreement with Colombia -- the most dangerous country in the world to be a trade unionist. After revelations of the meeting became public, the Colombian government announced its termination of its contract with Penn's firm, while your campaign merely relinquished Mr. Penn's title. As media reports have indicated, he is still participating in campaign strategy calls, conducting polling, dispensing advice and managing your direct-mail operation.

To make matters worse, Penn and his firm have a long and dishonorable record of working with union-busters, such as Cintas Corp., a company notorious for aggressively suppressing the rights of workers.

There is no place at the table for union-busters. Principled politics have taken a back seat while lobbyists and high-priced consultants shape our laws to suit their clients. This is what has poisoned our political systems and robbed voters of their faith in our democratic process. Mixing the people's work with corporate work might be "good for business," but there is no question it's bad for America's workers.

Anti-worker and union-busting consultants should have no place in any campaign seeking the support of America's workers. We call upon you to demonstrate your commitment to breaking the politics of the past by severing all ties with Mark Penn.

If you agree with these sentiments, you can help by signing on to our open letter. Just click the following link to add your voice to ours:

• Take action: Sign the open letter.

UPDATE (2:11PM): Veteran Clintonista Paul Begala agrees:

Longtime Clinton adviser and confidant Paul Begala took full aim at Mark Penn on Friday, expressing scorn for the recently demoted strategist, and comparing his time with the Clinton campaign to that of Donald Rumsfeld's tenure as Secretary of Defense.

"I have nothing but contempt for Mr. Penn," said Begala at a New York City breakfast sponsored by the non-profit group Public Agenda. "And for those of us who wanted to see him out from the beginning, it became almost a Rumsfeldian thing. And he is not even fired. He has been demoted. How could this be?"

That's a good question.