Power To The People

Mike Gravel, the feisty former Democratic Senator from Alaska has been banned from recent MSNBC and CNN debates among Democratic presidential candidates. They say he has not raised enough money to be a viable candidate!

In the earlier debates - South Carolina and New Hampshire - Gravel really shook up the crowd. He presented something completely different. And he and got a lot of positive response, if post-debate polls and news stories are to be believed.

Gravel, of course is not folding his tent. The video clip above is part of his continuing campaign: now with one more issue - freedom of speech and media domination of American politics.

Does Gravel have a chance of winning? Probably not. But then neither do any of the Democratic hopefuls except Clinton and Obama. So why ban Gravel?

Maybe because he takes the American promise of freedom at its word. Maybe his ideas are just too different: too tempting, to be allowed respectability. Here is a short list taken from his web site:

The National Initiative for Democracy Mike fully supports the National Initiative for Democracy. The NI4D is a way to bring legislative power back to the people. In many states, citizens can put measures on the ballot and Mike believes as citizens of the United States we should all have that power. Read More about The National Initiative

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The "War on Terror" Senator Gravel believes that there is no such thing on the war on terror and that it is fabricated in order to prepetuate the interests of his political opponents. Senator Gravel believes that the "war on terror" should be stopped and that no more lives should be taken in its name. For more information click here.

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Iran and Syria Senator Gravel opposes a military confrontation with Iran and Syria and advocates a diplomatic solution to the current situation. More information available here, here, and here.

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Global Warming/Climate Change Senator Gravel believes that global climate change is a matter of national security and survivability of the planet. As President, he will act swiftly to reduce America's carbon footprint in the world by initiating legislation to tax carbon at the source and cap carbon emissions. he will also initiate a massive scientific effort, integrating the world's scientific and engineering community, to end energy dependence on oil and integrate the world's scientific community in this task. For more information go here, here, and here.

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Healthcare Senator Gravel advocates a universal healthcare system that provides equal medical services to all citizens, paid for by a retail sales tax (a portion of the Progressive Fair tax). Citizens would pay nothing for health benefits. For more information go here and here.

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LGBT Rights Senator Gravel supports same-sex marriage and opposes the Defense of Marriage Act. He also strongly opposes the military's "Don't Ask Don't Tell" legislation on the grounds that it is unconstitutional.

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Education Senator Gravel supports re-ordering national budget priorities in order to improve the American education system. He supports government funding of education from pre-kindergarten to higher education.

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The War on Drugs The War on Drugs has been a failure. It is time to end prohibition and start treating addiction as a public health problem.

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Human Rights Senator Gravel is adamantly opposed to torture, indefinite detention, and the deprivation of lawyers/speedy trials. He opposes the Military Commissions Act, flagrant ignorance of the Geneva convention, and Guantanamo.

For more info see the Gravel web site.