For the Peoplehttp://www.good.is/This issue is about how our government works, how it works for us, and the people who work for it. Our government is for the people, but it is also by the people, and we salute the men and women who spend their days in service of our country. Sun, 27 May 2012 12:46:28 -0700CakePHPhourly1en-us <![CDATA[Polling and Rolling!]]> http://www.good.is/post/polling-and-rolling-2/ http://www.good.is/post/polling-and-rolling-2/

for 3 to 6 PLAYERS

ages 35 and above

What you need to play:


1. Polling and Rolling! game board, included in Issue 005.

2. Cardboard Presidential Hopefuls game pieces: Clinton, Edwards, Giuliani, McCain, Obama, Romney, Write-In (x2)

3. One die (or use this link)

4. Pen and paper


How the game works:


1. Place all players (at least one Democrat and one Republican) around the Declare Your Candidacy square to start.

2. Keep track of campaign war-chest totals with pen and paper. All players start with $15 million (15 points) and lose $1 million (1 point) each turn-even if you roll more than once. If you are forced to miss a turn, you must still deduct one point. Super Duper Tuesday and The Conventions are exempt.

3. Carefully follow the instructions on every square, but only if you land there as the direct result of rolling.

4. If you run out of money anywhere on the board, you cede your candidacy.

5. The player who wins The Final Showdown is the next President of the United States.


How the board works:




DECLARE YOUR CANDIDACY

You need to roll a 4 or higher in order to Declare Your Candidacy. On your next turn, you can start the Road to the Presidency. Subtract one point each time you roll.

FUNDRAISER

One-thousand-dollar-a-plate dinner nets you $X million (X points). Roll to determine X.

DEBATE

Nationally televised debate tests your rhetorical skills. Roll once. If you roll: 1 or 2, switch with the candidate(s) immediately behind you; 3 or 4, stay where you are; 5 or 6, switch with the candidate(s) immediately ahead of you.



SUPER DUPER TUESDAY

Stop here. All players must arrive at this square before anyone can advance. As you wait for your competitors, continue to roll each turn, adding the number on the die to your point total. Once every candidate is on the square, war chest totals determine the order in which players roll for the second half of the game, highest going first. Break any ties with a staring contest.

THE CONVENTIONS

Stop here. If you have $30 million (30 points) or more, proceed on your next roll of 5 or more. If you do not have enough money, you must continue rolling when it's your turn, adding the number on the die to your campaign war chest until you have enough funds. The first two candidates to advance will face off in The Final Showdown.



THE FINAL SHOWDOWN

Win the best of three:

1. Luck

Wherein Rock = Money

Scissors = Image,

Paper = Experience.

Best of one.

2. Strength

One-round arm wrestling match between players.

3. Money

Whoever has the most in their war chest wins. Break any ties with a final debate: highest roll wins.]]>

for 3 to 6 PLAYERS

ages 35 and above

What you need to play:


1. Polling and Rolling! game board, included in Issue 005.

2. Cardboard Presidential Hopefuls game pieces: Clinton, Edwards, Giuliani, McCain, Obama, Romney, Write-In (x2)

3. One die (or use this link)

4. Pen and paper


How the game works:


1. Place all players (at least one Democrat and one Republican) around the Declare Your Candidacy square to start.

2. Keep track of campaign war-chest totals with pen and paper. All players start with $15 million (15 points) and lose $1 million (1 point) each turn-even if you roll more than once. If you are forced to miss a turn, you must still deduct one point. Super Duper Tuesday and The Conventions are exempt.

3. Carefully follow the instructions on every square, but only if you land there as the direct result of rolling.

4. If you run out of money anywhere on the board, you cede your candidacy.

5. The player who wins The Final Showdown is the next President of the United States.


How the board works:




DECLARE YOUR CANDIDACY

You need to roll a 4 or higher in order to Declare Your Candidacy. On your next turn, you can start the Road to the Presidency. Subtract one point each time you roll.

FUNDRAISER

One-thousand-dollar-a-plate dinner nets you $X million (X points). Roll to determine X.

DEBATE

Nationally televised debate tests your rhetorical skills. Roll once. If you roll: 1 or 2, switch with the candidate(s) immediately behind you; 3 or 4, stay where you are; 5 or 6, switch with the candidate(s) immediately ahead of you.



SUPER DUPER TUESDAY

Stop here. All players must arrive at this square before anyone can advance. As you wait for your competitors, continue to roll each turn, adding the number on the die to your point total. Once every candidate is on the square, war chest totals determine the order in which players roll for the second half of the game, highest going first. Break any ties with a staring contest.

THE CONVENTIONS

Stop here. If you have $30 million (30 points) or more, proceed on your next roll of 5 or more. If you do not have enough money, you must continue rolling when it's your turn, adding the number on the die to your campaign war chest until you have enough funds. The first two candidates to advance will face off in The Final Showdown.



THE FINAL SHOWDOWN

Win the best of three:

1. Luck

Wherein Rock = Money

Scissors = Image,

Paper = Experience.

Best of one.

2. Strength

One-round arm wrestling match between players.

3. Money

Whoever has the most in their war chest wins. Break any ties with a final debate: highest roll wins.]]> GOOD Wed, 30 May 2007 19:48:37 PDT <![CDATA[Waste Management]]> http://www.good.is/post/waste-management/ http://www.good.is/post/waste-management/

Trillions, plural. Trillions of dollars-between two and three, actually. That's how much Congress has spent annually since the Bush administration set up shop in the White House and started writing checks. Given how little we know about certain activities we aren't meant to know about, it's hard to get even the slightest grasp on how much of those trillions are flushed down our federal toilet, which is presumably outfitted with one of Reagan's fabled $640 toilet seats.

If anyone can get a grip on it, though, it's the nation's top accountant, David Walker, 56, the GAO's comptroller general, whose job it is to audit, oversee, and report on every penny Congress spends. So incensed is he by the numbers that he's mobilized a national campaign to sound the alarm. In fact, he is the alarm.

"What we have here is a fiscal cancer," says Walker, referring to America's bloated national debt and deficit. Perched on a couch in his office, Walker-despite the urgency of his message-has the smooth tone of a man whose frankness buttresses his professional objectivity. "The question is, What are we going to do to treat it? Are we going to change our behavior? Are we going to engage in some meaningful treatments in order to create a more positive future and be the first republic to stand the test of time? Or are we just going to continue the status quo?"

With the costs of Medicare and Social Security about to skyrocket in light of the coming era of Baby Boomer retirement, the question Walker raises is not whether we'll need to raise taxes and cut spending, but where and by how much. According to GAO estimates, at the current rate of spending, by 2040, the government will be able to do little more than pay interest on the federal debt; spending on entitlement programs-Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid-will by then consume all federal government revenues. By 2051, the economy could be in ruins. It's a simple equation: The bigger the debt, the slower the economy grows; the slower the economy grows, the slower wages climb. Add reduced retirement benefits and higher payroll taxes, and the outlook is, in a word, bleak. "That is … going to affect [Americans] in a very real, pocketbook kind of way," Walker told the Senate Budget Committee in January.

"People are shocked when they hear the numbers. Absolutely shocked," says Walker, who is spending a good part of his time on the road explaining those numbers. Since September, 2005, he has been headlining the Fiscal Wake-Up Tour, the hottest ticket in public finance and fiscal responsibility on the face of the planet, engaging the public in a realistic dialogue about the United States's financial future, with the hope of fostering an understanding of the dire path we're on and what needs to be done to change course.

As head of the GAO, Walker works in downtown D.C., in the office headquarters, a federal building largely indistinguishable from those surrounding it. A paragon of bureaucracy, it has chrome and wood-grain accents in the lobby, giving it a decidedly 1940s feel, a sense of a proud world war victor's monument to civil-service efficiency. Like every other building in the area, it was built so as not to eclipse the Washington Monument in height, sprawling horizontally rather than vertically. From where Walker is sitting, he says he can already see America speeding toward a national crisis.

"We're in the transparency, performance, and accountability business," he says of the GAO. "We're in the business to state the facts and speak the truth, and not just do oversight, but provide insight and foresight to try to help others to see the way forward." That means that the GAO's reports are open for partisan interpretation. A chief proponent of oversight, Representative Henry Waxman, Democrat of California, has used GAO reports to launch investigations into nearly every nook and cranny of the executive branch, including alleged improprieties by the Environmental Protection Agency (for its 2005 reversal of a statement that said an energy facility off the coast of California needed to meet clean-air standards) and the State Department (the allegedly false claim regarding Saddam Hussein's government's alleged purchase of uranium from Niger). Waxman is also looking into the White House's "loss" of emails that related to contacts with the Department of Justice regarding the recent firings of U.S. Attorneys.

Today, Waxman is animated, talking with me in a room in the Capitol where lobbyists and politicians gather around chestnut tables to do business as the latter make their way to and from their voting duties on the adjacent House floor. "The work done by [the GAO] points us in the direction where our oversight is most needed," he says. "In addition to looking at waste, fraud, and abuse of taxpayer dollars, I think it's important for us to look at government agencies and whether they're serving the public purposes for which they were created, or whether they're becoming dominated by politics or becoming ineffective for other reasons."

"When one party controls the Senate, the House, and the White House-and it really doesn't make any difference what party it is-that's generally not good for transparency, accountability, and fiscal responsibility," says Walker. But with Democrats taking control of both chambers of Congress after six years of Republican leadership and ever-surfacing misdeeds, oversight has quickly become a buzzword on Capitol Hill. The freshman Democratic senator Claire McCaskill, Missouri's former state auditor, told the Kansas City Star upon her election that the "GAO is going to love me as a senator" and vowed to have the "GAO's products permeate everything I do in my job." Senator Joe Lieberman, an Independent from Connecticut, at a GAO press conference in February, spoke of how a hearing on Hurricane Katrina recovery led him to see just how concerned the American people are with accountability: "None of the witnesses asked for more money. They all wanted to talk about how the money there is being spent."

More recently, Congress has put additional pressure on the inspectors general-the internal auditors of executive agencies-to ramp up their efforts, especially in light of findings such as the Department of the Interior's discovery that its Minerals Management Service might end up forfeiting more than $7 billion in royalties from oil companies over the next five years due to errors in leases signed in the 1990s, despite having discovered those errors in 2000.







Quote:
The government is owned by the people, and the people should know what their government is doing.

In fact, oversight has become so significant that Waxman decided to add the word to the official name of the committee he chairs. Now called the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, it holds sweeping investigative power over matters of Congressional interest, and Waxman has put those powers-and the GAO-to use in a manner that would have been considered anathema to Congressional Republicans and the Bush administration during their halcyon "What checks and balances?" days-and for precisely that reason. "The administration should recognize that … they don't own the government," says Waxman. "The government is owned by the people, and the people should know what their government is doing."

As the federal budget has ballooned in recent years, many of the recipients of government funds have retreated from the constraints of accountability. One particularly troubling area for both the GAO and the new Congress has been the escalating reliance on contractors to do the work of the government. In February, The New York Times reported that the total annual value of federal contracts doubled from $207 billion in 2000 to approximately $400 billion last year. Meanwhile, "contract actions," defined as both new contracts and payments on existing ones, have become increasingly easy to get: In 2001, 21 percent of government contracts were handed out without hearing other bids. In 2005, a shocking 52 percent were awarded without competition.

At the same time as that report was published, the GAO released its biennial update on areas of the federal government at high risk of waste, fraud, and abuse. Not surprisingly, several agencies' contracting and procurement operations made the list, including those of the Department of Defense. In a follow-up report, the GAO revealed that a contract with a Kuwaiti company to provide food service to troops in Iraq for $3 a meal was inexplicably re-awarded to Halliburton, which was paid $5 a meal by the government and which then subcontracted the service back to the Kuwaiti company at the original rate. (The $2-a-meal profits were subsequently recovered from Haliburton.)

"In Iraq, we're using contractors in new and unprecedented ways, in numbers that we've never seen before in our history," says Walker. "If we decide that it makes sense to contract for something, what are we doing to make sure that we're being very clear about what we're asking the contractors to do, so that we can hold them accountable for results? And what mechanisms do we have in place to provide adequate oversight to ensure that the taxpayers are going to get good value for their money?"

The reconstruction efforts in Iraq have not only highlighted the challenges of keeping government contractors accountable-they have shown how difficult it can be to have meaningful inspection of a government that has displayed outright disdain for oversight. Just before the election last fall, Republicans slipped a provision into a defense spending bill that would eliminate the office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction by October, 2007. After a public outcry-and an election that spoke volumes about the public's mistrust of the government's management of the war and reconstruction-legislation was passed to keep the SIGIR office open at least through the fall of 2008. No wonder Republicans wanted that office shut down: In March, it released a scathing report on the government's failure to provide a strategy, structure, or even an understanding of potential problems faced in the reconstruction.

The GAO has met similar resistance in its attempts to oversee the government's work in Iraq. Early this year, the State Department refused to grant the GAO's request for accommodations in the department's Green Zone facilities for three auditors at a time over a six-month period, stating that it lacked the resources to facilitate such a stay. On behalf of the GAO, a group of 21 Democratic senators sent a letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice expressing their concern about the administrators of a war costing taxpayers $280 million a day, who can't seem to find the resources to put up three additional people.

Iraq is, of course, not the only major area of concern for the GAO today, though it's certainly one of the biggest. As Walker's nationwide tour shows, there is one area that the GAO has been urging Congress itself to examine more closely: the nation's increasingly imbalanced long-term fiscal outlook.

"Where we're at right now, we're running large deficits in the short term, and people's efforts are to reduce or eliminate that," says the comptroller general. "But the real problem's not the short term: The real problem's the long range. We've gone from $20 trillion in liabilities and unfunded commitments in 2001 to $50 trillion in 2006, and those numbers are going up 2 to 4 trillion a year just due to the passage of time."







Quote:
If something doesn't change, Generation X and Generation Y, and ultimately their kids and grandkids, will have to pay off this [national debt]-with compounded interest. I don't think that's right, and I'm trying to make sure that we're doing something about it.

To Walker, the numbers are less important than the moral issues behind them. Such a mounting deficit could spell a financial disaster in the not-so-distant future: Spending on entitlement programs would be cut drastically, to the point where anyone under 30 today would be unlikely to receive much, if any, of what he or she is currently paying into those programs; taxes would skyrocket, threatening to completely eliminate the middle class in the United States; and if the United States were forced to default on its loans, interest rates would soar and economic growth would stagnate for at least a decade, leading to a long-term national depression.

Beyond that, though, we can only speculate on what might happen. Will we be forced to pawn our national supply of bicycles to China? Will Canada create a wall along its border to prevent cheap Minnesotan labor from flooding into Manitoba? Will the hipster youth of tomorrow be forced to do their freelance graphic-design work from the discomfort of Wi-Fi-equipped boxcars? Hopefully, we'll never find out.

"If something doesn't change," Walker adds, "Generation X and Generation Y, and ultimately their kids and grandkids, will have to pay off this bill-with compounded interest. I don't think that's right, and I'm trying to make sure that we're doing something about it."]]>

Trillions, plural. Trillions of dollars-between two and three, actually. That's how much Congress has spent annually since the Bush administration set up shop in the White House and started writing checks. Given how little we know about certain activities we aren't meant to know about, it's hard to get even the slightest grasp on how much of those trillions are flushed down our federal toilet, which is presumably outfitted with one of Reagan's fabled $640 toilet seats.

If anyone can get a grip on it, though, it's the nation's top accountant, David Walker, 56, the GAO's comptroller general, whose job it is to audit, oversee, and report on every penny Congress spends. So incensed is he by the numbers that he's mobilized a national campaign to sound the alarm. In fact, he is the alarm.

"What we have here is a fiscal cancer," says Walker, referring to America's bloated national debt and deficit. Perched on a couch in his office, Walker-despite the urgency of his message-has the smooth tone of a man whose frankness buttresses his professional objectivity. "The question is, What are we going to do to treat it? Are we going to change our behavior? Are we going to engage in some meaningful treatments in order to create a more positive future and be the first republic to stand the test of time? Or are we just going to continue the status quo?"

With the costs of Medicare and Social Security about to skyrocket in light of the coming era of Baby Boomer retirement, the question Walker raises is not whether we'll need to raise taxes and cut spending, but where and by how much. According to GAO estimates, at the current rate of spending, by 2040, the government will be able to do little more than pay interest on the federal debt; spending on entitlement programs-Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid-will by then consume all federal government revenues. By 2051, the economy could be in ruins. It's a simple equation: The bigger the debt, the slower the economy grows; the slower the economy grows, the slower wages climb. Add reduced retirement benefits and higher payroll taxes, and the outlook is, in a word, bleak. "That is … going to affect [Americans] in a very real, pocketbook kind of way," Walker told the Senate Budget Committee in January.

"People are shocked when they hear the numbers. Absolutely shocked," says Walker, who is spending a good part of his time on the road explaining those numbers. Since September, 2005, he has been headlining the Fiscal Wake-Up Tour, the hottest ticket in public finance and fiscal responsibility on the face of the planet, engaging the public in a realistic dialogue about the United States's financial future, with the hope of fostering an understanding of the dire path we're on and what needs to be done to change course.

As head of the GAO, Walker works in downtown D.C., in the office headquarters, a federal building largely indistinguishable from those surrounding it. A paragon of bureaucracy, it has chrome and wood-grain accents in the lobby, giving it a decidedly 1940s feel, a sense of a proud world war victor's monument to civil-service efficiency. Like every other building in the area, it was built so as not to eclipse the Washington Monument in height, sprawling horizontally rather than vertically. From where Walker is sitting, he says he can already see America speeding toward a national crisis.

"We're in the transparency, performance, and accountability business," he says of the GAO. "We're in the business to state the facts and speak the truth, and not just do oversight, but provide insight and foresight to try to help others to see the way forward." That means that the GAO's reports are open for partisan interpretation. A chief proponent of oversight, Representative Henry Waxman, Democrat of California, has used GAO reports to launch investigations into nearly every nook and cranny of the executive branch, including alleged improprieties by the Environmental Protection Agency (for its 2005 reversal of a statement that said an energy facility off the coast of California needed to meet clean-air standards) and the State Department (the allegedly false claim regarding Saddam Hussein's government's alleged purchase of uranium from Niger). Waxman is also looking into the White House's "loss" of emails that related to contacts with the Department of Justice regarding the recent firings of U.S. Attorneys.

Today, Waxman is animated, talking with me in a room in the Capitol where lobbyists and politicians gather around chestnut tables to do business as the latter make their way to and from their voting duties on the adjacent House floor. "The work done by [the GAO] points us in the direction where our oversight is most needed," he says. "In addition to looking at waste, fraud, and abuse of taxpayer dollars, I think it's important for us to look at government agencies and whether they're serving the public purposes for which they were created, or whether they're becoming dominated by politics or becoming ineffective for other reasons."

"When one party controls the Senate, the House, and the White House-and it really doesn't make any difference what party it is-that's generally not good for transparency, accountability, and fiscal responsibility," says Walker. But with Democrats taking control of both chambers of Congress after six years of Republican leadership and ever-surfacing misdeeds, oversight has quickly become a buzzword on Capitol Hill. The freshman Democratic senator Claire McCaskill, Missouri's former state auditor, told the Kansas City Star upon her election that the "GAO is going to love me as a senator" and vowed to have the "GAO's products permeate everything I do in my job." Senator Joe Lieberman, an Independent from Connecticut, at a GAO press conference in February, spoke of how a hearing on Hurricane Katrina recovery led him to see just how concerned the American people are with accountability: "None of the witnesses asked for more money. They all wanted to talk about how the money there is being spent."

More recently, Congress has put additional pressure on the inspectors general-the internal auditors of executive agencies-to ramp up their efforts, especially in light of findings such as the Department of the Interior's discovery that its Minerals Management Service might end up forfeiting more than $7 billion in royalties from oil companies over the next five years due to errors in leases signed in the 1990s, despite having discovered those errors in 2000.







Quote:
The government is owned by the people, and the people should know what their government is doing.

In fact, oversight has become so significant that Waxman decided to add the word to the official name of the committee he chairs. Now called the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, it holds sweeping investigative power over matters of Congressional interest, and Waxman has put those powers-and the GAO-to use in a manner that would have been considered anathema to Congressional Republicans and the Bush administration during their halcyon "What checks and balances?" days-and for precisely that reason. "The administration should recognize that … they don't own the government," says Waxman. "The government is owned by the people, and the people should know what their government is doing."

As the federal budget has ballooned in recent years, many of the recipients of government funds have retreated from the constraints of accountability. One particularly troubling area for both the GAO and the new Congress has been the escalating reliance on contractors to do the work of the government. In February, The New York Times reported that the total annual value of federal contracts doubled from $207 billion in 2000 to approximately $400 billion last year. Meanwhile, "contract actions," defined as both new contracts and payments on existing ones, have become increasingly easy to get: In 2001, 21 percent of government contracts were handed out without hearing other bids. In 2005, a shocking 52 percent were awarded without competition.

At the same time as that report was published, the GAO released its biennial update on areas of the federal government at high risk of waste, fraud, and abuse. Not surprisingly, several agencies' contracting and procurement operations made the list, including those of the Department of Defense. In a follow-up report, the GAO revealed that a contract with a Kuwaiti company to provide food service to troops in Iraq for $3 a meal was inexplicably re-awarded to Halliburton, which was paid $5 a meal by the government and which then subcontracted the service back to the Kuwaiti company at the original rate. (The $2-a-meal profits were subsequently recovered from Haliburton.)

"In Iraq, we're using contractors in new and unprecedented ways, in numbers that we've never seen before in our history," says Walker. "If we decide that it makes sense to contract for something, what are we doing to make sure that we're being very clear about what we're asking the contractors to do, so that we can hold them accountable for results? And what mechanisms do we have in place to provide adequate oversight to ensure that the taxpayers are going to get good value for their money?"

The reconstruction efforts in Iraq have not only highlighted the challenges of keeping government contractors accountable-they have shown how difficult it can be to have meaningful inspection of a government that has displayed outright disdain for oversight. Just before the election last fall, Republicans slipped a provision into a defense spending bill that would eliminate the office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction by October, 2007. After a public outcry-and an election that spoke volumes about the public's mistrust of the government's management of the war and reconstruction-legislation was passed to keep the SIGIR office open at least through the fall of 2008. No wonder Republicans wanted that office shut down: In March, it released a scathing report on the government's failure to provide a strategy, structure, or even an understanding of potential problems faced in the reconstruction.

The GAO has met similar resistance in its attempts to oversee the government's work in Iraq. Early this year, the State Department refused to grant the GAO's request for accommodations in the department's Green Zone facilities for three auditors at a time over a six-month period, stating that it lacked the resources to facilitate such a stay. On behalf of the GAO, a group of 21 Democratic senators sent a letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice expressing their concern about the administrators of a war costing taxpayers $280 million a day, who can't seem to find the resources to put up three additional people.

Iraq is, of course, not the only major area of concern for the GAO today, though it's certainly one of the biggest. As Walker's nationwide tour shows, there is one area that the GAO has been urging Congress itself to examine more closely: the nation's increasingly imbalanced long-term fiscal outlook.

"Where we're at right now, we're running large deficits in the short term, and people's efforts are to reduce or eliminate that," says the comptroller general. "But the real problem's not the short term: The real problem's the long range. We've gone from $20 trillion in liabilities and unfunded commitments in 2001 to $50 trillion in 2006, and those numbers are going up 2 to 4 trillion a year just due to the passage of time."







Quote:
If something doesn't change, Generation X and Generation Y, and ultimately their kids and grandkids, will have to pay off this [national debt]-with compounded interest. I don't think that's right, and I'm trying to make sure that we're doing something about it.

To Walker, the numbers are less important than the moral issues behind them. Such a mounting deficit could spell a financial disaster in the not-so-distant future: Spending on entitlement programs would be cut drastically, to the point where anyone under 30 today would be unlikely to receive much, if any, of what he or she is currently paying into those programs; taxes would skyrocket, threatening to completely eliminate the middle class in the United States; and if the United States were forced to default on its loans, interest rates would soar and economic growth would stagnate for at least a decade, leading to a long-term national depression.

Beyond that, though, we can only speculate on what might happen. Will we be forced to pawn our national supply of bicycles to China? Will Canada create a wall along its border to prevent cheap Minnesotan labor from flooding into Manitoba? Will the hipster youth of tomorrow be forced to do their freelance graphic-design work from the discomfort of Wi-Fi-equipped boxcars? Hopefully, we'll never find out.

"If something doesn't change," Walker adds, "Generation X and Generation Y, and ultimately their kids and grandkids, will have to pay off this bill-with compounded interest. I don't think that's right, and I'm trying to make sure that we're doing something about it."]]> Simon Steinhardt Tue, 29 May 2007 17:54:50 PDT <![CDATA[Volunteers]]> http://www.good.is/post/volunteers/ http://www.good.is/post/volunteers/

The statistics are shocking: more than 11,000 soldiers have been wounded by roadside bombs; more than 50,000 have sought treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder; and 150,000 have submitted a claim for disability. Undiagnosed brain injuries-serious concussions that can cause memory loss, vision problems, and even depression-are affecting as many as 300,000 troops who have come home.

But when you look at the numbers, it's easy to forget that they represent individual stories: lives put on hold, families under strain-above all, tremendous personal sacrifice. As the executive director of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, I have had the honor and privilege of working with thousands of these heroes, helping many of them to tell their stories and rebuild their lives. In this photo series, I'm happy to introduce just a few of them.







Quote:
For the many Americans for whom the Iraq War has required little or no personal commitment, and especially for the politicians in Washington...these photos and stories should be required viewing.

I've found that the faces of the troops tell us the most about the war. Their eyes reflect their pride in their service, pain at the loss of friends, and the memories that linger long after they return home. In a way the numbers simply can't, the faces of combat veterans bring the reality of a distant war home. That's why images like these are so important; they remind us that "the troops" aren't some abstraction to be supported by a bumper sticker or a catchphrase. The troops are America's sons and daughters, a diverse group, coming from all parts of the country and every walk of life.

In the next few pages, you'll see photos of some of these heroes-a successful lawyer who left his practice to train the Iraqi police force, an activist who ended up homeless only months after driving fuel trucks in Iraq, an actor who put his career on hold to join the Marines after 9/11.

These pictures show you the diversity of today's veterans-but they also suggest what they have in common. These veterans have stories that must be heard. The best reporting from the war in Iraq has come from the troops themselves-the people who saw it first-hand. Their raw, uncensored stories are simply the best way to understand what's actually happening on the ground in Iraq, and the difficult choices that lay ahead for us all.

For the many Americans for whom the Iraq War has required little or no personal commitment, and especially for the politicians in Washington whose choices affect the lives of our troops every day, these photos and stories should be required viewing.


Sean Huze


AGE

32

HOMETOWN

Baton Rouge, Louisiana

BRANCH

Marine Corps/Infantry

CURRENT OCCUPATION

Actor and artistic director for the Vet Stage Foundation

NOTABLE SERVICE

March, 2003, initial invasion of Iraq

ENLISTED

September 12, 2001

My father was pretty upset [when I enlisted]. I was in L.A., pursuing an acting career. I had a few credits, had my SAG card, had an agent. As a father now, I can understand not wanting your child to do something that puts him in harm's way. The military was a good experience for me. But it's not anything that I would want my child to do.







Quote:
If you had told me on September 10th that I was going to be in a recruiter's office 48 hours later, I would have told you to pass it my way; I would have said somebody was delusional.

Take any decision that we've ever made in life. If you had the benefit of hindsight, would you do it again? I don't know. Having served in Iraq gives me the opportunity to do what I do now: really communicate things creatively and artistically. I work with other veterans to help them do the same. And I'm serving my country more now than I ever did in uniform.


Josh Henniger


AGE

25

HOMETOWN

San Clemente, California

BRANCH

Marine Corps (pre-Iraqi Occupation); Army (Iraq)/Sergeant

CURRENT OCCUPATION

Student

NOTABLE SERVICE

Wounded in Iraq, 2005

ENLISTED

at 17, on a whim







Quote:
I'd just come out of the Marine Corps and 9/11 happened. Like everybody else, I wanted to go back now that there was a war on.

I was wounded in action in December of 2005 [in Iraq] by an enemy mortar round. I was bitter about getting wounded and seeing my soldiers die. Eventually you have to move on because you just realize that if you're pissed off all the time it's not good for you.

It changes everything about you when you go to combat. I guess I have more of a sense of clarity and purpose in life now. I value and respect life a lot more now than I used to.


Megan O'Connor


AGE

31

HOMETOWN

Venice, California

BRANCH

Army National Guard/Medical Service Corps Officer/Captain

CURRENT OCCUPATION

Graduate student of Chinese medicine, Yo San University

NOTABLE SERVICE

50th Main Support Battalion of the New Jersey Army National Guard in Tikrit and Ramadi

ENLISTED

at 19 to pay for college







Quote:
When anyone goes to a war zone, they don't come back the same person.

I enjoyed the camaraderie of the National Guard, and the ability to serve my country while doing something that was meaningful and powerful. It wasn't what I was all about, it was just a little part of me.

It's hard to come back. I think there are so many people that are appreciative of the service of veterans, but there are also so many people that live their lives not realizing the magnitude of the sacrifice.


George Robert


AGE

26

HOMETOWN

East Los Angeles, California

BRANCH

Army

CURRENT OCCUPATION

Construction worker

NOTABLE SERVICE

Served 14 consecutive months in Iraq

ENLISTED

at 17 to get insurance for his child







Quote:
You get back here and people just want to talk about [whether] you think Bush is doing the right thing. And they start hounding you instead of just leaving you alone. We don't really want to talk about it if we're not there anymore.

Going to Iraq was scary at first. And then you know, the military kicks in, and you think about everything that you've learned and it's time to go.

I don't see my role in America any differently than before I left. I knew what I was signing up for. They called me up and I went. I'm more grateful for the things that we do have, being over there and seeing what they have over there-really nothing-then coming over here and seeing how much we take for granted.


Bryant Elder


AGE

35

HOMETOWN

Pasadena, California

BRANCH

Marine Corps; Army National Guard/Staff Sergeant

CURRENT OCCUPATION

Pediatrics nurse

NOTABLE SERVICE

Istanbul, Turkey; Portugal; Spain; Australia; Iraq

ENLISTED

at 18 so that he could travel.







Quote:
Now that I served over in Iraq, I see America in a whole different light. I see my role differently too: to encourage young kids coming out of high school to go to college and try and use the military as a last resort.

There is an old Marine Corps reserve center right next to our high school. So the Marine Corps recruiters were always there after basketball practice. So … you know.

My mother didn't like it when I first joined, but my dad and two of his brothers served in the Air Force, so he was pleased with it.

The military is selling a lot of educational programs and giving a lot of bonuses away. So you've got more kids coming in now for the college money, but they don't know that you're going to do a tour in Afghanistan or Iraq. There's no way around it.


Baldwin Yen


AGE

28

HOMETOWN

Atherton, California

BRANCH

Army Reserve/Forty-Six Romero (Broadcast Journalist)

CURRENT OCCUPATION

Video-game programmer

NOTABLE SERVICE

Part of the American Forces Network, a military broadcast network

ENLISTED

at 19 to fulfill a childhood dream

I tried to enlist when I was 17, but, of course, at that point I needed my parents' permission. I kept asking them, the good Asian child that I am. When I was 19, I finally managed to enlist with their blessing. My mom decided to see a fortune teller, and he said I'd be all right.
My job [was] sort of like what you see in Good Morning Vietnam or Full Metal Jacket. Going on raids in the middle of the night, or searching a village for weapons was appealing to me, it let me pretend I was in combat arms for a short bit.







Quote:
I got access that the civilian media wouldn't. How often do you see the story where the soldier is doing the good thing? We did that a lot over there.

No one really takes notice and no one else really stops moving when you're out there. You go out, everyone's life changes; you come back, and things are different.

As much as America disappoints me at times, and as much as there are things that I find extremely disagreeable, or I just may not approve of, I still think that America is a great country. And if I had to do it all over again, I would in a heartbeat.



Paul McQuigg


AGE

30

HOMETOWN

Western Springs, Illinois

BRANCH

Marine Corps/Amphibious Assault Crewman, Vehicle Commander

CURRENT OCCUPATION

On third enlistment; student of criminal justice and general studies

NOTABLE SERVICE

Wounded in Iraq, 2006

ENLISTED

at 20, having wanted to since age 12







Quote:
I was out on patrol on a mission with my marines and my vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb. I'm still in the recovery phase, and this is where you see me right now.

On my father's side, I can trace my family history [of military service] back to the Civil War, on the side of

the Union.

It's hard to take night classes in the middle of Iraq, trying to write a term paper while you're taking fire from some AK-47.


Nicholas Rock


AGE

27

HOMETOWN

Warwick, Rhode Island

BRANCH

Army/Staff Sergeant

CURRENT OCCUPATION

MFA student, graphic design, Yale

NOTABLE SERVICE

Helped reconstruct roads and schools in a Kurdish community

ENLISTED

at 19 out of a sense of duty and to pay for school







Quote:
You sort of have to believe that what you're doing is the right thing.

You're told to go to war and you expect a certain thing and I think that I had actually a pretty amazing experience in just helping people. I didn't have to do a lot of fighting, which everybody else was doing.

My political views changed as the war went on, the more we learned about what was actually happening. I'm a little bit torn still because I feel like what we were doing for the Kurdish people was actually a good thing. I feel like we still owe it to them not to leave it a mess over there. But I completely disagree with this whole political situation.


Mariel Sosa


AGE

26

HOMETOWN

Brooklyn, New York

BRANCH

Army/E4 specialist

CURRENT OCCUPATION

Graduate student, social work, NYU

NOTABLE SERVICE

Iraq from March, 2004, to October, 2005

ENLISTED

at 21 to pay student loans

The first time I went to Iraq was beyond anything I could have imagined. We were roughing it, burning feces [to keep living areas sanitary] and just not really having enough food. We ran out of water. It was really tough.

I'm trying to fill a void by not leaving anyone; letting people know that there are people out there that care and that we respect the fact that they have given part of their life to a cause.







Quote:
I think everyone should at least do basic training.

After serving in Iraq, I care more now. I just care more. I want to vote. Policies that are being enforced matter to me, where before I didn't care.


Phillip Carter


AGE

31

HOMETOWN

Santa Monica, California

BRANCH

Army/Captain

CURRENT OCCUPATION

Attorney

NOTABLE SERVICE

Served in Iraq from 2005 to 2006 with the Army's 101st Airborne Division

ENLISTED

on ROTC scholarship at UCLA







Quote:
Iraq is a very complex place. I'm still optimistic, but at this point, I worry that even if we put our best efforts forward, it may notbe enough.

At least back as far as my grandfather, all the men in my family have served.

I might go back to Iraq at some point, maybe as a writer or a consultant for the State Department.

If I could do it over again, I'd absolutely join. It was a very tough experience, but I feel like I got a lot more out of the Army than they got out of me. I would recommend it to others, but you have to know that if you sign up today you're going to war.

After my service I see everything through a different lens. I focus a lot more on the human element of questions, like whether we should go to war.


Herold Noel


AGE

27

HOMETOWN

Brooklyn, New York

BRANCH

Army/Private First Class, 3rd Infantry Division

CURRENT OCCUPATION

Promoting When I Came Home, the award-winning documentary about the homelessness he endured after returning from service

NOTABLE SERVICE

Fueler during the March, 2003, invasion

ENLISTED

at 19 for a better way of life







Quote:
My experience in Iraq was basically horrifying. [The fuel truck] was basically like driving a bomb. It was the worst thing you could think about.

My main objective for being over there-and for the guys I was around in my unit-was to watch each other's back, making sure they came back home alive to see their kids.

The documentary When I Came Home is about my situation after I came back from Iraq: I was homeless for about eight months. There's no transitional housing for soldiers coming back home from lower [income] communities. They don't come back better than they left off, they come back worse.

My view of America hasn't changed, it's my view of people in America that's changed. I love America, that's my home. I fought for it. America is more mine than anybody in this room, more than the President, cause I fought, I shed blood, I saw my friends get hurt, lose limbs, for this freakin' country. I came back-I'm alive, you know-and the system that I fought for didn't want to fight for me.

My role in America is to fight for vets. Take a look at your life, ask yourself what a soldier means to you.]]>

The statistics are shocking: more than 11,000 soldiers have been wounded by roadside bombs; more than 50,000 have sought treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder; and 150,000 have submitted a claim for disability. Undiagnosed brain injuries-serious concussions that can cause memory loss, vision problems, and even depression-are affecting as many as 300,000 troops who have come home.

But when you look at the numbers, it's easy to forget that they represent individual stories: lives put on hold, families under strain-above all, tremendous personal sacrifice. As the executive director of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, I have had the honor and privilege of working with thousands of these heroes, helping many of them to tell their stories and rebuild their lives. In this photo series, I'm happy to introduce just a few of them.







Quote:
For the many Americans for whom the Iraq War has required little or no personal commitment, and especially for the politicians in Washington...these photos and stories should be required viewing.

I've found that the faces of the troops tell us the most about the war. Their eyes reflect their pride in their service, pain at the loss of friends, and the memories that linger long after they return home. In a way the numbers simply can't, the faces of combat veterans bring the reality of a distant war home. That's why images like these are so important; they remind us that "the troops" aren't some abstraction to be supported by a bumper sticker or a catchphrase. The troops are America's sons and daughters, a diverse group, coming from all parts of the country and every walk of life.

In the next few pages, you'll see photos of some of these heroes-a successful lawyer who left his practice to train the Iraqi police force, an activist who ended up homeless only months after driving fuel trucks in Iraq, an actor who put his career on hold to join the Marines after 9/11.

These pictures show you the diversity of today's veterans-but they also suggest what they have in common. These veterans have stories that must be heard. The best reporting from the war in Iraq has come from the troops themselves-the people who saw it first-hand. Their raw, uncensored stories are simply the best way to understand what's actually happening on the ground in Iraq, and the difficult choices that lay ahead for us all.

For the many Americans for whom the Iraq War has required little or no personal commitment, and especially for the politicians in Washington whose choices affect the lives of our troops every day, these photos and stories should be required viewing.


Sean Huze


AGE

32

HOMETOWN

Baton Rouge, Louisiana

BRANCH

Marine Corps/Infantry

CURRENT OCCUPATION

Actor and artistic director for the Vet Stage Foundation

NOTABLE SERVICE

March, 2003, initial invasion of Iraq

ENLISTED

September 12, 2001

My father was pretty upset [when I enlisted]. I was in L.A., pursuing an acting career. I had a few credits, had my SAG card, had an agent. As a father now, I can understand not wanting your child to do something that puts him in harm's way. The military was a good experience for me. But it's not anything that I would want my child to do.







Quote:
If you had told me on September 10th that I was going to be in a recruiter's office 48 hours later, I would have told you to pass it my way; I would have said somebody was delusional.

Take any decision that we've ever made in life. If you had the benefit of hindsight, would you do it again? I don't know. Having served in Iraq gives me the opportunity to do what I do now: really communicate things creatively and artistically. I work with other veterans to help them do the same. And I'm serving my country more now than I ever did in uniform.


Josh Henniger


AGE

25

HOMETOWN

San Clemente, California

BRANCH

Marine Corps (pre-Iraqi Occupation); Army (Iraq)/Sergeant

CURRENT OCCUPATION

Student

NOTABLE SERVICE

Wounded in Iraq, 2005

ENLISTED

at 17, on a whim







Quote:
I'd just come out of the Marine Corps and 9/11 happened. Like everybody else, I wanted to go back now that there was a war on.

I was wounded in action in December of 2005 [in Iraq] by an enemy mortar round. I was bitter about getting wounded and seeing my soldiers die. Eventually you have to move on because you just realize that if you're pissed off all the time it's not good for you.

It changes everything about you when you go to combat. I guess I have more of a sense of clarity and purpose in life now. I value and respect life a lot more now than I used to.


Megan O'Connor


AGE

31

HOMETOWN

Venice, California

BRANCH

Army National Guard/Medical Service Corps Officer/Captain

CURRENT OCCUPATION

Graduate student of Chinese medicine, Yo San University

NOTABLE SERVICE

50th Main Support Battalion of the New Jersey Army National Guard in Tikrit and Ramadi

ENLISTED

at 19 to pay for college







Quote:
When anyone goes to a war zone, they don't come back the same person.

I enjoyed the camaraderie of the National Guard, and the ability to serve my country while doing something that was meaningful and powerful. It wasn't what I was all about, it was just a little part of me.

It's hard to come back. I think there are so many people that are appreciative of the service of veterans, but there are also so many people that live their lives not realizing the magnitude of the sacrifice.


George Robert


AGE

26

HOMETOWN

East Los Angeles, California

BRANCH

Army

CURRENT OCCUPATION

Construction worker

NOTABLE SERVICE

Served 14 consecutive months in Iraq

ENLISTED

at 17 to get insurance for his child







Quote:
You get back here and people just want to talk about [whether] you think Bush is doing the right thing. And they start hounding you instead of just leaving you alone. We don't really want to talk about it if we're not there anymore.

Going to Iraq was scary at first. And then you know, the military kicks in, and you think about everything that you've learned and it's time to go.

I don't see my role in America any differently than before I left. I knew what I was signing up for. They called me up and I went. I'm more grateful for the things that we do have, being over there and seeing what they have over there-really nothing-then coming over here and seeing how much we take for granted.


Bryant Elder


AGE

35

HOMETOWN

Pasadena, California

BRANCH

Marine Corps; Army National Guard/Staff Sergeant

CURRENT OCCUPATION

Pediatrics nurse

NOTABLE SERVICE

Istanbul, Turkey; Portugal; Spain; Australia; Iraq

ENLISTED

at 18 so that he could travel.







Quote:
Now that I served over in Iraq, I see America in a whole different light. I see my role differently too: to encourage young kids coming out of high school to go to college and try and use the military as a last resort.

There is an old Marine Corps reserve center right next to our high school. So the Marine Corps recruiters were always there after basketball practice. So … you know.

My mother didn't like it when I first joined, but my dad and two of his brothers served in the Air Force, so he was pleased with it.

The military is selling a lot of educational programs and giving a lot of bonuses away. So you've got more kids coming in now for the college money, but they don't know that you're going to do a tour in Afghanistan or Iraq. There's no way around it.


Baldwin Yen


AGE

28

HOMETOWN

Atherton, California

BRANCH

Army Reserve/Forty-Six Romero (Broadcast Journalist)

CURRENT OCCUPATION

Video-game programmer

NOTABLE SERVICE

Part of the American Forces Network, a military broadcast network

ENLISTED

at 19 to fulfill a childhood dream

I tried to enlist when I was 17, but, of course, at that point I needed my parents' permission. I kept asking them, the good Asian child that I am. When I was 19, I finally managed to enlist with their blessing. My mom decided to see a fortune teller, and he said I'd be all right.
My job [was] sort of like what you see in Good Morning Vietnam or Full Metal Jacket. Going on raids in the middle of the night, or searching a village for weapons was appealing to me, it let me pretend I was in combat arms for a short bit.







Quote:
I got access that the civilian media wouldn't. How often do you see the story where the soldier is doing the good thing? We did that a lot over there.

No one really takes notice and no one else really stops moving when you're out there. You go out, everyone's life changes; you come back, and things are different.

As much as America disappoints me at times, and as much as there are things that I find extremely disagreeable, or I just may not approve of, I still think that America is a great country. And if I had to do it all over again, I would in a heartbeat.



Paul McQuigg


AGE

30

HOMETOWN

Western Springs, Illinois

BRANCH

Marine Corps/Amphibious Assault Crewman, Vehicle Commander

CURRENT OCCUPATION

On third enlistment; student of criminal justice and general studies

NOTABLE SERVICE

Wounded in Iraq, 2006

ENLISTED

at 20, having wanted to since age 12







Quote:
I was out on patrol on a mission with my marines and my vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb. I'm still in the recovery phase, and this is where you see me right now.

On my father's side, I can trace my family history [of military service] back to the Civil War, on the side of

the Union.

It's hard to take night classes in the middle of Iraq, trying to write a term paper while you're taking fire from some AK-47.


Nicholas Rock


AGE

27

HOMETOWN

Warwick, Rhode Island

BRANCH

Army/Staff Sergeant

CURRENT OCCUPATION

MFA student, graphic design, Yale

NOTABLE SERVICE

Helped reconstruct roads and schools in a Kurdish community

ENLISTED

at 19 out of a sense of duty and to pay for school







Quote:
You sort of have to believe that what you're doing is the right thing.

You're told to go to war and you expect a certain thing and I think that I had actually a pretty amazing experience in just helping people. I didn't have to do a lot of fighting, which everybody else was doing.

My political views changed as the war went on, the more we learned about what was actually happening. I'm a little bit torn still because I feel like what we were doing for the Kurdish people was actually a good thing. I feel like we still owe it to them not to leave it a mess over there. But I completely disagree with this whole political situation.


Mariel Sosa


AGE

26

HOMETOWN

Brooklyn, New York

BRANCH

Army/E4 specialist

CURRENT OCCUPATION

Graduate student, social work, NYU

NOTABLE SERVICE

Iraq from March, 2004, to October, 2005

ENLISTED

at 21 to pay student loans

The first time I went to Iraq was beyond anything I could have imagined. We were roughing it, burning feces [to keep living areas sanitary] and just not really having enough food. We ran out of water. It was really tough.

I'm trying to fill a void by not leaving anyone; letting people know that there are people out there that care and that we respect the fact that they have given part of their life to a cause.







Quote:
I think everyone should at least do basic training.

After serving in Iraq, I care more now. I just care more. I want to vote. Policies that are being enforced matter to me, where before I didn't care.


Phillip Carter


AGE

31

HOMETOWN

Santa Monica, California

BRANCH

Army/Captain

CURRENT OCCUPATION

Attorney

NOTABLE SERVICE

Served in Iraq from 2005 to 2006 with the Army's 101st Airborne Division

ENLISTED

on ROTC scholarship at UCLA







Quote:
Iraq is a very complex place. I'm still optimistic, but at this point, I worry that even if we put our best efforts forward, it may notbe enough.

At least back as far as my grandfather, all the men in my family have served.

I might go back to Iraq at some point, maybe as a writer or a consultant for the State Department.

If I could do it over again, I'd absolutely join. It was a very tough experience, but I feel like I got a lot more out of the Army than they got out of me. I would recommend it to others, but you have to know that if you sign up today you're going to war.

After my service I see everything through a different lens. I focus a lot more on the human element of questions, like whether we should go to war.


Herold Noel


AGE

27

HOMETOWN

Brooklyn, New York

BRANCH

Army/Private First Class, 3rd Infantry Division

CURRENT OCCUPATION

Promoting When I Came Home, the award-winning documentary about the homelessness he endured after returning from service

NOTABLE SERVICE

Fueler during the March, 2003, invasion

ENLISTED

at 19 for a better way of life







Quote:
My experience in Iraq was basically horrifying. [The fuel truck] was basically like driving a bomb. It was the worst thing you could think about.

My main objective for being over there-and for the guys I was around in my unit-was to watch each other's back, making sure they came back home alive to see their kids.

The documentary When I Came Home is about my situation after I came back from Iraq: I was homeless for about eight months. There's no transitional housing for soldiers coming back home from lower [income] communities. They don't come back better than they left off, they come back worse.

My view of America hasn't changed, it's my view of people in America that's changed. I love America, that's my home. I fought for it. America is more mine than anybody in this room, more than the President, cause I fought, I shed blood, I saw my friends get hurt, lose limbs, for this freakin' country. I came back-I'm alive, you know-and the system that I fought for didn't want to fight for me.

My role in America is to fight for vets. Take a look at your life, ask yourself what a soldier means to you.]]> Paul Rieckhoff Tue, 29 May 2007 17:31:14 PDT <![CDATA[Outsider Politics]]> http://www.good.is/post/outsider-politics/ http://www.good.is/post/outsider-politics/

Mike Gravel left politics a quarter of a century ago, pretty much disgusted. Before then, representing Alaska in the U.S. Senate for 12 years, he once led a five-month filibuster resulting in the end of the military draft. That same year, 1971, he read the Pentagon Papers into the public record. Fast-forward to April, 2006: Gravel embarked on his most quixotic mission yet.

GOOD: You left public office in 1981. Over the years, have you often wished to be back in the Senate?

MIKE GRAVEL: Only on the 11th of October, 2002, when the Senate approved the Iraq War resolution. I'd have filibustered that sucker and stuck it up their nose with a pitchfork.

How come nobody did that?

No guts. No guts. No guts.

Why?

No guts. You hear all the time, "We've got to compromise. We've got to get along and go along." There are times to compromise. But a lot of times when you compromise, all you get is a big plate of mush. When principle is at stake, there is no compromise. That's the reason I was not loved by my peers in the Senate. Many of them hated me.

So why run for president now?

A friend of mine called me. He was down in Mexico. He says, "Gravel, I've got the answer. I know how you can bring national attention to the National Initiative-you're going to run for president." I told him he was nuts. I maybe used an expletive or two, and that was it. And about three months later I came to the conclusion that he was right. If I was going to live to see this happen, I would have to run for president and use the celebrity nature of the contest to focus attention on the federal ballot initiative called the National Initiative.

That is the cornerstone of your campaign and would be the foundation of your presidency. How would this be a departure from current policy?

The major part of my activity is to make people lawmakers. In fact, I firmly believe that the people should make 100 percent of the policy decisions that affect your life. And I will provide the leadership for them to do that. That's when the Congress will shape up, because when the people have this kind of power, Congress will do a better job. If they don't shape up, the people will have the power to wipe them out.

You announced your candidacy more than a year ago. Are you usually so ahead of the game?

We just got out there. And we didn't form an exploratory committee. We just did it. And we had about $3,000. The announcement cost about $5,000. And I would always say, "Well don't worry, I'm not going to get elected," and, "I don't care if I get elected or not, I'm doing this to bring attention to the National Initiative." Well, after about a month of that, several friends said, "Listen Mike, we believe that you can get elected, and you're demoralizing us with your attitude." And so I shut up. I didn't change my mind-I just shut up.

But now you think you've got a real chance?

Oh, very much. I started to pay attention [to the other candidates' statements]. They're not talking about solutions-it's all politics as usual. And this country is in serious difficulty. So I came to believe that, hey, I can win, because I'll whip them in debate.



Mike Gravel sizes up Democratic rival Hillary Clinton.

If elected, you will be 78 when you take office. What do you make of the age issue?

I'm an elder statesman, and in most other societies elder statesmen are revered. Only in our society are people so enamored with youth and svelteness.

How many times must the media mention Barack Obama's "rock-star allure" before people buy it?

I don't know. The celebrity nature of politics is very strong, but it's not that strong. Particularly what we're coming into: a climate where the people have been snookered by the parties and by phony candidates. I think the people are too fed up. Right now all we're having are beauty contests.

Speaking of which, do you get $400 haircuts?

No, but I pay more than I should. I pay about $30. I can't afford it, but I've enough vanity that, as I'm losing my hair, I want to make sure that it flops the right way.

Without an extraordinary fundraising campaign, can you really expect to win?

Yes. It's not a game of money anymore. I came from negative in the polls to, in some polls, I'm 3 percent. I'm equal to Biden and to Dodd, and both of those guys are in the press every week. Here, I'm taking the bus back to Washington because I couldn't afford more than $25. But my voice is out there.

Does it strike you as ironic that young Americans seemingly get more fired up about voting for dancing stars than for real issues?

It takes time. There's no question we all have round heels to celebrities. I get impressed seeing movie stars. They get impressed seeing big politicians.

If elected president, you've said the troops will be out of Iraq in 60 days, is that right?

You better believe it. First thing we'll do is blow up Abu Ghraib before we leave. And then we'll blow up Guantánamo, so we can communicate to the world that we don't torture people. We are Americans and we are going to be calling upon a higher moral standard than we've seen in the last 50 years.

And the prisoners would be moved before the bombings?

Of course. Not only that, they're going to be assigned public defenders, by the government.

What would you do with our overcrowded prisons?

I'd empty them. I couldn't pass the law, but I will bring to the American people a law saying that we will do away with sentencing and we will educate people. The sooner we get them educated and bring them back into society and making a contribution, the sooner we will advance our society. And, of course, I believe we have to stop this war on drugs. It's ridiculous. Drugs are a public health problem; they're not a criminal problem.

What will George W. Bush's legacy be?

The worst president in U.S. history. There are presidents that are pretty bad because they did nothing. He did something. The worst. The worst.

Fill in the blank: America is in huge trouble if ___________ is elected president in 2008.

Any one of the Democratic candidates other than myself.

And what about the Republicans?

Worse. We're in deep, deep trouble on every issue, and we've got to turn it around or we could be in a depression. And I mean depression. I'm not talking about a recession. It could happen tomorrow, it could happen a year from now, it could happen 10 years

from now. But when it does, we'll drag the world down with us.

That's pretty bleak.

Oh, it is. But there's reason to be positive: There is a solution. It's the people. If the people could make laws today, we'd be out of Iraq in 60 days. If the people could make laws, we'd have universal health care. If the people had power today, we could have a new tax structure that would change the nation from a consumptive nation to a savings nation.

Do you consider yourself radical?

I suppose so, because many of the things I'm advocating are out of the box. Is that radical? That means we need change-is that what radical means? If it is, yes. But I find people, when they listen, my God, they're awestruck with the possibilities that exist. Here's what I'm doing: I'm trying to put power into the hands of the American people. And with that power, they can unleash their awesome creative ability.

You're offering the country hope?

That's right-with substance. Hope with substance. Not the name of the city. Not the name of a book. There's meat on the bone with what I'm talking about.]]>

Mike Gravel left politics a quarter of a century ago, pretty much disgusted. Before then, representing Alaska in the U.S. Senate for 12 years, he once led a five-month filibuster resulting in the end of the military draft. That same year, 1971, he read the Pentagon Papers into the public record. Fast-forward to April, 2006: Gravel embarked on his most quixotic mission yet.

GOOD: You left public office in 1981. Over the years, have you often wished to be back in the Senate?

MIKE GRAVEL: Only on the 11th of October, 2002, when the Senate approved the Iraq War resolution. I'd have filibustered that sucker and stuck it up their nose with a pitchfork.

How come nobody did that?

No guts. No guts. No guts.

Why?

No guts. You hear all the time, "We've got to compromise. We've got to get along and go along." There are times to compromise. But a lot of times when you compromise, all you get is a big plate of mush. When principle is at stake, there is no compromise. That's the reason I was not loved by my peers in the Senate. Many of them hated me.

So why run for president now?

A friend of mine called me. He was down in Mexico. He says, "Gravel, I've got the answer. I know how you can bring national attention to the National Initiative-you're going to run for president." I told him he was nuts. I maybe used an expletive or two, and that was it. And about three months later I came to the conclusion that he was right. If I was going to live to see this happen, I would have to run for president and use the celebrity nature of the contest to focus attention on the federal ballot initiative called the National Initiative.

That is the cornerstone of your campaign and would be the foundation of your presidency. How would this be a departure from current policy?

The major part of my activity is to make people lawmakers. In fact, I firmly believe that the people should make 100 percent of the policy decisions that affect your life. And I will provide the leadership for them to do that. That's when the Congress will shape up, because when the people have this kind of power, Congress will do a better job. If they don't shape up, the people will have the power to wipe them out.

You announced your candidacy more than a year ago. Are you usually so ahead of the game?

We just got out there. And we didn't form an exploratory committee. We just did it. And we had about $3,000. The announcement cost about $5,000. And I would always say, "Well don't worry, I'm not going to get elected," and, "I don't care if I get elected or not, I'm doing this to bring attention to the National Initiative." Well, after about a month of that, several friends said, "Listen Mike, we believe that you can get elected, and you're demoralizing us with your attitude." And so I shut up. I didn't change my mind-I just shut up.

But now you think you've got a real chance?

Oh, very much. I started to pay attention [to the other candidates' statements]. They're not talking about solutions-it's all politics as usual. And this country is in serious difficulty. So I came to believe that, hey, I can win, because I'll whip them in debate.



Mike Gravel sizes up Democratic rival Hillary Clinton.

If elected, you will be 78 when you take office. What do you make of the age issue?

I'm an elder statesman, and in most other societies elder statesmen are revered. Only in our society are people so enamored with youth and svelteness.

How many times must the media mention Barack Obama's "rock-star allure" before people buy it?

I don't know. The celebrity nature of politics is very strong, but it's not that strong. Particularly what we're coming into: a climate where the people have been snookered by the parties and by phony candidates. I think the people are too fed up. Right now all we're having are beauty contests.

Speaking of which, do you get $400 haircuts?

No, but I pay more than I should. I pay about $30. I can't afford it, but I've enough vanity that, as I'm losing my hair, I want to make sure that it flops the right way.

Without an extraordinary fundraising campaign, can you really expect to win?

Yes. It's not a game of money anymore. I came from negative in the polls to, in some polls, I'm 3 percent. I'm equal to Biden and to Dodd, and both of those guys are in the press every week. Here, I'm taking the bus back to Washington because I couldn't afford more than $25. But my voice is out there.

Does it strike you as ironic that young Americans seemingly get more fired up about voting for dancing stars than for real issues?

It takes time. There's no question we all have round heels to celebrities. I get impressed seeing movie stars. They get impressed seeing big politicians.

If elected president, you've said the troops will be out of Iraq in 60 days, is that right?

You better believe it. First thing we'll do is blow up Abu Ghraib before we leave. And then we'll blow up Guantánamo, so we can communicate to the world that we don't torture people. We are Americans and we are going to be calling upon a higher moral standard than we've seen in the last 50 years.

And the prisoners would be moved before the bombings?

Of course. Not only that, they're going to be assigned public defenders, by the government.

What would you do with our overcrowded prisons?

I'd empty them. I couldn't pass the law, but I will bring to the American people a law saying that we will do away with sentencing and we will educate people. The sooner we get them educated and bring them back into society and making a contribution, the sooner we will advance our society. And, of course, I believe we have to stop this war on drugs. It's ridiculous. Drugs are a public health problem; they're not a criminal problem.

What will George W. Bush's legacy be?

The worst president in U.S. history. There are presidents that are pretty bad because they did nothing. He did something. The worst. The worst.

Fill in the blank: America is in huge trouble if ___________ is elected president in 2008.

Any one of the Democratic candidates other than myself.

And what about the Republicans?

Worse. We're in deep, deep trouble on every issue, and we've got to turn it around or we could be in a depression. And I mean depression. I'm not talking about a recession. It could happen tomorrow, it could happen a year from now, it could happen 10 years

from now. But when it does, we'll drag the world down with us.

That's pretty bleak.

Oh, it is. But there's reason to be positive: There is a solution. It's the people. If the people could make laws today, we'd be out of Iraq in 60 days. If the people could make laws, we'd have universal health care. If the people had power today, we could have a new tax structure that would change the nation from a consumptive nation to a savings nation.

Do you consider yourself radical?

I suppose so, because many of the things I'm advocating are out of the box. Is that radical? That means we need change-is that what radical means? If it is, yes. But I find people, when they listen, my God, they're awestruck with the possibilities that exist. Here's what I'm doing: I'm trying to put power into the hands of the American people. And with that power, they can unleash their awesome creative ability.

You're offering the country hope?

That's right-with substance. Hope with substance. Not the name of the city. Not the name of a book. There's meat on the bone with what I'm talking about.]]> David Puner Tue, 29 May 2007 16:03:57 PDT