It’s 2025 and the question is still WHAT not Who
An Apology: Sorry about creating this as computer image. Early 20th century fellow here, not so adept at cell phone, etc. Maybe someone out there would like to step forward and straighten me out on tech stuff?
The WHAT is getting dark money out of politics; and the only WHO who will accomplish this is the gathered citizenry of this now very sad and troubled republic.
I am running for New Hampshire’s soon to be open US Senate seat. My platform, my pledge, my performance in the US Senate shall consist of nothing but to vote for the dark money out agenda. As to any other business of the US Senate, I will not vote for the things I hold dear; and I will not vote against the things I abhor. Again, I will vote only for pieces of the dark money out agenda until that agenda is fully accomplished. See below and throughout, if you are not clear about what that agenda consists of. My primary observation on all this is that the money out agenda is by far the largest piece of common ground among the U.S. electorate, therefore an achievable goal IF we gather on this common ground. Accomplishing this will require us to put aside our other interests, our pet peeves, and for some of us our very needs. Look to our world today; those interests, peeves and needs divide us, leave us competing for the few available dollars and resources that have not been scooped up by the wealthy.
You know of what I speak; if not, check out below to see 2024 presidential primary run screeds. The following is a draft of a speech to be delivered Saturday at the NH Democrats mid-term convention; it needs improvement for the actual event:
Convention Speech ~ 2nd draft
Good Morning. I preface my remarks by apologizing to the younger generations represented here for the mess that my generation will leave you. I’m sure some of my peers will join me in this.I am John Vail. I am running for the US Senate. As I proceed here, it will be useful for you to think of me more as a ballot line than as a candidate; we aim to elect an idea rather than a person.
There are two truths in American politics. The first is that dark money cannot be got out. It is baked into both our elections and our government. Get used to it. Suck it up folks. A 2nd truth: If we do not get dark money out, we are fucked. Excuse my diction here, I do not know another word that quite covers the gravity of our situation. Personally, I have abandoned the first truth, all of which is leaving me half nuts these days. I invite you to come along on this journey.
The question for 2026 is WHAT not WHO; that WHAT is getting dark money out of politics and who really cares WHO gets that job done. I do not think our elected officials are remotely capable of even opening a sensible discussion. Instead, this job will get done by way of an uprising of the American people, and I am hopeful that we in New Hampshire can spearhead such a movement. Note that this issue is the largest piece of common ground in our battered polity. . . See Maine’s recent campaign finance referendum passing at 75%. Remember the January 6th Capital stormers’ complaint about elite capture of government policy and process. And you yourself may be one of the many who are in regular complaint or rant about this problem.
A number of organizations have outlined some key legal changes that will rid us of the problem. Alexandria Octavia Cortez and Bernie Sanders have been traipsing about the country offering diatribes about oligarchy and the corrupting influence of excessive wealth. The Movement to Amend has proposed the We the People Amendment which addresses the first two of the following generally agreed ideas about what needs to be accomplished:
A- Corporations are not persons.
B- Money is not speech.
C- Political Action Committees are designed and function as a work around to sensible campaign finance laws.
D- All transactions between private individuals and government employees, officials, especially elected and aspiring office holders shall be transparent in all respect.
These issues are not the only things that matter, but they do stand in the way of accomplishing many of the things that do matter. All sorts of people work tirelessly at non-profit or public service work at low or modest wage and with minimal resources. But their efforts are opposed by corporate entities, the elites who live off that bounty, and their very well compensated minions, all of them having agendas inconsistent with and usually contrary to the public good.
I’m not telling you anything you do not already know. Here is my pledge: I will vote in the US Senate for nothing but pieces of the dark money out agenda. I will not vote for the things I hold dear. And I will not vote against the things I abhor. To repeat, I will vote in the US Senate for nothing but pieces of the dark money out agenda. I will not vote for the things I hold dear; I will not vote against the things I abhor. Accomplishing the dark money out agenda puts us on higher and more solid ground. Think with analogy. Our house being on fire, we are foolish to be designing a new garden shed. Lost in a dark wood; we shall be wise to step out into the bright light of day.
You may have your own stump speech on all this. We are not in a struggle between left and right, but rather a struggle between those up and those down, between the have-a-lots and the scraping by. We will not be led out of this quagmire. Our own leadership hasn’t the necessary vision and they are further hampered by being bound to relentless begging for their own campaign donations. The citizenry must arise to reclaim our rightful place and role in setting the course of our government and our country. We, the people are indeed the ones who do ordain and establish this our constitution. Dark money out is an idea whose time is come. Step up New Hampshire; step up America.
I ask for your help on this. I am an old man, another old fool inveigling himself into an already crowded gerontocracy caucus. I am from the 1st half of the 20th century, so am lacking the tech and social media skills to pull this off. The campaign slogan and guiding light is SEND NO MONEY and I shall not be seeking or taking campaign donations. I’m hardly well-heeled enough to pay costs for much travel and lodging around the state. I could use a driver, as my vision is flawed enough to not serve well at night. Many, probably most of you, are capable of speaking as effectively as me. We need to speak to others, word of mouth, neighbor to neighbor. I have found the conversations with fellow citizens to be useful and fun.
What I ask here is not that you think out of the box, but that we get out of the box altogether. This citizenry is already well aware of the absurdity of the current wealth distribution, the unfairness of concentrated power among the few, and the obscenity of the corporate personhood that now pollutes human life and discourse. Opposed to the mumbo-jumbo that is passed off as jurisprudence, the common man or women asks “Does it eat, does it shit? Does it laugh, does it weep? No?? That is no person.” We are obliged to our children and to their children to pass along a world that has the possibility of recovering the country’s democratic process.
The website is sendnomoney.org. More sense to the idea is to be had there; though you likely have enough of your own.. I can be contacted by email at john@sendnomoney.org
I wish you peace, John Vail (Easton, NH)
END Convention Speech draft
Is it not clear that the common ground of which I speak is fertile soil in which to plant seeds of renewal? Is it clear that I am no pro on any of this? Is it clear that my own resources are utterly insufficient to the task of making this happen? Is it clear that an uprising of the American people is the only way out of our current mess? Is it clear that such an uprising can be non-violent, bringing a peace that is now barely imaginable? Is it clear that my stepping forward in this way is more than vaguely terrifying? Is it clear that many, perhaps most of us are fully capable of stepping forward through our worst fears to act, especially as we do so together? Is it clear that we are long since clear enough on what passes hereabouts to be also clear that we are called away from our rants and ruminations to concerted and unified ACTION? If it is not clear, let me be also clear in noting that the simple clarity outlined here, in addition to bringing forth those reservations and fears, this simple clarity also leaves me with hopes and a very tentative joy. Stop reading, go talk with your neighbors, your friends, your acquaintances, that jackass at the feed store. You are likely to find them on the same page.
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 MoneySentiments 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.
