John Rachel Is A Tedious Bore!

 

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 Democracy to 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 contract strategy would be about.  Talk about arrogant posturing.  And this guy is very famous!  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 a MOAB.  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 an anechoic chamber at 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 doing videos, 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 a beautiful, traditional, rural community situated 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.

1. 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.
2. Very recently I've had some encouraging breakthroughs.  One gentleman in Scranton, Pennsylvania bought 20 print copies of my Peace Dividend book, handed them out to all of his friends and fell0w-activists.  Now they regularly discuss the strategy in their peace planning sessions.
3. I am now on the board of a activist organization called Citizens Against Plutocracy.  This small group of dedicated progressives and its sister organization, Revolt Against Plutocracy, are actively promoting my candidate contract strategy, under the rubric CFAR, which stands for Contract For American Renewal.

[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 ]



John Rachel Is A Tedious Bore!

CFAR Candidates: The Real Deal

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.



Better than what?  The Art of the Deal of Trump?  Or the Raw Deal of the Republicans.

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.

Forget about the Better Deal and the Raw Deal.

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 ]



CFAR Candidates: The Real Deal