LetBuddyDebate.org - Let Buddy Roemer participate in the Republican presidential debates

This country was founded on ideas that were discussed and debated in an open forum. Buddy Roemer is a presidential candidate, and his exclusion from these debates is a disgrace to the America I've fallen in love with. So please follow the link below and sign the petition to include Buddy Roemer in the debates!

LetBuddyDebate.org - Let Buddy Roemer participate in the Republican presidential debates

"Those that dream by night, in the dusty recesses of their mind, wake in the day to find that all was vanity, but the dreamers of the day, are dangerous men, for they may act out their dreams and make them real."

Gary Johnson Claims Wal-Mart doesn't use Child, Slave or Sweatshop Labor

Earlier this week, I participated in a Conference Call with Governor Gary Johnson, where he was again trying to garner attention as a fiscal, pro jobs, conservative. As always, Governor Johnson offered so much of his time, that each individual was able to ask one question. My question was:

"How do you feel about government subsidies to big corporations like Wal-Mart, who already receive tax cuts through things like the Bush tax cuts that were passed in 2003 and repassed here last year?"

Though not in direct response to my question, he had this to say to the next questioner:

"I'm in the camp that really believes that Walmart has saved rural America, because they've made it affordable to live in places that without Walmart, would be so much more expensive."

This obviously infuriated me. As you may remember, I wrote a piece a while back on the evils of Wal-Mart, and after spending all summer supporting this guy, it felt like a sucker punch to the gut.

So, last night, when he held his first online "hangout" I took the advantage of watching live and trying to see if I could maybe get him to reverse what I thought, were errors in his judgements. I asked him in this little Hangout, through a text box beside the live feed:

"In a conference call earlier this week, you sung the praises of Wal-Mart how do you feel about their use of child labor, slave labor and sweat shop labor to make prices cheaper?"

He responded with the belief that Wal-Mart doesn't take advantage of any of those forms of labors, and went right on singing the praises of this corrupt multi - national corporation, that his colleague, Mitt Romney, would have us believe, is a person!

So I have decided to provide a few links to prove my side of the argument:



"..however, the majority of its goods are made outside the U.S. and often in sweatshops."

- http://www.pbs.org/itvs/storewars/stores3.html



"Most female workers are denied their legal maternity leave and their benefits."

- http://www.laborrights.org/creating-a-sweatfree-world/wal-mart-campaign



"Workers at a Bangladesh factory were made to work up to 19-hour shifts and paid as little as $20 a month, says a SweatFree Communities report"

-http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/content/oct2008/db2008109_219930.htm



"Wal-Mart has been fined about $200,000 for violating 1,436 child labor laws by the Maine Department of Labor, when it was discovered that Wal-Mart employed under-aged children and making them work at least ten days in a row."

- http://library.thinkquest.org/trio/TTQ02189/wal_mart.htm

"There are hundreds of American manufacturing plants which have shut down, and shipped production overseas, either partially or entirely due to Wal-Mart."

- http://www.larouchepub.com/other/2003/3044wal-mart.html

I think that is sufficient reading to get anyone, including the Governor, started. I want it to be understood that this is not, yet, a war against the Governor, but a war against Wal-Mart, and against the corrupt government who subsidizes Wal-Mart's endless march toward fortune and power. Should the Governor get elected to that government without changing his policies, then he will be counted as an enemy, in my eyes. I will continue to try to address and discuss the issue with Governor Johnson in future conference calls and "Hangouts," so please stay posted.

His next "Hangout" is on the 20th. You can follow him on Facebook for more information.

"Those that dream by night, in the dusty recesses of their mind, wake in the day to find that all was vanity, but the dreamers of the day, are dangerous men, for they may act out their dreams and make them real."

On Tim Pawlenty and Straw Poll Politics

            Today, Tim Pawlenty announced he was dropping out of the race for President of the United States of America. I for one was discouraged by this. Now, I do not, have not and would not support Mr. Pawlenty as a candidate for President of the United States of America. Still, I take issue with his dropping out this early in the game. He went for broke participating in the ‘Pay – to – Play’ Iowa Straw Poll and got 3^rd place, behind Bachmann and Paul and ahead of his more persistent peer, Santorum. Now I understand that one cannot, in modern day, post Citizens United vs. The Federal Election Commission, run a nation wide campaign with no money.

            Let’s face it. To compete, especially if you are lacking the attention from the Mainstream Media that Tim Pawlenty was, you’ll need money for merchandise -including yard signs and tee – shirts and for campaign ads on radio and television and the internet. And that’s not including the price of maintaining a staff and traveling around everywhere to campaign and stump, let’s face it; running for president in America is an expensive endeavor. But this still leaves me wondering. The Iowa Straw Poll is a fundraising event held by the Iowa Republican Party to raise money for the party. It is also a huge media event where everyone who is anyone in the Mainstream Media Culture comes out to get as much footage as they can and to put their two cents in about the candidates. What it is not, however, is a legal or binding caucus or primary. By the laws of the FEC, no candidate must legally drop out of the race based on the results of the straw poll, and yet because of the emphasis the Mainstream Media puts on the winner of the poll, candidates for the nomination scramble around spending money like Paris Hilton to buy the most votes and win the Straw Poll.

            As we saw with Mr. Pawlenty, if they do not win, after putting all their chips on the table, then they may be forced to drop out of the race. And it seems to me that this is just as the Mainstream Media wants it, it allows a chance to thin the herd early on which takes away from potential voters what could have been their favorite candidate, before they ever even learned about them.

            If you have a candidate you support for president, than support them. Tell your friends, family and neighbors about them, campaign for them and even give money if you can afford it. But don’t sit idly by, because if you do, then your favorite candidate could be the next Tim Pawlenty. The Mainstream Media does not own the electoral process. Big corporations do not own the electoral process. Politicians, pundits, figure heads and talking heads do not own the electoral process. We, the people, own the electoral process. And if we the people are dedicated and driven, we can elect anyone we want to. If we’re idle and apathetic, if we give in to a two – party system, a ‘lesser of two evils’ mentality, then we will be stuck in a plummeting downfall for a long, long time.

In thought,

Alexander Thrasher

"Those that dream by night, in the dusty recesses of their mind, wake in the day to find that all was vanity, but the dreamers of the day, are dangerous men, for they may act out their dreams and make them real."

The Importance Of Voting Part 1: Legislative Representatives

Why vote for more than just a Presidential candidate?

     The race for The White House brings out quite a few extra voters. This is evident when comparing midterm election numbers to Presidential election numbers. It’s not completely illogical. We, as Americans, see the President as a very important individual. We want someone who internally and externally will represent us. Who will believe the same things we do. We understand the importance of the President on the view of the United States by other nations. This is why my father doesn’t like Jimmy Carter. He always says, “Jimmy is a great southern gentleman, but he was too weak to be president.”
     It is because of the importance of the image of the President that we kind of bow our heads in shame at the mention of Watergate or Monica Lewinsky. So, don’t get me wrong, I understand that it is very important to vote for the President. In fact, I believe every citizen who has the great privilege of being able to vote for the President should in fact do so, in a well informed and educated manner. But, we are a representative democracy and as such, we need to understand the importance of every position that we have the great privilege to vote for. In every election, midterm or Presidential, we have the privilege of voting for our three most important representatives: our state house and state senate legislators and our U.S. Representative. This means that every two years, you have the opportunity to influence the way that laws will be made for the next two years.
     In a perfect world, a representative would vote with absolutely no bias and simply vote with the majority of the population in which they represent. But this is far from a perfect world, and representatives vote with their emotions, their bibles and their own world views, not necessarily the world views, bibles or emotions of the people they were elected to represent. So, just as it is most important to vote for a presidential candidate whom you feel is like minded, it is most beneficial to make an educated vote for state and federal representatives that you find like minded. This will be an immediate pay off when it comes to the way they vote, but it will also mean that when you write, email, call or send a petition to your representative, they will be more receptive to it.
     As citizens of The United States of America, we are given the great privilege of the ballot, and many refuse to use or acknowledge that privilege. If you can look in the mirror at yourself and honestly say to yourself that there isn’t a thing you’d change about your neighborhood, community, city, county, district(s), state, region, country or world, then by all means, turn a blind eye to electoral politics, but, if you, like me and so many other people on this planet, would like to see things change, then please take advantage of the tools given to you, for if you do not, then the situation in which we live in, in which future generations will be forced to live in, will just continue to deteriorate.

Thank you to my cousin for inspiring this article.

With Great Hope,

Alexander Fisher
"Those that dream by night, in the dusty recesses of their mind, wake in the day to find that all was vanity, but the dreamers of the day, are dangerous men, for they may act out their dreams and make them real."