Candidate Contracts: Weaponizing Populist Electoral Campaigns

Here we go again.  If you can handle my mid-Western whine, the above video offers a detailed explanation on how candidate contracts can be used to weaponize the electoral campaigns of populist candidates.  The entire text of the presentation follows here:

In my last article, I talked about the ethical and political basis for introducing candidate contracts into our electoral process.

Now I want to address their practical application, specifically how the candidate contract becomes a powerful and decisive weapon on the raging battleground that our campaigns for public office have become.

Let me be absolutely clear at the outset.  The candidate contract strategy can only be used to boost the effectiveness and accelerate the momentum of populist campaigns -- those which reflect the priorities and values of a majority of American citizens -- because the strategy is predicated on expressing the democratic will of that majority.  Therefore, using the candidate contract for narrow, niche activism, or unpopular causes is a non-starter.  In theory, candidate contracts can be drawn up for any reason, around any issue big or small.  But they are only effective in attracting voter support if they reflect enormous popular support.

Having said that, making the candidate contract the centerpiece of a populist campaign can be decisive -- it can win elections.

Here's how.

It's crucial to recognize, the candidate contract by embracing a number of pivotal populist policies, then requiring focused and unwavering dedication by whoever signs the contract to inaugurate those policies, is not intended to constrain or control the 'good guy' populist candidate.  These items are the things he or she would do anyway if elected.  In fact, within each district the 'good guy' populist candidates themselves each tailor the contract for their particular constituents, literally designing the contract he or she can and will deliver on. 

While my template lists eleven issues where vast majorities of Americans want decisive action, I recommend, that based on a familiarity and understanding of each local voting jurisdiction, only those "wedge" issues unique to a particular district and the campaign taking place there, be included in the contract for that district.  It's hardly necessary or even productive to put an entire campaign platform in the contract.  Less is more.  Three to eight decisive issues is sufficient.  Just enough to defeat the establishment opponents and assure victory.

For example, if the demographic is relatively older, Social Security and Medicare likely would be incorporated, whereas free college education may not be consequential enough to include.  If the demographic is young and working class, most likely the $15 per hour minimum wage clause should be adopted.  And so on. 

The 'good guy' populist candidate must know where the voters stand, and fashion his or her candidate contract accordingly.  Specifically, he or she is looking for those pivotal, high-visibility issues which have major voter support, but are not championed by the opposition candidates!  If an incumbent has, for example, voted in Congress against an increase in the minimum wage, and there's enormous support among low wage voters locally, that divergence is exactly what the populist candidate is targeting.

I can't stress this enough . . .

The contract should identify those issues with popular local support which differentiate him or her from their opponents.  The progressive candidate is on the side of the people, whereas the opponents -- establishment/centrist/neoliberal candidates from either major party -- are on the wrong side of these issues.

This now points us to how the candidate contract weaponizes the populist's campaign.

The contract draws a massive, unmistakable line in the sand.  The populist is on one side -- the side of the people -- and his or her opponents are on the other side.  The populist candidate offers the voters something substantial, powerful, unprecedented, a guarantee in writing in the form of a legally-binding contract, declaring in no uncertain terms, what he or she will be doing from day one when arriving in Washington DC, for those same voters who voted them into office.

What can the establishment candidates put on the table?  More vague promises, more empty rhetoric, more nice campaign slogans and pleasant sound bites?

Recognize this . . .

Establishment candidates cannot and will not sign the contract.  Why?  Because if they do, they will lose the fat checks from their deep-pocketed campaign donors -- corporations, Wall Street, big banks, the ruling elite -- and the corrupt pay-for-play major parties will withdraw their support as well.  The major party campaign machine will be put to what they judge as better use supporting someone who knows how their bread gets buttered.

Thus, the establishment candidates effectively surrender to the populist candidate exactly what's needed to put up a great fight and turn the tables.  The candidate contract becomes a weapon of mass destruction which can be aimed at the opposition, to gain the advantage and turn the whole campaign on its head.
 

The candidate contract, used properly and relentlessly, destroys the message, credibility, viability of anyone who won't sign on the dotted line.

Without any hesitation, it should be displayed proudly and prominently at every public event.

"Here it is, good people.  My guarantee to you the voters.  Look at this!  This is not some wishy washy campaign promise.  It's a legally-binding contract, spelling out in precise detail what I'll be doing for you, the voters, when I arrive in Washington DC.  That's my signature there at the bottom."

The other side of that is at every public appearance, town hall meeting, press event, photo op, the establishment candidates should be confronted with their lack of courage, honesty, and commitment to voters.  Using the candidate contracts, they should be called out by campaign and citizen activists who want real action, not posturing and prevarication.

I'm dead serious!

Vilify, demonize, discredit the establishment candidates for their disloyalty to the people.  If they were serious about serving the vast majority of citizens, they'd sign on the dotted line.  Not signing the contract means only one thing:  They're blowing smoke.  All their nice-sounding speeches and wonderful TV ads are just more vaporous, hollow blather.

Let me offer three examples.  Use your imagination and you'll come up with many more.

Get the FightFor15 crowd at campaign rallies for the 'bad guy' candidate.  Wave signs that say:  Why won't you sign the contract for the $15 minimum wage so I can afford to live?

Line up old people on the sidewalk in front of his campaign headquarters.  Beautiful old folks in rockers, wheel chairs, leaning on aluminum walkers.  Have them wearing t-shirts saying:  Why won't you sign the contract to protect my Social Security and Medicare?  Make sure the local press and TV stations are there to cover the geriatric insurrection.

Have the Veterans For Peace and Code Pink at his campaign rallies.  Hold up big banners:  Why won't you sign the contract to bring the troops home from Afghanistan?  No more American soldiers in body bags!

Is this negative?  Is this mean?

No, it's not negative.  And it's not mean.  It's a public service.  Voters need to know what they're getting when they vote for someone.  If that person won't come clean, then we need to come clean for them.  Not signing the contract is a BIG DEAL!  It's a BIG RED FLAG!  Voters deserve to know.
Especially with incumbents, it's absolutely our public duty to call them out on their false claims and excuses.  They haven't in the past demonstrated a basic understanding of their duties and responsibilities to their constituents.  And judging from their refusal to sign a simple, straightforward contract -- which reflects the will of majorities of citizens across the nation on issues that have now reached crisis levels -- these establishment candidates will not in the future be working for the everyday people of this country.  Instead they'll be working for the Wall Street banks, the multinational corporations, the rich and powerful. Instead of passing the legislation to address the critical problems we face, they'll be drumming up more campaign contributions for their next run for office.

The candidate contract allows honest, committed 'good guy' candidates who have integrity and are willing to answer directly to the good folks who elected them, to blow off the doors of calculated deception and treachery, and expose the corruption that has become endemic in American politics.  Corruption which silences the voice of the people and locks everyday citizens out -- individuals just like you and I -- preventing us from participating in our democratic form of government.
At the same time, it opens other doors.  And through those doors will walk representatives who represent, public servants who serve the public, determined, hard-working elected officials who will begin reinstating accountability, transparency and integrity, to a good system gone bad -- a unique promise of self-rule by all citizens, corrupted and co-opted by the crushing anti-democratic forces of unlimited money in politics, and unchallenged power by an autocratic ruling elite.

It's time we fight back.  Candidate contracts are the weapon of choice.

[ As a footnote, let me add one highly encouraging recent development.  Revolt Against Plutocracy is building an entire campaign around the candidate contract strategy which will constitute a major thrust in an effort between now and the 2018 election to challenge centrist/neoliberal candidates, and promote genuinely progressive/populist campaigns.  The folks there integrated the candidate contracts, which they call CFARs -- Contract For American Renewal -- with what they call their leverage strategy.  Keep a keen eye out for some significant electoral activism from this excellent organization, of which I'm now a board member and contributor. ] 


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



Candidate Contracts: Weaponizing Populist Electoral Campaigns

Candidate Contracts: A Democratic Renewal

If you can handle my tinny, nasally mid-Western voice, the above video offers a detailed explanation on how candidate contracts take the guesswork out of voting and set a whole, new standard for electoral integrity in our country.  Or you can just read the entire text of the presentation, which follows here:

The candidate contract idea is simple and straightforward.

The candidate contract takes the guesswork out of voting.

It sets a new standard for deciding where a candidate stands on crucial issues, how serious that candidate is about solving problems which are important to us voters, how serious that candidate is about representing his or her constituents.  In fact, it sets down in writing what exactly that candidate will be doing when they arrive in Washington DC, right from Day One.

Every candidate says the right things.  They always say what they think the voters want to hear, the things that will get them elected.  Everyone understands this.

But talk is cheap.  And after they get elected, when these folks arrive in our nation’s capital and get inside that DC bubble, amnesia sets in.

How do I know?

That’s simple.  It’s so obvious anyone can see it.  You just have to look.

Just consider a few of these items.

63% of Americans want a federal minimum wage of $15.00 per hour.
That means more than 6 out of every 10 citizens want the minimum wage hiked to $15 per hour.  Mind you the minimum livable wage in urban areas like New York, San Francisco, Boston is over $22 per hour.  But $15 per hour would be a good start in the right direction. What is it now?  It’s equivalent in today’s dollars to what it was in 1950!  It’s a paltry $7.25 an hour.  It hasn’t increased since July of 2009.  That’s eight years ago!

75% of voters want fair trade agreements protecting jobs, workers, the environment.  75%! That’s a huge majority opposed to the trade bills which now give corporations enormous advantages, are responsible for exporting our jobs, destroying our unions, replacing good permanent employment with low wage temporary jobs.  Is Congress listening?  It doesn’t matter which party is in the Oval Office or even on Capitol Hill.  We still get NAFTA, CAFTA, TTIP, WTO.  Last year our pay-for-play legislators in the deep pockets of the multinational corporations fast-tracked TPP, the worst trade bill in history.  These neoliberal lapdogs won’t quit until we’re all back to being hunter-gatherers!
76% of voters want a cut back on military spending.  So what do we get next year?  Trump proposes an increase of $56 billion in the official defense budget with members of Congress from both parties cheering him on like a bunch of snarling pit bulls.

76% of voters want the U.S. completely out of Afghanistan.  We’ve been fighting that miserable pointless war for 16 years, folks!  They promised to get U.S. troops out of the country by 2014.  Now it’s 2017 and they’re putting more troops back in.  We’re going to be there forever!  For what?  To waste another $600 billion dollars and have more of our best and brightest come back in body bags?
79% of voters want no reductions in Social Security.  70% support expanding it.  79% of voters want no reductions in Medicare.  Here we have two of the most successful programs in our history, loved and supported by the people.  Yet every new session of Congress, there’s talk about cutting benefits, raising eligibility age -- slash slash slash.  Or they talk about “privatizing” it, which is doublespeak for turning it over to Wall Street so they can gamble with the money we’ve put away all our lives.  

It’s truly a crime!

There are many more.  So far I’ve just scratched the surface.

But there’s one last one I’ll mention that truly tells the story, that shows what a sad state of affairs our faltering democracy is in.  Get this: 93% of Americans want GMO labeling.  Mind you, they’re not saying GMOs must be banned.  They’re just saying that the labels for our processed food should say whether the product contains GMO ingredients or not, so that a shopper can make an informed judgment about whether they want to buy it — a mother who wants to be prudent in planning the diet for her kids, a person who may have severe food allergies which requires them to pay attention to the ingredients on a label.  93%!  That crosses all party lines, ideologies, religions, liberal, conservative, all ethnicities, visitors from outer space.  93%!  And Congress won’t pass a bill requiring GMO labeling.  That really says it all, doesn’t it?

Okay, we’ve got a range of different issues on the candidate contract we’ve prepared.  They are the things millions and millions of Americans want done — huge majorities of U.S. citizens.  As different as these items individually are, what do they all have in common?  You've got it!  NONE OF THIS GETS THROUGH OUR DEADBEAT CONGRESS!  Well, I shouldn’t say they’re deadbeat, because they’re not.  They are actually working hard to make sure none of these things gets passed, working hard not for you and I, but for their rich patrons, their deep-pocketed Wall Street donors, their Koch brothers and defense contractors, investment bankers and hedge fund buddies.

Like I said, candidates always say the right things.  Take minimum wage:  “I believe everyone deserves the right to make a decent living. This is the richest nation on earth. Every person deserves a good life.”  Sound familiar?  What’s he going to say? I think some folks should starve to death on slave wages?  Of course not.  But he used a lot of words to say nothing.  The candidate contract makes it a simple but powerful yes or no question: Will you commit in writing to raising the minimum wage to $15 per hour or not?  Yes or no.

So . . . all we’re saying to a candidate is this:  "We love your TV ads, you’ve got a lovely family, your t-shirts and bumper stickers look great!  But running this country is serious business.  So from now on, we want it in writing, in black-and-white, in a legally-binding contract what you will be doing to serve us, the folks who are sending you to your cushy job in Washington DC.  No ambiguity.  No compromise.  No equivocation.  We want it spelled out as an 'employment contract' and we are asking you to sign it.  We’re not forcing you.  It’s your choice.  It’s a straightforward deal here.  You sign the contract, you’ve got our vote.  You don’t sign the contract, we’re looking for a candidate who has the integrity, courage, and responsibility to sign it.  We’ll be voting for that person.  Understand this:  There’s no room for negotiation.  This is final!  That’s the way it works now."

You see, professional politicians have gotten spoiled.  They get so much attention, so much money, so many favors lavished on them once they get in office, they forget the most important single aspect of their job description:  THEY WORK FOR US!  We’re not casting votes for them to talk to lobbyists and rich campaign donors.  We’re casting our votes to have them go to DC and work on behalf of us, the people, the everyday Americans that make up 99% of the population.

Please. Just read the contract.  Everything in it is what at minimum 62% of us regular folks want done.  On many items, it’s even greater.  75%.  78%.  80% and above.  Right now those things aren’t getting done.  Year after year, our elected officials ignore the will of the people, the very citizens who vote them into office.  The candidate contract will make sure they start paying attention.

Here’s the simple truth.  Here’s what’s happening on the ground in real time right now in America.
Voters are tired of slick campaign rhetoric and empty campaign promises.  They’re fed up with a system that’s rigged.

They’re fed up with being left behind, forgotten by their elected officials.

They’re tired of everything getting done for Wall Street, the big banks, the corporations, the wealthy.

They’re fed up with nothing getting done for the PEOPLE — honest, hard-working everyday citizens.
Folks!  We need to DRAW A LINE IN THE SAND!

No negotiation.  No excuses.  No mercy.  No fear.

That’s exactly what the candidate contract does.  It lets us know exactly who’s on our side and who isn’t.

Okay, one last point:  People sometimes ask me, “What kind of candidate would sign such a contract?”

The answer to that is very simple:  A candidate who wants to win the coming election.  The contract spells out what the voters want by huge majorities.  Voters are sick and tired of compromises. They want the job done and want it done right.  Therefore, voters need to stand united and stand strong.  Vote only for candidates who are on their side, who will work for them!  And that being the case, the reason why a candidate should be running full speed with pen in hand to sign the contract is because they want to get elected and be sent to Washington DC to serve those who elected them honestly, faithfully, transparently.

Let me add some beautifully twisted logic to illustrate further why a candidate would want to sign this contract.

We all know there are some good people in politics, decent human beings who truly want to do the right thing.  But politics is often more about power, money, twisting arms, bullying, than about doing what’s good for the people.  So let’s say our candidate — who has signed the contract — arrives in Washington and right off the bat, there’s some lobbyist at his door.  The lobbyist gives his pitch, the typical let’s-see-what-we-can-do-here, the usual I’ll-scratch-your-back-if-you’ll-scratch-my-back blah blah blah.  He’s got some mega transnational corporation paying him big bucks to wax the slide with Congress and get some favorable legislation passed.  Well, here’s the beauty of the contract: Our guy, the one who got elected because he signed on the dotted line with you the voters, can say:  “Hey, I sure appreciate your coming in and talking to me about this.  But here’s the deal.  I’m under contract to my constituents.  I have no room to negotiate, no room to trade or bargain on any of this.  If I go against my constituents on this, I’ll be on the streets without this job, I’ll have to refund all my campaign contributions — and hey, the money is spent, how will I begin to do that? — and I’ll probably get my ass sued for more money than I’ll make in a lifetime.  So even if I wanted to go along with what you’re proposing, I have no choice.  I am legally-bound by contract to answer only to those who voted me into office.  Thanks for stopping by.  Don’t let the door hit you on the way out.”

See how this works?  See why this introduces an unprecedented level of honesty, transparency, integrity, back into voting?  Do you see why at least in terms of good, decent, honest politicians, we’re actually doing THEM a favor with this contract.

Okay, I’ve talked your ear off.  Let me wrap this up.

Yes, the candidate contract is a new innovation.  But it’s a necessary innovation.  Before there were cars, we didn’t need traffic lights.  Before big money and unprecedented concentration of wealth and power into the hands of a ruling elite, we didn’t need an enforceable contract with our elected officials.  Times change and we need to change with it.  Candidate contracts are the answer to the dismal state of our democracy. 

Granted, we have a lot of work to do to repair the mess we’re in.  But good work depends on good dependable workers.  Let’s put some real public servants in office who will serve the public, not just the rich and powerful. Let’s put some representatives in Congress who will represent everyday Americans, not Wall Street banks, corporate CEOs, not the incomprehensibly rich.  Let’s put some integrity back into our elections by electing only those with the integrity to sign on the dotted line, guaranteeing they will work for you in creating an America that works again for everyone.

---

Here is the link to look at the version of the candidate contract for a progressive running for the House of Representatives:  Candidate Contract - An American Renewal.

If you're interested in getting into the real details of an independent campaign using the candidate contract strategy -- and it is an entire electoral strategy, not just a slip of paper with some legalese -- I recommend reading the two books which got me noticed by the progressive activist groups now adopting the candidate contract for future campaigns.

 

"Candidate Contracts: Taking Back Our Democracy" was published in 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 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
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 ]



Candidate Contracts: A Democratic Renewal

Public Shaming

 

Many folks actually believe our elected "representatives" -- quotation marks are warranted since they don't in fact represent us at all -- listen to us.  To put it mildly, this is a bit naive.  The simple truth is, it's completely refuted by the facts.

Granted, these professional politicos put on a good show.  They all have at their disposal the best handlers, who tell them how to gesture and when to smile. They have the best speech writers money can buy, who twist words into incomprehensible but delightful-sounding gobbly-gook, smearing just the right among of cake frosting on often the most insidious acts of blatant treachery.  We buy into this three-ring circus because we foolishly trust these clowns.

We think that if we call their offices enough times, routed into the digital black hole of automated message machines; that if we attend the rare town hall meeting when he/she has found time between lunches with lobbyists, and fundraisers blessed by deep-pocketed corporate benefactors; if we sign online petitions, that add to the growing pile of tens of thousands of similar petitions; if we organize rallies and protests which while unreported by the media we're sure will attract some attention; if we write letters to the editor of our hometown newspapers, which in all probability won't get published but whose message will, we believe, still somehow magically get communicated; surely all of this effort will make a difference and we'll see some good, positive changes take place.

Talk about a disconnect!  Talk about willful denial!  Talk about delusional thinking!

Look around, folks.  Could it get worse for those of us with some humanity and decency?  Look at all levels of government. We have a card-carrying member of the .1% in the White House, lapdog puppets of the rich and powerful in control of both chambers of Congress, Republican majorities in all of the state legislatures, and Republicans also as governors of the majority of the states.

What does this mean?  What can we expect? 

Aristocrats and their pay-for-play toadies in high places are elitist and anti-democratic to the core, they are relentlessly greedy and insatiable, and will use their power to further enrich themselves at the expense of the rest of us.

How will this end?

The ultra-rich have been and will continue to plunder our nation until there's nothing left to plunder, then they'll move on to other countries -- it's quite evident that the process is already well underway throughout Europe and Asia, funneling vast amounts of wealth to the already ultra-wealthy via hyper-capitalism and the neoliberal juggernaut.

Here's the straight talk, though it's not what you want to hear.

None of what we're doing works because . . .

The people we vote into office are not listening.  Not to you and I, the everyday citizen.

It's that simple.  We don't need to analyze this any further.  Sometimes it's just exactly what it appears to be.  If someone is laying in the middle of the street with six bullet holes in their head, brains scattered across the pavement, and a note pinned to their back which says, "I told you to stop hitting on my wife", we don't need an autopsy to see if maybe what the poor slob had for lunch caused his death.  Or whether maybe he's allergic to his new wristwatch band.

Our legislators are serving the rich and powerful and ignoring the needs of everyday folks like you and I.  Period!  It's right smack in front of our eyes.  This is not a rumor or a piece of conjecture.  The Princeton study by Professor Martin Gilens and Professor Benjamin Page in 2014 was unequivocal in its findings.

"Multivariate analysis indicates that economic elites and organised groups representing business interests have substantial independent impacts on US government policy, while average citizens and mass-based interest groups have little or no independent influence."

This means we are now forced to take DRASTIC ACTION.

I happen to know something that works.  Because it works with all public figures -- movie stars, pundits, sports celebrities, priests, ministers, rabbis, military leaders, pillars of the community -- and always works especially well on politicians.

Public shaming!

Some folks might be squeamish about humiliating so-called respectable and responsible men and women devoted to public service.  Don't they deserve better?

No, they don't!

They've sold out themselves and our political parties to a ruling class elite which is selfish, heartless, ruthless.  They made their own bed of nails, now let them sleep in it.  They made a bargain with the Devil.  They chose to align themselves with evil over selfless and honest service to the people who elected them to their wonderfully cushy jobs in Washington DC.  IT IS OUR PUBLIC DUTY TO CALL THESE PEOPLE OUT ON THEIR TREACHERY!

So . . .
Here is how we shame them, how we make it clear that we are fed up with the games, the deceptions, the double talk, the con.  This contract reflects what polls tell us by impressive margins what the vast majority of Americans want done.  And we put it to our politicos straight:  Will you sign or will you refuse to sign this contract before the next election?Dare any elected representatives stonewall us?  Refuse to sign?  Him-and-haw and make all sorts of ridiculous excuses about why they don't want to raise the minimum wage?  Say they can't get behind fair tax policies and closing tax loopholes?  Balk at providing decent health care to every U.S. citizen, refuse to cover the 35 million people now who currently without coverage?  Opt for having the elderly slip into poverty and hardship because fixing social security and Medicare might upset Wall Street hedge fund managers?  Insist that more young men and women should come home in body bags so we can protect oil, gas, and mineral interests in Afghanistan, Syria, every other place we've bombed recently?  Take the position that our electoral system is just dandy the way it is, that the evisceration of the democratic process by Citizens United and the corrupting influence of big money is just the way things have to be?  Declare climate change a lost cause and suggest that our children's children will just have to adjust to mass starvation, resource wars, and all of our coastal cities joining the Lost Continent of Atlantis, because some of our politicians were too dumb to make it through high school science class?

Here's what I say . . .

If our current congressman can't step up to the plate and play their very best game for the home team, they should be shamed, booed, reviled, scorned, humiliated, vilified, mocked, ridiculed, condemned, excoriated, burned if effigy!  That's if we're in a good mood.

Let them stew in the cauldron of the bad publicity they heap on themselves, then rot in a big foul steaming pile of their own wickedness, when we haul the garbage to the dump!

Now not everybody will agree with everything in the contract I've offered here.  There will be individuals who don't buy into every single item.  This is a work in progress and not written in stone. But the simple fact is, reputable polls tell us . . .

Most people buy into most of it.

Thus we have here the perfect device for drawing a line in the sand and asking candidates who are looking for our votes . . .

Are you on our side or not?  Will you sign this before the election in 2018?

Of course, the ultimatum inherent in this approach doesn't stop here.

Actually . . . it starts here.

This is the starting point for us everyday citizens taking control of the narrative, making a bold decisive claim on power that rightfully and constitutionally is ours in the first place, and putting all the smooth-talking, double-dealing incumbents on notice -- we can call it 'electoral probation' . . .

We've had it with the games.  We're watching your every move.  Shape up or ship out!

In my next posting, I'll explore how the above candidate contract will either get our elected officials to clean up their act, or if it looks like that won't be happening, will be used in the coming election to flush them out of Congress.


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



Public Shaming

The Red White and Blue Color Revolution

 

Orange . . . Rose . . . Purple . . . Yellow . . . Saffron . . . Green . . .

The West, with of course America itself in the lead, loves color revolutions!

I say:  Game on!  Let's go for it.

But instead of another color revolution posing as a victory for democracy but which in reality is more colonial subjugation by the Greater American Empire, let's have a color revolution that will really make a difference.  Let's install democracy in a country now truly desperate for real citizen empowerment and the vast saving graces of representative government, transparency, freedom of the press, respect for human rights -- you know the list, since its trumpeted 24/7 by our propaganda machinery, whether these inspiring and noble ideals have any basis in reality or not.

Yes, we'll call this one:  The Red White and Blue Color Revolution!

It will be regime change, of course, because that's what color revolutions are all about.

But this one will take place in Washington DC, putative center of the Universe, the grand "decider" when it comes to all things global, the bright beacon of hope and freedom and enlightened leadership.

If it isn't already obvious, U.S. citizens now live in a police state under the oppressive and ruthless rule of an authoritarian oligarchic elite.  Everyday citizens have no voice in their government, their most vital constitutionally-guaranteed rights have been nullified, their tax dollars are being used in service to a kleptocratic cartel of corporate/banking/energy industry/Wall Street/military-industrial-government-complex insiders, they are under constant surveillance by a sprawling Stasi-like security state.  Anything resembling basic social services are under siege and being slashed in the name of austerity, and promoting the general welfare as chartered by the Constitution is dismissed as socialist daydreaming. Our essential infrastructure is crumbling, the result of gross indifference and neglect.  The quality of our air, drinking water, schools, communities, even our daily life, continue their steady decline. While the rich immerse themselves in greater opulence and grandeur at the banquet table, the rest of us dumpster dive for what scraps we can scavenge in the alley in back.  They snidely reassure us:  "Buy a lottery ticket! You might win."

So what about our elections?  How is hope and change holding up in the voting booth?

The simple truth is that the dismal array of prospects we are now forced to select from to "represent us" in their official capacities shows no prospect for any of this turning around.  Choice at the polls is an illusion.  It's always between one corporate lapdog and another corporate lapdog, regardless of party affiliation.

This is intentional.  The major party duopoly is configured to maintain the status quo.

Those in power intend to stay in power and use that power to enrich themselves and their wealthy benefactors who will use their wealth to keep their minions in positions of power.  It's an unforgiving closed-loop feedback system, the political engine of crony capitalism.

It keeps "them" in and "you and I" out.

There is only on solution . . .

Regime change in Washington DC.

Translation:  Replacing every elected representative who does not guarantee absolute, non-negotiable, unambiguous loyalty and service to those who elect him or her to office.

The Red White and Blue Color Revolution!

I'm dead serious.  Because America is in dead serious trouble.

We need a clean sweep.  We'll "drain the swamp" . . . for real this time!

Let's not fool ourselves any longer.  Anything less will doom America to further rapacious exploitation, and consign Americans to total enslavement under ruthless totalitarianism:  One nation under God . . . by the rich and for the rich.

As revolutions go, they can be peaceful or violent, responsible or bloody.

That will not be our choice to make.  It'll be up to those in power.

Either they'll go quietly, respectful of the democratic will of the people.

Or . . .






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


The Red White and Blue Color Revolution

The ‘H’ Word

 

It used to be imprudent or just plain vulgar to say the 'F' word.

Now we just say it . . . fuck.

It's such common parlance, so acceptable, it's become the language of diplomacy,
as with the policy declaration by Deputy Secretary of State Victoria 'F**k the EU' Nuland about the crisis she and her neocon friends precipitated in the Ukraine. 

But I'll tell you a word we don't dare say anymore.

You know the one . . .

The 'H' word.

Sometimes it's written as 'h*pe' or 'ho*e'.

We used to actually use the word often. It was on everyone's lips.

 

But after President Obama __ or I should say Brand Obama __ and the
corporate lapdog Democrats made it central to their 2008 and 2012
campaigns, then turned it into both the brunt of cruel jokes and the
poisonous pill of despair, it became as popular as leprosy, not even
whispered anymore in polite company.

Who wants to cry in public?

They sure got us all wide-eyed and teary-eyed with all those 'H*pe and Change'
bumper stickers and campaign posters. People started believing things
would turn around and America would get back on track, after eight
tortuous years immersed in the stupidity, boorishness and arrogance of
George W.

Then this phalanx of feel-good experts and spin doctors responsible for the
propaganda juggernaut we experienced __  especially during the heady
days running up to the 2008 election __ took the faith and good will,
the higher aspirations of the American public and threw them in the
toilet, took several healthy dumps on our heartfelt desire to embrace
the American Dream. They even continue cynically to this day to peddle
fresh variants of their snide charm-offensive h*pe-and-change
trash-talk, assuming the public is none the wiser, and still thirsty for
the arsenic-spiked lemonade of their duplicity.

This is shameful on so many levels. After the horror of George W. and his band
of blatant liars, the ignorant, delusional, self-serving oligarchs who
mockingly led us into a false war, bankrupted the economy, reversed
fifty years of progress toward becoming a humane and sane society, we
had all but given up. Then the sun burst through the storm clouds of our
collective misery and revulsion. People were so engorged with h*pe,
many even heralded Obama as the new Messiah. Okay. Okay. That was over
the top. Yet not just America, but the entire world was at his feet,
expecting this man who spoke with such eloquence, such passion,
sincerity, intelligence, to deliver on the noble promises contained in
his books, Dreams From My Father and Audacity of Hope,
given in soaring oratorical performances at his campaign rallies, in
his inaugural address, and any number of speeches given during the first
few months of his presidency __ most notably the one delivered June 4,
2009 at Cairo University titled "A New Beginning".
Many of us, arguably an overwhelming majority, naively thought this
heralded a new age built around peace and prosperity spanning the entire
globe, and the ascendancy of justice and respect for others.
And what do we have?  You know . . .

Mr. Nobel Peace Prize has proven to be more trigger happy than the sneering
gun-slinging Texan he replaced, Mr. Transparency is far more secretive
and presides over a regime that spies on everyone, the jails
are bulging with more and more people of color __ but none of the
bankers and financial predators who crashed the world economy in 2008 __
the rich just get richer, the poor get poorer, the banks are looting
the treasury, corporations are out of control, fracking is out of
control, global warming is out of control, wealth inequality is out of
control, poisoning our food, air and water are out of control, the
police are out of control, the imperial neocon warmongers are out of
control, the military is out of control, maybe everything is out of control.

Or more accurately, it's in control of the wrong people.

So now the 'H' word is a very dirty word. It's too charged with treachery, the
violation of the best intentions and wholesome expectations of a lot of
very good but obviously gullible people. No one dares utter it without
everyone within earshot going into convulsions of indignation or crying
fits of despair.

There is, however,  another 'H' word I'm hearing more and more these days . . .

Hypocrisy.



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

Spitball Politics

 

With my new book An Unlikely Truth coming out, I've had a few interesting days recently.

Among several interviews I did last week, I ended up on a right wing radio
talk show. We only had a few minutes but the host immediately challenged
me with . . . "Well, since money is free speech, how can you get the
money out of politics? And why would you want to?"

For one of the few times in my life, I was speechless.

Of course, you and I know the answer to that question. But it's a VERY LONG ANSWER!

It's an answer that goes to the very core of the values each of us hold about
our country, about our system of government, about what democracy means
and how it should function in a free society.

Then something occurred to me.

This guy threw me a spitball.

He fired a pitch covered in slime, lubricated with the mucous of his warped,
partisan, and corporate view of America, meant to slip and slide off any
attempt by me to give it a good smack at least into the outfield, if
not the stands.

Therefore . . . there was no point in even trying to answer it.

If you think that spitballs are not in the spirit of good sportsmanship, not
aligned with the greater good of baseball and fair play, you don't
attempt to discuss it with a pitcher who has just won his last 15 games
throwing the spitball.

You talk to people with some perspective, people who can look at our national
sport, see it as only being fair, competitive, entertaining, and a contribution to 
our culture, when we all recognize that the integrity of the sport is more 
important than winning a particular game.

As a result, it was long ago decided by fair-minded, concerned members of 
the baseball community:

Spitballs are the unsavory choice of slime balls.

And the guys who insisted on throwing them were given an ultimatum:

Stop throwing spitballs or you can't play the game.

It's the same with politics. We can't expect Congress or any of our national
leaders to do the right thing about Citizens United or the corruption
of our system with truckloads of corporate money, when these are the
very people who are benefiting from this heinous mutilation of American
democracy.

If the current crop of lackluster elected officials don't want to play the game
with honesty, distinction, respect for the American people, and
reverence for representative democracy, they shouldn't be allowed to
play the game.

Spitball politics in the form of legalized bribery by lobbyists, play-for-pay
politicians, and corruption of our political system by deep-pocketed
oligarchs, is destroying America, or at bare minimum turning it into
something we barely recognize.

No more spitball politics, I say.

If our current crop of weak-kneed elected officials don't have the courage and
integrity to adopt sportsmanlike rules by legislatively ending Citizens
United immediately, they don't belong in the game.

If a politician can't embrace and play by sportsmanlike rules, one strike and he's out!

______________________________________________________________

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) will be released worldwide on March 24th.



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

Going Postal

As you may or may not know, I left America August 2006. I've returned to the U.S. on three occasions for brief visits, but basically I've been living as an expat in 21 countries, including five in Europe, three in Africa, and thirteen in Asia.

This has given me the rewards of seeing how a variety of other people live, as well as how their respective governments treat them as citizens and human beings.

Now I live in on the outskirts of a rural town in Japan situated a little over an hour northwest of Osaka, also near Kobe and Kyoto.

In my previous blog I listed the amazing array of services provided by Japan Post, Japan's equivalent of the U.S. Postal Service.

• Regular Mail
• Stamps
• Parcels
• Letter Packs
• International Express Mail
• Savings
• Loans
• Cash Transfers
• Money Orders
• International Remittances
• Government Bonds
• Investment Trusts
• Life Insurance
• Local Government Services
• Compulsory Automobile Liability Insurance

I reiterate, Japan Post does all of this with care, courtesy, efficiency, incredible attention to detail and a dedication to providing good service. It is among the most loved and respected service institutions in this country. All of these services are available in the main area for 57 hours every week, Monday thru Saturday. Mail services are available for 67 hours per week via a special service window, also open on Sunday. Moreover mail is delivered to each and every home in Japan, regardless of how off the beaten path they might be, Monday thru Saturday, with special deliveries also made on Sunday.

Contrast this with America.

It was recently announced that Saturday mail service for the entire country was being eliminated, effective sometime in the fall.

So . . .

We can deliver lethal explosives via unmanned drones to kill innocent people 1000s of miles away in faraway countries which have no aggressive intentions toward America.

We can deliver enough nuclear weapons to destroy the world 25 times over with 12,000 active ICBMs, and fleets of nuclear submarines and long range bombers.

We can deliver billions of dollars of freshly printed $100 bills to buy the toxic assets of corrupt, blundering too-big-to-fail investment banks across the economic landscape.

We can deliver weapons of every shape, size and destructive power to buyers throughout the world, often ruthless despots and criminal governments oppressing decent people.

We can deliver trillions of dollars in loans and loan guarantees to incompetent and deceptive banks to allow them to continue impoverishing the many to enrich the few.

We can deliver through the corporate media, empty platitudes, unfulfilled promises, and patriotic blather to a populous craving some order from the chaos we're submerged in.

We can deliver bilious and vapid television dramas, vulgar reality shows, celebrity gossip, mindless sitcoms, and orgies of violence and salacious sex on DVDs and cinema screens.

We can even deliver hugely expensive and exotic space weapons systems, spy satellites, and futuristic laser guns into orbits around our planet.

BUT WE CAN'T DELIVER THE MAIL ON SATURDAY!

With changes in technology, and the growth and proliferation new businesses and services, Japan Post understandably has had to adjust. But rather than succumb purely to the often anti-social forces of a completely unregulated free market, the government offers responsible countervailing guidance, responsive to the needs of its citizens.

As private companies, like FedEx and UPS, have introduced their own assortments of delivery services __ and yes, Japan has a thriving private sector in this respect __ Japan Post has kept itself viable and solvent by offering the many other services listed above, making itself a one-stop-place-to-shop when people are running their errands.

While the U.S. Postal Service keeps announcing more and more layoffs, Japan Post makes an important contribution to keeping Japan's unemployment rate down by staying fully staffed with competent, well-trained, unionized workers. Unemployment was last reported at only 4.2%.

Japan Post, as with every other service agency in Japan, not only keeps itself fully staffed, but keeps its staff efficient and knowledgeable with new and ongoing training programs. These assure that whether you are making financial transactions, securing life or auto insurance, setting up an investment trust, planning your vacation, or just selecting and shipping a gift to a friend or relative, you are being assisted by a courteous, competent, eager-to-please individual, intent on providing the best possible service.

And America can't even deliver the mail on Saturday?

What is going on?

Like it or not, here the simple straightforward truth . . .

Our country is being stolen. It is being painstakingly dissembled piece by piece. Our jobs are disappearing. Our freedoms are disappearing. Opportunity is shrinking. The American Dream is dissolving like a ghostly puff of smoke that hinted at better times. Our political and policy decisions are now made by the highest bidder. Our once-amazing country is falling apart. Frankly, America is viewed as in decline by most of the rest of the world.

"Oh! But you're so wrong. America is #1!"

Oh, excuse me. I forgot. I must be some unpatriotic America-hater to even consider such offensive allegations. I do apologize.

But the question still remains . . .

If America is #1, then why can't it deliver the mail on Saturday?

Why can't it maintain and even improve on a service so fundamental and necessary to an organized, functioning society, one that already has a long history of success and approval in our own country, and somehow works just fine in every other country in the world?

The answer is no secret and is appalling:  The U.S. Postal Service is being sabotaged by play-for-pay politicians who at the bidding of private corporations intend to take it apart and privatize it, turning it into another money-maker for interested parties.

The destruction of the U.S. Postal Service is just another in a long list. The corporate vampires will not rest until they've sucked the last blood out of every institution in our once-great nation. They're destroying the educational system, they are bleeding the treasury, they are after Social Security and Medicare, they are already bankrupting the nation leaving people sick and dying while delivering second-rate medical services. They are after every government program, every initiative, every community service agency, to divert tax dollars exclusively to enterprises which improve the bottom line of multinational corporations, bloodsucking institutions which have no loyalty to America, to its citizens, to its families, to its communities, or to actual human beings. With these corporations, the only concern about any of us, our lives, our communities, our country, is what can be extracted in terms of profit.

The tragic disembowelment of the nation's postal system is just the latest round in their long, calculated crusade to dominate and control every aspect of our lives, to disempower us, and leave us at their mercy, beck and call.

With all that seems to be going wrong with America's economy, its democracy, its foreign policy, its media monopoly, human rights and privacy abuses, fiscal plunder and national bankruptcy, rampant corruption in all branches and at all levels of government, it certainly makes it difficult, if not impossible, to know where to begin. They always tell you to choose your battles carefully, ones that you have some hope of winning. Maybe this is a place to start. Maybe not.

I know one thing for sure.

We need to take a stand and take it now.

We need to tell the corporate oligarchs . . .

"Enough! Stop destroying our country or we will destroy you!"

Perhaps we can start by trying to saving the U.S. Postal Service.

Or is it too late?


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