My Elevator Pitch for the CFAR Strategy

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 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 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 ... 

https://citizensagainstplutocracy.wordpress.com 

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.


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


My Elevator Pitch for the CFAR Strategy

Dealing With A Serial Liar

 

There is a special place in the world for people who constantly lie to others -- who dupe decent but naive folks, who trust them and rely on them to do the right thing.  (See photo above.)

You see, career politicians lie and lie.  They eventually have no idea they're lying, because they have no idea anymore what the truth is.  And they've gotten to the point where they don't care.  Everyone knows politicians lie.  It's part of the job description. They only stop lying when they take a break to think up new lies.  They say exactly what they need to say.  To get the job done.  They do know what they need to do -- what job needs to get done.  But you probably don't.

Because they lie about it.

Lies can be spotted.  There are key phrases -- red flags -- we can watch for.  Here is a list of them. When you hear a politician say any of these, everything which follows is a lie:

“Trust me when I say . . .”
“I sincerely believe . . .”
“The American people want . . .”
“There is no doubt that . . .”
“I’m proud to announce . . .”
“Thanks for that kind introduction!”
“Good evening!”
“Good afternoon!”
“I’m honored to be here!”
“How are you?”

The Nuremberg Tribunal of 1946 declared that crimes against peace are "the supreme international crime, differing only from other war crimes in that it contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole." 

I would make a parallel assessment.  Lying is the supreme personal crime, differing from other offensive personal behavior in that it contains within itself the accumulated potential for all other offensive, even criminal, behavior.  When a person lies to you, the gateway for every other possible abuse is flung wide open.  Humiliation, treachery, sexual abuse, theft, embezzlement, libel, slander, even murder.  Would you trust a liar around your children?  Would you trust a liar with your house keys?  Would you even trust a liar to watch your things while you went to the restroom?

My previous blog dealt with how not to deal a with serial killer.

It contains an important lesson.

Understand . . .

Serial killers and career politicians are very similar.

They both have us at their mercy.  They both have the power of life and death over us.

They don't play by the same rules as you and I.  They are ruthlessly amoral. There may be exceptions to this.  But as anomalies, these only confirm the rule.

They both have value systems which exclusively serve their own needs.  The only value the serial killer places on human life is the kick he gets from terminating the lives of others.  It's about a brutal hedonism and personal power.

The only value career politicians place on the trust and loyalty of their constituents, is how it serves to secure their prestigious jobs in the national limelight, and positions them best serve their deep-pocketed ruling class patrons.  It's about job security and personal power.  All else is subordinate and thus entirely irrelevant.

In my previous blog, I described in nauseating detail what the serial killer of my narrative did to his victims.

Then I described the idiotic, completely lame, totally ineffective things a community did to try to stop the gruesome violence.  Maybe the folks meant well, but they were entirely out of touch with reality to think any of it would be effective.

At this point you ask:  What's your point, John Rachel?  Is this supposed to be funny?  Actually it's pretty twisted!

Well, it is twisted.  But it's twisted on a lot of levels.  Not only is the killer clearly twisted, but apparently our cerebral cortex is too, if we actually believe that any of the measures outlined -- regardless of how commonly heralded they might be -- could possibly work.  Apparently, all too often our minds are gripped by a covert confusion where form and substance are conflated into a toxic brew of false hope and ridiculous expectations.

'We have to do something!' subliminally becomes a license to do a lot of stuff which has no hope of succeeding but temporarily satisfies the anxious goading of desperation and guilt.

My point is that all of the chosen methods to stop the killer were obviously a total waste of energy and time.  What incentive is there in any of the tactics for the killer to end his orgy of violence?  He loves killing and mutilating people!  He doesn't care what others think or how much suffering it causes.  This is how he gets his jollies.  Dead bodies are his reward! 

There's only one option:  He must be eliminated.  He must be taken out of circulation!

And this is precisely the way we deal with our current coven of elected officials.

I'm not suggesting assassination.  All I'm saying that if we want things to get better, these pay-for-play politicians -- serial liars -- who are puppets to Wall Street, investment banks, transnational corporations; who've let our country be stolen by a wealthy ruling elite; who have demonstrated time and time again they will never truly represent the interests and needs of their constituents . . . MUST BE REMOVED FROM POWER.

. . . THEY MUST BE GIVEN THEIR PINK SLIPS AND SENT PACKING . . .

. . . AND NEVER ALLOWED TO ROAM THE HALLS OF CONGRESS AGAIN!

We've had enough abuse.  We've been victimized too long.  No more lies.

Regime change in Congress in November 2018!

---

 

"Candidate Contracts: Taking Back Our Democracy" was published June of 2015 and is available worldwide from all the usual suspects:

Amazon (Kindle)  . . . amzn.to/1QJRiNZ
Amazon (Print) . . . amzn.to/1Cuq0du
Apple (iTunes) . . . apple.co/1BXnPcy
Barnes & Noble . . . bit.ly/1GpTTLq
Indigo (Kobo) . . . bit.ly/1OEI2xj
Smashwords . . . bit.ly/1B4DQCp
Direct from printer . . . bit.ly/1MGjDnN

 

"Fighting for the Democracy We Deserve" was published September of 2015 and also is available both in every popular ebook format and as a deluxe paperback:

Amazon (Kindle) . . . amzn.to/1VMf2Ft
Amazon (Print) . . . amzn.to/1L9SdIC
Apple (iTunes) . . . apple.co/1JD1YAg
Barnes & Noble . . . bit.ly/1ZUJUpn
Indigo (Kobo) . . . bit.ly/1IX6rO4
Smashwords . . . bit.ly/22PXWLf
Direct from printer . . . bit.ly/1i7ISFM


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

Dealing With A Serial Liar

Peace Dividend Candidates

 

We need to get every candidate running for federal office in 2018 on board.

The Peace Dividend Refund is long overdue.

It's time the government paid up!

As I mentioned in my previous blog . . .

"All the Peace Dividend strategy requires is that people look at it, then stand strong and united — stick up for themselves and other good decent American citizens who have been getting the shaft — then go into the voting booth and only vote for candidates who give us a legally-binding guarantee that they will go to Washington DC and do what needs to be done."

Okay, that's simple enough.  We know who to vote for and who not to vote for.

But what's a "legally-binding guarantee"?

This is the legally-binding candidate contract for the Peace Dividend Refund:



It's very straightforward.

If we really want our money back; if we want the endless wars to stop; if we want to see our country become strong, safe, solvent; if we want to reverse the barbarous, self-destructive militarization of our country and the world; if we want to end the slaughter of thousands of innocent people across the globe and be respected again as a country that promotes peace and harmony, then . . .

We only vote for candidates who sign the above contract.

No compromise.  No equivocation.  No negotiation.  No fear.

If a candidate for federal office -- President, Senate, House of Representatives -- will not sign on the dotted line, he does not deserve, nor will he or she get our vote.

If we stand strong, remain united, refuse to back down, we can do this.

Our children and our children's children will thank us.


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



Peace Dividend Candidates





 

Line of Succession: Just when you thought it was safe to . . .

 

I have been consistently and forcefully inveighing against wasting time and energy on impeaching Donald Trump.  The main thrust of my argument has been that while our Chief Executive -- i.e. the President of the United States -- is certainly very powerful and we can expect Trump to do a lot of damage, targeting him directly is the least effective way to halt his diabolical agenda.  Rather, a truly progressive Congress, one representative of both the needs of everyday citizens and the greater good of the country, could isolate him and counter one-by-one all of his fiercest dictatorial efforts to dismantle democracy and further the self-serving agenda of the ruling class.  As an example, if the orange autocrat signed an executive order permitting fracking on school playgrounds, Congress would pass a law prohibiting fracking on school playgrounds.  If he signed an executive order banning bicycle lanes, Congress would pass a law authorizing bike lanes.  You get the idea.

Recognize . . .

An enlightened Congress would be a bulwark against the broader agenda of the neoliberal juggernaut, the war mongering militarism of the neocons, and the rule by fiat of the rich and powerful.  An enlightened Congress could legislate what the country wants and needs, in spite of an antagonistic, uncooperative White House, and could even put an end to the anti-democratic meddling and chicanery of the Deep State.

Unfortunately, my appeal for "regime change" in Congress has fallen on deaf ears.  Maybe the piercing din of shrill cries for the Trumpster's ouster have drown out my call for cooler heads and what is obvious to me is a more sane and effective approach.  Or maybe a lot of folks just never bothered to pay attention in high school civics class, thus don't understand the way our government actually works.

But I haven't given up.  The only genuine, permanent fix to our ailing system is replacing at bare minimum 450 of the corrupt pay-for-play corporate lapdogs currently seated in the House and Senate.
That is a given and nothing anyone can say or do to distract us can change that fact.

However, a very sobering thought just occurred to me.  I hope it will wake folks up.

What is the line of succession for the presidency?

That is, if Trump is impeached, who will replace him?

That would be Mike Pence, the Vice-President.  Pretty scary thought!

If Mike Pence is impeached, who replaces him?

None other than Paul Ryan, Speaker of the House of Representatives.  Ugh!  Even scarier!  Here's a man whose insensitivity and cruelty to the everyday citizen makes Ayn Rand look like Mother Theresa.

Then if Paul Ryan is impeached, who replaces him?

Orrin Hatch, President pro tempore of the Senate.  Wonderful!  Here's a guy vilified as much by his own party as he is by the Democrats.  Just what we need, more gridlock and cage fighting.

And if Orrin Hatch is impeached, who replaces him?

Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson.  Yep, the drill-baby-drill former CEO of Exxon-Mobil.  We probably will see fracking in school playgrounds if he becomes president.

If we are not suffering from impeachment burnout, and Rex Tillerson is then put on the chopping block, who replaces him?

Former Goldman Sachs CIO and hedge fund manager, now Secretary of the Treasury, Steven Mnuchin!  Perfect.  Maybe he'll streamline the monetary system and just have the investment banks print money for themselves instead of the U.S. Treasury.

So . . . are you getting the picture?

Granted, Trump is an easy target.  But impeaching him accomplishes nothing.  It merely sets up month-after-month, year-after-year of more impeachment hearings.  What Trump represents will not go away just because he does.  As they say in sports, their bench is very deep.

What's the solution?  Where do we channel our rage?  What will truly turn things around and start to fix this unbelievable mess?

Regime change in Congress is the only option and the only viable place to focus our time, energy and creativity.  There are 33 Senate seats and 435 House seats up for grabs in the 2018 election.  That's where our power resides.  That's how we achieve genuine change.  That's how we turn our nation around.

I see little redeeming value in returning any of the incumbents to office.  That's just me.  Citizens need to decide for themselves.  But recognize, we need to start this right now.  Waiting until next year will be too late.

How do we decide?

I have proposed -- for over four years now -- a simple solution.

Candidate contracts.

Decide what we want done.  Present candidate contracts which specify what we want done.

There's a lot of critical issues to choose from:  Social Security, Medicare; minimum wage; taxing the rich, eliminating tax loopholes and corporate welfare; reducing the military, ending pointless wasteful wars; electoral reform (e.g. Citizens United and term limits); rebuilding roads, schools, communities; guaranteeing good K-12 education.  We can even probably add student debt relief, truly universal single-payer health care, home mortgage relief, and a few others to this list.

Most importantly, there is an enormous amount of agreement among the vast majority of citizens on these key issues.  Having said that, the candidate contract is entirely flexible and can be configured to reflect the unique priorities and will of the voters in each congressional district and in each state where there is a senatorial contest.

The underlying principle, however, is the same . . .

If a candidate signs the contract, he or she deserves our vote.  Simply because at least on the issues which are covered by the contracts, WE KNOW EXACTLY WHAT WILL GET DONE.  The candidate contracts are bulletproof, ironclad guarantees of representation!

No excuses.  No compromise.  No negotiation.

On the other hand . . .

If a candidate waffles, slithers, slides, and avoids discussing and signing the contracts, we then know they are "business as usual" types -- i.e. full of wonderful-sounding but empty rhetoric, peddling deceptive campaign promises, so when they arrive in Washington DC they will forget us, the very people who voted them into their cushy jobs in our nation's capitol.

If a candidate will not sign on the dotted line, he or she does not get our vote.

This concept is simple, straightforward, powerful.

No contract = no vote!

This is how we take all of the guesswork out of voting.

So . . .

Dumping Trump is a satisfying thought but it will not get the job done.  Impeachment will take enormous time and energy, monopolize all of the resources we need to achieve real reform, and just set the stage for the next autocrat to push the agenda of the ruling class.

There is only one realistic option . . .

A truly representative Congress is the key -- the only sensible, effective path -- to restoring some semblance of democracy in this country.

---

But let's make no mistake about it.  We have an enormous struggle ahead of us.  But every journey begins with a few single steps.  Every action and all activism begins with ideas. 

Described in detail in two recent books are my ideas for how we conduct a bottoms-up, community-based, grass roots campaign for restoring democracy in America.

 

"Candidate Contracts: Taking Back Our Democracy" was published June of 2015 and is available worldwide from all the usual suspects:
Amazon (Kindle)  . . . amzn.to/1QJRiNZ
Amazon (Print) . . . amzn.to/1Cuq0du
Apple (iTunes) . . . apple.co/1BXnPcy
Barnes & Noble . . . bit.ly/1GpTTLq
Kobo (Indigo) . . . bit.ly/1OEI2xj
Smashwords . . . bit.ly/1B4DQCp
Direct from printer . . . bit.ly/1MGjDnN

" 

Fighting for the Democracy We Deserve" was published September 2015 and is available both in every popular ebook format and as a deluxe paperback:

Amazon (Kindle) . . . amzn.to/1VMf2Ft
Amazon (Print) . . . amzn.to/1L9SdIC
Apple (iTunes) . . . apple.co/1JD1YAg
Barnes & Noble . . . bit.ly/1ZUJUpn
Kobo (Indigo) . . . bit.ly/1IX6rO4
Smashwords . . . bit.ly/22PXWLf
Direct from printer . . . bit.ly/1i7ISFM


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



Line of Succession: Just when you thought it was safe to . . .

Is this really happening?

I've avoided writing very much about the presidential election.  I know I'm in a very tiny minority, many of whom are housed in large buildings with locked doors and bars on the windows.  But I really see it as an entertaining distraction, a three-ring circus, keeping us all enthralled and on the edge of our seats, while out in the parking lot they are stripping our cars of anything that can be fenced to pawn brokers, body shops and used-tire dealers.

So while the photo at the head of this article would seem to suggest otherwise, I'm not going to add to the big noxious cloud of vaporous analysis and shock-jock commentary about who is up, who is down, where is Bernie, who is Jill, can you find Waldo.

Instead I'm staying the course here, announcing my latest initiative, and doing so, risking adding even more evidence to my public file that I'm masochistic and delusional.

Yes . . . I'm at it again, giving it one more shot, attempting to drive home my message.

"What is that message?" you ask innocently -- your acting about as convincing as Obama on his visit to Hiroshima when he donned such a sad face and declared nuclear weapons a very bad thing, though he's spending another $1 trillion to upgrade our nuclear arsenal.

Come on!  You know my message!  I'm more of a broken record than Bernie Sanders.

 

Speaking of whom, isn't it amazing how easy it is to marginalize and destroy a good man?  A little voter fraud here, some media bias there, well-placed dollars to lock in the loyalty of super-delegates, the nauseating duplicity of "progressives" like President Obama and Elizabeth Warren, the nomination victory manufactured by the pundits, and BINGO!

Bye-bye, Bernie!

That's where things allegedly stand right now anyway.

But back to my message.  Which is built around this certainly vulgar but perhaps thought-provoking question:

WHO GIVES A FLYING FUCK?

Because . . . (brace yourselves, folks, here it comes again) . . . regardless of who ends up in the Oval Office . . . 

IT'S CONGRESS THAT MAKES THE LAWS!

So this time . . .

I'm reaching out to progressive congressional candidates!

Anyone out there who is running for the Senate or the House, anyone out there who knows someone who is running for the Senate or the House, or anyone out there who knows what the Senate and the House of Representatives do, please look at my new activist website:

NO CONTRACT NO VOTE!

I have proposed this approach in countless blogs, published articles, and in three books.

It is a methodology, a strategy, a powerful political device for WINNING ELECTIONS!

Ha ha ha!

"Winning elections?  Why would we want to win elections?"

If you have to ask, you might want to read this.

Anyway . . .

In my left-of-left, radical-revolutionary dreams -- or are they actually hallucinations? -- I imagine pink-slipping the current crop of corporate suck-ups, the pay-for-play political toadies, plutocratic lapdogs, flunky footmen for the rabidly rich, insatiable plunderers of our economy and destroyers of the American Dream, the sycophantic Yes-men of Wall Street looters and the too-big-too-jail banksters, the sniveling servants of crony-capitalists and ruthless kleptocrats pillaging our national wealth, the cynical complicit despoilers of democracy who are cravenly turning America into a Third World banana republic (if it's not completely obvious, I'm referring to the execrable frauds now serving in Congress), then replacing them with unselfish, committed, truly progressive public servants who honorably represent all of us, not just the rich and powerful.

And . . .

After completing my imagined shake-up of government and rooting out the corruption, installing a Congress of the people, by the people, for the people, a legislature serving the needs of all Americans, thereby assuring a healthy, safe, fulfilling, prosperous future for our children and our children's children -- YES! -- at this glorious juncture I see all of us, united, delirious, grateful-beyond-words, turning to one another and asking . . .

Is this really happening?



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

Is this really happening?

Candidate Contracts: Replacing Bad Brains With Good Brains

 

Democracy is dead in America.

Representatives no longer represent.

I'm reminded of the classic comedy featuring Gene Wilder and Peter Boyle . . . Young Frankenstein.

Why was the Frankenstein creation a monster, disloyal, cold-hearted and destructive?

He had a bad brain.

A bad brain results in bad behavior.

The brains of our elected officials, the monsters who roam the two legislative bodies of our government, the Senate and the House of Representatives, have been corrupted by money, effectively destroyed, are now lacking the capacity to fulfill their constitutional mandate. They no longer are controlled by the citizens who elected them to office.  They now are exclusively the lapdogs of the rich and powerful -- disloyal, cold-hearted, destructive.

 

We must replace the bad brains.

I call this procedure a lapdogectomy.

The lapdogs must go.  They must be replaced with good brains, those individuals who are willing to respond to the needs of their constituents -- those candidates who will guarantee to us the voters that they will do the job we elect them to do.

How do we know who has a bad brain and who has a good brain?

The candidate contract is actually better than an MRI or CATSCAN in this respect.

After we the people have decided what issues are critical -- based on numerous credible issue polls, there already is a good list of what the public wants done but isn't getting done -- we formulate candidate contracts spelling out in no uncertain terms what we expect our elected representatives in Congress to do IMMEDIATELY UPON ARRIVAL in the nation's capital.  The contracts are presented to every candidate for office in the coming election.

Candidates with bad brains refuse to sign them.

Candidates with good brains gladly sign them.

We do not vote for people with bad brains.

We only vote for people with good brains.

Make sense?

Replace bad brains with good brains.

Could it be any easier?



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



Candidate Contracts: Replacing Bad Brains With Good Brains

Extreme? Radical? Or just realistic?

 

We are constantly being lied to. We are being sold wars  we don't want. 
We are having our best social programs cut. Our jobs and tax dollars are
being shipped overseas.  Our treasury is being looted by Wall Street
banks and corporate oligarchs. Our education system at all levels is
being systematically destroyed. Our privacy and personal freedoms are
being whittled away. We are being asked to work harder for less money.
Our minimum wage is so minimum, no one can possibly live on it. We are
told we have to tighten our belts while the rich are carting away
billions from the public till as tax breaks and corporate subsidies.
7-11 clerks and fast food cooks pay higher tax rates than corporate CEOs
and rich Wall Street bankers.

How long does this have to go on before the American people have finally 
had enough?

The typical American citizen is being shafted on so many levels, what
totally astounds me is that there are not outraged mobs in the streets
demanding the heads of the politicians and the cold calculating country
club elites they serve.

Okay . . . okay . . . mass insurrection is not going to happen. At least not for now.

So it seems obvious to me that since we're not going to have a revolution in
this country, the very least we can do is replace the elected officials
in our federal government who have been the cheerleaders and
implementers of these onerous policies. The very least! 

I've stated over and over that we need to replace at least 500 of our
legislators, then put someone in the White House who understands and
serves the needs of all Americans, not just the filthy rich. I've even
dug up that old electoral battle cry: "Throw the bums out!"

As a result, I've had people say I'm extreme . . . out-of-touch . . . radical . . .
and even call me an ungrateful, unpatriotic, American-hating whiner. I get it.
Attack the messenger.

Let's be honest here. If our government on practically every critical front is
headed in completely in the wrong direction and I say it's time to clean
house . . .

Am I extreme?

Am I radical?

Or am I just being realistic?

I am proposing here simple, straightforward tests, applied locally within
each community. These are based on the electoral strategy outlined in my
recent book, "An Unlikely Truth." Just ask yourself . . .

• Did my congressman or senator vote against raising the federal minimum wage?
  If he or she did, it means that this elected official is voting against
  the stated will of 72% of the American voting public. Apparently the
  demands of the greedy businessmen who fill his or her election campaign
  coffers are more important than people being able to earn a decent
  living.

• Did my congressman vote for the Ryan budget in the House or did my senator
  vote for continuing tax breaks for the rich in the Senate? That
  vote would go against the 71% of the voting public who think the wealthy
  should bear more of the burden, as they did for most decades of the
  20th Century. Supporting historically low income tax and capital gains
  tax rates means more money into the pockets of the already wealthy, paid
  for by the rest of us who are struggling to make ends meet. It's Robin
  Hood . . . but in reverse.
  

• Did my congressman or senator vote for a defense budget which included the infamous F-35 advanced fighter jet, arguably the biggest boondoggle in the history of the nation?
  A whopping 75% of American voters want serious cuts in the defense
  budget. Voting for any of the bloated defense appropriations budgets
  means throwing away money on worthless defense projects while schools,
  streets, bridges are crumbling. It's putting bombs and bullets above
  quality of life.
  

• Did my congressman or senator vote for continuing oil subsidies for the oil industry? Alright, profits were a little off last year. So the Big 5 __ BP, Exxon Mobil, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, and Shell __ only made $177,000 per minute.  Cry me a river! That
  added up to $93 billion in total profits. 74% of Americans want the
  government to stop throwing money at the these behemoth corporations and
  insist they start paying their fair share in taxes.
  

• Did my congressman or senator vote for funding attacks on Libya, Syria, Iran,
  the Ukraine or extending the waste of American tax dollars in
  Afghanistan, which 69% of Americans now oppose? Americans are sick of war.
  Fed up! Every dollar spent on these misadventures is one less dollar
  for critical needs here at home. Estimates for the wars in Afghanistan
  and Iraq are in the upwards of $6 trillion __ that's trillion with a 't'. That adds up to 12,000,000 good paying jobs here in America. Think about it!
  

• Did my congressman or senator vote for any legislation which cut benefits,
  raised the eligibility age, or tampered with the rate of increase of
  Social Security payments, for example, the "chained CPI" skullduggery?
  Such a vote, or even thinking about such a vote, is in direct
  opposition to the clear voice of the American people, 79% of which want
  no changes to the most popular and successful federal program in
  history. Putting the squeeze on our elderly, who have worked hard all
  their lives and can barely survive on the pittance that the program now
  provides, may be the most heartless, sinister, pathological proposal to come down the long pike of heartless, sinister,
  pathological proposals. The money to pay benefits would be there if the
  Social Security trust fund had not been raided to pay for unfunded wars
  and tax breaks for the rich, and having everyone's savings replaced by a
  bunch of government security IOUs. More to the point, those responsible
  for this theft should not only not be in public office. They should be
  in prison.
  
• Did my congressman or senator vote against labeling foods that contain GMOs? If he or she did, then this elected official is at odds with 93% of the voting public. Yes . . . I said 93%!
  And keeping people ignorant of what they're eating and exposing them
  to potential health hazards as dictated by the giant food and
  agrochemical conglomerates like Monsanto is the choice your legislator
  is consciously and unconscionably making.

As far as I'm concerned, a 'yes' on any single one of the above questions is a knock out.

Zero tolerance. Time to look elsewhere. Time to stop voting for the same ol' same ol'.

My reasoning is this. If your senator or congressman accepted what is
effectively a bribe __ lobbyist favors, campaign donations, expensive lunches or junkets 
or whatever __ on one critical issue where there exists a major consensus among the 
American voting public and in your voting district, it means that at some time in the 
future, if enough pressure is applied by powerful corporations and their cutthroat lobbyists 
 on other critical matters, your same representative will ignore you, his or her constituents, 
and vote lockstep with moneyed interests. If it happened once, it'll happen again. Politicians 
must be put on notice: We're watching and there is no margin for error. Or chicanery. Or excuses.

Of course, they'll him-and-haw, create a tsunami of obfuscation and evasion to
justify that one "compromise" or trade-off. I say we take the higher
ground and leave the guy to drown in his own bullshit. Then suggest to
Mr. Got-Lotsa-Excuses Legislator we've heard enough, point to the
parking lot and tell him, "Don't let the screen door hit you on the way out."

Remember, elected officials want your vote. They will tell you what you want to
hear to get you to check the box. Too often, once they are in office,
they conveniently forget that the promises they made were in effect a contract
with their constituents. A verbal contract. Based on what they said
they would do, we voted for them. There's a bond of trust and
responsibility operating. And if they can't honor any single one of
those commitments, then why should we trust them to honor any of them __
past, present of future __ after they disappear inside the Washington
bubble?

We have to keep focused . . .

It doesn't matter whether your current congressman or senator has a pleasant
smile, looks dashing when going to church on Sundays, has enchanting TV
ads showing him or her at the local Kiwanis Club annual bake-off
fundraiser, is a model family man or woman, and gosh-by-golly is again this year 
the Grand Marshall for the Independence Day parade down main street of your 
home town.

What does matter is whether he or she is listening to you,
or taking marching orders from the deep-pocketed campaign donors who
pay for those TV ads full of patriotic slogans and empty campaign
promises, those slick video bites and photo ops designed to fool you
once again into voting against your own interests and needs.

Is it extreme to expect honest representation?

Is it radical to want a functioning democracy?

Or is it just realistic to expect our system of government to work for all of us, 
not just the privileged and powerful?

______________________________________________________________


I am doing what I can to address the destruction of our democratic system.

Without taking back our government, nothing will change.

In my new book, An Unlikely Truth,　I offer an electoral strategy which I 
believe can effectively remove the crooks and liars from office, and begin to 
restore representative democracy to America.

An Unlikely Truth (Literary Vagabond Books) is now available worldwide in 
 every popular ebook format and as a deluxe edition paperback.

“Take me to your leader!”

 
Strong, visionary, decisive leadership has been missing for so long in America, we don't even know what it looks like anymore.

Arrogance and charisma are not the same as leadership. George W. Bush was as arrogant as they come and Barack Obama is as charismatic as it gets. But both represent terrible ideas, a disdain for democracy, and a complete disregard for the will of the American people.

Here's what I think.

A strong leader doesn't lie to his supporters out of convenience or for his own political gain, or make mincemeat out of the facts because he thinks he personally knows whats best for the country. He respects us and is truthful, even when the truth is worrisome or painful.

A strong leader takes sometimes controversial stands on difficult issues out of conviction, not out of convenience. He looks for direction in a set of principles __ those spelled out with clarity and candor when he ran for office __ not poll numbers and focus groups.

A strong leader is not afraid of tarnishing his own image because his ideas or policies might be unpopular. His concern is the greater good of America and the welfare of the American citizenry, not his place in history.

A strong leader defends and supports those in our society who are the weakest and most need of help __ because a free society and true democracy is measured by how it treats its most vulnerable, not how it venerates and toadies up to its privileged and powerful.

A strong leader is not impressed by money and power, only that which fulfills the basic tenets of the constitution, the intentions of the nation's founding fathers, and what fosters the greater good for the majority of citizens.

A strong leader recognizes everyone is equal before the law and makes tough choices in enforcing it.

A strong leader cannot be bought or influenced by the rich and powerful and remains loyal to the majority of Americans who entrust him with the responsibilities of his powerful position.

A strong, visionary, decisive leader offers big solutions to big problems. If the car is broke, he fixes it or replaces it. He doesn't just shine the hubcaps and claim he's doing all he can, or worse, claim that shiny hubcaps will get the car running again in top form.

There are more but what I've outlined constitute a good start in defining leadership.

I personally believe Mr. Obama, and the House and Senate leadership, both Democrat and Republican, fail on all counts. I don't know what other conclusion you could draw after watching the fiascos and tragic blunders of the past twenty years.

We have BIG problems in America. They are almost incomprehensibly big. Sometimes they are within the framework of legislative and executive policy formulation. But we also must acknowledge that sometimes they are systemic problems, requiring thorough and fundamental revisions of the way we go about doing things __ BIG solutions.

All the hand-wringing that goes on in the name of shaping public policy, basically a soap opera to keep the masses distracted and uninformed, is cowardly and insulting. This fiscal cliff is a joke. The debate over taxing the rich is simple-minded and tunnel-visioned.

Which points up another example of total lack of leadership. A leader does not let others set the rules of debate, or frame the argument. A true leader brings a fresh point of view, one that is rife with possibilities and potential for positive change. A true leader doesn't let his opponents decide what and how much will be discussed.

If Obama were serious __ and I'm convinced he's not __ about actually addressing the enormous challenges facing this country, he wouldn't be letting a cry-baby like Boehner and a turkey-neck like McConnell push him around. Before those two bozos ever got a foothold, Obama could have cut the legs out from under them by going to the America people, given us some straight talk, and with our support gotten some things done.

Why didn't he? Why hasn't he?

Because Obama is not a leader. He's a follower. To make it even more horrifying, he's a follower of a nefarious and suicidal neo-conservative world view. Obama is a militant imperialist, a dyed-in-the-wool corporatist, a wannabe elitist, an anti-democratic authoritarian, and a self-aggrandizing narcissist.

Hardly the makings of a strong, independent, creative leader.

With the onset of the New Year, spirits will be high and optimism in good supply.

Let's hope that these men and women who think of themselves as spokespersons for the American people, who as a result of being elected to the highest political offices in the land probably think of themselves as being among America's best equipped to steer the country on a constructive course, will finally live up to the high opinions they have of themselves.

Let's hope we see some real leadership.

It's been way too long.




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