Build Your Own Platform - The War on Terror

(For details on the build your own platform project, please visit my outline in the Boston Tea Party Protests MSN group. And feel free to participate either here or over there.)

As a card carrying Republican, I’d like to see the Republican party do an about face on its approach to the War on Terror. The present overt, “we’re going to kick your ass” approach costs too many American lives, distances many of our allies from us, and foments more distrust and hatred among nations that already didn’t like us much.

There is no War on Terror any more than there ever was or is a War on Drugs or a War on Poverty. Such campaigns are destined to fail because the scope is much too broad.

The first victim in this about face on the War on Terrorism would be the Department of Homeland Security. Their three primary missions are prevent terrorism within the US, reduce our vulnerability to terrorism, and “minimize the damage from potential attacks and natural disasters”.

I quoted the last part directly from the Homeland Security’s website because it struck me funny. “Potential attacks” don’t cause any damage. Real attacks do. The Department’s own mission statement clearly illustrates its ineffectiveness not to mention its redundancy. Instead of creating a new department to handle what existing departments are supposed to be doing, we should be tightening, redefining, and coordinating the efforts of existing agencies to accomplish the same objectives. Preventing attacks, reducing our vulnerability, and minimizing damage is already the responsibility of the FBI, CIA, federal and state law enforcement, the military, and FEMA. More bureaucracy solves nothing.

The Patriot Act needs to be scrapped, or at least parts of it. The sections that help redefine the roles of our existing agencies to better coordinate intelligence sharing and communication should stay. Everything else should go.

Tightening our borders shouldn’t be physical barriers designed to keep Mexicans out because they don’t speak English. It should be more coordination between our law enforcement agencies and the Mexican and Canadian law enforcement agencies to better identify potential terrorist threats entering or exiting all three countries. Illegal immigration is another issue and shouldn’t be confused with our efforts against terrorism.

Identifying the terrorists’ funding sources should continue and the sources interrupted. Countries openly harboring terrorists or turning a blind eye to the activities within their border should be dealt with diplomatically. Effort should be made for them to take an active role in fighting terrorists within their borders. Isolating uncooperative nations from the world community both diplomatically and economically should be our first course of action. Our most effective tool to make this approach work effectively would be winning the trust and support of our allies. If we make the issue as important to them as we feel it is to us and make them the key players in the diplomatic battle, the fight is half over.

No country has a need for WMD. However, it is near impossible to convince any nation to scrap their WMD or shelve efforts to develop them as long as the major world powers have their own stockpiles. A moratorium should be placed on the development of any new weapons or increases in current stockpiles. For nations that currently have stockpiles, a plan to reduce and eventually eliminate them should be in place and clearly promoted. Such a plan may reduce the incentive for other countries to develop their own weapons.

Military action against nations that harbor or aid terrorists or is perceived as a possible threat against the US or her allies should be a very last resort move only. Pre-emptive strikes against nations should never be an option. One thing we have that a terrorist nation doesn’t have is time and lots of it. With worldwide cooperation, sanctions can be at least somewhat effective and a rogue nation leashed to its localized influence. Only when its activities reach beyond its borders despite all diplomatic attempts and sanctions against it should military force be considered and only with a truly international coalition. The one exception – a direct attack on the US. Just as we would support one of our allies if it were attacked, we should expect support from our allies if we are attacked, but we don’t need their permission to protect ourselves.

Lastly, we must lead the way in preventing new terrorist-friendly countries from developing. An adopt-a-nation program needs to be developed. The major industrialized nations should be encouraged to adopt a poorer, developing nation and help them become a more stable, richer nation. The goals of the adopt-a-nation program would be to help nations fight poverty and raise the standard of living of the average citizen. This would be accomplished by bringing new agricultural techniques to the country, helping to build basic civil engineering projects like dams to provide irrigation and clean drinking water, building new schools, providing basic medical care and helping to build new hospitals and training new doctors and nurses, and aiding the country in developing the necessary economic infrastructures to ensure its own self-reliance.

Because of the potential for abuse and fraud by both the sponsoring nation and the leaders of the nation being helped, the world community should closely monitor the program, perhaps through the UN. Just like corporations that have all sorts of internal controls and audits to ensure their legit operation, the adopt-a-nation program could develop similar controls. For example, let’s say country A adopts country B. Both countries make quarterly reports to the UN detailing the money spent, projects built, and programs instituted. The reports can be reviewed by the other nations and other nations could step in and perform independent audits and make suggestions. If enough nations think there is something seriously going wrong with the program, they could vote to end the sponsorship by country A.

In effect, the adopt-a-nation program isn’t much different than what nations currently do on their own accord. The only difference is that there would now be a formalized program and countries that normally get neglected may actually get the help they need and, some day, may be in a position to join the world stage and take a bow.

Build Your Own Political Platform

Over at my group, The Boston Tea Party Protests, I have encouraged the members to build their own political platform. I figured I'd share it here. Of course, you are always welcomed to join the discussion over there, too. The more we talk about it, maybe the more our politicians will listen.

Worth a try anyway.

Preamble:

The 2008 elections are still two years away. Right now, the three major parties are building their platforms that they will present at their conventions in two more years. The average American, however, will align themselves with one or the other party, but have little to nothing to do with the development of their party's platform and many more will only understand bits and pieces of it.

The BTP group's platform aim is three-fold:

1. Help members become familiar with the three main parties' platforms (Republican, Democratic, and Libertarian).
2. Help members understand what the planks of the platforms actually say, debate them, and help them solidify their own opinion of what the planks should be.
3. Provide a tool so that members can easily compare their own platform they will formulate here to that of the three main parties' platform to help them make more sound decisions come the 2008 election.

Recognizing that this is a huge task, at minimum, each topic will be afforded at least a one month debate time before, as a group, we move to a new plank. By the end of two years (maybe even sooner), the BTP group platform should be done and each member will have his/her own platform to compare to the national platforms of the three major parties'.

Each member is encouraged to write their own platform as the debate and formulation of BTP group's platform progresses. Probably the best way to do this would be to keep track of it in a word document, adding to it as each topic is discussed here. When we're completed with the platform, it'd be up to each member whether they want to share their version or not.

The posted BTP group's platform will only be a subjective compilation of what appears to be the majority consensus on any topic and will be used only as an example for other members to use as they build their own platform. It will not be an official stance of the group in any way nor should it be construed as such. How and when I will post the BTP group's version will be decided at a later date.

We'll be using the parties' 2004 platforms as a guideline as we develop our own platform for 2008. The following links take you to the respective party's 2004 national platform: Republican, Democratic, Libertarian.

General outline, table of contents, if you will, fo BTP group's party platform:

Overall Vision for America

International

1. War on Terror
   Overall Goals
   Afghanistan
   Iraq
   Anticipated Future Problems/Solutions
2. Middle East Relations
   Overall Goals
   Israel
   Palestine
   Iran
   Saudi Arabia
3. Asian-Indo-Pacific Relations
   Overall Goals
   China
   North Korea
4. European Relations
   Overall Goals
5. Latin/South American Relations
   Overall Goals

Domestic

1. Immigration
   Overall Goals
2. Native Americans
   Overall Goals
3. Health Care
   Overall Goals
   Every American Insured
   Malpractice Lawsuit Caps
4. Social Security
   Overall Goals
   Privitization
5. Families
   Overall Goals
   Same Sex Marriage
   Home Ownership
   Education
6. Crime
   Overall Goals
7. Jobs
   Overall Goals
   Outsourcing
   Creating Jobs
8. Economy
   Overall goals
9. Environment
   Overall Goals
10. Energy
    Overall Goals
    Energy Independence
    Alternative Fuels
11. Military
    Overall Goals
    Future Roles

There is the general outline we'll take one at a time to discuss so each member can formulate his/her own plank to compare with the national parties' planks.

Major Change to This Blog

I've neglected this blog because, simply stated, I'm much too busy to post something fresh every day that is gay-related. I am busy writing about many other things. My world quite simply does not revolve around gay issues.

I've decided to expand the blog's scope. Starting today, any of my editorial writing may get posted here whether it is a gay-related topic or not. I'll probably even start talking heavily about native gardening. I've been meaning to write that book for some time now.

So please stay tuned for the coming changes...

A Couple of Notes About This Site....

I've been gone awhile. My apologies to any readers who may have started an interest in this site. Little Guy Protest has been taking a huge chunk of my time and I've neglected this site. Hopefully, I'll get back in the swing of things and begin posting on a more regular basis again.

Headliners will no longer be a regular feature of this site. The few I have done were fun, but it just plain takes too much time searching for a photo to showcase a oneliner. Once in a blue moon, I may post a headliner, but certainly not on a regular basis.

A big chunk of my time has been occupied with building an online store to help finance the website. Hopefully a grand opening will be announced soon. Once it is opened, I'll definitely be able to spend a bit more time here.

Thank you to my few readers and please, stay tuned....

Mark

Write Your Own Bill

We're still short on participation, so once again, we're running the Write Your Own Bill Campaign again this month. If you wrote your bill last month, there's no need to write one again this month.

If you wrote one in May or June and never received a response from your senators or representatives, you may want to write another one this month. Sometimes you have to repeat yourself a few times before your elected officials hear you.

For those of you who signed up for the semi-monthly newsletter, yes, I'm a few days late. I hope to have it out by mid month.

I do thank everyone who has at least looked at the site. I extend a big hearty thank you to everyone who participated in the campaign and have shown an interest in keeping updated by joining the newsletter mailing list. Feel free to click on the link above and join the newsletter if you haven't already. It's a painless couple of clicks to do.

Little Guy Protest's First Newsletter - Who We Are

Little Guy Protest
Gay Marriage
A Civil Rights Issue

Volume 1
15 Jun 05

This being Little Guy Protest's first newsletter, please excuse any formatting errors. I feel I need to get that out of the way up front as I am learning this new mail client and what it can and cannot do.

I want to take the time to thank our new subscribers and truly hope that you find this issue and future issues informative, helpful, and insightful.

With the formalities out of the way, let's get down to business.

Some of you may be wondering exactly who is behind Little Guy Protest. For starters, let's say "we" is really one little guy - me, Mark Darien, and every subscriber to this newsletter. I can write until I'm blue in the face, but without you participating and spreading the ideas contained on the site, Little Guy Protest will only be one website among millions that goes largely unnoticed.

We have no corporate sponsorship nor do we have any political groups supporting or financing us in any way. I never ask for money and expect none. The most I have done is added some Google ads to some of the pages.

Yes, it takes a lot of time and a little bit of money to maintain Little Guy Protest so if you absolutely feel a need to donate something to keep the site up and running, there are a couple of things you may do.

First, and foremost, participate in the monthly campaign and the secondary campaigns as you see fit. Participation is the key to success.
You may also click on an ad sometime. It doesn't matter if you buy or not. Just click on it.

If you aren't the ad-clicker type, join our editorial staff. Visitors to our site appreciate variety and they most likely will get bored reading my stuff all the time. Please keep in mind that I cannot pay you for your submission. I will, however, fully credit the article to you and only publish it on Little Guy Protest.

While joining the editorial staff is open to all visitors to the site, I extend an invite to you, the subscriber of this newsletter, to join our news staff. There's plenty of examples on the site of the quality of writing and factual reporting that I'm looking for.

If you are interested in writing for Little Guy Protest, please email me and specify whether you want to compile news stories or write editorials so I know which submission guidelines to send you.

You may have noticed that I have added a comments section to the end of the news stories and editorials. Feel free to respond to the articles and if you opt to allow me to publish your response, I will have a Letter to the Editor page to spice up the variety of the site. Also, the campaigns now have an option to allow you to tell us if you will or won't participate. Please take the time to let us know so we can give everyone else an idea of our level of participation. (Ok, so its not a scientific measurement, but every little bit of feedback helps.)
And lastly, spread the word about this site any way you see fit. Tell your friends. Share it in online communities. If you run a website or a blog, post a link if you feel Little Guy Protest will compliment your site.

For the sake of brevity, I will not summarize all the improvements to the site nor recap the many stories and few editorials that have been added. Please feel free to check it out, though!

If you haven't done so already, please visit June's efforts.

And even if you have, but haven't told us if you plan on participating or not, please go back and let us know. It's completely anonymous!

Best regards to all,

Mark Darien

Little Guy Protest Site Update

Visitors to the Little Guy Protest website will find a couple of sections a bit more interactive.

First, the efforts have a section where you can tell us if you plan to participate in the campaign or not as well as be able to leave comments about the campaign. Not only will the feedback tell us our successful or unsuccessful a campaign is, but also, we'll be able to relay that information to our members more accurately through the semi-monthly newsletter. Check out this month's effort to experience the new feature.

Oh, if you haven't already, be sure to sign up for the newsletter. Unlike other newsletters, though, this one conveys information without suckering you into buying something.

The other bit of added interactivity is in the news section. Every article will have a section where you may send a letter to the editor concerning the story. You may even indicate if you would like the letter published or not. Check out AFA Calls For Ford Boycott to experience this new feature.

Any news articles or efforts posted to the site prior to 01 Jun 05 will not reflect these changes, but they will be a permanent feature in all future news articles and campaigns.

New Month, New Effort

Well, sort of. We had some participation in May's Write Your Own Bill campaign. We need a lot more support. For June, we're rerunning the Write Your Own Bill campaign. If you support same-sex marriage, please consider taking the time this month and support the easy-to-follow campaign.

On other matters: yes, I haven't been posting much. Please stay tuned, though. You can always visit littleguyprotest.com to keep abreast of everything new. I try to post a sampling here, but you may find more there.

This week, I am working on getting at least two more posts up here. Look for Silencing of the Homosexuals and Boycott Ford.

That's it for now - short, brief, sweet, and to the point.

Write Your Own Bill And Submit It To Congress!

Finally, the grand opening of my first true effort to mobilize a grass roots effort. Littleguyprotest.com encourages you to write your own legislation in support of same-sex marriage and submit it to your Representative and Senators for consideration.

For complete details, click here and follow the simple instructions.

In a nutshell, I am encouraging the repeal of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) in support of basic civil rights and encouraging the Federal Government to honor all individual state's laws regarding same-sex marriage and civil unions in support of state's rights.

If you're not the writing type, don't worry. I've provided an easy, step-by-step, copy and paste solution to make the effort as painless as possible.

By all means, if you participate, feel free to leave your comments here as to any responses you may receive.

Or any other comments or suggestions you may have.

Introducing Little Guy Protests

Little Guy Protest is dedicated to fighting for gay marriage. Visitors of the site are welcomed to come here, read my ramblings, and sound off. Please stay tuned...once I have everything up and running, blogs here will be turned into material for the website.

Expected opening date: 01 May 05