Why José Won’t Be Home
For ChristmasBy John A. Murphy
13 October, 2006
Countercurrents.org“Now I have precisely the right instrument, at precisely the right moment in history, in exactly the right place. All I need is a few miserable gallons of gasoline. Right now the weakness is here. In ten days we could be in Berlin!"
– General George S. Patton
José knew the war was going to end one day. One day he would be coming home from Iraq. His sister wrote him about the antiwar movement and how people were standing on the corner every Saturday morning. She told José the Democrats would win in November and that the war would be all over. His sister was only nine years old.A woman in Lancaster, Pennsylvania told me that story about her son and daughter. I did not tell her that the Democratic Party had no plans to end the war in Iraq. I did not tell her that people standing in silent vigil on a Saturday morning would not be able to bring José home. Maybe it's because I'm not a professional politician but I just didn't know what to tell this woman. She had never heard of me. I'm a 60-year-old man but I felt like crying and I'm not exactly a cream puff.
Most people I stop on the street while I’m out campaigning have never heard of me. I know that. I know I've built a very powerful campaign. Along with the endorsements of four political parties, I've been personally endorsed by such nationally prominent Americans as Michael Berg, Peter Camejo, Noam Chomsky, Ralph Nader and Howard Zinn. I was even praised by a local veterans group for my position on Iraq.
We know the Democratic Party is not going to bring José home from Iraq. The local Democratic candidate says that our troops cannot come home from Iraq until we have created a government whereby the Sunnis, Shi'ites and Kurds have all been equally represented, when our national interests have been secured, when the area is no longer destabilized and when the international community comes in to help us.
Most of us know that those conditions can never be met. Most of us know that very few Democrats are calling for the immediate return of our troops.
When the local Democratic candidate asked Michael Berg for his endorsement she was turned down because she was at least honest enough to tell Michael that our troops couldn't come home for quite some time. Michael Berg has endorsed me.
WHY JOHNNY CAN'T WIN
Some days I feel pretty bad that I put together this powerful antiwar coalition and no one has heard of me. I feel like the proverbial manufacturer who has built a better mousetrap but could not afford to advertise. I have built a "product" that 62% of Americans want: a congressional candidate who wants to end the war in Iraq immediately, repeal the USA Patriot Act, expose the truth about the bogus wars on terrorism and drugs, end corporate welfare and corporate personhood, institute universal single-payer healthcare and Instant Runoff Voting.
I know how General Patton must have felt. Like Patton, I have precisely the right instrument, at precisely the right moment in history, in exactly the right place. All I need is a few miserable gallons of gasoline.
Essentially I have four armies at my command and I'm armed with precisely the right issues at the most opportune moment in our history. An opportunity like this will not come again. One candidate supported by four political parties who are often 180° apart! For a miserable 50,000 gallons of gasoline a truly progressive, corporate free representative could be in Washington in 26 days. But there is no gasoline.
Why didn't the gasoline arrive? Who prevented shipment? Who said they wanted to be in Washington but then decided it was too expensive? I sent one drastic communiqué after another begging for the fuel I needed. The green army controlled the fuel. I needed about 500 greens to ship me 100 gallons each. I relied upon the army that I thought would want to advance to Washington most urgently. We could have been in Washington in 26 days. They did not send me 50,000 gallons as I requested. They did not send me 25,000 gallons they did not send me 10,000 gallons. They didn't even send the enough to advance one mile!
When the Democrats realized that it was too difficult for them to compete with the Republicans relying on contributions from registered Democrats, they consorted with the enemy 25 years ago and began taking corporate money. More and more candidates in my position realize that while the Democratic Party is certainly not salvageable, we are beginning to ask wouldn't it be better for us to join the Democrats so that we could at least cast an antiwar vote? Wouldn't it be better to be a progressive Democrat and get elected rather than be a progressive independent or a Green Party candidate only to be denied the election because the greens refuse to provide the necessary financial support to beat the two corporate owned parties? Wouldn't it be better to be a bad guy who does a few good things every now and then rather than be a good guy who never gets to do anything at all?
The election will occur on November 7, 2006. About four weeks from. There is still enough time for me to get my message out. Not plenty of time but enough time; but only barely enough. I desperately need the 50,000 gallons.
When my gallant forces lay in ruins one month from now who will be to blame? When my hundreds of troops go to the polling place with no literature to hand out, no lawn signs or commercials to have prepared the way for them who will they have to thank? Will we continue to whine about the corporate owned duopoly and think that whining is enough?
In 2002, just before this war began my children and I stood on the corner with candles. Something more must now be done. Every day now is critical. Every day the two pro war candidates against whom I'm running are plying the people with the language of professional politicians.
Like Patton, I couldn't have asked for a better scenario to advance the antiwar/pro-civil liberties agenda. It's tailor-made for me. The Democratic Party, by running the same candidate who was pummeled two-to-one in 2004 by the incumbent Republican, has conceded the this District and left the door wide open for me!
Without those few miserable gallons of gasoline, everything that my volunteers and I have done will be of no more significance than standing in silence on a street corner holding a candle and carrying a sign.
Like José's little sister I want our troops home now but my forces sit stranded and immobilized simply because they lack one simple element: a few miserable gallons of gasoline. I would love to meet José’s mother once more in six weeks on the Streets of Lancaster without feeling like I was going to cry this time. Will we ever get those few miserable gallons of gasoline?
John Murphy is the independent candidate for House of Representatives in the 16th Congressional District of Pennsylvania. He has been endorsed by Michael Berg, Peter Camejo, Noam Chomsky, Ralph Nader and Howard Zinn. He has been endorsed by two county level Green Parties, two county level Libertarian Parties, the Pennsylvania Reform Party, the New American Independent Party of Pennsylvania and the GDI among others. It can be reached through his web site: www.johnmurphyforcongress.org
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