A pre-Question added post

A pre-question?? What the hell would that be? Bear with me, complete novice here, still trying to make sense. Does a citizen have the right to do with their vote what they want to do with their vote? Does this need to be asked? Is a vociferous “YES” obvious. a complete no-brainer? Maybe I missed something in 8th grade civics, I was a distracted student. Does a citizen have the right to vote with other citizens to demand a thing be done? Man, you tangle with these over-educated folks; what the hell is he asking? It starts sounding like something where you might expect some answer other than “YES”, like a trick question. Is this exercise really necessary? Seems like taking a spider web apart strand by strand, instead of just swatting through. Does a citizen have the right to go on voting for a fellow who ain’t gettin’ the job done? Well that seems about the stupidest thing, but I suppose the answer is “YES”. Is this all something I’m supposed to be muddling over? Man, it’s already way more than A question, whether pre, post, or middle. Maybe moving along, see if you can nail it in THE question.

The Question for 2024 is

WHAT? . . . not who?

The What is money out of politics.

(elections, corporate influence, lobbying, rule by monied elites, Citizens United, etc., etc., etc.)

  As Potter Stewart said about pornography, we (or most of us) know it when we see it.

$end No Money

Sentiments around political money may be far the greatest piece of common ground we have in this battered polity. Eliminating it holds the key to putting ourselves on track to becoming an authentic democracy, as well as evicting Mr and Ms Moneybags from our problem-solving process.

I aim to be a candidate in the New Hampshire Democratic primary. Uh, what about the rest of the country? As follows: 49 candidates in 49 primaries or caucuses, all running on this What? and nothing else.  Get delegates to the convention and play our hand. 

As I move forward in this effort, I am struck with the difficulty some have getting their minds around this notion. My only aim is to be a stand-in for an idea. I am not running in order to be president; I am running to provide a ballot line on which fellow citizens can vote for getting money out of politics, because they think ridding ourselves of this corruption is more important than saving ourselves from Donald Trump or, for that matter, saving ourselves from Joe Biden. There is no reason that a citizen in a democracy cannot cast a vote in favor of a job to be done rather than casting one for someone to do that job. [That is, ultimately to get delegates and play our hand at the convention.] I invite all to step up with me to DO something with their vote that is dramatically different from the usual spirit-breaking casting between lesser evils. The greatest bit of salvation available to our cantankerous country lies in creating a genuine We, the People. The buyers of access and the bought in government must be pushed aside.

There is more rationale in the press release

/ candidacy announcement

buttoned here below.

As you may not press the button, it need be said here that I am not well suited to serve as president. Some dear friends might say, fairly reasonably, that I am spectacularly unsuited; though they are much amiss on other important matters. My only aim is to provide a ballot line on which a voter can vote for getting money out of politics, that they recognize that accomplishing that yields vital gains for the country that far exceed anything to be gained by choosing who serves. I am a stand-in for an idea, for a worthy goal that may well save our collected asses.

It is a nutty idea; it is an excellent idea.

Notice that its excellence arises only as we rise together to claim the collective birthright endowed to most of us by our founding documents, and to the lot of us in the post Civil War constitutional amendments.

The problems we face as a nation, as a culture, as a civilization, and as a planet all have large amounts of money devoted to preventing their solutions.   We who volunteer our time in evenings and on weekends are competing with people who are paid lucrative salaries to confound our efforts.

Not me, Us

The expression is in the wind. Perhaps something coined by Bernie? A clear echo of “We, the people”. We are faced with a dismal and utter failure of leadership in this country, made near useless because of political money. Let us step up together to secure Abraham Lincoln’s government of the people, by the people, and for the people.

We speak of dark money. And indeed it is.  Our work and cherishing, our debate and struggle, our views of each to the other, are all done in fog and darkness.  This campaign amounts to little more than an idiot in the corner suggesting that we turn on the lights.

  What, not who, is the point. . . . as I’ve said.   Nothing else.  The goal is to reclaim our government out of the hands of wealthy elites and the corporations they control.  So everything said here aims to propel enough of us into actions that head that way.  It is a direct, non-violent approach to putting the citizenry back in charge of government and creating a legacy those who follow deserve.     

Six site pages plus a blog page, vaguely organized in keeping with the categories of ancient rhetoric: Aristotle, Cicero, Aquinas, et al. Customarily, ‘who’ does come first; but as to import and focus, let the first be last. The What. The What. The What is the key;. Keep your eye on that ball. Postings will be made on the blog page, organized chronologically, latest first and then assigned / copied to the most suitable of the site pages.

The Story of

$end No Money:

#1 - I’m just fed up. Need I say more??

#2 - Fifty Nobodies. Fifty states. I assume we’d take some somebodies too; I certainly would.

#3 - One cause, one goal, many people.

R Cobb ~ a graphic voice

coming soon to this block

In the late ‘60’s and early ‘70’s, the work of cartoonist R Cobb was probably ripped off more than that of any other cartoonist. (Well, maybe the ‘Keep on Truckin” guy) His work was spot on for use in the many free press newspapers being published at the time. Collections of his work are not available on inter-library loan around here. They can be bought on line for $100 or so. Boy, campaigning on the cheap is expensive. I’ll bite this bullet.

As best I know, in the day neither he nor his agents ever made complaint over the misuse or resorted to ‘cease and desist’ orders. We always imagined his sensibilities being such that he was delighted to be published in these rags. Whatever the case and needing graphics here, I will rip him off again in the hopes that those managing his estate have similar sensibilities and will be gracious to this low-budget operation. He died in 2020.