Since leaving America August 2006, I have traveled to sixteen countries. A great deal has happened. This site is to share my thoughts, photos, music, writings, travel experiences, and developing political/social commentary with you. I hope you find it interesting and informative.
Just looking superficially at the numbers would suggest that.
I
have an analytic tool installed here on my website. It tells me a lot
of things: How many visitors I get, how many are returning, how many
are new, what part of the world they hail from, and so on. Here is a
typical daily readout on the most popular of my articles.
Being the ego-inflated person I am, I just assumed that it was the sheer brilliance of my writing, especially apparent in The 'P' Word
-- written back in 2013 when my brain was still functioning optimally
-- which accounted for the popularity of the article and the resulting
spectacular increase in my fan base across all continents.
Then one day recently I made a shocking discovery. Hope you're sitting down for this.
I
found out that the phrase 'the P word' is a euphemism for 'pussy'. In
other words, the strict rules of contemporary journalism, which as we
all know as a profession holds itself to the highest standards of
respect for readers, accuracy in reporting, integrity in offering the
best the human mind is capable of, based on some arcane internal
protocols, require this substitution.
Yes, the approved way to refer to 'pussy' is substitute the phrase 'the P word'.
I was devastated!
And do I feel stupid!
All
this time, I thought it was the poetic wisdom, the graceful prose, the
wit, the profundity and humor, the finely-crafted language, which drew
so many flocking to my site to read The 'P' Word.
But no! These people are just cat lovers!
[ This originated at the author's personal website . . . http://jdrachel.com ]
I've made no secret of my lack of understanding of poetry, nor my thus to be expected zero talent for writing poetry.
I'm
not sure why I write poems. I guess a poem has some vague resemblance
to a song at a very superficial level -- meaning the way it looks on a
page -- and I haven't been writing songs lately. Let's call it reverse
sublimation, a clumsy surrogation. My writing poems is like a ping pong
player playing tennis blindfolded on a quicksand court.
I even did a tongue-in-cheek piece
about the process of creating a poem, one which I've tastelessly shared
with some serious poets, and made even more enemies than I thought one
human could make, with just a few clicks of a mouse.
Now, really strange things are happening. I just got four poems published!
Apparently
I've submitted some poems lately. I say "apparently" because I frankly
don't remember submitting two of them. But one called Messenger Deranged
just appeared in a poetry magazine called Lone Stars, based in San
Antonio, Texas. They even requested more and I submitted two more, One Life and Light and Dark,
which my lovely wife then translated into Japanese. Lone Star will
publish both English and Japanese versions in their December issue, the
English under my name, the Japanese as poetic works by Masumi Nishida.
Then
just today, I got a congratulatory letter from VerbalArt, A Global
Journal Devoted to Poets and Poetry. They are including my poem Tapioca Cyber Trails in their upcoming issue, appropriately splattered across all seven continents like a Cardassian tanker of jellied starch blasted out of the sky by a orbiting rail gun.
Mind
you, I barely remember writing this poem, so it was quite a surprise
when I read it. They sent me a proof of the coming issue for my
approval. There it was, right on page 17.
What
a pleasant surprise! It's actually pretty darn good, i.e. not terribly
terrible. Not to inflate expectations, I actually think this almost
qualifies as a credible work.
I'll let you be the judge.
TAPIOCA CYBER TRAILS
A sweet jest broke water Birthing artificial intelligence As if the clusters of CPUs Marked the non-event event We reeled and rollicked In childish mirth-driven panic Salivating porn-addicted cherubs Lost in the heavy-breathing fog Flying the vaporous trails Of evaporating illusion We wept but didn’t
You are no more I’ve remade you In my image In your image I fear meeting you again I fear disappointment Shattered expectations Revulsion and despair A binary epitaph Suicide is in our DNA Zero one zero one
[ DO NOT ask me what it means . . . I haven't got a clue. ]
They always say when warning against getting too excited or overly optimistic:
"Don't quit your day job."
Since
I don't have a day job, night job, weekend job, or any job, I think
this is advice I can follow without any risk of failure.
Moreover,
I certainly don't want to let any opportunities for fabulous riches and
universal renown slip through my gnarly, hangnail afflicted fingers.
And the poetry track has proven to be a straight shot to the top. Maybe
I should finally call that number on the ad I posted in that article on writing poetry I mentioned.
If all works out as I expect, instead of signing all my letters . . .
John Rachel, Bipolar Humanist
. . . very soon I can proudly -- and profitably -- stake my claim to untold wealth, fame and adulation as . . .
John Rachel, Poet
[ This originated at the author's personal website . . . http://jdrachel.com ]
I just looked at my last five posts and they are all about the same topic.
Listen, folks. I truly get it. A lot of people think I'm becoming a tedious bore.
But they're wrong! I've always
been a tedious bore. Sometimes I'm able to disguise it better than
others, dress up my dull, monotonous discursives a bit with some clever
photo -- like the pandering photo to the right.
But I can hear the recent cries of anguish from my readers.
"Jesus H. Christ! Yet another article on candidate contracts? Is this guy a one-trick pony?"
Actually,
the last time I checked I had thousands of tricks. The thing is, two
in particular stand out spectacularly from the rest. So maybe I'm a
two-trick pony?
These
particular two stand out, because as far as I can see, both of them
offer necessary tactics and solutions to the existential threat ripping
our nation apart. It's one huge, ugly monster with two heads:
Autocratic rule by a rich and powerful elite and psychotic levels of
militarism and imperial aggression.
It's been a real interesting ride these last five years trying to promote candidate contracts and the Peace Dividend refund
concept, both targeting the oligarchy's sinister, iron-fisted
authoritarian grip on our politics -- and just about everything else --
and the creation of a military/security state to further tighten and
reinforce that grip on the American citizenry and any other country
which holds valuable resources ripe for plunder.
I've
made my case in three books, and literally hundreds of articles. With
this much time invested, and a firm belief that despite a lack of much
encouragement I'm onto something of value and positive potential, I'm
not giving up. Sometimes you go with your gut.
Both
the candidate contract strategy and Peace Dividend concept have had
more than their share of detractors. Yet I forge on like a punch-drunk
old boxer because no one -- NO ONE -- has come up with anything
resembling a coherent, decisive reason why either of these detailed
battle plans is not viable, why they're dead ends, why they're lost
causes, why I should pack it in and live in a Yurt with some nomadic tribe in Mongolia.
I'm serious! Any criticism dances around them like they're made of depleted uranium.
I get self-assured quips like: "It'll never happen." Wow! That crushed five years of hard work in a single blow.
Or: "I don't like contracts." Which is a semi-literate version of, "Your idea sucks, dude!"
One very famous activist -- I won't name him because everyone who would bother to read this knows this guy -- ripped my book,Candidate Contracts: Taking Back Our Democracyto
shreds. I'll give him credit for putting a lot of time into his
demolition project. He sent me a long email listing in great detail
seven flaws in my approach. The only problem was, not one of the seven
things he targeted were even in my book! I am dead serious. Not a single one of the seven gaping holes in my plan were in my plan. As I suspect happens a lot, he saw 'candidate contracts', then proceeded to dissect what he thought a candidate contractstrategy would be about. Talk about arrogant posturing. And this guy is veryfamous! Progressives from all over flock to his side for his sage advice. God help us!
I
beg people to give me constructive criticism, any kind of criticism, a
bombshell that takes my ideas out like they'd just been hit by aMOAB. Hey,
put me out of my misery! I've got four novels I'd much rather be
working on. PLEASE! Give me your best shot. Deliver me from all this
yelling in ananechoic chamberat ghosts who are hologram doppelgangers for activists in a coma.
I'm
still waiting. How many articles have I written here, at OpEdNews, The
Greanville Post? Hundreds! Now go through the comments. A lot of the
real critical stuff is self-aggrandizing bloviating, the rest
irrefutable evidence that either they didn't read the article, or they
must have put their brains in a fruit blender before they tried to read
it, because obviously they didn't understand anything of what I was
saying.
Often I've thought: Maybe it's you, John. Maybe you're not expressing yourself very clearly and that's why people don't get it. (I
spend a lot of time alone, so it's not that unusual for me to talk to
myself, though usually it's a little more upbeat than this.)
The
result has been the vast output of a variety of articles, each coming
from a slightly different place, offering a different pitch, trying to
find that magic winning formula for getting the ideas across. I've even
resorted to doingvideos, despite
the fact that if I had the money, the first thing I'd do is hire an
actor with a great voice and reality show-host good looks to deliver a
more seductive version of the message.
Mind
you, I have a phenomenal life here in Japan. Except for the gnawing
aggravation and frustration associated with my long-distance dedication
to activism, I live a fairy tale life in abeautiful, traditional, rural communitysituated
between Osaka, Kobe, and Kyoto -- each one of those comes with its own
distinct personality and host of urban attractions. My beautiful,
talented Japanese wife and I travel extensively, with her showing me the splendors of this fascinating country which I now embrace as my home.
But
when I look back at the "homeland", I want to scream! What has
happened to the U.S. is a nightmare of a nightmare of a nervous
breakdown. In my worst moments, I see the whole world -- including my
charming town -- being plunged into a nuclear holocaust, a war driven by
pride, hubris, arrogance, ignorance, insensitivity, delusion,
demagoguery, pathological levels of disregard for decency and human
life. In my better moments -- fewer and farther between these days -- I
just see America being consigned to the septic tank of history, plunged
into the dank, degrading stink hole of a Dark Ages Redux.
But
there's three compelling reason why I'll continue pushing -- at least
for a while -- my two apparently incomprehensible strategies.
There's
a pivotal election coming up. Forget about 2020. We might not even
make it to 2020. A lot depends on whether the accelerating implosion of
our country and the decline of the fortunes of everyday people
continues, or finally meets its Waterloo. It's up to us and that's why I
keep fighting.
Very recently I've had some encouraging breakthroughs. One gentleman in Scranton, Pennsylvania bought 20 print copies of myPeace Dividendbook,
handed them out to all of his friends and fell0w-activists. Now they
regularly discuss the strategy in their peace planning sessions.
[Author stops, spots a frog stuck to the window next to his chair, prompting him to reflect: Is
this as tedious as I think it is? Maybe I should wrap this up. Ah!
I'll throw in the old non-sequitur. That always gets them where the
rubber meets the cerebellum!]
1st Rule of Fight Club: Don't talk about fight club.
1st Rule of Propaganda: Repeat lies so often people eventually believe them.
1st Rule of Activism: Repeat truth so often people start paying attention.
Alright, enough. My mind spilleth over . . . and it's a mess.
Having
said all of the foregoing -- are you still with me? . . . doubtful but
as a tedious bore, I'm used to rejection -- I'm going to take a short
break. The next two or three articles will not be hard-core political but family-friendly fluff.
Just because I can.
Or is it by popular demand?
[ This originated at the author's personal website . . . http://jdrachel.com ]
I've had several people ask me why I do these videos promoting the
candidate contract electoral strategy. I think it's self-evident: I
like standing outside and talking to a bunch of trees. Here's my latest
effort. The text of the presentation follows.
Pathetic! Yes . . . PATHETIC!
The state of our democracy. The state of our politics.
There's no other word for it.
Our
politicians? I'm not an expert on American history but at first glance
I think it's safe to say our current batch of ruling class toadies are
among the most mediocre, uncreative, lackluster, uninspiring,
duplicitous, hypocritical, ignorant, unprincipled, too often shamelessly
malevolent bottom dwellers, ever to appear on our political stage.
The
entire Republican Party is evidence enough on that side of the aisle.
Comparing any of them with the real public servants in their rich
tradition makes guys like Pence, Ryan, and Trump look like a sick joke.
Ever heard of Abraham Lincoln?
Now
look at the latest public relations fiasco by the Democratic Party, a
desperate attempt to reverse their flagging fortunes; their catastrophic
loss of voter confidence; their loss of the House and Senate, their
loss of the majority of state legislatures, and their loss of the
majority of governor seats; and to repair their self-inflicted but
warranted reputation as the left wing of the Republican Party.
Plagiarizing the Democratic Party of old, thus making a mockery of FDR's historical and widely admired New Deal,
they've just assembled a new platter of mildewy cliches, moldy slogans,
stale platitudes and empty promises, a decomposing menu of already
past-their-expiration-date overtures to their former base -- once-loyal
working and middle class voters -- under the banner of A Better Deal.
They're really setting their sights high, eh? "We're the better bottom dwellers!"
That anyone pays attention to these master prevaricators is a miracle in its own right. We must all be masochists or pathologically gullible.
But don't fret.
There's hope in the midst of this mass of toxic sludge clogging our electoral machinery! Along comes the grass-roots voter-based initiative called CFAR.
CFAR stands for Contract For American Renewal.
But it's more than a contract, much much more than a legal device.
It's a paradigm-shifting, game-changing way to introduce honesty,
integrity, transparency, and accountability, into our electoral process,
putting people -- the vast majority of U.S. citizens -- back in the
driver's seat. It's government by the people. It's real representative
democracy.
The CFAR is the new standard by which we judge whether a candidate is worthy for office.
The
CFAR includes only initiatives that are supported by a minimum of 62%
of citizens. Most are in the 75-80% range. The CFAR is a
citizens-based, populist strategy.
The
CFAR requires in writing from any candidate who signs it that they will
faithfully serve those who vote them into office. No questions asked.
They either do the job or they find themselves back on the street.
Just read the contract. It's clear and unambiguous.
The
CFAR takes the guesswork out of voting. Every initiative in the CFAR
is supported by huge majorities. If a candidate signs it, they are
clearly on the side of the people. They are guaranteeing in writing
that they will be doing the bidding of their constituents from the day
they arrive in Washington DC. Thus they deserve our support and our
votes.
The CFAR as a populist electoral strategy
targets neoliberal, establishment candidates for defeat. And more
importantly, it decisively positions "people's candidates" --
progressive-populists -- to win, arming them with an ironclad strategic
weapon to take on and crush their corrupt, pay-for-play opponents.
The
CFAR exposes the phonies and frauds. Voters are tired of shallow
campaign rhetoric, vaporous sound bites, empty campaign promises. If a
candidate refuses to sign the CFAR, it means two things: 1) He or she
is not on the side of the people. 2) This candidate does not deserve to
get elected. Voters will run from non-CFAR candidates like they're
infected with the plague.
Therefore, Citizens Against Plutocracy and other activist groups are organizing nationally around the CFAR strategy,
targeting the coming November 2018 election. We want this election to
mean something. We want the voice of the people, now silenced by big
money and autocratic control of the media and both major parties, to be
heard and be instrumental in finally electing a Congress that works for
the everyday citizen, not just the ruling elite, corporate kleptocrats,
Wall Street, the big banks, and transnational corporations.
You want a Congress that works for the people? You want public servants that serve the public?
You want a Congress which is not in the pockets of fat cat campaign
donors, not lapdogs of the ruling class, not doormats of the
military-industrial-security complex?
Then only vote for a candidate who has signed the CFAR.
CFAR candidates are the REAL DEAL!
[ This originated at the author's personal website . . . http://jdrachel.com ]
It used to be that things got worse by the year, the month, the week.
Now things are getting worse by the day, by the hour . . . by the minute!
This is hardly from a lack of outrage, calls to action, shrill cries of desperation.
Having
said that, and more importantly, recognizing that none of what we are
doing on the genuine progressive left is making one whit of difference,
maybe it's time to admit that our calls to action, our shrill cries, our
outrage, are either misdirected, ill-conceived, or lacking necessary
focus.
Another way of saying this . . .
We're losing the battle! Time to change tactics!
We
have to do something soon. We've lost so much time, momentum,
misplaced so much faith and hope, squandered energy and dreams on
pointless protests and ill-fated schemes, invested time and trust in
unworthy leaders and duplicitous saviors. Time has run out.
It's now or never.
And let's not kid ourselves . . .
As
long as we continue on the present course, we will continue to fail to
achieve the one and only thing which can make a difference: POWER!
Here's a video I just did for Revolt Against Plutocracy
summarizing what I believe to be the only viable plan to confront the
corporate totalitarianism and tyranny by the ruling elite which is now
nearly absolute and irreversible. The text of the presentation follows.
A CURE FOR MAD TRUMP DISEASE
Practically
all I see on the news is Trump did this and Trump said that. Trump
tweeted this and some White House insider has the scoop on Trump’s next
outrageous move.
And as probably the most unpopular president in our history, all anyone can talk about is impeaching him.
Well,
let me clue you in, folks. This obsession with the orange autocrat is
one huge waste of time. That’s right. It’s going nowhere and will end
up nowhere — at least in terms of solving our problems and getting some
things done for a change.
First off, if we get rid of Trump, then
we have Pence. Next in line of succession is Speaker of the House, Paul
Ryan. Good grief! With both chambers of Congress under control of the
Republicans, we can only expect to go from bad to worse. Don’t push
these lunatics or we’ll end up with President Ted Nugent.
But
that’s not even the real point. The simple, brutal fact is even if we
had Bernie Sanders or Al Franken or Jesus Christ as president, still
nothing would get done. The Republicans control the show. Period! If
that wasn’t enough cause for outrage and despair, on most of the things
the majority of citizens want done, the Democrats side with the
Republicans.
You think I’m making this up? Just check the record.
So let me cut to the chase.
Forget
Trump. Forget about his Tweets, his pussy-grabbing, his bellicose
remarks, his tax returns, his supposed friends in the Kremlin.
You
want to get something done? We need a people’s Congress. We need to
elect legislators who are on the side of the vast majority of U.S.
citizens, ones who put people first, not the profits of Wall Street and
transnational corporations.
And that means we need to get rid of
the corporate lapdogs, our pay-for-play legislators on both sides of the
aisle and put some good, honest, hard-working folks in office, ones who
we know with certainty will go to Washington DC and represent us, the
people who elect them -- not their deep-pocketed corporate benefactors,
not the rich and powerful, not their country club friends.
That’s exactly what we at Revolt Against Plutocracy are doing. We’re going for broke in this coming election. We’re shooting for where the real power is . . . the U.S. Congress.
We have a candidate contract called a CFAR
which spells out in black-and-white what we expect a candidate to do.
If they sign it, great. We’ll get behind them in the November 2018
election.
If they don’t sign it, we’ll find a candidate who will.
We’ll only vote for candidates who have signed the CFAR, even if we
have to write them in.
Mind you, this has nothing to do with party
or ideology. We’re fed up with the games. We’ve had it with party
politics, identity politics, divide-and-rule politics. The major
parties along with the media play us off against one another, keep us
confused and at each other’s throats. No more. We’re mad as hell and
we’re not going to take it anymore! We’re only voting for individuals
who will faithfully, honestly, transparently serve us — you and I — the
folks who elect them.
We’ve got a bulletproof plan: In every race
this coming November 2018, we’re looking for the right candidate to do
the right job for us. That’s it in a nutshell. We’ll know it’s the
right candidate because he or she will be signing a legally-binding
contract to serve the voters of their district.
You can find out more about all of this at citizensagainstplutocracy.wordpress.com.
Look at the CFAR, the Contract For American Renewal. See how our
strategy is going to turn this whole mess on its head, shake up Congress
like it’s never been shaken up before. See how you can be part of
regime change in Washington DC next November.
A people’s Congress!
A Congress that works for everyone, not just the rich and powerful.
And if you’re still worried about Trump, just remember this …
Congress can impeach the president but the president can’t impeach Congress.
"Who sent this guy? We don't want him either."
We get control of Congress and we can ship him off to North Korea, if that’s what we decide to do.
More
important is that we can start putting the country back on track,
addressing the real issues which are challenging everyday citizens and
destroying any hope for a decent future for ourselves and our children.
Make
no mistake about it. We need to get control of the House of
Representatives and the Senate to get started setting things straight.
How?
With the Contract For American Renewal.
It's somewhat similar to the Republicans wildly successful Contract
With America in 1994, but with a huge difference. CFAR is grassroots,
it’s from the people, and comes with a tactic activists around the
country are using to build pledges of support for CFAR candidates and
only CFAR candidates.
No other organization in America has a comprehensive plan for the people of this nation to take control of Congress.
CFAR
takes the guesswork out of voting and puts every candidate on notice:
We expect honest and transparent representation and we want it in
writing. No negotiation. No excuses. No compromise.
Yes, we’re
going to get it right for a change. Join Revolt Against Plutocracy's
efforts to make 2018 a progressive wave election.
And no, BLUE will NOT DO.
CFAR keeps them on the straight and true.
Please go to our website citizensagainstplutocracy.wordpress.com.
Join this people's movement for a populist agenda. We’re doing this
right. We and the CFAR candidates have nothing to lose and everything
to gain. Real power for real change.
People power in November 2018!
[ This originated at the author's personal website . . . http://jdrachel.com ]
The folks over at Revolt Against Plutocracy
asked me to do a short "elevator pitch" for my CFAR candidate contract
strategy, which they're aggressively promoting. I thought it went
pretty well except for a couple frightened looking people in the
elevator. Here is the video. The text of the entire presentation
follows.
Thirty-second floor, please.
(Barely audible) ”ヘンなアメリカ人がいてはるわ〜” [ Translation: There is the strange American. ]
Are you as fed up with Washington DC as I am? Nothing gets done for you and I. Everything gets done for the rich and powerful.
There’s only one solution. We need a people’s Congress. That’s where the power is . . .
Congress!
Which
means we need to get rid of the pay-for-play legislators on both sides
of the aisle and put some good, honest, hard-working folks in office,
ones who we know with certainty will go to Washington and represent us,
the people who elect them — not their Wall Street donors, not their
deep-pocketed corporate benefactors, not their country club friends.
That’s
exactly what we at Revolt Against Plutocracy are doing. We’re going
for broke in this coming election. We’re shooting for where the real
power is . . . the U.S. Congress.
We have a candidate contract called aCFAR,
which spells out in black-and-white what we expect a candidate to do.
If they sign it, great, we’ll get behind them come the November 2018
election. If
they don’t sign it, we will find a candidate who will. We’ll only vote
for candidates who have signed the CFAR, even if we have to write them
in.
Forget
about parties, ideologies, labels. We’re just looking for the right
candidate to do the right job — for us! That’s it in a nutshell. We’ll
know it’s the right candidate because he or she will be signing a
legally-binding contract to serve the voters of the district.
You
can find out more about all of this at our website. Just go to
...
The link is also posted in the
description below. Look at the CFAR, the Contract For American
Renewal. See how our strategy is going to turn this whole mess on its
head, and shake up Congress like it’s never been shook up before. Sign
up to be part of the solution. See how easy it is for us to achieve
real change in Washington DC next November.
A people’s Congress. A Congress that works for everyone, not just the rich and powerful.
Check it out. The future of our country depends on it.
Do you know a populist-progressive candidate who wants to run for Congress in 2018?
This
could be an independent, a third-party, or a "renegade" major-party
candidate who wants to primary a centrist-establishment, neoliberal
member of his or her own party. Whatever
the case, this individual will be at an enormous disadvantage in every
aspect of engineering a successful campaign. There's the lack of money,
media coverage, and basic support from the corporate-owned major
political parties.
This
is where my candidate contract strategy comes to the rescue. Now that
the strategy has evolved to the point of generating a comprehensive
contract which embraces a set of major populist-progressive initiatives
backed, according to reputable, highly-reliable polls, by 62% - 90% of
the voting public, I've offered it as a "template" for
populist-progressive candidates to build their individual campaigns
around. I call it the Contract for American Renewal -- or CFAR.
I
prepared the above tutorial video for Revolt Against Plutocracy to
prepare and instruct activists in their approach to populist-progressive
candidates who could use a successful framework for their political
campaigns.
Since
the whole candidate contract strategy is completely unprecedented, it
requires some explanation; being able to anticipate the fear of the
unknown, flawed preconceptions and prejudices; and counter some of the
recurring objections which I've experienced over the years developing
and promoting it. I think the video does a pretty decent job exploring
the potential of the approach, and deflecting most erroneous but
predictable concerns which arise when something this radical and
outside-the-box comes along.
If
you know a populist-progressive candidate who you want to see in office
but suspect is struggling with how to combat a rigged game and overcome
every other obstacle that our current skewed system uses to marginalize
good, decent potential public servants, please show them this video, or
study it yourself, then present the CFAR concept to that person, as
instructed in the tutorial.
The entire text for the video presentation at the head of this article now follows:
[
When a completely new idea comes around, predictably there is
misunderstanding and apprehension. The more unique and original the
idea, the greater is the reluctance to see it for what it is and
recognize its potential. Call it the shock of the new.
A
populist candidate will typically be inexperienced, tentative,
suspicious, and especially frightened by the “idea of a contract”. This
is to be expected. This requires right from the outset being positive,
reassuring, confident but sensitive, sincere and open. The strategy
must be offered — not demanded — and framed in the most flattering
manner exactly forwhat
it is: It is a unique but powerful, unprecedented but decisive,
rock-solid methodology for replacing our current corrupt pay-for-play
congressmen, with good decent individuals who will represent their
constituents with integrity, honesty, transparency, and accountability.
Here
step-by-step is how the contract should be presented to a prospective
populist-progressive candidate. Take your time to understand and
embrace the message. Then put it into your own words. This is not a
script. It’s what should be communicated, but it should come from YOU,
reflecting you as a person and your thorough understanding of and
genuine commitment to the CFAR strategy.
The subject you are addressing is numbered and appears here in italics, and our suggested language as to what to say follows. ]
1 — Why are we doing this?
As
you know, we’re up against a brutal, well-organized, well-funded,
ruthless enemy. The establishment — the plutocracy which now owns and
controls both major parties — has all of the money, they have the media
in their pockets, they marginalize dissenting opinion, they have all but
crushed the minor parties, and any “renegade” candidate not towing the
establishment line is ignored, often even vilified and demonized.
There’s
really only one way to fight this. We must unify across the entire
populist-progressive front, in every single district and state, and
nationally assemble an enormous bloc of voters to challenge the
manipulative and deceptive messaging, the cynical use of money, power
and political machinery which both major parties wield to isolate and
destroy populist-progressive campaigns — campaigns by good decent people
just like you.
2 — How can we challenge such monolithic power?
The
good news is that we have huge majorities of citizens agreeing with you
as a populist-progressive, on a whole host of issues. Granted, you
wouldn’t know that from watching the news. But it’s true. It’s an
indisputable fact, we already have the voting public on our side, on key
issues. We’re talking percentages of 62% - 80% agreement. What the
establishment candidates do to keep getting elected is confuse the
public with a lot of babble and empty promises. In a nutshell, we’ve
come up with a bulletproof way to “unconfuse” everyday Americans. We’ve
come up with a device which used properly will make YOU, the
populist-progressive candidate look like a hero — a savior! And it will
expose your establishment opponents as the frauds, hypocrites and
phonies they really are. The voting public will run the other way.
3 — What is the CFAR?
The
device I’m talking about is the CFAR. That stands for Contract For
American Renewal. Yes, it’s a contract. But before you panic, let’s be
clear exactly what this contract is designed to do. First, it’s not
there to restrict, regulate, or police you. It’s designed to discredit
and defeat your opponents. It’s an electoral strategy, not a legal
strategy. You have to understand and remain clear about this. While
you will be signing the contract, your opponents won’t — they literally
can’t — sign it. In the eyes of the voters, because you’re willing to
give a firm commitment in writing, guaranteeing that you will serve them
faithfully, honestly, transparently, and your opponents can only
hem-and-haw and spew out more slogans and sound bites, YOU will not just
get the attention of voters, they’ll know with absolute certainty that
you are serious, that you are willing to lay it all on the line, and
PROVE TO THEM beyond a shadow of doubt that you are worthy of their
trust, and thus deserve their votes.
4 — What does the CFAR require?
Let’s
get into the details. The CFAR requires what you will be doing anyway
if you’re running as a populist-progressive candidate. What appears on
the contract is what you already stand for, why we assume you’re running
for office as an “outsider”. It includes the kinds of things that any
populist-progressive worthy of calling themselves that, wants to fight
for on behalf of the majority of citizens. Look at these poll numbers …
[
Show the candidate a printed sheet of the following poll results. By
the way, this is available as a PDF file called CFAR_Initiative Polls,
as well as the CFAR contract template, and the entire text of this
tutorial, on the CFAR tutorial web page. All are available for you to
view and download. We’ll provide a link to that page at the end of this
video. Now here are the poll results you’ll be showing the candidate. ]
63% of Americans want a federal minimum wage of $15.00 per hour. 75% of voters want fair trade agreements protecting jobs, workers, the environment. 76% of voters want a cut back on military spending. 76% of voters want the U.S. completely out of Afghanistan. 79% of voters want no reductions in Social Security, 70% support expanding it. 79% of voters want no reductions in Medicare. 80% of voters oppose the "Citizens United" U.S. Supreme Court decision. 68% of voters think taxes on the wealthy should be increased, and corporations should be required to pay their fair share. 71% of voters support massive infrastructure renewal. 65% of voters want laws to combat climate change. 62% of voters want tuition free public colleges and universities.
Are
you with the voters on these issues? These are the major crises of our
times. This is what people care about, not Trump’s tweets or whether
Melania uses henna to streak her hair.
[
Now have the candidate indicate which of these items are the focus of
his or her campaign, what seems most important. Next show the CFAR
contract template. As just mentioned, it is available as a download at
the CFAR website page. ]
Look
at this! You can see what we’ve done here. The contract perfectly
parallels the polls. Therefore, the contract represents what the vast
majority of everyday citizens in this country want done. The exact
things which never get done with our current Congress of ruling class
puppets.
5 — Is the contract written in stone or is it flexible?
So
we have a great start here. Very popular initiatives across the entire
nation. At the same time, we realize there are variations in each
voting jurisdiction. So the contract is not written in stone. It’s
flexible, designed to meet your needs. You may decide to use the CFAR
as written. Or you may want to tweak it, drop some items that are not
crucial to your future constituents, AND maybe feature a different
populist-progressive initiative that’s not listed here.
Let
me give you an example. Let’s say there are a lot of underwater home
mortgages in this district. This not only affects those home owners but
it’s driving the property values down across the region. You might
consider including in your CFAR a mortgage relief initiative.
Here’s
another example. A very recent poll just indicated that nationally the
support for single-payer health care is around 58%. As the controversy
builds, this will probably keep going up. But let’s say we find that
this district has already had a lot of problems with insurance
companies, or people are finding a poor range of choices for health
coverage — and they’re really upset about it! Then that’s an item which
based on your own sensitivities to your constituent’s needs, you might
want to put in your CFAR for the voters here.
Understand
that in the end, the only items that you have in your CFAR are those
which make sense for your campaign and which you can wholeheartedly
commit to when you go to Washington DC. Having
said that, signing your personalized version of the CFAR should be a
no-brainer. The initiatives in your CFAR are the items you’ve decided
are the centerpieces in your campaign, and have determined will be
decisive in defeating your opponent.
6 — How does a candidate fulfill the obligations of the contract?
Okay,
you’re signing this as a “legally-binding” contract. That’s what the
contract says. That means you are signing it with every intention of
honoring it to the letter. This might sound ominous to you. I respect
your concerns. But fulfilling your obligations under the contract
couldn’t possibly be simpler. The contract says you will introduce,
sponsor or co-sponsor, and support legislation for those items in the
contract. That’s it. Go to Congress, draft legislation and make every
effort get it on the legislative agenda within 180 days of taking
office. Then if it comes up EXCLUSIVELY for a vote, you vote for it.
What does ‘exclusively’ mean? It means if they attach an amendment to
kill all the penguins in Antarctica or to require everyone to wear polka
dot pants on Thursday, you don’t vote for it. If it comes up as a
standalone bill, you vote for it. You also publicly and on the floor of
Congress promote it. That’s it. If you can’t handle that, you
probably shouldn’t be running for office. It’s the basic job
description for a legislator.
7 — How does the candidate decide what to put in the “personalized” CFAR?
So
how do you decide what to include in your CFAR? This is a critical
decision and we’re here to help you. To cover general questions, we’ll
have an entire tutorial devoted to this and I’ll share that video with
you. To handle your specific questions, we’re here to walk you through,
each step of the way.
But
the short answer is you choose those initiatives which are decisive in
making you look good and your opponents look bad. Meaning, you want
issues which are popular right here in this district with the voters,
which ARE NOT supported by your opponents. The idea is to make sure
they WILL NOT be able to sign this contract. That way the voters will
see if they elect you, these great things will get done, but if they
vote for your opponent, they can expect more of the same excuses, chuck
and jive mumbo jumbo, and none of the things you’ve included in your
CFAR will get through Congress.
Remember,
there’s a reason your opponents can’t sign the CFAR. That’s because if
they sign a contract guaranteeing all of these wonderful things for the
voters, they’ll lose their campaign donations from fat-cat donors, AND
they’ll lose the support of whichever major party they belong to. We
only have to look at the Bernie Sanders campaign to see what the
establishment Democrats thought about his progressive agenda. Both
parties support basically a conservative centrist regressive agenda.
They might talk a good story but, as you well know, neither major party
walks the walk.
8 — How much time does the candidate have to decide?
Listen,
we understand this is an important decision for you to make. It’s
important to us as well, because the sooner we get candidates like
yourself on board, the sooner we can organize both our local and
national campaigns around the CFAR, and get started putting together a
solid populist-progressive Congress.
So how much time do you need? Four days? A week? You tell me.
[ Do not give them more than a week. ]
Please
understand, I know as you’re thinking about all of this, you’ll have
questions. Just give me or anyone with my organization a call. We’re
more than happy to address any concerns, walk you through this
step-by-step so you are completely satisfied. This is a bulletproof
plan for winning elections and getting good people like yourself into
Congress. The strategy has been thoroughly thought through and I’d be
surprised if there were any real obstacles to you yourself playing a
critical role in our attempt to save our democracy. But we recognize.
This is coming out of nowhere, it’s completely unique, nothing like this
has ever been tried, so you’re going to want to have everything on the
table, out in the open, so you’re comfortable with it. So study it, ask
questions, let’s work together.
Let
me make an important point: Yes, it’s coming out of nowhere, it’s
completely unique, nothing like this has ever been tried. And THAT’S
precisely why it’s going to work! It’s going to catch the establishment
completely flat-footed. It’s doing something they forgot about and
haven’t tried for decades: Being up front and straightforward with the
public and guaranteeing voters honest and genuine service. The major
parties will be scratching their heads saying: “Now why didn’t we think
of that?”
9
— What if after the agreed upon time for deciding, the candidate says
he or she won’t sign the contract? What’s the final pitch?
Recognize
that the only way this strategy will work is if we implement it across
the nation in all 50 states and all 435 congressional districts. Which
is exactly what we’re going to do. We will have a candidate in all 33
senate races for November 2018, and candidates in all 435 congressional
districts, every one of whom have signed a CFAR. We have an entire
network of organizations which are now being organized and networked to
work tirelessly for those candidates. We’re dead serious about this and
have one simple goal: Make sure every single populist-progressive
candidate running in November 2018 wins their election. We’re talking
about a complete takeover of Congress. Anything less than that and you
can kiss American democracy good-bye forever. The rich will keep getting
richer, the everyday citizen will become serfs, the wars will keep
going until our once-great nation is bankrupt and has collapsed.
I
have to be entirely candid with you. As much as I admire you, as much
as I see that you want to do the right thing, as much as I’d like to
believe you have a snowball’s chance in hell of winning your bid, we
can’t take any chances. Republicans now control the Senate, the House,
the Oval Office, the majority of state legislatures, and the majority of
governors are now Republican. To rub salt in our wounds, most of the
Democrats are nearly as bad — certainly on the issues in the CFAR — as
the Republicans. You’re one person and you’re going to take on the most
well-organized, well-funded army of cutthroat corporate stooges in our
history. I wish you luck. The way we see it is we have to all stick
together or none of us will survive. We believe — no, we know! — that
by UNIFYING OUR FORCES — the populist-progressive forces which have been
shoved aside and beaten down now for decades — we can win this. The
CFAR puts us all on the same page, UNIFIES US AND THE VOTING PUBLIC into
an unstoppable juggernaut. The CFAR demonstrates to the public that
there are good, decent candidates available who are unquestionably,
unambiguously committed to honest, transparent, loyal service. We’ll
crush the establishment candidates at the polls and Americans will get a
government that works for all Americans, not just the rich and
powerful.
Let
me be blunt . . . if you don’t sign the contract, you’ll probably
lose. Therefore, we’re forced to look for another candidate who will
sign the contract, a candidate who has an infinitely better chance of
winning. We’ll put all of our time, energy and resources behind that
candidate. It’s nothing personal. It’s the only way this thing will
work. The contract is your friend, not your enemy. If fact, it’s the
best friend and ally you could possibly have given the way the game is
stacked against you. This may be hard for you to accept. But it’s the
truth.
I
know this is a lot to think about. I want you to succeed. So take two
more days. If I don’t hear back from you within 48 hours, I’ll assume
you’re not interested and we’ll move on. Regardless of your decision,
thanks for your hard work on behalf of progressive causes.
Here are the download links for the materials mentioned:
