I've received a couple of comments. The first writer advised me to tone it down, or risk alienating many otherwise sympathetic voters. I appreciate your thought and will do my best to control my anger, hard as it may be at times. Maintaining objectivity is critical, in the political or any other world. I pledge to do my best to tell the truth in these pages, and I will try to frame it in the least inflammatory way that I can. The whole truth? No, while that should be our aim at all times, I believe that humans are destined to always come up short. Certainly I'll never come close to achieving the goal, since I don't have a direct line to God.
The second writer expressed his concern that I include some positive alternatives to Bush politics in my program. You're absolutely right! I'll make a special effort to include in this blog a perspective of hope. For now, you can pretty much figure that whatever Bush stands for, my position is exactly the opposite. For example, Bush favors slashing Medicaid by the billions and giving this money to the rich in the form of tax cuts; I would fight to restore and increase Medicaid and pay for it by taxing the rich.
I think you understand that in the "Opening Salvo" it was important to lay out concisely the fundamental issue of this campaign, as given by its name. But thanks for your input, and I hope to hear lots more. It may be a truism, but this campaign will only be successful to the degree that it's a group effort.
One other question I'd like to address. Some might say, "I support impeaching Bush/Cheney, but your politics are too radical." I can and do reply that radical measures are necessary to get at the roots of the Bush/Cheney disease, but apart from that, I ask these critics to objectively consider the election. Don Young has been elected seventeen times since 1972, and barring some major development, the chances of his getting unseated in November are pretty slim. So any fears that I may embarrass Alaska in Washington, D.C. are grossly exaggerated. (Should the impossible occur, however, I promise not to have any dead animals in my office, nor will you read in the newspaper about Alaska's representative instructing the House that the planet is actually getting colder!)
Since your vote is essentially meaningless in determining the outcome of the election, I ask you to give it meaning by voting your convictions. If a significant minority votes to Impeach Now! I predict that the impact all around the country will be far greater than Don Young's returning to Washington for two more years.

PUT IMPEACHMENT TO A VOTE

My name's Bill Ratigan, and I'm running for Alaska's U.S. House seat. I am an independent with the ballot designation, Impeach Now!
If elected, on the first day of business of the next Congress, I will move that articles of impeachment be brought against George W. Bush and Richard Cheney, and I would continue that fight for as long as it might take.
Finding charges won't be a problem. Misleading the country, and the world, into a disastrous war against a defenseless people, should be first. The responsibility for the Haditha massacre does not end with a marine sergeant: the buck stops at the desk of his commander-in-chief, the man who recklessly sent him and other young Americans into an impossible situation.
On the domestic front, electronic eavesdropping brings to mind the Nixon impeachment. In fact, Bush and Cheney are guilty of violating with impunity the very laws that were enacted in the wake of the Nixon abuses, and other laws and traditions that are much older.
Abrogating treaties, flouting international law... no, finding charges won't be the problem. The problem is to remove these criminals from office before they can make further assaults on our democratic rights, and before they can undertake any more insane military adventures. Has God told Bush to bomb Iran, as He told him to "strike at Saddam"? People who followed the run-up to the Iraq war should be concerned.
The Democrats offer no alternative. They gave more votes for Bush's domestic masterspy to head the C.I.A. than they did even for the Iraq war, which they have consistently supported. They accept uncritically Bush's Iran fear-mongering.
For Don Young, I have one question: Since you voted to impeach Bill Clinton for having extra-marital sex with a consenting adult, and dubious evidence that he lied under oath about it, what do you make of the charges listed above?
My goal in this election is to offer Alaskan voters a referendum on the Bush presidency, the "straight up-or down vote" that our president craves. To find out more about my campaign, or to discuss these or other topics, please go to my blog, which I'll be keeping over the coming months: http://impeachnow.blogstream.com. I can use all the help I can get.
I'm as serious as an atom bomb falling on your hometown,
and let's face it folks,
WE ALL KNOW THAT THE EMPEROR HAS NO CLOTHES!