The Free View-- weblog of a presidential candidate

Busy, busy, busy (and a new project?)

I'm sorry I haven't been posting as often, but I've been putting a lot of time into building PNAC.info. That site has had over 8,000 visits (and over 16,000 pageviews) since I launched it on April 1st, and around 300 or more places have linked to it already, with hardly any promotion on my part. Which is to say, there's a huge amount of interest in the Project for the New American Century.

The bulk of my time has been split between that and participating in a number of ongoing discussions at PeoplesForum.com -- about the war, and about the Drug War. I keep trying to walk away -- particularly from the Drug War discussion, which hasn't been terribly productive -- but it's hard for me to resist a chance to spout off about things I feel strongly about.

I came up with an idea for a new project -- not that I really need more projects, but when I think of a good one that no one's doing, which is relativelly easy with a low entry cost...well, I can't act on them all, but I have to act on some of them.

The working title of this new idea would be "No Drug War in Iraq". The goal would be to mount an effort to persuade the new government of Iraq to not start out with a Drug War like we have here. I have no doubt that U.S. government lobbyists a' plenty will be urging them to get right into replicating our failed "drug control" model. My plan would be to draw up a letter signed by tons of experts and dignitaries explaining how damaging the War on Drugs has been here, and urging Iraq to constitutionally forbid itself from having one. I'm only 1 or 2 degrees of separation away from most of the big names in the anti-Drug War movement, so it wouldn't be hard at all to reach out to that network of folks, which includes mayors, sheriffs, doctors, professors, and other experts. The letter would be sent to all the relevant incoming Iraqi officials, and maybe published in newspapers there, and made into a TV ad.

I haven't decided if it's a "go" or not, but I'm seriously thinking about it. I'll post some more thoughts on it soon, once I make a decision. It would mostly just involve a bunch of phone calls and e-mails, a pretty simple website, and some fundraising for the reprinting and/or promotion. I think a lot of people would hop on board if the plan looked sound.