Tag: Foreign Policy

Conviction

I believe for every US soldier currently serving abroad, we should send TWO State Department Diplomats. No, make it THREE. President Kennedy said, “Ask not what your country can do for you,” and then he proceeded to ENGAGE with the world, through projects of prosperity and co-operation. Because he knew what WAR looked like.

Because he knew how war BEGINS… and he knew how to PREVENT it.

It’s foolish to believe that PEACE can be found at the point of a SWORD… when we know it’s so much easier to achieve when we simply extend our HAND.

 

What STOPS a WAR?

 

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Compassion. Connection. Understanding.

 

I join in Prime Minister Trudeau’s call for Accountability and Justice, and we must accept the fact that our FREE and FAIR elections have given RISE to this toxic fog of war.

 

So now, let the call go forth from OUR generation. One tempered by the horrors of WAR, both on the battlefield and in the classroom; disciplined by a hard and bitter TRUTH, longing for a Restoration of Justice; and unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of seventy-five years of established order, that has given rise to PEACE and PROSPERITY, the likes of which the world has never known.

The safety and security of the world is assured when the safety and security of the United States is assured. When the United States STANDS divided, and our citizens are targeting each other… the safety and security of our ENEMIES becomes REALITY. When the United States is no longer an active participant on the World Stage and seeks an isolationist position, we become subject to the agendas of other nations, who prefer to be in the LEAD.

When we judge OTHERS based NOT on the content of their character, we invite that inevitable fate that has befallen EVERY oppressive leader, of EVERY nation throughout history… upon OURSELVES.

Judge NOT, lest ye be Judged.

Do unto OTHERS, as you would have them do unto YOU.

All Mankind is created EQUAL.

Endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights… THESE are OUR COMMANDMENTS. THESE are the values we hold SACRED. When they are withheld from ONE, it should be seen as an outrage to us ALL. And they only continue to exist, because BRAVE men and women have given of themselves to ensure it remains so…

 

To be SILENT is to be COMPLICIT.

 

We’ve learned these lessons. We must not learn them AGAIN! When ANY nation rattles the Saber of WAR, every American gives PAUSE, and thinks back to where this all began… 20 YEARS AGO. The price we’ve now PAID can only be measured in lives. Let us CHANGE that outcome, and remember WHY…

So it may NEVER happen again.

 

The oppression of the MINORITY by the MAJORITY was feared by the Framers of our Constitution. And because of that, they sought to ensure that the VOICE of dissent would always be seen as patriotic and necessary to the health of our democracy. If you are so CONFIDENT in your ideas, they should be able to STAND UP to rigorous debate. Even IF they prove to be in-error, either in part or in total, they may STILL prove to be important by informing the NEXT decision… helping us to avoid causing real harm.

 

Should my ideas prove to be in-error, I welcome the chance to be EDUCATED. Should my position prove to be unacceptable to THE PEOPLE, then they will know better than I what they want in a leader. I’m STANDING UP and offering my OPINION. Offering my assistance… because I believe in the INSTITUTIONS that countless souls have fought and died for… simply for the CHANCE to create them.

 

Democracy DIES in Darkness… the only cure for that is SUNLIGHT. NO VOICE is so small that it should not be heard, and no opinions so outlandish that they should not STAND as our guardrails. That’s why we VOTE in the SUNLIGHT. To avoid causing harm to OTHERS, that are by LAW… our EQUALS.

Wrapped in the protection of the 1st Amendment, I STAND to fight for those without a VOICE. To ensure it is for EVERYONE. Because if we do not… it will be for NO ONE.

 

Let it be known, when it is written upon mine… that I STOOD UP and was not SILENT.

May it be so for 200 MORE, LONG LIVE THE CONSTITUTION!

 

End the Electoral College.

 

JC

 

A Restoration.

I did not have clarity of thought when I was a young man. As a child, my father would constantly remind me, “Children are to be SEEN, not HEARD.” He would communicate silently that I was rambling on and on and on and on… by hand gesture. Pinching his fingers and thumb together, as if they were the mouth of a sock puppet, telling me without a word to SHUT UP!

I would usually get the hint. As I try to remember how I acted in my childhood, I remember so little. I don’t remember carrying on like that, but I DO remember the annoyance with it. The problems it would cause at school. The constant drifting within my own mind, consuming HOURS of my life.

In my teenaged years, I became angry and rebellious. Once, during a heated argument with my father, he told me, “Someday you’re gonna have a kid who’s JUST like you!”

Yeah… ha ha, OLD MAN… whatever.

 

Well, you KNOW… with OLD AGE comes WISDOM, I suppose!

I’ve learned EXACTLY how I was as a child by raising my youngest son, Garrett. He is exactly like me in almost every way, and where he and I differ, he is EXACTLY like his mother. She might NOT admit it… but she can be a bit STUBBORN, too.

Shortly after Garrett was born, I sought counseling as part of my recovery and treatment for Alcoholism. During these sessions, the therapist and I discovered… I have ADHD. He referred me to a psychologist, who confirmed what we suspected.

I have been on medication now for 10 years. IF I had been given the opportunity to be diagnosed BEFORE THEN… my life would have been MUCH different! The ability to FOCUS my thoughts… more than that, the ability to control my mind, and actually make the thoughts STOP! CLARITY of the mind… CONFIDENCE comes with CLARITY, two things I could not find as a teenager.

Recognizing the symptoms I had as a child, remembering the problems it would eventually cause in MY life, I realized at an early age that Garrett would need help, as well. Being able to make that decision for him at an early stage in his development has changed his trajectory. He will not have to face the same hardships that I did…

 

… isn’t that the WHOLE IDEA? To LEARN from mistakes. To take lessons from the PAST and reinforce them, to build a STRONGER FUTURE.

 

I began caring about my mental health at age 30. Since then, the steps I have taken to live a happy and productive life have opened up possibilities I would never have been able to TRY… all within the last 10 years. We’ve been working with Garrett to ensure his mental health and well-being since he was 8… I am jealous of what he will achieve by the age of 40!

 

I have ALWAYS challenged authority. As a parent, I’ve found myself questioning the accepted social dogmas of raising a child. “When I was YOUR AGE… that’s how WE were raised, so that’s how it’s done.”

My step-mother would make me eat scrambled eggs with chopped green peppers in them. I did not like them. I was NOT given a choice. Today, as an adult, I have developed an allergy to nightshade vegetables. Was her demand really necessary? At what point should a child be treated more as an individual, with the right to decide CLEARLY, that green peppers ARE disgusting?

Should we make demands of our children, ones that we didn’t like THEN and do not like NOW, simply because they were made OF US? Consider the amount of CHANGE that has happened in the last 20 years!

I told my boys about a time I had a flat tire on a highway in central Wisconsin, and had to walk damn near 10 MILES to reach a phone! They didn’t seem to fully understand what things were like… just a FEW YEARS AGO. On the other hand, I have to keep reminding them of the POWER they hold in their hands. Every time they ask me how to spell something, I answer, “G-O-O-G-L-E”. They take it for granted… they have the ability to answer ANY QUESTION, instantly! My god… You know, back in MY DAY…

To avoid mistakes in the future, we look to lessons from our PAST. With old age DOES come WISDOM, and from wisdom we gain UNDERSTANDING… and THAT is how we find PEACE, through COMPASSION.

 

Tonight, my thoughts are with the Iranian PEOPLE. My thoughts are of PEACE, and ALL that can come FROM it. My thoughts are of INQUIRY, not condemnation. My heart aches as we are moving BACKWARD, not striving together for a BETTER FUTURE… as we have DONE, so recently in our PAST.

As tensions grow, I want to extend a message of PEACE from THE PEOPLE of The United States of America. Not from the elite. Not from the elected. My voice comes from the suburban expanses of endless cul-du-sacs and asphalt city streets. It comes from the families who’ve put the ‘RED’ in our ‘RED, WHITE, and BLUE’… and may do so WILLINGLY again someday.

The American People fight for PEACE.

We curse the war and bless the PEACE that follows. We DEMAND our leaders pursue PEACE AT ALL COST, in order to avoid losing that, which has NO PRICE. There is a disconnect now in the United States between the WILL OF THE PEOPLE and the policies being practiced. The American People are beginning to UNDERSTAND this, and we are starting to ask the questions… “WHY?”

Questioning OURSELVES. To become stronger than we were YESTERDAY… and tomorrow, stronger STILL.

“We seek PEACE. WHY is it NOT SO?”

“But THEY attacked US?! WHY…?”

The American People STILL BELIEVE that ours IS the greatest system of governance ever envisioned… AS DO I. To continue working toward that more perfect union envisioned by our Founders, we must come to terms with the fact that our government has NOT been used AS INTENDED for many YEARS. The American People must remember WHO WE ARE, and for WHAT we STAND…

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The United States of America is the HOME of the REVOLUTIONARY! We give SHELTER to those who fight FOR JUST CAUSE. We do not turn away. We do NOT close our doors. We have walked the path of war. We have fought, side-by-side to defend the land of others, and laid to rest our soldiers, side-by-side with THEIRS… with hope that it would never happen again.

Our FOUNDING FATHERS were REVOLUTIONISTS, fighting in-kind for principles and ideals not yet BORN. Seeing how society WAS all around them, watching the depravity that comes alongside corruption, knowing the consequences that come when leadership becomes SELF-ABSORBED, dripping in-excess… They STOOD UP and BRAVELY questioned, “WHY?”

They stepped beyond themselves, and asked the questions that lead to only ONE CONCLUSION- we are ALL CREATED EQUAL.

Their theoretical form of government today, is OUR reality. BORN OF imperfect men, BORN-OUT by our SHARED HISTORY. A common goal REALIZED… or rather, one that has been entrusted to US, to complete.

REVOLUTIONS often happen at the POINT OF A SWORD, through the SITE on a barrel…

 

PEACE only comes once we’ve PUT THOSE WEAPONS DOWN.

 

Wars have been fought to promote the idea of PEACE. PEACE has been SHATTERED under the guise of an avoidance of war. And EVERY TIME… we KNOW what will happen. We KNOW who will fall VICTIM, and we KNOW who will be to blame.

Who we ARE, we CANNOT change. Who we will BECOME is always OUR CHOICE! Do we wish to be DEFINED by the flaws of our PAST? Should we stand against evolution or change, simply to enshrine the PAST… chaining it to our FUTURE? Let us REMEMBER what once WAS and dedicate it, with HONOR, to a RESTORATION OF JUSTICE today. If PEACE IS WHAT WE DESIRE… we should not start a war to PROVE IT.

When we commit to the pursuit of PEACE with the SAME LEVEL of PASSION we commit to the pursuit of JUSTICE… we will SEE BOTH.

I am PROUD to live in the country that helps DEFINE the word REVOLUTION.

JC

Official Campaign Statement: Celebrating Our First Year and First Campaign Interview.

Even though May 15, 2018, is the signature date at the bottom of the political organization’s founding documents, the decision was made on February 17, 2018. In my HEART, that is the date I began this journey, regardless of the date the paperwork was filed.

As the official anniversary of the campaign approaches, I am excited to share a link to my FIRST CAMPAIGN INTERVIEW-
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2020 Election: Meet the Candidates with Paul Duddridge

 

Despite the technical issues, we had a great conversation on several topics, including the border wall, campaign finance, the Equal Rights Amendment, and ending the Electoral College. Mr. Duddridge is an avid supporter of Trump’s policies and agenda, but it was good to see that COMMON SENCE is alive and well!

No matter where our opinions fall within the political paradigm, we ALL seem to agree on ONE THING- Remove the CORRUPTION in our elections, and the system will better serve THE PEOPLE.

For more information on press availability, or clarification on any specific issues I have not yet addressed, feel free to drop me a line and I will make every effort to address your concerns. As DONATIONS start to roll in, I plan on taking this show on the road! As dates and locations become available, I will post them HERE and also on Twitter. And, as always…

ANY help given is GREATLY appreciated!

Help me AMPLIFY my message! DONATE.

Campaign Statement on Foreign Policy Position: “The Company We Keep”

Our county’s greatest strengths come from our diversity of knowledge accumulated and shared with all citizens in our public schools. Found within that community structure we see the common ideals taught to our children. And within that environment, we find our core values. The uniting principles that inform a great statesman take root in the elementary school at the end of the block.

I have avoided stating a definitive foreign policy platform mainly because I felt ignorant of our overall engagement with other nations. In many ways, my greatest strength is pure ignorance of these relationships. I have no preconceived judgement of these situations. Only impressions, or a vision, of how our relationship in the world overall should be presented… Who are We, as a country? Our face to the world community, what our abilities are, and how we can best help every other nation succeed- The United States of America is a PARTNER in the international community because we ALL succeed when we ALL contribute.

Our county’s greatest strengths come from  our diversity of knowledge accumulated and shared with all citizens in our public schools. Found within that community structure we see the common ideals taught to our children. And within that environment, we find our core values. The uniting principles that inform a great statesman take root in the elementary school at the end of the block.

When we extend our hand in trust and compassion, we help another person learn how to be kind. When we stand side by side with others of sound principles, we present strength through inclusion. When we help our friends when they hurt the most, we rekindle the fire of fraternity that so often can be taken for granted in a family. And it is through our ACTIONS… THAT is how we lead in this world.

We show others how we want to be treated by how we treat them.

We support Liberty and justice for ALL, so at home, so abroad. We support open markets in nations abroad because our markets are open to ALL. We support EQUALITY, as endowed by our Creator, for all of our countrymen, and wish it were so thought the world. How we treat the least amongst ourselves at home, is how we will be seen throughout the world… If you want a ‘clean house’, you gotta start in your own ‘backyard’.

To read the words of true statesmen, like those of Ronald Reagan to Canada in his last official visit in 1987, reminds me of how little I know of world diplomacy. The technical ‘ins and outs’ of political calculations in order to protect rights and interests…

The message attempts, made in ‘good faith’, in honesty and respect, will be received the warmest, even if they are ignorant of some facts. The credibility of the person delivering the message can carry more weight than the message itself. As a citizen of The United States, I expect everyone to respect the Commander in Chief, not ONLY because of the honorable office they occupy, but because they are someone WORTHY OF THAT RESPECT. Someone who holds the values written in Our Constitution within their essence, we should all hope to elect.

As an Eagle Scout, I believe I know what those ideals are that make a President. I live my life within that framework, daily. “On my honor, I will do my best to do my duty.” That is all a person has at the end of the day… their word. Their honor. That is where leadership is born. That is where success begins. That is where we should allow the power of Our President to reside. Because lasting progress only comes when built upon a firm foundation of just moral principles.

And we stand with those who feel the same. Those who do not stand for Liberty and Equality, we will not walk away from our community, but we will not support any nation who seeks to separate instead of unite. We stand strongest when we can declare these ideals to all the world as a benchmark to be measured by, especially when we LIVE it, daily.

That is where my journey will begin. We must be sure of our own position, at home, before we can go and demand to others THIS is how it should be done. Our own moral hypocrisy has diminished our standing around the globe. If we wish to remain free and indepenent, we must assess what we see in the mirror. Then, our desire to be better each day will reflect in those who desire to surround themselves with the same.

That is my agenda. When we expect better from ourselves, we can expect the same from everyone else. “In truth, and in love.”

-Jack Charbonneau