I am running for President of the United States.  It is a little or a lot scary even to write the statement.  If you want me elected, you do not have to send any contributions to my campaign fund.  I do not have such a fund.  ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS VOTE FOR ME IN THE NEXT PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION.  I think that's how it works.  I need to look into that further, soon!

     I get a real frightening feeling when I let myself imagine waking up one Wednesday morning to the knock of the secret service.  If one does not get an absolutely sinking feeling in imagining that moment, then they are narcissistic for sure.  I know, that's a hell of a judgment.  But think of the weight of being president.  As ambitious as one might be, it's a huge and scary task.

     I would focus on two items during my term or terms.  One would be transparency.  We as a nation of people cannot call other peoples and other nations to such values as economic equality, world peace, and human rights while we practice the contrary in our nation.  There are too many poor people (notice I did not say, too many rich people), too many hungry people, too many people who have just given up, too many people bearing both the mental and physical scars of political and social abuse for no good or rational reason other than obscene prejudice and ignorance.  There are still plenty of people riding in the back of the bus.

     My second endeavor would be world peace.  I would begin by calling a world conference to meet multiple times a year at a variety of different geographical locations.  The world leaders would be invited to come and account to the entire world what exactly is happening in their country.  Each leader would be asked the same questions, and the conferences would be covered live and unedited.  There would be no secret sidebars.  An example of a question would be, tell the world, who in your country is disenfranchised.  How did that happen and what are you the leader doing about it?  Religious leaders would also be invited and asked to account for their practice of their religious beliefs especially those beliefs that call for the destruction of specific sects or specific ethnic groups, or certain groups of people.

     I'm sure there is always the chance that I would slowly slip away from my enthusiasm for transparency and world peace and begin smoking Cuban cigars and sipping on chardonnay and making plans to take over some coffee or oil rich country!   Who knows, maybe I would end up in bed with Starbucks, the Arab governments, the Chinese (I love Chinese food), and maybe even the Russians.  I really don't like vodka, but I like those hats they wear in wintertime.  But maybe I wouldn't slip.  So that's the chance you take in voting for me.

     Please feel free to give me any feedback at all on my run for the Presidency.  I will from time to time, spell out more of my platform.

     What a way to end the first month of the new year--announcing my candidacy!