Chet backs little-known candidate
``Gravel for president?’’ I asked.
``Gravel,’’ he corrected and sat down. "Rhymes with gazelle.’’
``Who made your shirt?’’ asked the little miscreant.
``I did,’’ said Alice, flower child of the ’60s.
``It’s awesome; I want one,’’ our eighth-grader said.
``I want one, too,’’ said Buddy.
``I’ll make them,’’ said Alice, ``but you’ll have to wear them.’’
``Who is Gravel?’’ I pronounced the name the way it looks.
``The next president of the United States,’’ Uncle Chet said, then asked for two tacos with everything on them.
``Never heard of him,’’ said Hon.
``Neither
had I until last week when the Democrats were debating in South
Carolina,’’ said Uncle Chet. ``I didn’t see the debate, but I was
checking it out on the Huffington Post the next morning, They said
Obama bombed, Clinton double-talked, Edwards was daydreaming, but Mike
Gravel wowed the audience.’’
``Who
is he?’’ I asked as the tacos were served. I slathered mine with salsa,
and sour cream because I got a good cholesterol report last week.
``That’s
hard to find out,’’ said Uncle Chet. ``Of course, The New York Times
didn’t have anything. All they yakked about were the top three, the
ones with the millions, but finally I went YouTube, and there he was,
giving the `top-tier’ candidates a good tongue-lashing.’’
``On what?’’
``On
everything,’’ said Uncle Chet. ``He’s for single-payer health care, a
graduated sales tax to replace the income tax, ending the war. He said
the Democrats could end the war right now if they had the guts. They’d
just have to enact a law making it a felony for Bush to prolong it.’’
``Has he ever heard of a veto?’’ I said.
``Sure,
but Congress could override a veto,’’ said Uncle Chet. ``Gravel
suggested they hold a televised vote at noon every day on TV so the
whole country can see who’s for war and who’s for peace. After a few
days of that, watch the Republicans cave.’’
``Who is he? How did he get on TV?’’ I said.
``He
was a two-term senator for Alaska,’’ said Uncle Chet. ``In 1971, he
staged a one-man filibuster to end the draft. And he’s the one who
released the Pentagon Papers, so the rest of us could see how
government lied its way into the Vietnam War.
``Funny
thing is, even after I read all this last week, I couldn’t remember him
from back then,’’ said Uncle Chet. ``There must have been a news
blackout on him for the last 40 years. But the cat’s out of the bag
now. By the time I watched him on YouTube, 45,000 people had seem him
already, and his campaign was swamped with $20 checks they couldn’t
even process.
``I
checked YouTube again tonight, and he had over 200,000 hits. CNN wasn’t
going to let him debate in New Hampshire, but now they’ve changed their
mind because they were being hammered by e-mail."
``Since when does a TV network decide who’s going to debate?’’ asked Hon.
``Welcome
to the brave new world,’’ said Uncle Chet. ``Everything is decided by
the rich, and nothing’s made in America. The investment class has sent
our jobs to cheap labor markets so they can maximize returns, and there
is no middle class anymore. We have a caste system now: the super-rich,
who now have more money than most countries; the rich, who live off
investments and don’t have to work; the bureaucrats, who serve the rich
in and live like the middle class used to; the working stiffs, who work
harder for less every year; and the destitute, who are supported by the
working stiffs.’’
``The world according to Chet,’’ I said.
``America
the way it is,’’ he said. ``Just look at those eminent-domain laws that
say if a rich person wants your house and can make a buck on it, it’s
his. If that isn’t the rule of money, rather than law, then what is it?
``I’m
66 now,’’ he shrugged, ``and the scariest part is there aren’t too many
left who remember the way it’s supposed to be, who know that economic
democracy is the essence of democracy, and that `union-made’ is
something to be proud of.
``Then last week, I saw a real patriot get up there on stage, taking it to the sycophants, and it was great. So unless Gore gets in, I’m going on the road to support Gravel.’’
http://www.thedailystar.com/opinion/columns/grace/2007/grace0508.html
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Comments
A message of support from OS - Australia
Submitted on May 9th, 2007 by davecolvinHello,
I have seen some of your political views and coming from australia, generally considered the lap-dog of the USA. It looks refreshing to see your views on Iraq and Iran to name but a few.
I wish you the best of luck as G.W.Bush can be seen as hindering the growth in the USA and of corse that affects all other nations.
Regards, Dave
www.redbackracing.com.au
I'm young, but ...
Submitted on May 9th, 2007 by phooeyI may be young (24), but I know that in the limited time I have watched politics, I have become so cynical that I don't hope for anyone anymore, regardless of the issue (Iraq, Healthcare, et cetera). I go into every political situation utterly cynical.
I didn't even watch the SC debates; but then I got a phone call from a relative. They said, "Hey[, Mr. Cynical,] you should check out this guy, Mike Gravel."
I did, and damnit, I'll do whatever I can to make his campaign be a realistic shot for the presidency. Already, I've donated money, told my friends, and I am currently working on an article for my local college paper (which I happen to write for)
Everything counts, and this is a populist movement, folks. Tell your neighbor, tell your friend, Gravel is going the distance.
Of course, this is all just my opinion. Regardless, I'll drill myself to the bone to make it happen.
wow
Submitted on May 9th, 2007 by RMarcantonioIt really hits home. I read articles like this and find myself hoping that this campaign will be different. Too often the most rational voices are overshadowed. I have been making an effort to spread the word about Senator Gravels campaign but this article will have me asking "Am I doing everything I can?"
In history there have been examples of the masses rising up to change the world. Its our time to make history now my friends. Lets restore America to what our forefathers envisioned when they created this great country. The outcome is ours to determine.
Go Mike!
More lives lost in vain...
Submitted on May 9th, 2007 by jflThis morning I was greeted by two more heartbreaking headlines :
US attack 'kills Iraqi Children'
An attack by a US helicopter against suspected insurgents in Iraq has killed a number of children at a primary school, Iraqi security sources say.
Civilian deaths 'deeply shame' US
An American commander in Afghanistan has said that he is "deeply ashamed" by the killings of 19 Afghan civilians by US Marines in early March.
I am deeply ashamed that I have not done what it takes to end the War Crimes my nation is committing in the Middle East. I am sick of being one of a nation of 300 million War Criminals. For that's what we are.
We're a democracy, we still have the ability to shut down our government if that's what it takes to end it's shocking, awful string of serial murders in Iraq and Afghanistan. We have the obligation to do so. If we do not bear ultimate responsibility for the actions of our nation, who does?
I don't know what to do. But I must do something.
Mike had a great suggestion :
``He’s for single-payer health care, a graduated sales tax to replace the income tax, ending the war. He said the Democrats could end the war right now if they had the guts. They’d just have to enact a law making it a felony for Bush to prolong it.’’
``Has he ever heard of a veto?’’ I said.
``Sure, but Congress could override a veto,’’ said Uncle Chet. ``Gravel suggested they hold a televised vote at noon every day on TV so the whole country can see who’s for war and who’s for peace. After a few days of that, watch the Republicans cave.’’
I could write up draft legislation myself and submit it my representative and senators. It would be the first legislation I had ever drafted. It would be one more, one-of-a-kind plea, promptly assigned to the trash bin by the first line of Washington's multitiered defenses.
If Mike Gravel were to draft such legislation and make it available to all of us, to send to our senators and representatives together with the demand that they pass it, that would be a much different story.
Mike has done it before. We'd all be on the same page. It would be obvious to the 535 that we were all lining up behind our one demand. We could send our single simple demand to them again and again. We could print it out and post it on every lampost and telephone pole in the country, in the world! More and more people would join us until it was the people's campaign against the actions of their corrupt, murderous government!
We could persist until they passed our legislation, until it overrode the White House veto.
It might not work.
But it is the very embodiment of the people's initiative as embodied in NI4d. And it costs so little to try it.
I will work to make Mike Gravel our 44th President six hundred plus days from now.
At the rate of 3 a day more than 1800 Americans will be murdered by the actions of the White House, by the inaction of the House and the Senate between now and then. At the rate of 100 a day more than 60,000 Iraqis will be murdered by the actions of the White House and the inaction of the House and the Senate between now and then.
My own inaction has already cost far too many lives already. Help me Mike, help all of us bring an end to this senseless killing!
The only thing worse than having already lost so many lives in vain is more lives lost in vain.
To jfl
Submitted on May 10th, 2007 by alexYour words articulate all our pain. We all suffer from the same epidemic; an epidemic of outrage and angst. We feel helpless in the face of such unnecessary killing.
Senator Gravel is providing us the voice that we need to fight back against the war machine. We do not have to do nothing. We can work together and win in the name of peace
Gravel 08
... the Main Stream wants the war to CONTINUE
Submitted on May 9th, 2007 by jflThe Main Stream, both Republicrat and Demoplican, wants the war to CONTINUE.
The Republicrats are gaming it... playing to push the "loss" in Iraq off to the next President.
The Demoplicans are gaming it... they like to read about more deaths in Iraq each morning... because it's a Republicrat War.
Well... it's not a Republicrat War. Bush vetoed the appropriation to keep it going. If the Demoplicans don't now fund it the war will end.
But the Demoplicans are getting ready to fund the war, calculating that they can somehow still blame the Republicrats for the war even when the Republicrat President vetoed the appropriation bill, de-funding it!
That's fraud. From now on in its a Demoplican War!
If our Democratic candidate for President of the United States can get us draft legislation that appropriates only the funds necessary for the repatriation of all American troops in Iraq, uniformed and mercenary, and directs the Executive to repatriate all American troops, uniformed and mercenary, within 60 days we can make sure that that legislation is "on the table".
Then it will be up to the Demoplicans : War or Peace.
IF we had the draft legislation... I'm sure that Mike Gravel really wants to end the war in Iraq... I'm sure he's not gaming the war as the Republicrats and Demoplicans are... I'm sure...
The report below is not the same report the day began with!
It is a new report of more civilians murdered in Afghanistan!
The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are being waged against civilians. Our Air Force is optimized to wage war against civilians, as is our Navy. Our Army and Marines are defacto waging war against civilians in Iraq. There is no one in Washington DC the least bit interested in stopping this ongoing war crime, this ongoing war against civilians. You could rally us all to do so, if you wished to do so, Mike Gravel.
Air raid 'kills Afghan civilians'
Foreign forces have killed at least 21 civilians in an air strike in southern Afghanistan, local officials say. Wednesday's reported deaths came a day after the US military said it was "deeply ashamed" over the killings of 19 Afghan civilians by US Marines in early March.
Great Article
Submitted on May 9th, 2007 by Raymond ZerhusenI Cried, Touching Story at
Submitted on May 8th, 2007 by Van Burendon't forget to add the story to digg....
Submitted on May 8th, 2007 by thuntGreat article, dugg:
http://www.digg.com/2008_us_elections/Who_is_Mike_Gravel_2
“First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.” -- Ghandi
Thunt
http://thunt.net/
An open letter regarding the 2008 Presidential Election (Gravel vs. Paul)
http://digg.com/2008_us_
Cool story.
Submitted on May 8th, 2007 by I Dig Mike