The anti war presidential candidates last time were Gravel, Nader, Ron Paul, McKinney, Kucinich. I feel honoured to know two of them personally and I work for another one of them and remain in constant contact. All people of great integrity, intelligence and experience. We need ALL of them in office doing SOMETHING, we need to PUT THEM THERE...and we need all of the war-mongers OUT! This is going to take five courses of action by many, many Americans...through the purse and through the elections (once we can make them fair).
1) I believe a month long nationwide strike would drive our government to it's knees. It can be done if enough people are on board. Our government is so tied with the corporations, this would hurt them. But they cannot come out with guns and force us to buy anything. This would be quite a dealbreaker between us and our leaders who no longer serve us but the corporate lords. WE THE PEOPLE have the power of the purse. It is WE who hired THEM. We need to show them who is really the boss...
2) We need to vote EN MASSE every time there are elections at the local, state and federal level. Voting is not just a RIGHT, but it is an OBLIGATION!
3) And we need to make our elections fair and honest and stop counting votes in secret which is unconstitutional. No scanners or computers counting our votes. Media/Election reform with plenty of observers and documentation of the process in every single election, voting and ballot facility. Every candidate allowed to debate and granted equal time by the media. COMPLETE BALLOT ACCESS. If Mickey Mouse wants to run for office, he should be allowed to in a completely transparent and democratic government.
4) Our representatives need a specific timeframe to read pending bills and legislation before they vote and sign. No more multi-wrapped legislation! No more laws signed and voted for unless the people know what is wrapped into one bill.
5) People need to get up off the fu(king couch and DO SOMETHING! Become pro-active. NO MORE COMPLACENCY!
I, as a Green believe that unless we have ELECTION/MEDIA Reform, there are no fair elections, the last three proved that to me. I believe that elections can work in helping us achieve our goals PROVIDING they are FAIR. And providing that the media will cover the candidates and the issues fairly. That is not happening now and not sure what it will take to make it happen. POWER TO THE PEOPLE...we can make THAT HAPPEN! If we let our leaders know that WE own THEM. But it would take a lot of us. And while I believe in the power of assembling and protesting, with the media not covering these events or when they are portraying us as the "lunatic fringe" it is like these events do not exist and are not significant. I am not being negative, just being real. As far as Third Parties go, and I am for ALL of them, we can all work together. We have more power when we focus on our similarities and not our differences. We have to unite based on the issues we want reformed. We are in danger when people do not know about us. For instance, political science majors that attend USF do not even know what the Green Party is. That is a scary precedent...
***Photography by Anita Stewart
1) Code Pink on top of the bridge near the Pentagon on March 21, 2009.
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