Ralph Nader's Constitution Pledge

This Constitution Day (September 17) Ralph Nader and Matt Gonzalez are asking their supports to take their "Constitution Pledge". I've included the pledge and information on it below.

Information on the pledge:
We’ve seen The U.S. Constitution shredded over the past 8 years.
The Republicans led the charge, and the Democrats followed along, voting for the misnamed PATRIOT Act, the illegal war and occupation of Iraq, and the snoop FISA law that allows Washington to eavesdrop on our telephone calls whenever they want. These were 3 big blows to our constitutional rights, but the erosion of our basic civil liberties has been occurring for a long time now. The level of abuse and extent to which The Bill of Rights has been compromised is shocking.

This is a PLEDGE.

It is a pledge to uphold The Constitution and to restore its fundamental principles. We’ve seen that this pledge doesn’t mean all that much when taken by the President and Congress, so we’ve got to look to ourselves, WE THE PEOPLE.

This is also a pledge to DONATE. On Constitution Day, September 17th, we are asking you to pledge $5, $10, $100, whatever you can, to the one Presidential candidate who is for the people. Not political parties. Not corporations. Not Washington Lobbyists. We The People. That candidate is Ralph Nader. He was among the first to call for the impeachment of Bush/Cheney, to hold them accountable for lawlessly violating the constitution. Ralph Nader was among the first to speak out against the unconstitutional invasion of Iraq, and the mishandled invasion of Afghanistan. Ralph Nader helped to establish the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), which is now being threatened.
On Constitution Day, stand up for the Constitution, and its most fearless advocate in the Presidential Race – Ralph Nader.

Make a statement of support for the Nader/Gonzalez campaign, and show the two parties that you won’t sit back and let them take away your constitutional rights.

The more support Ralph gets, the stronger your voice gets. The more voices grow together, the stronger our democracy. Don’t let your rights be taken for granted. Check back to this site to see how the pledges increase. Download a widget to your website that will track the pledges in real time. Tell everyone you know to tell everyone they know.

Help us ring the Liberty Bell. Consider this a ringing endorsement for The Constitution and for justice.

This is the pledge:

The Pledge

Prohibit the use of "secret evidence" to classify and list individuals and organizations within the United States as global terrorists or global terrorist organizations; and
Prohibit the use of secret evidence or evidence obtained by torture or coercion in military or civilian tribunals;
Prohibit the detention of American citizens as "unlawful enemy combatants," without proof of criminal activity, based solely on the President's say-so;
Restore habeas corpus for alleged alien enemy combatants, i.e., non-citizens who have allegedly participated in active hostilities against the United States, in order to protect the innocent;
Prohibit the National Security Agency from intercepting phone conversations or emails, or breaking and entering homes on the President's say-so, in violation of federal law;
Empower the House of Representatives and the Senate collectively, to challenge in the Supreme Court the constitutionality of signing statements which indicate the President intends to disregard duly enacted provisions of bills signed into law, because he alone maintains they are "unconstitutional;"
Prohibit the executive from invoking the state secrets privilege to deny justice to victims of constitutional violations perpetrated by government officers or agents; and,
Establish legislative-executive committees in the House and Senate to adjudicate the withholding of information from Congress, based on executive privilege, which obstructs oversight and open government; and
Prohibit the President from kidnapping, detaining, and torturing persons abroad, in collaboration with foreign governments;
Amend the Espionage Act to permit journalists to report on classified national security matters without fear of prosecution.

To take the pledge and find out more click here: Take The Constitution Pledge


If you weren't already aware Ron Paul held a press conference on September 10th to give his endorsement to third party candidates: Chuck Baldwin, Bob Barr, Cynthia McKinney and Ralph Nader. While the candidates come at America's problems from different angles they came together to agree on four important topics that they feel McCain and Obama are inadequately addressing (or ignoring).

This is their joint statement:

We Agree

Foreign Policy: The Iraq War must end as quickly as possible with removal of all our soldiers from the region. We must initiate the return of our soldiers from around the world, including Korea, Japan, Europe and the entire Middle East. We must cease the war propaganda, threats of a blockade and plans for attacks on Iran, nor should we re-ignite the cold war with Russia over Georgia. We must be willing to talk to all countries and offer friendship and trade and travel to all who are willing. We must take off the table the threat of a nuclear first strike against all nations.

Privacy: We must protect the privacy and civil liberties of all persons under US jurisdiction. We must repeal or radically change the Patriot Act, the Military Commissions Act, and the FISA legislation. We must reject the notion and practice of torture, eliminations of habeas corpus, secret tribunals, and secret prisons. We must deny immunity for corporations that spy willingly on the people for the benefit of the government. We must reject the unitary presidency, the illegal use of signing statements and excessive use of executive orders.

The National Debt: We believe that there should be no increase in the national debt. The burden of debt placed on the next generation is unjust and already threatening our economy and the value of our dollar. We must pay our bills as we go along and not unfairly place this burden on a future generation.

The Federal Reserve: We seek a thorough investigation, evaluation and audit of the Federal Reserve System and its cozy relationships with the banking, corporate, and other financial institutions. The arbitrary power to create money and credit out of thin air behind closed doors for the benefit of commercial interests must be ended. There should be no taxpayer bailouts of corporations and no corporate subsidies. Corporations should be aggressively prosecuted for their crimes and frauds.

We support opening up the debates beyond the two parties and the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD), a private corporation co-chaired by former chairmen of the Republican and Democratic Party. It is time for our Presidential Debates to once again be hosted by a truly non-partisan civic-minded association.

Below are Ralph Nader and Ron Paul's speeches from their press conference:

Ron Paul




Ralph Nader