Of course, I welcome any and all support – from Muslims and non-Muslims alike. But here and now, I want to emphasize that I am specifically seeking Muslim support. I wish to make a bold public declaration of my support for the US Islamic community, without any assurance they would in turn respond by embracing my campaign.
One reason I seek their support is to stand in opposition to my opponents – all of whom insist they will support Israeli policy no matter what. All of whom pledge to continue spending billions of dollars every year to support the Israeli war machine.
Another reason I seek Muslim support: A local Muslim leader I know challenged me, “If you can prepare a position paper showing why I and my community should support you, I can promise you 50 votes.” To which I replied, “Well, that would make a grand total of 50 votes I’ve earned so far.”
It would have been easy for me to tell this community leader, who had voted for and believed in Barack Obama, “If you want to know about my positions and about me personally, read my blog.” But, as the old saying goes, that would be too much information. So I prepared this brief statement, which follows. But…for anyone who wants more information, here’s the link to my blog: http://ind4prez2012.blogspot.com/
Why should a Muslim vote for
Steven Searle for US President in 2012?
I will start with some simple statements:
· If elected, I will grant diplomatic recognition to Palestine .
· If elected, I will revoke US diplomatic recognition of Israel .
· If elected, I will withdraw all US troops from Iraq and Afghanistan – withdrawal to be completed within 90 days of my inauguration.
· If elected, I will order US forces to stop attacking Libya .
· If elected, I will urge the American people – Muslim and non-Muslim alike – to embrace my main campaign theme:
“Declare your independence by voting for independents.”
That last point is actually the most important of all. As much as the followers of the Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W.) might be pleased with my first four points, it is really that last point which will prove to be of greatest importance to them.
Every loyal citizen of this country will come to appreciate the importance of electing officials who are totally independent of any political party. There is a profound danger in continuing to be governed by the two major political parties which are forever at war with each other. Each major party, seeking its own advantage, cares nothing about the future of America .
Therefore, I am appealing to all Americans to unite behind my efforts to destroy these two great enemies of our people – the Democratic and Republican parties.
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It would have been tempting for me to list points involving only the Middle East . But I did not wish to disrespect my Muslim readers, who are also loyal American citizens, by speaking only of those issues. There are others which are of keen interest to American Muslims – issues which have nothing to do with the politics of the Middle East . And if I did not mention any of those in this document, I would be guilty of pandering to my audience.
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The most important and distinctive feature of my campaign: I am the only candidate for president who is running on the basis of a written contract. No other such candidate in the entire history of this country has done this. The basic idea is quite simple: If I violate any of my campaign promises which are listed in my written contract, I would be forced to give up the presidency.
And why not? Every American understands the importance of a written contract as it applies in our daily lives. If two people sign a contract, both are obligated to follow the terms of that contract. If they don’t, they have to pay some kind of penalty. In this case, the two “people” who are “signing” this contract are:
1) Me…My signature will be on a document which details what I will do if elected, although I intend to do much more than what I list in that document.
2) I said there are two “people” who are “signing” this contract. I am the first person; the American people are the second of these two “people.” The American “people” can’t sign my contract – at least not directly. But by voting for me, they are entering into a contractual relationship with me, which has the same force as their signatures.
My name isn’t Barack Obama – who offered you “Change you can believe in.”
My name is Steven Searle – who offers you my legally-binding contract which tells you exactly what I’ll do if elected.
I am proposing a trade: If you give me your vote, I’ll do what my contract says I must do. It’s important to note here that I will only list the goals which I myself can accomplish. These are kind of goals that won’t need the support of Congress. To show you what I mean, I will repeat the four goals listed above, but this time I’ll state why I can meet these goals by myself, without needing the support or approval of anyone else:
· If elected, I will grant diplomatic recognition to Palestine . [The US president is the only person with the power to grant or revoke diplomatic recognition. It’s true that he cannot appoint ambassadors without the approval of the Senate, but that has no effect on his basic power to grant or revoke such recognition.]
· If elected, I will revoke US diplomatic recognition of Israel . [I could do this for the same reason as listed immediately above.]
· If elected, I will withdraw all US troops from Iraq and Afghanistan – withdrawal to be completed within 90 days of my inauguration. [The President, who is the Commander in Chief of all US armed forces, doesn’t need the approval of any other person or agency to stop US participation in a war. The President, and only the President, is the supreme and final authority on the placement and behavior of our military forces.]
· If elected, I will order US forces to stop attacking Libya . [Same reason as above.]
You are intelligent people, so you surely must know that no political candidate can be taken to court for violating his campaign promises – not even if those had been written down. Most people understand this to mean that no candidate, once elected, can be held to account for failing to keep his word. But that’s not true. I have thought of a way to force a presidential candidate to keep his word, which I will quote from my 2008 contract (from the time I had run against Obama and McCain):
QUOTE:
ONE: If I violate any of the terms of this contract, I will be removed from office by means of impeachment. I hereby affirm, in advance, that I will not defend myself nor authorize any other party to defend me against any impeachment activity in the House or trial by the Senate. I further agree to a speedy trial - within less than 10 minutes, if deemed necessary by the Senate.
:UNQUOTE.
If you are interested in what my 2008 contract looked like, you can see many of its 47-points here: http://ind4prez2012.blogspot.com/2010/09/written-political-contracts.html
However, I have not completed my 2012 contract yet, though I am working on it. There are parts of my old contract which won’t be included in the new version. Obviously, you would be wise to wait until I post my 2012 contract before making any final decision about voting for me. You would also be wise to thoroughly review my blog at: http://ind4prez2012.blogspot.com/ . There is much on that blog that has nothing to do with politics, which will however give you an idea of the kind of man I am. And that’s important to know.
I want you to know that I myself am not a Muslim. I am a Buddhist, the details of which I’ve written on my blog.
Other aspects of my political contract
I have already given you enough information, above, to make some kind of initial determination about supporting my candidacy. Of course, to be fair, there are other candidates for this office, and you should give them a fair and honest evaluation as well.
For those of you who are curious, though, I will offer more information in this section. The following links are to essays I’ve written on a variety of topics:
· This link describes a system I invented called Cross-Sectional Representation, which I propose as the basis for a new U.S. Constitution, to completely replace the old:
· This link connects to an essay called, “Why we fear Muslims…really!”
· This link describes how a Zero Party could replace the Democrats and Republicans:
· This link describes a practical method which can be used by activists in order to effectively challenge the current governing system. Its title: General Strike Declared by Steven Searle. Though the idea of a General Strike is well known, I offer a unique variation:
· This link is called Palestinian Possibilities, analyzes the current situation in that region:
The Supreme Court
I will leave you with this final example of the power of the political contract:
Supreme Court judges are not given a “lifetime appointment.” The Constitution says these judges “…shall hold their offices during good behavior …” This allows for an innovation I’m introducing in the upcoming campaign. If I have a chance to appoint a Supreme Court judge, I will insist (as a condition of my nomination) that he publicly sign a written contract. This will stipulate:
· He can serve for only five years after which he must resign;
· If he doesn't resign, he will most surely be impeached and removed from the bench since he had admitted (in this contract) that failure to resign would constitute the impeachable offense of failing to maintain “good behavior.” [NOTE: If a man swears an oath and violates that oath, he is guilty of bad behavior – and all of my nominees will swear an oath to uphold his nomination contract.]
· When he resigns, he could be eligible for renomination.
My intention, which will be stated on my own contract, is to demand that all currently sitting Supreme Court justices resign immediately upon my inauguration. My contract will state that I will automatically renominate them for the Senate’s consideration, but only if they sign a contract limiting their term to five years. If the American people would actually vote for me with this kind of language in my contract, the currently sitting justices would be hard put to defy the will of the people.
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Conclusion:
Once again, I appeal to American Muslims for their support. If you help elect me as your next president, I will not disappoint you. Most importantly, my contract will not let me disappoint you. As I’m fond of asking, “If you wouldn’t sell your house without a written contract, why just give your vote away?
Steven Searle for US President in 2012
Founder of The Independent Contractors’ Party
“If you decide to support someone else for President, I hope you will encourage him or her to give strong consideration to at least some of the proposals I’ve detailed here.”
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