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August 3, 2008

How To: Fix Washington?

By chris rice

It does not matter if we vote Democrat, Republican or Independent. We have seen Congress change power 3 times since 2000. Each time we were promised that the ways of old were over. We were told that the new party in power would return the power to the people and get rid of the status quo in Washington DC. We were promised solutions to the health care crisis, social security crisis, taxation, inflation and the deficit....

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The ONLY way to stop those who would bleed our nation dry, dismantle our constitution, and dissolve our national sovereignty is to say

I will not work for you, buy from you, fight for you, or die for you, until the criminals are gone from the halls of our government.

EXIT STRATEGY: General Strike

We the people...The Constitution of The United States of America spells out in the first line where the power of our great democracy lies. Unfortunately we the people have allowed the power to slip away to special interest, lobbyist, corporations and career politicians. It is time to reclaim our democracy from the people that are destroying it. Thomas Jefferson said that "All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent"- now is the time for all people to be heard.

The framers of our democracy did not intend our representatives be career politicians. They foresaw the danger in this. The constitution states that "The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year."- The framers intent was for our democracy to be governed by everyday people not career politicians for obvious reasons. Legislators would meet enact laws and go back to their chosen profession. Career politicians will do and say anything to keep their power. Power corrupts even those with the best intentions.

Individually we find that we are powerless against corporate media or Big Oil or Washington. Our choices are limited. Our effectiveness diminished. This is not by accident. Unions, social gatherings, clubs that all flourished before the 1960s have all been destroyed by those who find you & me to be a threat.
Without direct action, republican democracy is truly disempowering: our only means of influence are to beg the Very Serious And Important Intermediary - the congressman, the governor, the president, etc. - to do something on our behalf. We all know how well that has worked out.
Today people will tell you that protests are ineffective. And they are. But real change does not come from the ballot box. Great social change like the eight hour work day, child labor laws, a woman's right to vote, civil rights, etc., etc. all came about through blood & sweat & great effort.
The Establishment wants us to focus all of our energy on elections because elections are the controlled space whereby popular ferment can be contained by rules, regulations, etc. But there are many different methods of direct action - ie. taking matters into our own hands - that can wield a tremendous amount of power.
The only effective action left to take now in order to stop the gears and levers of this lemming-like perpetual motion machine of destruction is---to do nothing. That's right, nothing. To go on strike.
It is one thing to endure abuses and to carry on in spite of them. It is quite another thing to carry on to the point of abetting the abuse. We need to move the discussion of our nation's health to the emergency room. We need to tell the doctors of the body politic that the treatment isn't working-and that until it changes radically for the better, neither are we.

It does not matter if we vote Democrat, Republican or Independent. We have seen Congress change power 3 times since 2000. Each time we were promised that the ways of old were over. We were told that the new party in power would return the power to the people and get rid of the status quo in Washington DC. We were promised solutions to the health care crisis, social security crisis, taxation, inflation and the deficit.
In fact these were the same problems we spoke about in the 1960's. They are still not fixed. WHY? Because the special interest, lobbyist and corporations have a strangle hold on our career politicians. The special interest, lobbyist, and corporations do not care which party is in power because there are enough career politicians in both parties willing to take their money and perks to look the other way.
Taking the day off, not buying anything. That part is easy. What's the hard part? Spreading the word, getting the message out, reminding The People that they have the power to shut it down.
Yet what you need is not marches, demonstrations, rallies or wide associations; all of them are important. What you need is direct action. The sooner people understand that, the sooner we'll begin to change things. --Arthur Scargill
General strikes shut down the normal operations of a city, state, or nation for a period of time. These strikes aim to force action on a single issue or broader set of concerns.
The General Strike is a national call to action, from citizens to other citizens.
It is not about a single issue. It is not an anti-war protest, a gas price protest, a civil rights protest, an election fraud protest. It is not about torture, surveillance, corporate media, or the environment.
This strike is about all these issues and more
The strike targets key issues facing the American public, issues that have not been addressed in any meaningful way by any branch of government.
Unions, corporations, & the major parties have failed to deal with pressing matters of war & peace, income inequality, crime & punishment & the meaning of citizenship itself, it has fallen to the American people to set things right!
Public protest is an important part of democracy, just like a free press, a judiciary, and congress. A general strike does NOT have to be violent. It is a matter of CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE, NOT VIOLENCE. You are NOT going to school. You are NOT going to WORK. You are NOT shopping. You do NOT have to be violent to NOT do those things. March legally. Protest legally. Our causes are many but it's time to make our voices as one.
1) Sign up with your email address HERE in order to get updates,
e-alerts@votestrike.com

2) Send this URL to all your friends, post it to forums, put it on your personal pages, http://www.votestrike.com There will be ZERO mainstream media discussion of this General Strike BEFORE it happens. ZERO. So, we must BE OUR OWN MEDIA and promote it. Link to this site from sites and blogs. Mention it with links in your comments on blogs. PROMOTE IT.

Contact local activist groups, your church groups. Find local activist through www.meetup.com, www.tribe.net, Myspace, all social networks via the internet, etc.
It is imperative for YOU to promote the General Strike for it to have any success. This should include, but not be limited to: writing/publishing articles, essays, poems, posting in forums, commenting in blogs, starting your own blog, newspaper ads, online ads, local random phone calls, letters to editors, opeds, freeway banners, bumper stickers, car signs, yard signs, street signs, every online newspaper allows comments (NY Times, Washington Post, etc.), call in to talk radio shows, print & distribute flyers............
IF YOU FAIL AT PROMOTION BUSH & CO. WILL WALK AWAY......... SCOTT FREE, with congressional medals of honor & big fat speaking checks from Halliburton.,

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3) Join the Consumer Fast already underway. Click here: Shut'EmDown
4) Details on how to protest here: OpEdNews.


Authors Bio:
Whether you call it the world financial structure, the U.S. culture of waste, or the ability of the common man to make a decent living, the system is broken. It's time for the common man to go on strike. Join or support the March on Washingon 9/12/2009.

About VoteStrike.com- VoteStrikers don't classify themselves with a label, but are engaged in what could be called "the people's sovereignty movement." They challenge the legitimacy of the US Supreme Court, or any other arm of government, "to bestow upon corporations the immense governing authority" implicit in the conferral of constitutional rights. They base this challenge on a solid founding principle; no governing entity may grant away the people's right to a functional republican form of government. They contend that excessive corporate power has undermined this basic right of the people.

We the people have the power to take our country back and not wait for some politician to fix things. Not by rallies or protest but through simple non-compliance.

For more http://www.votestrike.com

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