Fwd: Essay by Dr. Bob Bowman, candidate for Congress 2008

The Patriots
By Dr. Bob Bowman, Lt. Col., USAF, ret.

The United States is in trouble. We're in danger of becoming
a
fascist dictatorship where big government and big business combine to
rule, and where the people are considered just a source of labor. The
marriage of government and the investor class has succeeded in
exporting our jobs, importing illegal aliens to provide a pool of
cheap labor, and thus driving down wages for all American workers and
destroying the middle class. Their foreign and military policies have
led us into unnecessary wars of aggression to gain raw materials and
enhance profits of the global robber barons. Their trade policies
have resulted in capital flight, job loss, trade deficits, and the
ownership of much of our infrastructure by foreign interests.

We've gotten into this fix because our presidents, of both
parties,
have been servants of the global investors, and because our
representatives in Congress, again of both parties, have abdicated
their Constitutional responsibilities and subjected themselves to an
imperial presidency.

We, the People of the United States of America, deserve
better. We
must demand a government which (1) follows the Constitution, (2)
honors the truth, and (3) serves the people. We Patriots can bring
about such a government by electing Patriots to Congress and
recruiting Patriots already in government to our cause. It is always
tempting to start yet another political party, but our system makes
such a course futile. Until we have instant runoff voting (IRV),
proportional representation, real campaign finance reform,
re-regulation of the media, and debates involving all political
parties, no third party can win the presidency or more than a handful
of seats in Congress.

Accordingly, "The Patriots" is not a political party, but a
nonpartisan organization of patriotic Americans seeking to return our
country to Constitutional government based on truth and in service of
the people. For now, we operate as a project of the non-profit
Institute for Space and Security Studies, a 501c(3) organization. Our
immediate mission is to educate the American people on the issues. In
the future, we may form a "Patriot PAC" to support candidates for
public office and to promote specific legislation. We also intend to
form a Patriot Caucus including members of Congress from all political
parties. However, for now we are concentrating on public education.

The first question usually raised is, "Is this organization
conservative or liberal?" The answer to that question is, "Yes." We
have both conservative and liberal members, and both conservative and
liberal ideas. But mostly, we are just patriotic Americans embodying
the best of both conservatism and liberalism in the service of the
American people.

We Patriots are "conservative" inasmuch as we are devoted to
the
Constitution, to limited government, and to fiscal responsibility.

As conservatives, we oppose NAFTA, the WTO, and the SPP/NAU
as being
contrary to our sovereignty, antidemocratic, and against the interests
of the American people. We support the 2nd Amendment right of the
people to bear arms in order to deter and, if necessary, resist
tyranny. We oppose illegal immigration and "amnesty" as means by
which the corporate elite depress the wages of all working Americans.
We oppose the intrusion of government in our religious and private
lives. We oppose our nation becoming entangled in foreign military
ventures not essential to our national security.

As conservatives, we define "national security" narrowly,
meaning the
protection of our nation, our borders, and our people – and excluding
the financial "interests" of multinational corporations and global
investors. This is not isolationism, for we support international law
and the creation of international institutions which serve the needs
of humankind by promoting cooperation on global issues such as
disease, pollution, and warfare which do not respect national
boundaries. We want the United States to be a responsible, respected
member of the family of nations. But we will not seek imperial
expansion through aggressive wars to make client states. Nor will we
surrender our sovereignty to "trade organizations" like the WTO
seeking to turn us into a third world country.

As conservatives, we support our military, including our
veterans who
have served and survived. We insist that our government fully fund
the VA and fulfill its responsibility to care for our veterans and
their families. We also are determined that our government honor
promises made to veterans and our retired military members. To make
thousands of disabled veterans in corporate wars and then refuse to
take care of them is unacceptable, unconscionable, and un-American.
We believe that history has shown that combat veterans govern better
than draft dodgers and chicken hawks. Those who have experienced the
horrors of combat are less likely to send our sons and daughters off
to fight wars for the oil companies.

As conservatives, we will not tolerate "borrow and spend"
government,
which saddles our grandchildren with trillions in debt and gives China
the ability to bankrupt us at will. We demand a return to balanced
budgets and fiscal responsibility.

As conservatives, Patriots oppose a closed, manipulative, and
secretive government, and demand the truth from our elected officials.
We will not tolerate "Gulf of Tonkin" incidents as excuses for war.
We reject the deceptions which involved us in the first Gulf War under
George H. W. Bush and in the rape of Yugoslavia under Clinton. We
abhor the lies about WMD, "yellow cake," and "mushroom clouds over New
York" which got us into the 2nd Iraq War and its interminable and
disastrous occupation.

As conservatives, we call for a "Sunshine Law" which will make
conspiratorial meetings like that between Dick Cheney and Ken Lay on
energy policy impossible (or at least illegal). We reject as totally
inadequate the Kean-Hamilton-Zelikow 9/11 Commission Report which
admittedly contains perjured testimony, refrains from assigning
responsibility and accountability for our defense's failures, and
fails to even address dozens of unanswered questions and obvious flaws
in the Bush Administration's official story. We therefore demand a
new and truly independent investigation of 9/11. We demand an
investigation of the cover-up which followed 9/11 involving the
confiscation and destruction of evidence, lying to investigators, and
obstruction of justice. Finally, we demand an investigation of the
exploitation of the 9/11 tragedy to launch unnecessary wars against
Afghanistan and Iraq under false pretenses.

As conservatives, we reject the misnamed Patriot Act,
warrantless
wiretaps, the loss of "habeus corpus," and all other attacks on our
God-given freedoms enshrined in the U.S. Constitution and Bill of
Rights. We will not tolerate infringement of our first amendment
rights to freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of assembly,
and redress of grievances. We agree with Teddy Roosevelt and others
who insist that dissent is often the height of patriotism, and we will
not stand for dissenters being interred as "enemy combatants."

As conservatives, we Patriots insist that our government
fulfill its
Constitutional responsibility to provide for the general welfare. We
agree with the liberals that this must, for example, mean providing
health care, including prescription drugs, for all Americans. The
most fiscally responsible way to do that is to eliminate the overhead,
profit, red tape, and obstructionism of the insurance companies by
removing them from health care altogether with a Single-Payer National
Health system.

As conservatives, we take seriously our responsibility to
conserve
the environment, our natural resources, and the beauty of our land, so
that we may pass these on to our grandchildren and their grandchildren
for generations to come. We acknowledge our role as stewards of God's
creation, and will not tolerate a government which puts creation at
risk or allows corporate interests to do so. As fiscal conservatives,
we insist that polluters clean up their own messes instead of forcing
the taxpayers to bail them out. Destructive activities such as strip
mining, clear-cut logging, and the burning of fossil fuels should be
taxed sufficiently to provide the funds needed for repair and
amelioration. There is no industrial free lunch, and there should be
no corporate welfare.

As Constitutional conservatives, we demand that the democratic
underpinnings of our Republic be respected. Free elections under the
"one person, one vote" principle and in which every person has an
opportunity to vote and to have their vote counted are essential. We
therefore declare any method of voting which does not produce a paper
ballot which can be counted, recounted, and audited as necessary to be
unconstitutional. We also call for non-partisan apportionment of
Congressional districts, making election day a federal holiday,
preference voting, and proportional representation.

We Patriots are also "populist" inasmuch as we declare that
government should serve the people – not the big money interests and
giant multinationals. We declare that corporations and other
fictitious entities are not people and should have none of the rights
and responsibilities thereof under the U.S. Constitution. This means,
for example, that corporations have no Constitutional right to buy up
politicians through campaign contributions and other favors, nor to
buy elections through unlimited "issue ads."

As conservatives and populists, we declare that the
conservative
principle of limited government is not so much about government's size
as it is about what government can do. Most of all, it is about whom
government should serve. It should serve the people. The present
partnership (or marriage) between giant corporations and big
government is precisely what Mussolini defined as fascism. We must
once and for all dispel the myth that conservative political
philosophy favors the rich and big business. It does not. That is
fascism. True conservatism honors individual rights and puts people
first. We demand a return to such a true conservatism.

As conservatives, we insist on laws being enforced.
Employers who
entice illegal aliens across the border and exploit them in order to
avoid having to pay American workers a decent wage should be fined and
jailed. Once the jobs dry up, the illegal aliens will go home. We
won't have to deport them.

As Constitutional populists, we Patriots are open to those of
all
political parties. We welcome Republicans, Democrats, Libertarians,
Greens, Reformers, and independents. We embrace conservatives and
liberals who share our values. But we understand that "If it feels
good, do it" libertine so-called liberals will probably reject them.
Similarly, "I've got mine, you go get yours" big-money so-called
conservatives won't like our values either.

The kind of liberal we embrace is that described by President
John F.
Kennedy as "someone who looks ahead and not behind, someone who
welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions, someone who cares about
the welfare of the people – their health, their housing, their
schools, their jobs, their civil rights, and their civil liberties –
someone who believes we can break through the stalemate and suspicions
that grip us in our policies abroad. If that is what they mean by a
`Liberal,' then I'm proud to say I'm a `Liberal'!" As conservatives,
we Patriots are concerned about morality. But as liberals, we insist
that government concern itself more with morality in the boardroom and
the war room than in the bedroom.

As conservatives, we do not sanction a welfare state. Yet at
the
same time, as liberals we want every member of society to share the
benefits of productivity, and we expect workers to receive a fair
share of the wealth they create. And we see no conflict between these
views. Patriots can be conservative without being selfish and
cold-hearted. True family values mean valuing families. As
Conservatives, we insist that women not be forced to work outside the
home to support themselves and their children. Being a mother is hard
work. Doing it well is a benefit to society. Compensating mothers
for their contribution to society is not welfare. It is justice. It
is beneficial to families and therefore to society. As liberals,
however, we recognize that in some families the wife will be the
breadwinner and her mate a house-husband. It should be their right to
make that choice.

The bottom line is that we cannot be put into a box with an
ideological label. We address each issue on the basis of what is best
for our nation and the American people.

Until now, the globalist big-money elites have divided
American
Patriots by artificially using hot-button social issues which the
federal government has no business getting involved with in the first
place. But no longer. It's time for us to come together to take back
our country. Patriots of the left and of the right share a great deal
Both love their country but fear their government. Both abhor the
domination of America by the World Trade Organization and its
multinational masters. Both want to preserve our Constitutional
freedoms. Both cherish families. Both want government to serve the
people. Sure, the left and right use different language to describe
the same thing, and often differ on the means for achieving their
common objectives. But there will be time enough to work out those
details once we Patriots of all stripes take back our country for our
values, our objectives, our Constitution, our heritage, and our
fundamental beliefs.

There is a Bible verse which says, "There is no longer male
nor
female, Jew nor Greek, slave nor free …" I would like to adapt that
idea to our purpose. "There is no longer Republican nor Democrat,
conservative nor liberal, hawk nor dove. There are only we Patriots
speaking truth to power and taking back our country for the people."

Let's get on with it. Patriots, arise and join together.
There is
work to be done!

"Follow the Constitution, Honor the Truth, Serve the People"

==============================================================
To join The Patriots, write to us (enclosing a tax-deductible
contribution check) at:
The Patriots
1494 Patriot Drive
Melbourne, FL 32940
Or call Dr. Bob Bowman at (321) 752-5955.
===============================================================
Dr. Bob Bowman, Lt. Col., USAF, ret. is President of the
Institute
for Space and Security Studies, Executive Vice President of Millennium
III Corporation, and retired Presiding Archbishop of the United
Catholic Church. The recipient of the Eisenhower Medal, the George F.
Kennan Peace Prize, the President's Medal of Veterans for Peace, the
Republic Aviation Airpower Award, the Society of American Military
Engineers' ROTC Medal of Merit (twice), the Air Medal with five oak
leaf clusters, and numerous other awards, he is one of the country's
foremost authorities on national security. Dr. Bowman spent several
years as an unpaid "People's Lobbyist" to Congress. Colonel Bowman
flew 101 combat missions in Vietnam and directed all the DoD "Star
Wars" programs under presidents Ford and Carter. He has been an
executive in both government and industry, and has chaired 8 major
international conferences. Professor Bowman taught at 5 colleges and
universities, serving as Department Head and Assistant Dean. His
Ph.D. is in Aeronautics and Nuclear Engineering from Caltech. He has
lectured at the National War College, the United Nations,
Congressional Caucuses, the Academies of Science of six nations, and
the House of Lords.

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