WARSTOP: Guerilla Politics for the War on Drugs

The driving force behind WARSTOP is our observation that past and current efforts to end the war have not as yet succeeded, and that in many respects, the war is being escalated. We admire and respect all the good people who have worked hard to educate people, who have put forward responsible views on the war, who have fought the battle against totalitarianism in the courts, who have protested, who have been jailed for their beliefs, who have attempted to organize grassroots political support for peace. We hope and believe that their faith and perseverance will someday be rewarded, but we think there may be other ways to hasten that day. We think it's time to get tough.

Fighting Back

Our first project will be to target for retirement a politician whose views seem particularly cruel and inhumane: Representative Gerald B.H. Solomon (R, NY), a senior Congressman, presently chairman of the House Rules Committee. In brief, our hope is that by mobilizing a national effort to aid his political opponents in the '96 primary and, if necessary the general election, we can send a strong unambiguous message to other political drug warriors that it is no longer safe to make political capital from the sufferings of the war's victims. We believe this will prove effective in bringing peace a little closer.

Why Solomon?

Solomon is vulnerable to such an act of guerilla politics. He had the poor judgement to challenge Newt Gingrich for the Speaker's gavel last fall, and there was public speculation that Gingrich might give the chairmanship of Solomon's powerful Rules Committee to a less-senior Republican. Furthermore, as his ravings about the war on drugs become more irrational and extreme, it's probable that the people of his district will come to regard him as an embarassment. Finally, he has a penchant for telling outrageous lies and all indications are that he doesn't understand the error-checking aspects of Internet many-to-many communication, which makes it so much more difficult to get away with the Big Lie political tactic. The net can expose him for what he is.

• I want to know the enemy, and so one of my highest priorities is gathering information about Solomon. He seems an amazingly unlikable guy; already I've accumulated a good bit of negative material, and not just pertaining to the war. I'm certainly willing to hear good stuff about him too, if any exists. Maybe he's not as bad as he seems.

• I want to acquire contacts in his district, particularly net participants who can act as a bridge between net activists and those in his district who oppose Solomon but who do not have net access.

• I want to form alliances with other activist groups who are not directly concerned with the war on drugs, but who have cause to be alarmed by Solomon's demagoguery. Solomon is apparently an equal-opportunity hater.

• I need ideas. There are surely an unlimited number of ways to undermine Solomon's political standing, both with his party and with his constituents. Use your imagination.

• I need advice and help from people with media contacts on both a national and local level--and the will to use those contacts on behalf of this action.

Guest Editorials

Famous and Infamous Quotes: Decide for yourself which category Solomon's public utterances belong to.

"We Were Butterflies:" a cautionary tale first published in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, August 1990.

The Casualties have Faces: The war on drugs is really a war on people.

Continuing Education: Visit other sites and learn more about the war on drugs.

Souvenir Postcard: After learning all about Rep. Solomon, send your legislators a postcard that expresses your views.

The Constitution of the United States: This is the document that Rep. Solomon and his fellow demagogues would like to destroy. They've made a lot of progress already.

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