How Pledges Can Work

"Don't hear me, I can shout!"

[ Note: This references and builds on my previous posts . . . "Trust No Incumbent" and "Pledges: Candidate Contracts" ]

How will candidate pledges for progressive positions on key issues be effective?

How will this work?

Intimidation!

That's right. The same tactics that have been used by the extreme right to turn our Congress into a gallery of sniveling sycophants, toadying to the every wish of their moneybag campaign donors will work for us.

Granted, some of the legislators may even mean well. But intimidation has turned too many of them into drooling lapdogs. The form this intimidation takes is always the same: Fear of losing the next election.

If we play our cards right, we can lose the election for them just as effectively as any SuperPAC or lobbyist. Or at least hang that prospect in front of their sallow faces.


Either they sign our pledges, legally-binding contracts with their constituents which reflect the explicitly stated desires of a vast majority of Americans __ we only ask for pledges on those issues where there is clear and overwhelming support from the voting public __ or they face a shit storm of bad publicity!

We will call them out one-by-one on their duplicity. We show loyal voters who have previously supported them that their campaign speeches mean nothing. Either they sign on the dotted line and offer real commitment to the laws and policies a huge majority of Americans want or . . .

We harrass, frustrate, obfuscate.

We yell, scream, demonstrate.

We demean, decry, humiliate.

We mock, shame, intimidate.

We call them out on their hypocrisy and their blatant disservice to the nation!

Until they do the right thing.

Until they start representing us, the people who elected them.

Until they put the interests of the majority of Americans first and tell their rich corporate sponsors to take a hike.

Oh yes, they're going to be upset. Very upset! I'm fine with that.

In fact . . . fantastic!

Let them whine about how hard they've been trying.

 

Let them promise to do better next time.

 

Let them plead for just one more chance.

 

We've heard it all before.

 

Sure, we'll give them one more chance.

Sign the pledge!

There's your one more chance!

If they refuse?

Intimidation!

Most of this won't cost a penny.

We go to the local and regional papers . . .

"Local Citizens Group Claims [candidate's name] Refuses to Sign Pledge to Protect Social Security"

"[Candidate's name] Refuses to Sign Pledge to End War and Bring Troops Home from Afghanistan"

We Facebook it. We Twitter it. We Tumbler it.

We call it into radio talk shows. We get ourselves on TV.

We carry signs at rallies, in mall parking lots, on busy street corners . . .

Millionaire Senator [name] won't sign pledge for fair taxes on the rich!

Congressman [name] won't pledge support for affordable health care!

Let me emphasize an important point: It doesn't have to and shouldn't wherever possible revolve around a single issue. Each voting district has its hotbuttons. It has some set of issues which are threshold issues, matters of public policy which a majority of voters have strong feelings about. These are wedge issues. Each one equates to a pledge. Refusal to sign any or all of the pledges results in the offensive I am proposing, a campaign to educate the public. To force the candidate to comply.

What if after a couple weeks of this, in the middle of the night the candidate is visited by the Angel of Political Enlightenment? His survival instincts kick in as he sees he's losing public support. He reconsiders. Here he comes. Look at that sagging tail!

Mr. Butthead candidate has thought things over. He's reconsidered.

He signs the pledge! He signs the pledges! All of them!

Alright! Great! Wonderful!

This is not about humiliating the guy or gal, even if he or she has so far been a traitorous butthead. It's about getting our way. It's about putting law and order, real representative democracy back in government. It's about getting laws passed that will benefit us and not just the tiny elite club of the super rich who already have so much they couldn't spend it all in a hundred lifetimes.

It is about getting the country back on track!

We want affordable health care, not more money wasted in a system that stuffs the pockets of the health insurance industry, bankrupts individuals and is undermining our economy.

We want to keep social security from being swallowed up by more tax cuts for the rich.

We want our men and women in uniform home safely, not in body bags from fighting the pointless wars to protect corporate interests, wars that are making Americans less safe and more the targets of terrorist attacks.

We want first-rate education and top-of-the-line schools, not hollow institutions run by corporations fighting for market share.

We want the rich to pay their fair share of taxes and stop bleeding every dime they can extort from the rest of us.

Practically everyone wants this stuff! Look at the polling on many of these issues. Read my earlier post "Trust No Incumbent". Americans aren't confused about what needs to be done. The politicians are. Or pretend to be, to cover their money-lined tracks.

Intimidation!

Demanding that a these pledges be signed will put legislators on notice that we the voting public have had it, that we are tired of them screwing around, that we are fed up with them putting big money campaign donors ahead of us.

It's extremely likely that only a handful of these voter ultimatums need to attract some serious media attention. District by district we concentrate on incumbents who have voted against legislation which is hugely popular. Once it becomes national news that in certain key campaigns voters have expressed their outrage using these pledges, that there is a showdown underway, that there is a voter rebellion which might possibly spread across the country, it will cause massive fear and trembling in every vulnerable incumbent.

Hey! They may end up coming to us begging to sign our pledges.

Intimidation!

Is it blackmail? Maybe. It's definitely coercive. But not any more than Überfuehrer Grover Norquist's demonic methods. Anyway, who cares? It's the New American Way, the way politics is done these days. American democracy has devolved into gangland tactics, brutal threats, cage fighting, and bullying. We didn't start it. Surely this is not democracy as we were taught in civics class. But it's the way it is.

Which means . . . using the very same tactics the enemies of democracy are using to destroy a once-great system seems to be the only means we have of rescuing it.

Let me take this a step further. If we need a further justification for being so ornery, in many cases, these pledges are actually doing a candidate a favor!

Let's give the benefit of the doubt to some legislators. Maybe they want to do the right thing but are afraid to. They have been threatened by their big money corporate donors.

Signing these pledges gives them cover.

Picture it! When the bags-of-bullion bullies say, "Hey, Mr. Hotshot Legislator. What's the deal? Why didn't you vote the way we told you to, when we gave you that $25,000 for your campaign?", the noble congressman can say, "I had to sign a pledge. Otherwise, your generosity notwithstanding, I would have lost the election." When the Machiavellian will-work-for-anyone-with-the-bucks lobbyists ask their lapdog play-for-pay politician why he is actually doing something good for the American people, he can say, "I signed a damn pledge. If I hadn't introduced that bill, I would have been forced to resign. You don't expect me to throw myself out of my job, do you?"

Intimidation!

Let's stick it to them!

Let's put the corrupt politicians on notice.

"Your days are numbered, toadies. Either start work for us . . .

. . . or you better start looking for a new job!"


[ This originated at the author's personal web site . . . http://jdrachel.com ]

Pledges: Candidate Contracts

                "Just sign the pledge and no one will get hurt."

Grover Norquist notoriously turned the no-new-taxes pledge he demanded of conservative legislators into a weapon of mass destruction. The American economy now suffers from the burden of unsustainable cumulative debt and the likely shredding of the social contract Americans have traditionally observed towards sharing responsibility for the quality of life in our once-great nation. All because the fiscal terrorists of the right refuse to require the rich to pay their fair share of the cost of sustaining a viable, compassionate, humane society.

In addition to the imposed fiscal conservatism of the Norquist blackmail, big money now trumps voter preferences in determining national policy. The deluge of dollars flowing into Washington via lobbyists, campaign contributions, and PACs, has drown out the legitimate voice of the common citizen. Consequently, this is now also the era of the "silent pledge", paid-for unspoken commitments to the rich and powerful, the result being that on a great number of key issues our elected representatives and the laws they pass are directly at odds with a majority of the American public.

I believe this same weapon, the candidate pledge, now deployed to such grossly destructive ends, can be used to an opposite effect, that is, as a means of restoring some sanity to what comes out of the U.S. Senate and Congress. Candidate pledges can result in legislation on a host of crucial issues and pull the country out of the death spiral we currently find it in. I'm referring to familiar measures supported by large majorities that reflect the stated values and express wishes of the American people.

This coming election provides the necessary and pivotal opportunity to confront our representatives and deliver an ultimatum, an ultimatum in the form of a new kind of pledge, one that hasn't been seen in a while __ a pledge to do the right thing.

Or more to the point: Do the right thing or suffer the consequences!

The Idea:

Here in broad strokes is the concept. Immediately following are the specific steps we take. Stay with this. It's not more moaning about the problem. It's a strategy for a solution.

We begin with a specific demand on a critical issue. We put it in writing. The document takes the form of a candidate pledge, a binding contract  to unambiguously and decisively perform certain actions in the Senate or House of Representatives, in order to implement a policy now supported by a large majority of American voters on the issue. Included as you will soon see are very specific directions.

We force candidates to sign the pledge. If they do, we're done. We get the legislation we want. If they refuse, we go after them! We humiliate them, mock and taunt them, harass them, stigmatize them, jeopardize their support, and do everything we can to defeat them. We brook no compromise. We accept no excuses. We leave no room for equivocation.

The salient point is that for once we will have the tools to do this.
 
For this to work, the pledges must embrace those issues where the voting public by vast majorities have indicated precisely what they want done: Social Security, taxes on the rich, the war in Afghanistan, oil industry subsidies, Medicare. Frankly, it's appalling how many important issues the public has clearly and unambiguously indicated in credible polls, exactly where they stand, only to have our politicians defy them. Please refer to my previous post: "Trust No Incumbent" to get a perspective on this.

In a perfect world, every candidate should be required to sign the pledges. This would put the control of voting on these critical items directly in the hands of voters.

Realistically this is impossible. There simply is not enough time. Plus we can get done what needs to be done without unanimity.

For now, it is more important to target incumbents, specifically those incumbents who have voted against enormously popular measures. Conveniently via their voting records they have handed us gift-wrapped the ammunition we need to force their hands. Bear in mind, these are the arrogant scoundrels who have brazenly sold the American public and their constituents down the river. They have curtsied to their rich campaign donors and blown off the rest of us as irrelevant. Until now they've paid no price for their arrogance and irresponsibility.

These are the ones we go after.

These are the ones we will either turn around or send packing.

Let me point out that this kind of precise targeting is exactly the way the right wing goes about decimating the ranks of progressives. It obviously works. Time to turn the tables.

Step 1:  Petitions

The process starts with petitions, i. e. canvassing within a particular voting district, or entire state if the targeted incumbent is a senator. We do this in order to collect hard numbers on the level of support there is for the initiatives we want passed.

Here is a sample petition, the suggested format for canvassing on any issue:

I am a registered voter and will only vote for a candidate for public office who will leave social security alone. If a candidate guarantees unequivocally to fight for keeping social security as it currently stands, I will give that candidate my unqualified support.

Obviously, the petition is more of an endorsement of a specific policy position than an actual petition for some action. But it accomplishes precisely what is needed here.

In fact, the petitions are the linchpin for the assault on these scoundrels. They provide the leverage needed to get their attention and then make them an offer they can't refuse.

Undoubtedly, it would be ideal to get a majority of the voters in a district to sign these petitions. But that is a daunting, time-consuming task, even on issues which have large majority support. I frankly don't think it's necessary.

All that needs to be achieved is convincing a candidate that if he or she doesn't sign the pledge, they risk losing election. It must appear either rationally or fearfully in their best interest to sign on the dotted line.

Let's say local polls show that a candidate in a given target district of 20,000 voters has a comfortable lead of 2,000 votes. It seems to me that if only two to three times this number of petition signatures are gathered, that's going to certainly make a candidate take pause. Are these 4,000 to 6,000 voters who are demanding specific action on a particular issue __ "I will only vote for a candidate who ..." __ the ones who will tank the election? Without these voters is it even remotely possible to win?

I predict some cold sweats and sleepless nights.

Petitioning is no fun and people are often shy about signing them. But getting 4,000 to 6,000 people out of 20,000 to sign a petition telling the government to bring our troops back home from Afghanistan or to stop screwing around with Medicare, seems pretty doable. Even starting first week of June, we have five months until the election.

Polls indicate there are a number of issues where a large majority of Americans, from left, right, and center of the political spectrum, overwhelmingly agree. The size of that majority will vary from district to district. The point is that within each local political environment it is possible to identify at least one if not several issues where constituents are distressed, if not completely outraged, about the vote that was cast by an incumbent politician.
It's time to put his or her feet to the fire!

Step 2:  Getting Another Candidate To Sign

As leverage, it is essential to have another individual in the race sign the pledge.
Ideally it should be the incumbent's major-party opponent. If it is, it's a done deal. He or she will sign. No candidate in their right mind is going to hand their primary opponent that kind of advantage by refusing to match the stakes.

But it could be any minor-party candidate, or even an independent. This candidate is a very different kind of threat __ the wild card! __ the 'spoiler candidate'.

First let's remind ourselves of this: Besides the Democrats and Republicans, there are three political parties which have active, aggressive, structured organizations at both the state and national levels: the Libertarian Party, Constitution Party, and the Green Party of the United States. The Green Party, for example, is registered and functioning in every state of the union, and Washington DC.

Additionally, there are 37 minor parties, some national, some local or regional, and they regularly put candidates on the ballot.

It seems reasonable to assume that in any congressional race, it would be possible to find at least one candidate from this profusion of parties willing to sign the pledge. Minor-party candidates always need all the help they can get for their usually doomed efforts to win a seat. Many such candidates are already running on populist platforms in support of the very initiatives we would be promoting. These causes are typically their raison d'être for even tackling the thankless and typically futile ordeal of running against the big guns of the major parties. We can expect them to gleefully sign the pledge.

As a final resort, someone could volunteer to be a write-in candidate, where local election laws permit, and sign the pledge.

The important thing is to be able to honestly claim that another candidate in the race __ even just a "spoiler", wild-card minor-party or independent candidate __ has already signed the pledge.

Step 3: Confronting the Targeted Candidate

The candidate is shown the petition signatures. The candidate is asked to sign the pledge.

Here is a sample pledge for leaving social security alone, which depending on how the polling question is framed, nationally registers from 64% to 80% voter support. It offers a template for demands on a host of other issues:
I, [candidate name], if re-elected to my seat in the [Senate/House of Representatives], hereby commit to co-sponsor and vote in favor of legislation to establish a 10-year moratorium on any reductions to social security benefits, on increasing the eligibility age, or making any other alteration in the program as it is now configured such as might negatively impact eligible recipients of such benefits. I will offer no resistance to, put up no impediment to, and in fact will publicly and on the floor of Congress actively promote any and all legislation in support of this measure. If no other legislator comes forth to offer such a moratorium, I will create and introduce by my own initiative, within 90 days of taking office, such a legislative act.

I further understand and fully agree to the following: If I violate the above-stated terms of this pledge, I will tender on the 91st day after taking an oath of office for my legislative seat, my full and unqualified resignation from this elected position. Moreover, within one year of my resignation, I will refund all contributions made from individual donors in support of my candidacy for this office.

This entire pledge constitutes a legally binding contract between myself and that class of citizens who will be my constituents, should I win the upcoming election. In the event that I fail to perform any of the above-required actions, redress may be sought by those same citizens in the form of a class-action suit in a civil court of law, and I will be liable for a minimum of $10,000,000 damages for breach of contract. If I fail to resign from office due to my failure to fulfill the other requirements of this contract, I may be liable for an additional class-action settlement in the amount of $50,000,000. No portion of these specified settlements may be paid from campaign donations, PACs or SuperPACs.

I take this pledge voluntarily and with full appreciation of my responsibility to those citizens I will be representing in my capacity as elected representative from [name of state]. I accept the terms of this pledge with a thorough and lucid understanding of its requirements and consequences.

Signed: _____________________________  Date: __________________

Predictably, he laughs. He huffs. He puffs. He stalls.

Now we point out that another candidate has already signed the pledge.

If the other candidate is the major-party opponent, this should be stated loud and clear.

If it's a minor-party or an independent, there's no point in volunteering who it is.

But remember, this is still very bad news for the candidate we are confronting. It's not going to be as frightening or urgent but it still applies the pressure. You have just shown several thousand signatures of people who have said they will only vote for a candidate who supports the position. And you've got another candidate who has signed the pledge. All the targeted candidate needs to think is that there is a "spoiler vote" out there, just enough angry voters that it could cost the election.

Ask Al Gore about spoiler votes.

The ball is now in the candidate's court.

If he signs, we've got him or her exactly where we want. Like it or not he is aligned with us, at least on the particular legislative matter covered by the pledge.

If he doesn't sign, he is setting himself up for a firestorm of bad publicity, hopefully some serious public outrage, and voter backlash. I can see the local headlines now . . .

[Name of candidate] Refuses To Sign Pledge Protecting Social Security

It's definitely going to get his attention, especially if we work the media effectively. If the media won't cover it, we've still got the streets, the internet, and word-of-mouth. We can definitely cause some pain.

We Facebook it. We Twitter it. We Tumbler it.

We call it into radio talk shows. We get ourselves on TV.

We carry signs at rallies, in mall parking lots, on busy street corners . . .

Millionaire Senator [name] won’t sign pledge for fair taxes on the rich!

 Congressman [name] won’t pledge support for affordable health care!

And though I shouldn't have to say it, let me make this very clear. I know this is tough talk. But this is not about causing random mayhem or inciting a campaign of vindictiveness or character assassination. It's about taking our country back and having "representative government" represent us __ something it hasn't done for quite some time.

The idea is simply to force the incumbent's hand and accomplish one of two things. Either he comes around under the pressure and signs the pledge, or we run the SOB out of office.

Reward good behavior. Punish bad behavior.

It's that simple.

These guys are acting like spoiled little children, so we'll treat them as such.

Let me add this: This tactic doesn't have to and shouldn't wherever possible revolve around a single issue. Each voting district has its hotbuttons. It has some set of issues which are threshold issues, matters of public policy which a majority of voters have strong feelings about. Each of those hotbutton issues equates to a pledge. Refusal to sign any or all of the pledges results in the campaign I am proposing, a campaign to educate the public. To force the candidate to comply.

It’s their choice. Either they sign the pledges and start working for us or they go bye-bye.

Confrontation, Coercion, Bullying

It’s unfortunate it has come to this. Politics has always been a rough-and-tumble game. But the game is now so rigged, we have no choice but to give these creeps some of their own medicine. Fight fire with fire. We will get what we demand. Because it is under our Constitution, rightfully ours in the first place.

The important thing is to show these sell-outs that we are fed up with the way our voice has been silenced by big money corporate donors, by the military-industrial complex, by the banksters, by the thieves that have looted the U.S. Treasury and now are coming for even more of our money.

This offensive if properly orchestrated, even only concentrating on a few dozen of these turncoat legislators, is going to be big news. It’s going to put on notice all of the politicians who have been for too long sliding by on empty promises.

I strongly believe that if the above-outlined strategy of petitions and pledges is brutally deployed across the entire country against the political puppets erroneously posing as the people's representatives, it has a good chance of changing the way business is done in our corrupted legislature.

It's time to take back our country.

Immediately!


[ This originated at the author's personal web page . . . http://jdrachel.com ]

Gridlock or Lockstep?

 

They're wearing us down.

That's exactly what they want.

We're constantly beating our heads against a wall to get anything done.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

Anything at all!

Bam! Bam! Bam!

And not even that gets done.

They know we'll either tire out completely or knock ourselves silly. It's the old Muhammad Ali rope-a-dope trick.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

Finally, exhausted, dispirited, defeated, we get in line and march like good little soldiers. We'll stop all this fussing and whining and do what we're told to do.

There's no real gridlock in government.

We're just being trained. We're being taught that all of our childish aspirations, our silly idealistic dreams for an egalitarian society, a humane society, a compassionate society, especially those foolish high-sounding phrases in the Constitution . . . are unachievable.

Freedom? Opportunity? Equality? Justice? Hah!

Pipe dreams.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

Down down down go our expectations. Nothing gets done. We have gridlock, you know.

'Tenhut! . . .  right face! . . . harch!  'Hut two three four . . . 'hut two three four . . .

Bam! Bam! Bam! . . . go our feet on the pavement.

Bam! Bam! Bam! . . . go dreams ground to dust.

Bam! Bam! Bam! . . . yo! 'hut two three four.

"Hey! Wudja look at them! They sure know how to march real pretty, huh?"

But you know what?

THERE IS A WAY TO FIGHT BACK!

Sure, the the U.S. Congress and Senate are full of traitors who have turned their backs on the American people, who ignore us and toady up to big money, big banks, the corporate elite, the bags-of-bullion bullies who fill their campaign coffers and line their pockets.

But there is a way to put a stop to it.

There is a way to make these miscreants either shape up or ship out.

Start with my previous post . . . Trust No Incumbent!

Then over the next couple weeks, follow a plan that will take any incumbent down who insists that his rich friends with the big check books are more important than you and I.

This offensive on corrupt politicians will unfold in the following blog posts . . .

Pledges: Candidate Contracts
How Pledges Can Work
The October Surprise
Pledge: Oil Industry Subsidies
Pledge: Social Security
Pledge: Medicare
Pledge: War
Pledge: Tax The Rich
Pledge: Campaign Finance
Pledge: Town Hall Meetings
Pledge: The Defense Budget
Pledge: The Public Option

Stay with me

Let's work together.

Let's take our country back!

Let's restore a future for America!


[ This originated at the author's personal web site . . . http://jdrachel.com ]

Trust No Incumbent!

   

          "The folks we democratically elect to be the lapdogs of the rich and powerful."

A very recent poll indicated that 74% of Americans are in favor of ending oil subsidies to companies like Exxon-Mobil and Chevron, oil industry giants who are reporting record profits as the price of gasoline soars. Yet on May 17, 2011 and then again on March 29 of this year, the Senate rejected a bill which would have accomplished just that.

A CNN poll on what has been termed the Buffett Rule showed that 72% of Americans favored its passage. The Buffett Rule raised the prospects of a more equitable tax rate on the rich. Yet it also was just defeated in the Senate.

Poll after poll all suggest that a minimum of 66% of the voting public believe the tax rates on the rich should be increased. With the deficit looming larger and larger, and threats that many of the fundamental components of the American Way of Life __ Social Security, Medicare, education, unemployment insurance __ must face drastic budgetary cuts, if not outright elimination, the public more and more supports significant increased taxation of the wealthiest in our nation. Yet it has been twelve years since taxes on the wealthy have seen any increase. On the contrary, they have been slashed and slashed to the point that the rich pay less than ever before in history and the federal government is tottering on the brink of bankruptcy.

In June 2009 during the intense national health care reform debates, 72% of Americans favored the inclusion of the public option. Mysteriously __ or not so mysteriously __ it dropped off the radar and was never included.

Polls also indicate that 76% of Americans are sick of the Pentagon spending tax dollars on military systems it doesn't need. The bloated defense budget, the ongoing ground wars all over the globe, the vaporous war on terror, and vast untold sums spent of surveillance and intelligence gathering, now suck up over 50% of all of the money the government receives from taxpayers and borrows from countries all over the world. Yet there is no end in sight to out-of-control defense spending.

The latest New York Times/CBS News poll on the war in Afghanistan shows 76% of the public opposes it and favors immediate withdrawal. Have we seen any serious signs that we are pulling out in the foreseeable future?

These are not marginal percentages. These are huge majorities!

While polling is not 100% accurate, as the above examples demonstrate, there are some polling results which make it patently clear what the American people are thinking. Yet our elected officials defiantly vote against the overwhelming tide of public opinion.

It is quite obvious our political representatives are not listening. They don't represent us. Across the board on too many key issues, their voting records do not reflect the stated will of the people.

In a representative democracy, there should be some discernible correlation between what the people want and what comes out of the legislative and judicial bodies. There should be some parallel between what citizens demand with their collective voice and the leadership proffered by their chosen chief executive in the White House and their democratically elected legislative bodies.

It's certainly no secret what is happening. Citizen voting is being made irrelevant by bullying monied interests __ by the rich and powerful elite __ as our elected officials consistently cave in to the might of the almighty dollar.

Sometimes it is an outright buy. Money pours into the campaign coffers and the favor is returned on the floor of the Congress, or with the manner in which laws are enforced, or not enforced, by the President and the executive branch.

Sometimes it is a defensive measure. A candidate up for election fears that if he or she does not vote the "right way", a massive campaign will be funded by the monied interests to defeat them in the coming election, either by support of their opponent or by using the nefarious Super PACS to malign and discredit them.

This bribery and blackmail has destroyed any semblance of representative government in contemporary America.

I believe there is a solution to this.  I also think that there is time to apply this remedy to the coming election. Nothing less than the survival of American democracy depends on it. It will require the immediate and total commitment by well-organized, motivated teams of community activists who want to decisively halt the stealing of our democracy by the rich and powerful. It will require mounting a campaign unlike any seen in recent history to mobilize and inform the voting public about what is going on and what can be done.

The bottom line on this solution is straightforward. It is time to draw a line in the sand. Every elected official must be put on notice. Here is what we tell them . . .

"Either you vote in the interests of the people __ not corporations, banks and Wall Street __ or you get a pink slip."

To avoid division and bickering, a focused campaign must be built around the core of critical issues the vast majority of Americans __ left, right, independent, Republican, Democrat, Tea, liberal, progressive, conservative __ nearly unanimously agree on.

A number of posts will follow which outline in specific detail the strategy I am proposing. Here is a partial list . . .

• Pledges: Candidate Contracts
• How Pledges Can Work
• The October Surprise
  
• Pledge: Oil Industry Subsidies
• Pledge: Social Security
• Pledge: Medicare
• Pledge: War
• Pledge: Tax The Rich
• Pledge: Campaign Finance
• Pledge: Town Hall Meetings
• Pledge: The Defense Budget
• Pledge: The Public Option
  

We have learned our lesson. The faith both in our democratic system and the politicians we entrusted with the future of our nation and the quality of our lives was misplaced. The system has been corrupted by money and the trustworthiness of our "representatives" in public office been sabotaged.

No more apologies.

No more excuses.

No more bullshit.

Trust no incumbent!


[ This originated at the author's personal website . . . http://jdrachel.com ]

Leave It To The Experts?

                                          "The whole world is a stage ... we're just reading our lines."

As just living life becomes more complex and challenging, as our world offers seemingly infinitely possibilities and more rigorous demands, we have found ourselves outsourcing more and more activities. We hire a gardener, someone to clean our house or apartment, a professional to paint the trim. We go to a barber or hair stylist. An accountant does our tax returns. Who would think of changing the oil or tuning up their automobile themselves?
Despite the proliferation of specialists and experts, however, the past couple decades have seen a retreat from such blanket trust in others handling critical aspects of our lives. For example, many individuals have "taken back" responsibility for their health. They do their own research and ask their doctors tough questions, instead of nodding dumbly at every bit of medical advice he or she offers. Some parents have become increasingly involved in the education of their children, no longer having full confidence in public or even private schools. Within many communities, food co-ops and local markets are replacing the big box chain stores, as confidence in the food that is sold by corporate suppliers has fallen.

So why is it that we have found it so easy to outsource the running of our country to a small elite coterie of self-proclaimed experts?

I guess the question provides the answer. "They" have made it easy. The experts, our lovely professional politicians, have told us: 'This is very difficult, complicated stuff. It's better to just leave it to us. We know what's good for you.'

We believed them.

At the outset of the war on Iraq, President Bush told us all (paraphrasing), 'Don't worry. We got it covered. Just go shopping or go to Disneyland.'

Go shopping? Go to Disneyland?

That's precisely the kind of easy promises, the soothing reassurances we are hearing now in the thick of this election year. We have candidates with photogenic smiles, prepped by their handlers to say the right thing just the way we want to hear it, kissing babies, waving, leading the charge at staged rallies of unquestioning loyalists, telling us, "Hey, don't worry. We got it covered. Vote for me. Then just kick back, watch Jersey Shore. Go shopping. Hey! Go to Disneyland!"

Sounds good. Sound bites usually do.

But is running a democratic country ever easy? Has it ever been? Isn't it by definition a difficult __ if noble __ task, that requires hard work and active participation by each and every one of its citizens?

In a monarchy, we know who the "expert" is. By definition it's the king.

In a dictatorship, we know who the "expert" is. It's the dictator.

Who are the experts in a democracy?

Surely it's not these spit-shined, Photoshopped, say-anything-to-get-elected, millionaire robot-mannikins __ both Democrat and Republican __ running for office in the beauty contests we call elections.

No . . . it's you and I!

We're the experts.

It's time to face reality. There is no easy way for a democracy to run. It can't be outsourced. It's not something we can trust to some professional class who will get the job done for us.

If America is to survive, we have to do the work. It's up to us. No more outsourcing.

Some jobs are too important to be left to the experts. Like they say . . .

Sometimes the only way to get something done right is to do it yourself.

"Occupy America: Sowing the Seeds of a Second American Revolution" . . . http://www.opednews.com/articles/1/Occupying-America-Sowing-by-Lori-Spencer-111019-246.html

"The Occupy Movement: How we reclaim our country" . . . http://www.oregonlive.com/opinion/index.ssf/2012/02/the_occupy_movement_how_we_rec.html

"Chris Hedges' Endgame Strategy: Why the revolution must start in America" . . . http://www.adbusters.org/magazine/96/chris-hedges-revolution-in-america.html


[ This originated at the author's personal web site . . . http://jdrachel.com ]