Dr. Bob Bowman http://thepatriots.us/pg_02_about.html is in the middle of his Patriot Tour of over 100 US cities. He seeks to build a coalition of citizens and public interest grassroots groups to “Take Back America” from the “global robber barons” and restore it the People. He stresses 3 principles which almost all people and public interest-minded groups should be able to agree on; demanding a government that 1) Follows the Constitution 2) Honors the Truth and 3) Serves the People. Go to http://thepatriots.us/pg_01_events_tourSchedule.php to find a city near you where he’ll be speaking, and http://thepatriots.us/pg_04_contact.php to contact Dr. Bowman to find out how you can assist with events in your area.

The presentations are given in the format of a “State of the Union address”; the address he would give if elected interim President following the resignation of the Bush/Cheney Administration under threat of impeachment for waging wars based on lies.

May 31 he spoke in Rancho Cucamonga, CA for a little over an hour, and took questions afterward http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4787418197294282487 : according to Dr. Bowman, the state of the Union is one in which both major political parties and the media have been co-opted by the special interests who make the large campaign contributions. These interests engineer wars like Iraq and Trade Agreements like NAFTA for personal gain, without regard to the cost to America in lives, tax dollars, jobs and liberties. They use same, and “hot button” issues whose outcome doesn’t affect their profits (such as abortion, gun and gay rights) to divide the people and set us against each other, in order to sap our collective power and deflect attention from their immoral, criminal activities and the problems they create, and to repress the free exercise of our civil and human rights, which we the people use to protest their unjust policies and propose/implement better alternatives.

A good portion of the talk dealt with the lies and contradictions in the official 9/11 account, the exploitation of it and the coverup by the Establishment media and politicians, and what a real investigation would be like. Dr. Bowman believes that when enough people are made aware of the level of corruption, we the people will make things right. Raising awareness about 9/11 and the other crimes is key to preventing another false-flag attack or faked “emergency”, war with Iran and the declaration of Martial Law. The Web and word of mouth are some of the most powerful tools available to us to get the word out.

Some of the proposals he outlined:

• A full investigation of 9/11
• Repeal the PATRIOT, Military Commissions Act and other unconstitutional laws
• End the US global military presence in 2 years and restrict the DoD to defending against attacks on US soil; get the US military out of the business of protecting corrupt financial interests that are exploiting foreign peoples and fomenting hatred and fear of the US
• Media reform- reinstitute the Fairness Doctrine, restrict cross-media/market ownership to prevent restriction of information
• Electoral reform- paper ballots, national voting holiday, eliminate burdensome petition requirements for 3rd parties
• Campaign finance reform- get special interest money out of politics
• Monetary reform- buy back and eliminate the Federal Reserve
• An Amendment to the Constitution that strips corporations of “personhood”
• Protect civil liberties and dissent
• Guarantee basic healthcare; doctor-run, single-payer, get the insurance companies out of the way

Setting up the event was not hard, though I really procrastinated and didn’t secure the location and start promoting until about 10 days before the event. I called about 10 local churches, libraries and community centers- there was no free space available, but the community center was cheap. I posted on IndyMedia and other calendars/bulletin boards, but the most effective promotion was my post on 911blogger; a half-dozen people turned out from that (thank you, 911Blogger!!). These were local truth activists I’d never met- very nice, reasonable people, we plan to collaborate on future truth actions. I also made an email blast/phone list of all the local public interest groups I could find- at least 1 person turned out from that emailing, but no co-sponsors- some events in other cities have gotten several co-sponsors. I also put out about 500 flyers on houses 2 days before, but there was no response from that- flyers may be more effective in your area. No need to spend money on ads. http://www.eventbrite.com offers a free, easy website you can use to promote the event and collect donations, but it’s not necessary- you just need to get a location, post the event as many places online as you can think of, and invite everyone you can think of. I heartily encourage everyone to take this on for your city, if an event is not currently set up (the event may not have been organized yet, even if your city is listed). The information is crucial, the ideas are inspiring, and the experience was invaluable.