Why I Support Democrat Mike Gravel for President

Former Alaskan senator Mike Gravel is running for president. If you do not know that then I do not blame you. If you follow the mainstream news you would think the presidential race for the democratic nomination is a three person race between senator Hillary Clinton, senator Barack Obama, and former senator John Edwards. While I do think Clinton, Obama, and Edwards are strong candidates and would certainly make much better presidents than George W Bush, I also think that what they offer for the most part is "politics as usual."

I feel that it's time for a real change and that's what Mike Gravel offers.

Mike Gravel doesn't want to make minor changes to the tax system lowering taxes here and raising them there. He wants to revamp the entire system. He wants to get rid of the income tax altogether. He says that the tax system is corrupt and that it allows anyone that wants to game the system to do so with the numerous loopholes that have been created over the years. If you do any kind of research into our income tax system (first created in 1913) you will see that he is right on the money. The fair tax system that he proposes would replace the income tax with a national sales tax. This would bring transparency to our tax system making it more fair for everyone.

Mike Gravel wants to end the prohibition of marijuana and regulate the sale of harder drugs such as heroin. As Gravel so eloquently states "Addiction is a public health problem not a criminal problem." Why are people treated as criminals for merely putting something in their own body? This does not make sense if we really live in a free society. The prohibition of alcohol in the 1920s did nothing but create crime and make people lose respect for the laws of the country. When the laws of a country become unreasonable then reasonable people will no longer respect those laws. It's as simple as that. The current laws against drug use are simply unreasonable and do not deserve the respect of any thinking person.

Mike Gravel was against the Iraq war from the start. When the build up to the Iraq war was taking place in 2002, Gravel said what was obvious to him at the time: George W Bush was lying about the WMD. This is now quite obvious to everyone. Shouldn't someone who has this foresight and the ability to see the truth be the next president of the United States? Why should we choose someone who apparently was fooled such as Hillary Clinton or John Edwards? Even worse than them being fooled is the more likely scenario. They realized that Bush was clearly lying to get the American public behind the war in Iraq and went along with it for political reasons. As Gravel says this is a moral test. If you cannot make the right moral decision when it comes to the most serious decision a politician can make then you do not deserve to be the president of the United States.

I implore you that it is time for a real change. It is time for someone who speaks the truth and stands up for what is right. Please join me in supporting Mike Gravel for president and we can finally move this country into the 21st century in 2008.