As a candidate for the U.S. Senate I find it interesting that the Vermont media were quick to announce that Craig Hill has thrown his hat into the Senate race as a Democrat but completely ignored my “Open Letter to Bernie Sanders.” Both events happened the same day, June 21, 2006.

Reference: http://tinyurl.com/h3j64

I know Craig Hill.  I met him at the 9-11 Truth Convergence in Washington DC last summer.  I had a rather extensive conversation with him on the phone after the conference where he was expounding that “both parties are bad.”  He used a lot of vulgarity in our conversation and was quite angry. 

I remember feeling he was “a Republican mole” sent to divert us from focusing on the root cause of 9-11, which was to lay the foundation for endless war.

9-11 was part of a Republican conspiracy for war in my view.  See Project for a New American Century at
Wikipedia — http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pnac

The entire “9-11 Truth Convergence” event seemed like a diversion from the truth that Republicans used the event to justify three wars:  Afghanistan, Iraq and the perpetual “War on Terror.” 

People still ask me “Why would we do it to ourselves?” (9-11) Come on, people!  There’s a lot of money to be made in war for capital conquest, especially when the capital in contest is worth $10 TRILLION! 

After I called the Truth Emergency Convergence event a “Republican scam” on the “moderated” mailing list for the event …. the list was shut down.  End of story.

Now Craig Hill is willing to join one of the parties, the Democrats, which he had previously
put down with extreme anger ( and vulgarity ). 

What strikes me as even odder is that
his web site has only one page, the same page it
has had for many months, and no contact phone number. 

See:  http://hillsenatenow.org/

Furthermore, his one-page web site says that he is a “Green Party Candidate for the U.S. Senate.”
Excuse me?  He doesn’t even have time to change his one-page web site to update it so it says “Democrat” instead of Green and he still DESERVES media coverage and I do NOT deserve coverage?

Furthermore, if you try and go to the Green Party
web site you will end up at the Progressive Party
web site.  Hmmm.  Does this mean the Green party
is the same thing as the Progressive party?

Since Craig Hill is credited with starting the
Vermont Green Party perhaps he can explain why
he is now supporting the Progressive party.

Try it and see : http://www.vermontgreens.org/

The above link is given for the Vermont Green Party given on Politics1 (Vermont) at:

http://www.politics1.com/vt.htm

What’s even more interesting to me is that Hill threw his hat into the race, supposedly, on June 21, 2006 —- the EXACT date
of my “Open Letter to Bernie Sanders.”

It seems that all the major Vermont media have covered Hill’s announcement of a party switch but have ignored my substantial contribution to our political debate.  Has anyone even seen my name
mentioned as a candidate for the U.S. Senate in
ANY Vermont media publication or broadcast?
I’ve been actively running for over a year!

It seems the only NEWS in this event is that he has switched parties.  He was in the race for a
long time as a Green Party candidate. He is basically a one-issue candidate all heated up about the fact that 9-11 was an “inside job.” 

I’ve got a substantial web site, about a book’s worth of material, with many downloadable audio and video files at  http://stevemoyer.us

I have elucidated clear positions on many issues and offered specific solutions.  I’ve done several public access TV shows and low-power radio shows, sent out dozens of press releases to Vermont media, and started the Vermont Democracy Network, making history by being the first person to put a statewide voter registration database on the Internet in searchable form. 
( http://vermont.stevemoyer.us )

Hmmm.  Would someone please tell me how a one-issue candidate without a phone number gets statewide press attention but someone who writes substantial essays and is developing an internet democracy system can’t get the time of day from anyone in the Vermont media?

What’s going on?

Steve Moyer
Candidate for U.S. Senate
http://stevemoyer.us

(This is heady wine. Many of us will disagree with a thing or two Moyer has to say, but most of us will, I am sure, agree with much of it. THIS BEARS READING. I do not promote diaries lightly. But this one should be read and discussed on this site, and elsewhere. – promoted by Ed Garcia)

Note:  An audio MP3 file of this letter is on the web at:
http://stevemoyer.us/audio/bernie.mp3

June 21, 2006

Dear Bernie Sanders,

I am an independent candidate for the open U.S. Senate seat in Vermont. As a fellow candidate I want to encourage you
to get “out of the box” of traditional politics and consider some new ideas.

My campaign is focused on two objectives: the demise of the Republican party
and the promotion of virtue in politics. 
My slogan is:
(on the jump. -ed)

“Never vote Republican because Republicans have lost their virtue.” 

They have divided the nation, created unnecessary war and spent this nation into virtual bankruptcy for their own political gain.

I call for the impeachment of George Bush and Richard Cheney, investigations into the multitude of crimes they have
committed against our nation and an end to the fraudulent “war on terror” which has created endless war.
I advocate that we should “teach virtue” at every level of society and insist on it in our politicians.

Our politics is nasty precisely because it is based on competition instead of cooperation, on dominance
instead of consensus and on prejudice rather than principle.  We need a new political system.

Rather than thinking of me as an opponent, I invite you to think of me as someone who
wishes to cooperate with you in creating a better society based on economic and social justice.
The path to justice is paved with the truth.  If we wish to further the
cause of social and economic justice then we must seek the truth, speak the truth
and support the truth.  We must unify around the truth.

In this light I present you with the following ten questions:

1.  Why have you steadfastly refused to call for impeachment hearings?

2.  Why have you refused to insist on re-opening the 9-11 investigation in
light of overwhelming evidence that the official story is a fraud?

3.  Why have you refused to demand investigations into how the Republicans have stolen
two elections and corrupted our democracy?

4.  Why do you vote with the Democrats, accept the endorsement of prominent  Democrats
but refuse to run as a Democrat?

5.  Instant-runoff voting permits voters to rank candidates in order of preference.
It allows more candidates to get involved, decreases negative campaigning, and saves money.
Do you support instant-runoff elections for all elected positions?

6.  Do you support my Vermont Democracy Network initiative which utilizes the Internet
to improve our collective ability to identify good ideas, form coalitions and embrace good leadership?

7.  We have a category-5 economic hurricane coming, indicated by higher interest rates,
higher consumer costs, and a falling dollar. Will you address the root causes of
this economic crisis and tell us how we can free ourselves from dependence on money?

8.  Will you acknowledge that our democracy is strengthened when we have more candidates
to choose from because the people get to consider a wider range of issues and perspectives?

9.  Will you join me in condemning the Republican party as an evil organization dedicated to
serving the interests of the rich and the super-rich while exploiting the passions
and prejudices of poor fools?

10. Secrecy is anathema to a healthy democracy.  I believe that members of secret societies
are untrustworthy with public power. Do you endorse my proposed “Open Government” Constitutional Amendment:

The Open Government Amendment

“Any citizen who has accepted membership in any social, political or religious organization which requires a
secret oath, a secret rite of initiation, or secrecy of its structure or membership shall be ineligible to hold an
elected or appointed position.”

I ran against Senator Jeffords in 2000 as an independent. During the campaign I publicly called
for him to “leave the Republican party and become an independent” which he did the following year
as an “act of conscience.”

Republicans currently have all the investigative power of Congress and they steadfastly refuse
to honestly investigate any of a multitude of crimes committed by Bush Republicans.  The Republicans
have stolen our democracy and I want it back.

I want the Republican party to go away … forever. We the People  can
“make it so” by revealing their crimes against the Constitution, law and human virtue.
Please join me in asking Americans to “never vote Republican.”  It’s one way we can end this horrible
two-party system which has produced a nightmare government.

Some Vermonters have told me that I remind them of you when you started out. It seems to me
that “Bernie the Revolutionary” has changed after 16 years of experience with Washington power
and privilege.  You seem to be “playing politics” in the usual way now.  Remember who you were, Bernie.
You were the hope of the revolution, of economic justice and true social progress. Let’s put our focus back on
the primary task of creating a new political system.

If you win this election then you will be the most progressive member
of the U.S. Senate. I understand one of your heroes is Senator Paul Wellstone
who was the most progressive member of the Senate until his death in a plane
crash in 2002.  Barbara Streisand and many others have asserted that this crash
was “no accident.”  I am concerned for your well being, Bernie.  When I call Republicans “evil” it
is more than just political rhetoric. 

Senator Wellstone was replaced by Norm Coleman, a reactionary Republican, because the
Democrats of Minnesota were unprepared for his untimely death two weeks before the election.
You may need a strategy to protect your life.  I suggest you enlist me a “second choice” candidate
standing behind you, Just like Dick Cheney is more reactionary than George Bush, I am more radical
than you. I volunteer to be your “scary second choice.” This is a strategy the Republicans
will understand.  If you accept this plan, tell the Vermont media to start covering my campaign.

Why not?  Have you considered what would happen if you won the election but were unable to
serve?  The current contingency plan would have Rich Tarrant appointed by the Governor.
Do you really want Rich Tarrant to be your second choice?  This is what could happen
as a result of closing the election to the top two candidates.

I want us to work together to create a better democracy, one which is
free of personality politics and petty prejudices and is based instead on
virtuous principles and consensual processes.

Will you join me in creating a better political system utilizing the Internet to discern
consensus on good ideas and good leadership?  Will you contribute $50,000 towards the
development of the Vermont Democracy Network? That’s only one percent of the $5 million
you will likely spend on your campaign. But it’s enough to create a robust Internet voting
system which will serve us for years to come.

We need a better political system which produces consensual leadership. The Vermont Democracy Network
is a modest beginning. I envision that anyone could become a leader, lobbyist or legislator without money or power.
It would depend on the quality of their ideas and judgment.  Who has good judgment?  These are the people who deserve our
attention rather than those who have buckets of money.

Let’s use the Internet to empower the people to govern ourselves.  It’s all us!

Please help open up this election to more candidates and ideas. Join me in making
  the American political experience one which
is rich with purpose, principle and process.

Courage is a virtue.  I give you courage to do the right thing..

Be well — in mind, body and spirit!

Steve Moyer

http://stevemoyer.us

Independent Candidate for U.S. Senate

RR 1 Box 60, Warren VT 05674

802-882-1949  202-370-6653

References:

Vermont Democracy Network

http://vermont.stevemoyer.us

2004 United States presidential election controversy and irregularities/summary

http://tinyurl.com/pg9vd

The “Plane Crash” of Senator Wellstone

http://www.oilempire.us/wellstone.html

Loose Change – Documentary on 9-11

http://www.loosechange911.com/

http://tinyurl.com/74gyb ( Watch it now on Google Video )

Was the 2004 Election Stolen? ( Rolling Stone )

http://tinyurl.com/njbdc

Bernie Sanders’  Independent Revolution

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20060321_bernie_sanders_interview/

Republican Corruption  Throughout History

http://liberalslikechrist.org/about/gopcorruption.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/_runoff_voting

Instant-Runoff Voting

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instant_runoff_voting

I realized when talking with a friend today how many people are confused about the difference between power and control.  Power exists.  Control is illusion.  That’s the skinny of it.

Basically power is needed to do anything.  If you want to get out of bed you need the power of your muscles.  If you want to have light you need the power of the sun or of electricity to light a bulb. If you want to change the world you need the power of money or the power of the vote.

When you vote you have the power of one vote.  But you aren’t in control of anything.  Even when the elected person goes to Congress ( or wherever ) they still are not in control.  There are many influences acting upon the, including lobbies and special interest groups of all kinds as well as their party leadership and peer pressure. 

So control is entirely illusion when you analyze it.  We are all dancing together in a collaborative endeavor to create reality. 

We need to discover and create the truth in consensus.  The idea is to seek consensus and to find what is there and create more along the way. 

Secrecy is unfair and those who believe they are in control, whether secretly or otherwise, are spiritually immature.  They need health care.

Power needs to be distributed to maximize human progress.  Concentrations of power, whether political, economic or informational, produce delusion.  Moderation is a vitue and the power in our society has been distributed without moderation.  Hence, we have an unfair society.

Democracy is a participation sport.  You need to get involved and express yourself, communicate your truth, and empower others to do the same.  Stand with those who have the right ideas.  Support them.  There are many ways to do this besides money.  We are too focused on money in my opinion.  We should be more focused on the truth and sharing it with each other.

Blessings!

Steve Moyer

Turn back the tape recorder in your mind to the time when Congress decided to authorize the President to use military force in Iraq.  What was the philosophy of that time?

It was the philosophy of “Military force will solve the problem.”  It was the philosophy of “necessary violence” in support of justice.
The mental mantras of this philosophy were “war is necessary” and “do it now.” It was the philosophy of “control and domination.”

This philosophy failed to produce good results. It was based on the false assumption that there was “no other choice.”  Republicans who advocated this philosophy refused to open the debate to alternative courses of action.  They refused to earnestly seek a better way.

They had already made up their mind that violent force was the “best choice” and proceeded to market this war to Americans using false intelligence and passionate arguments based on vanity and prejudice. (White House Iraq Group)

What will history books of the future say about this episode in American history?  They will say that George Bush and the Republicans “conned” America into believing that military force was a good solution.  They will tell the story of how we were told that Saddam Hussein was developing nuclear weapons and was a threat to America.

They will tell the story of how we were told it would be a short war with a short occupation at a low cost.

They will tell the story of how the American invasion and occupation of Iraq produced more terrorism.  They will tell the story of rising oil prices destabilizing the world economy and producing huge deficits in the Federal budget.

They will tell the story of the thousands of soldiers who lost their lives and 10’s of thousands who were physically, mentally and emotionally damaged for the rest of their lives.

Eventually the people of the United States will come to the conclusion that violent force is not a viable solution to global problems, dictators or terrorism.  Violence begets violence.  As human history moves forward we will learn better ways of resolving conflicts, promoting democracy and freedom, and respecting human rights.  That’s where our focus should be placed now rather than on debating how to make military force succeed.  It has clearly failed.

War is always the sanction of failure. There is always a better way.  We must learn to earnestly seek better solutions.  Where is the “Iraq Suggestion Box” on the Internet?

Steve Moyer

Hi!

This is my blog for my campaign.  I do a lot of essay writing and e-mailing.  I’m going to put some of these writings up here on the blog so others can read my thoughts.

Please check out my web site.  I’ve spent a lot of time developing it.  Sound should be coming to it soon.

Steve Moyer
http://stevemoyer.us

Also, Check out the Vermont Democracy Network which is the centerpiece of my campaign.  http://vermont.stevemoyer.us