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Paris, Friday, July 29, 2005

THERE IS AN OLD JOKE that sounds like it was written by Mark Twain. "If Pro is the opposite of Con, what's the opposite of Progress?"

But of course -- Congress.

The real question, though, is what's the opposite of Congress?

The answer is Brad Blanton, author of Radical Honesty, Practicing Radical Honesty, and co-author of a book with Neale Donald Walsh, the Conversations with God guy.

Despite occasionally bashing heads with Brad over astrology for the past five years (he is a hyper Virgo, and his astrological chart will be part of my official coverage of his Congressional campaign, purely for sport and a good angle for Planet Waves), he and I are pretty much on the same page. About 15 minutes ago, I got an email inviting my support for his Congressional campaign.

And I thought: WHAT FUN!

Brad, a Gestalt therapist and workshop leader whose soft, Virginia accent would make your mother melt, would be an experience that Capitol Hill would never forget, much as it really, really wanted to. True, Brad has solid, freedom-loving, support-the-Constitution politics. True, he does not think our young people should be over in Iraq killing their young (and old) people. True, he supports the protection of the environment. (He's running as an Independent-Green Party candidate.)

None of those are reasons that rival how much fun it would be to have an obsessive, no-holds-barred truth-teller in the hallowed, stinking, blood-soaked, money-scented halls of the United States House of Representatives. Can you imagine someone with the perfect demeanor of one of those down-home southern gentlemen, in a pressed shirt and lovely tie, telling the vicious, corporate-sponsored murderers, ever so politely, that they're full of shit?

If you offered me the choice between going to an orgy every weekend for the next year, or having Brad in Congress, I would choose the 52 orgies. But I would have to think about it for a second.

So, when I got Brad's email a moment ago, I called him up right away, said I would kick in $50 to the kitty (for now), post the homepage of his campaign, spread the word to the political bloggers I know, and made sure to get his birth data again, which I lost the last time I had it a few years ago. I am officially adopting Brad Blanton as the Planet Waves candidate for Progress, if for no other reason than it will piss off Republicans and Democrats alike, give the media somebody interesting to interview, and generally be a great time for everyone who is not totally freaked out by the prospect.

Here's the web page: http://www.blantonforcongress.com/

Now, to click on that Paypal link...purely for fun, of course...