TIME FOR A REVOLUTION

January 21, 2007 | John C. Dowell

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It is becoming painfully obvious and disturbing that our government is not functioning as it was intended. It is taking too much of our money and not doing nearly what it should be doing to keep us safe and free. It is time for another revolution to put us back on track – not a conventionally waged revolution – no one should be killed, at least not in a literal sense. Nothing should be destroyed except wrong ideas and wrongful practices. It should be a political revolution – with a new political party and a new kind of candidate.

We could officially declare the establishment of the FREE REPUBLIC Party – the first internet conceived and based political party. We could start at the top , the presidency. Let the two antiquated parties fight over congress – for now. We can have an internet primary and an internet compaign complete with debates, that is what we do after all. Our candidate would become well known when the media figures out the entertainment value in something like this. And, at the least, Jim would be recognized for the valuable contribution he has made to this country by the establishment of Free Republic.

There is much more to this idea but I am not going to get into those details at this time. I want to see what fellow freepers think about this idea. I am writing this on a plane coming back from a tour in a remote area of Afghanistan. I have been somewhat out of touch for several months so I will need more input before more specific details of this idea are offered. And, I might be a little out of the loop until established back in the states. I will be debriefing in the Washington DC area for the first part of the week and then traveling back home to California; but whatever, I hope this idea holds some value to Freepers.

And of course I would like to be a candidate for the Freeper primary for the Presidency of this great country. I know what a long shot this is but I would love the battle involved – I am a warrior after all. And please do not jump to conclusions regarding my positions on the relevant issues – war, abortion, taxes, imigration, etc. - I am still open to influence on these matters. But I know from first hand experience that we are not winning the war on terror. We need a Commander-in-Chief who knows more about war than the current president and those who appear to be possible candidates for his job. I will be happy to confront this and all other issues in freeper style if that turns out to be what is desired. For an election the ideas are not as important as the qualifications - for doing the job well, ideas are what counts. We need to consider both.

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From someone who has been associated with the military on and off since 1961, I can tell you that what GWB did might not have been illegal but it was not exemplary. CWB has been spending his time in the white-house looking for that illusive clue about proper use of the military and he has not found it yet.

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My conception of this new party is massively different than what we have seen up to now. These details are being developed - stay tuned. First difference: The President serves for only one term - no time or effort directed towards reelection. The Vice President is also the Chief of Staff and becomes President unless the voters reject this individual at election time. No fund raising. $1 to join and further donations accepted but not solicited. No one buys votes. Total transparency - all incoming and outgoing funds published on the internet. The campaign is focused almost completely on media attention and public debates. Let the press do their job properly - I know that is a great challenge but it may be possible.