Yahoo! News Censors my Cain Comment

I tried posting this as a comment to a Yahoo! News article. And was twice rejected:

QUOTE:

Gloria Cain says, “I’m thinking he would have to have a split personality to do the things that were said.”

Well, Gloria, you may well be on to something there. You know the old saying: The wife is the last to know, and the first to exclaim “I should have known!” This is where Herman’s claim that his wife supports him “200 percent” gets interesting.

First, I’d rather hear that from his wife than from her “spokesman.”

Second, if his wife supports him 200%, that would break down to 100% support for each of his split personalities (hmm...maybe she does know).

Third, if that isn’t true, then I have to seriously question Herman’s math – and he was a math major in college, wasn’t he? Go figure!

Oh, BTW, if Herman Cain cared anything at all for his wife’s heart condition, he should not have allowed himself to be photographed (recently) with his arms around two white college-age honeys. That picture sent a message: No one tells Herman Cain what to do.

Steven Searle for US President in 2012
“This man is a dog; and I’m not spelling that d-a-w-g.”

:UNQUOTE.

I firmly believe Yahoo! News censors readers’ comments. I’ve seen comments by some posters who manage to attract hundreds of “thumbs up” within a few hours of the source article being posted. And many of those comments aren’t really that controversial nor do they do much except allow people to vent. They certainly don’t contribute anything substantial to the debate. It seems to me that Yahoo has some way of artificially “managing” the news – for lack of a better word.

For a while, I had huge problems posting anything critical of Sarah Palin. For other types of posts, I would see my comments a few hours later but then they’d disappear soon thereafter. I have a feeling that Yahoo! News, much like other corporate media outlets, seeks to dumb down the dialogue, pandering to the lowest common denominator. This is most obvious in the poor quality of the offerings of certain selected contributors who are allowed a status similar to guest editorialists.

Not that my feelings are hurt by any of these machinations. I post what I can, when I can. But I want to call Yahoo on their mischief. That’s the least I can do.

As of this writing, it seems that Herman Cain is very much on the way out, with Newt Gingrich on the rise. That would please me immensely, for I would then have the opportunity to compare my written contract to his earlier Contract with America. For starters, his version didn’t have any teeth. That is, there were no provisions for non-performance. My contract, however, guarantees (as it did during my first presidential run in 2008) that I would lose my office if I failed to deliver on any of my 47-points.

And these points were promises on which I could make good without the support of Congress. For instance, here are the first three points of my 2008 Contract:

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.

TWO: Within 90 days of my inauguration, all U.S. military forces will be completely withdrawn from Iraq and Afghanistan, regardless of the "situation on the ground." This withdrawal also applies to any covert operatives currently operating in Iran.

THREE: I will urge Congress to retroactively raise to $5,000,000 the payment to next-of-kin (or other designees) of all U.S. soldiers (and members of Private Military Companies) killed in Iraq and Afghanistan - and make that tax free. In addition, I will urge Congress to increase disability benefits to $1,000,000 per lost limb, also retroactively and tax free. All this with an apology to our troops who've sacrificed so much: "We - made - a - mistake - and - we're - sorry."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Yes, I hope Gingrich’s campaign catches on. Then I’ll work on scripting a YouTube video showing me and Newt debating. Since my Contract has teeth and his Contract with America didn’t, I might feature Newt trying to gum his toothless way through our debate. I’ve heard that Newt is thinking of offering an updated version of his contract specific to his current campaign, though I really doubt that version will have teeth either.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Steven Searle for US President in 2012
Founder of The Independent Contractors’ Party

“Why doesn’t Newt Gingrich quit while he’s ahead and still has a shred of dignity?”

Contact me at bpa_cinc@yahoo.com

YouTube script: “There is no Tea Party”

Today, I will propose yet another idea for a YouTube political commercial based on the following real-life exchange:

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

On Sept. 7, 2011, during the televised GOP debate, Mitt Romney was asked: “

“… Governor Romney, are you a member of the Tea Party?”

Romney’s response: “I don’t think you carry cards in the Tea Party. I believe in a lot of what the Tea Party believes in…”

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

A Sketch of my proposed YouTube clip

Show a freeze frame of Romney which was shot just before he was about to answer the question posed above. A voiceover says:

On Sept. 7, 2011, during the televised GOP debate, Mitt Romney was asked by a moderator: “

“… Governor Romney, are you a member of the Tea Party?”

Voiceover: And this was Mitt Romney’s answer:

Romney’s voice states his answer, with the freeze frame still showing:

“I don’t think you carry cards in the Tea Party. I believe in a lot of what the Tea Party believes in…”

Voiceover continues: “That was Mitt Romney’s answer. This is what we would have liked to have heard.”

Go to live action showing Romney “saying” this:

I am a member of the Republican Party. There is no such thing as the Tea Party except as a movement – it’s not a bona fide political party. If it were, it would be called the Tea Party Party or something like that.

Camera pans to Rick Perry, who is standing right next to Romney:

If I may interrupt, I want to thank Governor Romney for the courage to say what a lot of us up here must surely feel. He’s right. The GOP – which stands for Grand Old Party – is a real political party and has been for a long time. We all know who Barry Goldwater, Ronald Reagan, and George Bush are. But I’ll bet not even 1% of my fellow Americans can name even one leader of the Tea Party Movement.

Bachman, not to be left out, adds:

I appreciate the support I’ve received from the Tea Party Movement. Those loyal Americans have provided, and continue to provide, great service to this country. They are reminding us not to forget Main Street, not to forget the 50 individual sovereign states, and not to forget the great American people who built this nation. But all that being said, there is no Tea Party.

Cain jumps in:

As a former CEO, I can appreciate the importance of a well-known, time-tested brand name. That defines the Republican Party.

Jon Huntsman:

As a former CEO myself, I can appreciate how ineffective the Tea Party movement will ultimately be. They are simply too fragmented and uncoordinated. In fact, there is no single overall umbrella group under which Tea Party activists are operating.

The moderator: Anybody else care to comment?

Newt Gingrich: “There is no Tea Party.”

Ron Paul: “There is no Tea Party.”

Rick Santorum: “There is no Tea Party.”

The moderator: “Well, there you have it, folks. It’s unanimous – there is no Tea Party."

Screen goes black with these words appearing in white letters: “There is no Tea Party.”

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Closing Comments:

I offer the above scenario in the hope that you* will convert it into and post it as a YouTube clip. That’s part of my strategy in my run for the presidency in 2012 – to create a series of thought-provoking and attention-grabbing political commercials. These will, I hope, sufficiently undermine my GOP and Democratic opponents and/or promote the ideas of my campaign as detailed on this blog.

These links will lead you to other scripts I’ve written:

http://ind4prez2012.blogspot.com/2011/09/pudding-face-candidates-of-gop.html

http://ind4prez2012.blogspot.com/2011/08/mitt-romney-youtube-clip.html

http://ind4prez2012.blogspot.com/2011/06/allstates-dean-winters-in-deprogrammer.html

http://ind4prez2012.blogspot.com/2011/05/mayhem-like-me.html

   * If not “you,” then who?

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Steven Searle for US President in 2012

Founder of The Independent Contractors’ Party

“I have so much faith in the magical thinking of the Tea Partiers, I’m sure they’ll be able to (quick like a bunny) instantly become a viable third party which will hold a convention to nominate their own party’s standard bearer – instead of trying to hijack the GOP.”

Contact me at bpa_cinc@yahoo.com

“Pudding Face” Candidates of the GOP

Opening query

I wonder what Sarah Palin would look like with a Pudding Face. In case you haven’t seen any of these disgusting & creepy Jell-o Pudding Face commercials, these two clips are worth a licking (I mean, a looking):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyKhP6x0tXE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRWMq32PyHE&feature=related

NEWS FLASH: It has recently been revealed that the Joker in the 1989 film version of Batman did not fall into a vat of chemicals. It was a vat of Pudding or rather an experimental batch of Pudding’s precursor. Happily, many of the bugs have been worked out of that formula, or else we’d all be running around for life looking like Jack Nicholson’s Joker…assuming, that is, that all of us would eat this stuff:

http://www.google.com/search?pq=precursor+definition&hl=en&sugexp=gsis,i18n%3Dtrue&cp=17&gs_id=1m&xhr=t&q=jack+nicholson+joker&gs_sm=&gs_upl=&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&biw=1280&bih=826&wrapid=tljp1315178429109028&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi

A Repeated Appeal

I’ve made this appeal to you numerous times before, but I’ll repeat it again: I’m looking for artists and other creative types to transform my scripts/suggestions into commercials or YouTube clips. What follows would support my candidacy for the US presidency in 2012 by caricaturing my GOP opponents. If you, on your own, decide you want to “Pudding Face” Obama via Photoshop, be my guest. But I think your efforts would be better spent on the stable of GOP pretenders. Why? Practically speaking, Obama would be far more vulnerable to a stone-cold sober look at his track record and broken promises.


Short and Long Versions

An easy and brief way to exploit the Pudding Face theme would be to start with a narrator saying: “Now here’s a face you can trust, one that has ‘sincerity’ written all over it.” Then an image of Michele Bachman in full rictus grin appears saying: “Under President Bachmann you will see gasoline come down below $2 a gallon again.* And that’s no laughing matter.”

Or we could feature Governor Perry saying, “I believe Texas has the right, unique among the 50 states, to secede from the union if it wants to.** [Pause] But at the moment, I’m having a problem saying that with a straight face.”

However, I think “Pudding Face” can be better exploited in a longer format. Something along the lines of “The Last Supper.” I’ll explain.


The Last Supper

Scene: A table set for 13 places as in the famous painting by da Vinci, with the middle place unoccupied. Seated at the other 12 places are GOP candidates having assembled for a private, untelevised retreat. This occurs several months into the 2012 campaign season, by which time the candidates have agreed to an informal meeting of the minds. The “Last Supper” format was agreed upon to add an air of seriousness, to help assure that the words spoken would be those suitable for utterance in the presence of the Son of God.

Rationale: The campaign has taken its toll on all of the candidates – they’re tired and they’re crabby. In the name of unity, they decide to speak frankly to each other without aides, advisors, or any kind of audience. They want a Republican to win in 2012, and they know they have to collectively figure out a way for that to happen.

Unfortunately: An aide had the bright idea of leaving each of them a serving of Jell-o Pudding before he left their presence. It doesn’t take long, after they eat their share, for things to take a turn for the worse.

The scenario unfolds: Chaos ensues as each looks at the others and starts laughing, as all except Palin realize s/he too looks like a Joker. Bachmann could even say to Romney, “Better watch out, Joker. I heard Batman’s looking for you.” But she’s quickly admonished by Ron Paul who says, “We can’t be talking that way about each other… seriously.” All heads turn to Paul and say in unison, “Seriously?” And then they burst out laughing as they point at him.

Bachmann holds up a mirror for Paul to see how ridiculous he looks, and he too bursts out laughing.

Palin grabs the mirror, saying, “Give me that.” Before holding it up to her face, she says, “Mirror, mirror in my hand, who’s the fairest in the land?” When we see what she sees – her face in the mirror – she shrieks in disbelief, “Noooo!” – as the others fall silent.

“We’ve got to find a way to lose these silly grins” – Gingrich.

“You’re right. How can we get down to business looking like this?” – Huntsman [speaking in Chinese, subtitled in English].

“Let’s have none of that, China man. We speak English here.” – Perry.

Huntsman bows and says, “So solly.”

“I know how to wipe off these grins. Just say something that will make us serious or angry. [pause, then angrily…] Hey, better that than this [pointing at his own ear-to-ear smile].” – Gingrich.

“I know! In your face: Jesus Christ was a Black man. I heard that from no less an authority than WikiLeaks” – Cain.

“And you are the walking mark of Cain, a stain on the whole GOP” – Santorum.

“Have you ever googled the word ‘santorum’?”– Palin [giggling]. In subtitles, we see this (from google):

Santorum 1. The frothy mix of lube and fecal matter that is sometimes the byproduct of anal sex. 2. Senator Rick Santorum.

Bachmann bursts out laughing. Santorum glares at her – still grinning irrepressibly – and says, “What are you laughing at – asshole?”

“Let’s not get into that” – Romney.

“I should hope none of us would ever want to get into that” – Ron Paul says, looking at Rick Perry. Brief silence, then everybody bursts out laughing.

“Wait a minute. Why should we worry? This shit will wear off, right? Then we’ll get down to business” – Perry.

“It won’t wear off until the price of gas goes under $2 a gallon, right Michele?” – Gingrich.

Rick Perry explodes with, “You mean it won’t ever wear off!?”

“Come on, Tex, lighten up. I was just joking” – Gingrich.

“What we should do is pray for guidance.” – Cain.

“I know! Let’s pray for the empty place of honor at our table to be filled by that which is the true spirit of the Republican Party” – Palin, gesturing toward the empty seat meant, symbolically, for Jesus Christ. They all bow their heads and before long, a spirit manifests itself.

[I’m not sure who that spirit should be,

so I’ll offer two possibilities.]

The first possibility – Adolph Hitler

“Are you the true spirit of the Republican party?” – Bachmann.

“That’s a matter of opinion. But I'll give you some advice, which is also what you prayed for” – Hitler. He looks disdainfully at the Pudding on his plate, and eats it. The others try to stop him with words of warning, but to no avail. He briefly breaks out in Pudding Face, which quickly disappears.

“My advice to you: Do what I just did – use a little force of will to overcome any obstacles you might face. Even if that obstacle happens to be your face itself.” [muttering] “You people are too soft to lead a great nation. You totally lack discipline.”


The second possibility – a visitor from a roughly parallel universe

A man appears dressed as a Pope. Perry says, “Who you supposed to be, boy?”

“I am known as Pope Simony Simon the Parsimonius.” [See two definitions below]

DEFN: Simony = the buying or selling of ecclesiastical privileges.

DEFN: Parsimonious = extreme care or reluctance in spending; frugality.

“Your name is really simony?” – Romney asks, incredulously.

“Yes, which just goes to show the true miracle of my elevation. If a guy named Simony can become Pope, anything’s possible.”

“Describe your world, where such a thing is possible?” – Huntsman.

“I come from a place, not so different from this place, where simony isn’t considered a bad thing. Everything is for sale and everybody knows it, the only question being, ‘Is the sale good for both buyer and seller?’ As for me being ‘Parsimonious,’ I may expound ‘extreme care or reluctance in spending,’ but that doesn’t mean I won’t spend at all or even spend greatly if the potential profit is also great.”

“So what is your advice to us, Pope Simony Simon?” – Cain.

“If you – and by ‘you,’ I mean the GOP – want to take the White House in 2012, you’ve got to forge unity among yourselves.”

“What kind of ‘unity’?” – Gingrich.

“The kind of unity that will wipe those silly grins off your faces. Look, counting me, there are 13 people here – that’s enough for a coven. Join hands with me and pray for success. But include a willingness to pay any price. Deal or no deal?”

With a freeze fame of the entire group, this is a good place to end.


Other actors

I only identified 9 of the participants in this Last Supper, but certainly more could be added to make an even dozen. Though undeclared, these three would be good sources of comedic material: Marco Rubio, Jeb Bush, and Chris Christie.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

   * Bachmann actually uttered this sentence before a live crowd in South Carolina.

   ** Governor Perry believes this, but didn’t utter these exact words.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Steven Searle for US President in 2012
Founder of The Independent Contractors’ Party

“In the name of comedy, I have no problem pushing the envelope. The same could be said of my determination to explore all ways and means of undermining the Two Party system which is destroying this country.” – Steve.

Contact me at bpa_cinc@yahoo.com

Do me like Putney Swope

Putney Swope is the inspiration for my attempt to win the presidency in 2012.

Putney Swope is a movie that came out in 1969, written and directed by Robert Downey Sr. Of particular interest are the commercials within this movie. These little gems of unorthodoxy are exactly what I’m trying to create for my campaign – more on that in a bit.

Movie Summary:

Title: Putney Swope

Budget:  $120,000 – yeah, that’s right - $120K (can you believe that?)

Running time: 84 minutes

Year of release: 1969

Tag line: Don’t rock the boat…sink it!

Plot summary: QUOTE: [source:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Putney_Swope ]:

Putney Swope, the only black man on the executive board of an advertising firm, is accidentally put in charge after the unexpected death of the chairman of the board: each board member actually believed that he, himself, should be elected Chairman, but the bylaws of the corporation prohibit voting for oneself, so each individual member voted his secret ballot for the person that no one else would vote for: Putney Swope.

Renaming the business "Truth and Soul, Inc.", Swope replaces all but one of the white employees and insists they no longer accept business from companies that produce alcohol, war toys, or tobacco. The success of the business draws unwanted attention from the United States Government, which considers it "a threat to the national security."

:UNQUOTE.

On YouTube:

As I’ve written before, I am hoping to reach Putney Swope creative-types out there who can do a lot with a little. Political advertising is so boring and predictable. So I’m making it a foundation of my campaign to create promos that stand in sharp contrast to my opponents’. As wildly different as my political program is, my commercials should be.

These two links will give you an idea of what I have in mind:

Commercial for Ethereal Cereal:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLF1Erk1_rQ

Commercial for “Face Off” – an anti-acne treatment:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-D-0_jX1O0

The entire 84-minute movie is a work of genius, the first part of which is at:

YouTube Part I (of 9):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4D_fq0KVjuw

My own attempts at scriptwriting

All I can do is write. I don’t know anything about video production or editing. So I invite anyone who knows about these things to take what I’ve written and run with it. Anyone who’s read my blog can easily see that my politics contain dramatic imagery which can be rendered into commercial visuals.

For instance, who could fail to be impressed (shocked?) by a 30-second spot showing the US president opening the gates of Guantanamo for Castro to walk through? And this would take place after I order all US personnel to abandon Gitmo for the purpose of giving it back to the Cubans.

This link describes that scenario: http://ind4prez2012.blogspot.com/2010/11/last-american-in-guantanamo-will-be.html

Other links showing my scripts:

Title: Grow your dick 2” – Vote Independent

http://ind4prez2012.blogspot.com/2011/06/grow-your-dick-2-vote-independent.html

Title: Allstate’s Dean Winters in “The Deprogrammer”

http://ind4prez2012.blogspot.com/2011/06/allstates-dean-winters-in-deprogrammer.html

Title: Mayhem like me

http://ind4prez2012.blogspot.com/2011/05/mayhem-like-me.html

Title:  Stella Artois ad, and soup ad

http://ind4prez2012.blogspot.com/2011/01/stella-artois-ad-and-soup-ad.html

Title: Stop the profanity: A commercial idea

http://ind4prez2012.blogspot.com/2011/01/stop-profanity-commercial-idea.html

We can do this but I can’t do it alone…

Steven Searle for US President in 2012

Founder of The Independent Contractors’ Party

“Of course, nobody should vote for me simply on the basis of awesome commercials. All I can do is hope such advertising opens minds to possibilities.”

Contact me at bpa_cinc@yahoo.com

Mayhem like me

IDEA:  I propose a variation of the famous “Mayhem like me” commercials in order to promote my candidacy for US president in 2012.

Background

Dean Winters is featured in about a dozen TV commercial spots for Allstate Insurance. His recurring theme is, “Buy Allstate Insurance and you can be better protected from mayhem like me.”

My takeoff would be: “I’m a politician.” More on that, in a moment.

If you’ve never seen any of these (usually) 30-second spots, I’ll share my top five favorites. I’ve seen the one about the “world’s greatest Douglas fir” about a dozen times in movie theaters. And I enjoyed that one each time I saw it – simply brilliant. Winters’ opening lines are:

         

“I’m the world’s greatest Douglas fir”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WV33szSmrWA&NR=1

“I’m a wild deer”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5OH_gUt4Oww&feature=related

“I’m your lucky team flag”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yyoncZTnGU&feature=relmfu

“I’m a filthy rich executive.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jL9duLVeFRM&feature=relmfu

 

“I’m a teenage girl”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtP-S9OS0o0

My takeoff

Dean Winters is wearing his usual black suit, standing at a podium in an outdoor setting. This is obviously a press conference with lots of cameras and a crowd of boisterous media types anxious for a story. Separating the group from the podium is an open space of about ten feet.

Opening shot shows this entire scene, but pans to one reporter who shouts out, “Senator! Senator! What do you have to say for yourself?”

Camera shows head shot only of Winters but his face starts morphing as he speaks (though his voice doesn’t change). The faces shift from the likes of Nixon, John McCain, Bush II, Barack Obama, John Boehner, LBJ, etc.

“I’m a politician. I will raise your taxes with impunity. And I will lie, cheat, and scheme to get my way. I’ll campaign to get your vote and then break my promises whenever I find it convenient. But no matter how much you hate me and how much I break your heart, you’ll always vote for me. And I dare say all this in public because you have no real choice. There is nothing that can protect you from mayhem like me.”

With camera still on Winter’s face, the only sound is the slow clomping of an unseen horse’s footfalls. And, camera still on his face, we hear the clanking of armor. Camera pans from Winter’s face to the media crowd, which has parted to allow for a white knight in shining armor to advance toward the podium. Knight has a lance, at the end of which flutters what appears to be a banner. When knight is close to the podium, he extends his lance toward Winters who asks, “What’s this?”

The knight says, “Read it and weep.”

Winters takes the banner, which is a piece of paper with writing on it. He reads it silently to himself as we see his lips move. Then he stares into the camera – no facial morphing this time but looking fearful – holds up the paper and says, “This can protect you from mayhem like me.”

Turns out “this” is a copy of an electoral contract, an innovation I introduced when running for US President in 2008. The ending voiceover, recited by another voice (off-camera) says as we see a freeze-frame of Winters’ face:

“Never take a politician at his word, unless it’s in the form of a written contract*. He violates that contract, he loses his office. It’s about time voters got some protection against the worst mayhem of all – unaccountable politicians.”

Concluding thoughts

Yes, I know this is pushing the envelope. The original commercials weren’t so wordy; their brevity gave them punch. However, I was hoping to inspire you – the creative commercialists out there. [Way more creative than I am.] Political advertising doesn’t have to be stodgy and humorless. What I’m trying to promote is a radical approach with real potential to level the campaigning playing field. I will never have the millions of dollars the other guys have. But I hope to overcome with quality and flair what my opponents have in massive bank accounts.

If you have any commercial ideas, I’d love to hear about them. Or better yet: I’d love to get an email from you saying, “Look what I’ve posted on YouTube.” That’s another area in which my campaign will be unique. I don’t insist on controlling the message. No one will ever have to run anything by me. I consider all of you to be my independent co-conspirators, who will know how to say what needs to be said. And how to show it.

I trust you.

Steven Searle for US President in 2012

Founder of The Independent Contractors’ Party

“Skeptics might say, I’m opening myself up to those who might produce bad spots that intentionally sabotage the message. I’m willing to take that chance.”

Contact me at bpa_cinc@yahoo.com

* “written contract”: See http://ind4prez2012.blogspot.com/2010/09/written-political-contracts.html

Stop the profanity: A commercial idea

I’d like to see the following posted as a YouTube clip. Here’s a script for something I call “Daddy, daddy.”

TITLE: Daddy, daddy

ACTORS:  A father and his son:

The son: A big, flabby, crude-looking white man with long black hair between 25 and 30 years old with a big belly and well-groomed facial hair. He’s dressed only in a diaper, combat boots, an oversized bonnet, and a t-shirt that doesn’t quite cover his belly. The t-shirt has the word “junior” printed on the front.

The father: A skinny well-dressed (in a suit) professorial black man.

SETTING: The setting is in a public park with other people in the distance (out of ear shot). The father is sitting on a bench serenely smoking a pipe and looking occasionally thoughtful. The son is standing in front of the bench, looking antsy and borderline agitated, pacing back and forth in front his dad.

The dialogue:

-        Daddy, daddy, I think heard a bad word today.

-        Tell me.

-        I saw these two men arguing. And one called the other an [pause]

-        What did he call him?

-        [son whispers in his dad’s ear, so we can’t hear]

-        I know what that word means, but he said it like a curse word. Why, daddy, why?

-        So…you want to know what it means when somebody is called … that.

-        Yes.

-        Well, junior, tell me what you think the word means.

-        Well..(thinking)…(then saying defensively) I don’t want to get gross about this.

-        That’s okay (beaming). You’re my son. We can talk about these things. But if you want, pretty it up for me.

-        Well, that word means… a place that isn’t fit to be seen in public. And dark and nasty stuff comes out of it which smells terrible. Is that about right?

-        Very good, my boy. And why would someone use that as a curse word?

-        Well, daddy, it must mean someone wants to tell someone else they’re no better than something that isn’t fit to be seen in public.

-        And?

-        And nothing good comes from that person. Only dark and nasty, stinky stuff – figuratively speaking.

-        Which no one wants to look at or take seriously, right?

-        [pauses to let that sink in] Wow…that’s a pretty bad thing to call someone, isn’t it? And you’d have to be so mad to call someone that…so mad that…

-        So mad, you stop seeing them as a person but only as an [mouths the word]

-        Daddy?

-        Yes

-        Are there any other curse words I should know about?

-        [pauses to reflect, then leans over and whispers in his son’s ear, so we can’t hear. Son’s eyes grow wide, then he shifts into a thoughtful expression]

-        [The father stands up, takes his son by the hand, and they start walking. Father pauses and says out loud (so anyone could hear)]: Oh, and two more curse words come to mind – and these are the worst of the worst: Democrats and Republicans.

-        [gasps] Shh, daddy, someone might hear you!

-        I’m so sorry son, I wasn’t thinking.

-        [pause, as they walk a few more steps. Son turns and looks up to his dad.] Even a baby knows how bad those guys are.

Freeze frame. These words appear on screen:

“Stop the profanity. Stop sending the profane to Washington. Vote Independent.”

An Invitation

I invite any of you, dear readers, to take a stab at posting this piece on YouTube. For the sake of formality, I hereby waive my copyright, except if I might decide someday to take a stab at producing this myself. Which I might, since I have a mental picture of what “Daddy, daddy” should look like. But that’s my vision. Doesn’t have to be yours. You’re free to produce as is or adapt to your heart’s content.

I’d like to see the internet flooded with “elect Independents” video clips from a wide variety of sources, in a wide variety of styles. I know it’s pretty easy to make a YouTube video, though (sadly) I’ve never acquired those skills. But I can script. If you too can do that much, go ahead and post, and encourage the vid savvy out there to bring your script to life.

The only way to fight against the heavily-financed Dem/Pubs is to create short, powerful messages for the web. It’s true: A picture is worth a thousand words. And gives huge bang for the dollar. Which is just as well, since I’m billing myself as the only presidential candidate in the US to refuse campaign contributions. I will make no attempt to raise money nor will I accept funding from any source. By the way, I’m not a millionaire who can secretly finance his own campaign. But, for the record, I’ll say, “I won’t spend any of my own money on my campaign.”

“Well, that’s unique,” you might say.

“But how can such an approach possibly work,” you might ask.

It can only work by means of getting the word out. And, by default, that seems to leave only the internet as a viable means of doing this. Of course, any expense involved would have to be borne by the individuals involved. But there’s an upside to that: They would not have to ask my permission, since they’d be operating as independent agents. That’s rich: Independent agents (We-the-People) supporting independent politics.

The “independent” part is the easiest part to promote and most likely to resonate with voters. The hard part will be promoting the ideal of candidates exchanging written contracts* for votes. That type of vision is hard to present in the form of a visual commercial, but it can be done. I’ll soon post some samples from my 2008 campaign.

I’d love to see someone (hint, hint) try to parody this clip’s approach, though the end-line would be “Only Independents can protect you from politicians [instead of “mayhem”] like me”:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WV33szSmrWA

Steven Searle for US President in 2012

Founder of The Independent Contractors' Party

“You wouldn’t sell your house without a written contract; why give your vote away?” – Steve.

   * http://ind4prez2012.blogspot.com/2010/09/written-political-contracts.html