Over Easy: The need for a critical Free Press in America

Boy, I sure do have it a lot easier than the other U.S. presidential candidates this year.  No nagging reporters calling to wake me up at 8:30 in the morning interested in my views upon Palestine and Israel.  By the way I support a Palestinian State.  And secondly, my views on foreign aid are this:  the United States should only offer humanitarian, food/agricultural, educational, and medical aid.  Additionally, US foreign aid should not consist of economic support or military supplies to any country.

Fifteen days ago, on Saturday June 21 just before 1:30pm, I sent my first press release to the nation’s major media  outlets.  I used a list of resources provided at  www.fair.org ‘s website.  Unfortunately seven of the email address were outdated.  I added a few more, Marketplace, The New Republic, and a few major political blogs (thru their email webforms — politico.com & dailykos).  Here are the lucky recipients of this once in a life-time political scoop.

To: fair@fair.org, info@ap.org, letters@usnews.com, letters@time.com, letters@newsweek.com, letters@tnr.com, national@washpost.com, nywireroom@dowjones.com, editor@usatoday.com, washington@nytimes.com, national@nytimes.com, news-tips@nytimes.com, letters@latimes.com, rush@eibnet.com, atc@npr.org, newshour@pbs.org, hardball@msnbc.com, dateline@nbc.com, today@nbc.com, nightly@nbc.com, Colmes@foxnews.com, Hannity@foxnews.com, Ontherecord@foxnews.com, Oreilly@foxnews.com, Foxreport@foxnews.com, ftn@cbsnews.com, 48hours@cbsnews.com, earlyshow@cbs.com, evening@cbsnews.com, 2020@abc.com, nightline@abcnews.com, pitches@marketplace.org

Here is the letter I sent to them.

Subject: Citizen, Silver Persinger, write in US Presidential Candidate

Dear News Maker or Editor,

I am writing today to inform you of my national campaign for US President as a write in candidate.

I have been reluctant to contact you since I announced my campaign on May 1 largely because I felt that you would not be  interested in an individual citizen’s effort to participate in the national political dialog; particularly since I have no large grassroots following.  And secondly, because my platform is antithetical to the corporate media’s economic interests and stranglehold on the “free press.”

However, I am an advocate of the free press and view a free press as a necessity to a functional democracy.  The main reason I am contacting you today is because my “announcement” to the internet alone has not yielded significant results — both my website, www.votesilver.org and my youtube video have received fewer than 200 views.  It is my hope that there is some independence within the media to report matters of national significance.  Objective reporting is a necessity in a democracy and there is no other way for a candidate without money to garner national attention and popular support.

I do not expect to win the election but it is my hope that I can contribute to the national dialog and influence the debate on social and economic issues — however, I can’t do it without your help.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Respectfully yours, Silver Persinger
804-683-7845

To date, I not received a single email or phone call in relation to my campaign.  This is a reflection of both the abysmal state of our democracy and the compliance of the media in perpetuating the current economic model and suppressing citizen activism.

Instant Runoff Voting would do much to improve the health of our democratic system.  Ensuring the majority is not divided amongst itself and providing more representative government, politicians, and policies.

Your assistance in spreading the word of my campaign is essential.

Hello world!

This is the first post of my 2008 presidential campaign.  Who knows what adventures the coming election season will bring?  I don’t expect to win.  I do not even know how much attention my campaign merits nor who it may excite.  More than anything else I want to give people a really different choice for President.  Someone who wants to see a FREE health care system for all, FREE college education for all who desire it, good paying, skill training, infrastructure building Government jobs, the introduction of the 6 hour work day and 24 hour work week with 6 weeks of vacation a year.  

I propose an economic overhaul that reviews the existing social contract and negotiates a new deal  – taking power away from money and corporations and putting it in the hands of the people.  Making our government more responsive, more democratic, and more representative of poor and working people.  Ending homelessness and poverty, repairing decaying infrastructure, promoting unions and small local business, particularly  co-ops, by removing the burden of providing healthcare for their employees.

Help Americans defaulting on their mortgages by creating a program to re-finance their home with the Federal Government at 1% interest.  Help Americans get out of debt by offering Federal loans at 1% interest.  Our economic system is just as susceptible to Democracy as our political system.  

I propose a system of taxation with no tax on your income unless you are in the top 1% of incomes.  That’s something 99% of us should agree to.  It’s a maximum wage, it’s a mechanism to ensure the redistribution of wealth that has a tendency to concentrate into few hands.

It’s already very late and I still have to create my website, edit my youtube video, and get the email addresses of the nation’s 10 largest newspapers and a few from Europe and Latin America.  It’s going to be a long night.  

Happy International Labor Day!  May Day, protest for the 6 hour work day by working no more than 6 hours on May 1. www.6hourday.org

Thanks for reading about my campaign and feel free to leave a comment, suggestion, or question and I’ll try to answer as many as possible.  Check out my website, www.votesilver.org for more information.  Tell your friends.