CitizenPowerMagazine.net August 2008
DIRECT DEMOCRACY FOR THE 21st CENTURY |
Mike Gravel was a US Senator from Alaska back in the 70's.
Perhaps his most famous act was reading the Pentagon Papers into the
Congressional Record.
Background:
The Pentagon Papers was a secret, detailed record of what and when
decision makers knew about the war in Vietnam. The Pentagon
Papers proved what war opponents had charged – years of deceit
and coverup of American provocation and escalation in the Vietnam civil
war. Wikipedia points out that, “the importance of
recording the Papers to the Congressional Record was that, Article I,
Section 6 of the United States Constitution provides that 'for any
Speech or Debate in either House, [a Senator or Representative] shall
not be questioned in any other Place', thus the Senator could not be
prosecuted for anything said on the Senate floor, and, by extension,
for anything entered to the Congressional Record, allowing the Papers
to be publicly read without threat of a treason trial and
conviction.”
Mike has been a long time advocate for direct democracy as the main
sponsor of the National Initiative for Democracy (NI4D). Over the
last couple of years, he’s gotten involved again in
politics. He took a shot at the 2008 Democratic Party nomination
for President. His candidacy had some promise but never rose
above the 5% support level. When the Democractic Party nomination
was decided, he competed for the Libertarian Party nomination. He
came into the Libertarian Party convention with significant support
— but that’s a bird with a real strong right-wing.
The Libertarians selected Bob Barr as their standard bearer for
2008.
We’ve run a couple of interviews with Mike. Also,
we’ve watched, learned, and hopefully passed along some positive
information about his campaigns.
I met with Mike Gravel again recently at the Starbucks near his home in
Rosslyn, VA. It was great to see him. I’ve interacted
with Mike a few times since he announced his bid for the U.S.
Presidency. Each time he’s looked a little stronger, a
little more assured about his mission.
“So,” I asked, “what are the big lessons from your recent campaigns?”
Mike: Mark, I’m not some kind of ‘font of
wisdom.’ I don’t see myself as a great leader.
Rather I’m trying to change the political process to empower the
people to make law.
That’s the problem with our current system. Freedom is
participation in power. And today, in the US, people aren’t
free. They don’t participate in power.”
A lot of the cause is historical. In the US, the promise of the
Declaration of Independence ended with the Constitution of 1787.
Representation was so firmly fixed into the constitution that
it’s almost impossible today to figure out how to amend it to
allow more direct democracy. Too, representative democracies failed in
the early 20th century in the mutual suicide of WWI.
Mark: What are you up to just now?
Mike: I’m putting together some documentaries for Press TV.
aside
from Editor of CitizenPowerMagazine.net: Press TV is an English
language satellite and internet broadcast station headquartered in
Tehran. It’s got it’s biases and blind spots.
But so do many news and news discussion programs in the US.
Mike has recently been interviewed on Press TV calling for a war-crime trial for Mr. Bush Jr.
http://www.presstv.ir/Detail.aspx?id=64862§ionid=3510203
For example, I expect to complete a story on the confinement and
prosecution of Sami Al-Arian, a US citizen and physician who has
experienced Gulag treatment here,in America for speaking out strongly
on Palestine. You may not agree with his positions, but his
incarceration as a terrorist is utterly unjustified.
And of course, I’m also working on the National Initiative For
Democracy. I’ve still got a decade of good years ahead of
me. I expect to stay active.
Mark: Do you see any optimistic signs about increased direct democracy?
Mike: The Swiss have instituted direct democracy nationwide. The
place I’m most hopeful about though is China. It’s
moved from a totalitarian governance to an authoritative model.
And there are some signs of further progress in Sichuan.
Mark: Who will you vote for in the Presidential Race?
Mike: McCain is off the edge. Just too much the warrior. I
don’t want to spend a lot of time on Obama. He’s
mesmerized America. But I don’t think he’s going to
end our occupation of Iraq. I like Ralph Nader. He and Noam
Chomsky are the two political activists I’ve most enjoyed over
the years. I haven’t decided if I’ll vote for Nader
or write myself in. Mark, I know of your interest in direct
democracy. You should read my book Citizen Power: A Mandate for
Change. It’s got the same name as the book I wrote back 40
years ago, but it’s substantially updated. I’ve also
authored a couple of other books this last year.
- A Political Odyssey
- The Kingmakers: How the Media Threatens Our Security and Our Democracy
All three are available from Amazon.
(aside: we will post a review of Citizen Power: A Mandate for Change in CitizenPowerMagazine.net later this month.)
Mark: It’s been quite a
political odyssey for you this last couple of years. Democrat,
Libertarian, and now maybe Independent.
Mike: I suppose. But my principles remain constant. I’m a classic liberal.