I’m not an expert on the history or inner workings of political parties. But parties obviously unite people who share certain interests, ideals or fears. Thus, conservatives generally belong to the Republican Party, while liberals are more aligned with the Democratic and Green parties.

So how do I go about establishing some core issues for the Fifth Republic Party? Should I just establish a very weak platform and wait until there are some fellow members to help me refine it?

It will obviously take many minds and voices to hammer out a new party. But I’d like to get the ball rolling by hammering out a tentative platform, striking a balance between idealism and practicality.

As discussed on the Operating Principles page, I feel the Fifth Republic Party should be much more selective than most parties regarding membership. Rather than sucking in a collection of idiots and corporate operatives, I’d like to try to assemble some fine minds and firebrands who can energize the party, then help educate the masses.

So I came up with an idea. Suppose we brainstormed several key political issues and positions, then required prospective party members to pass a sort of test or survey.

Eventually, I drew up two lists of issues. The first list consists of ten core issues, broad issues, such as the environment, the economy and education.

The second lists consists of more specific issues, issues that many people would consider trivial. The importance of these issues lies partly in the very fact that they are relatively minor. These are issues that should be much easier to fix than any of the core issues. And that’s what the Fifth Republic Party is all about—getting things done.

In addition, some of these issues reflect important principles.

Core Issues

Below is a tentative list of ten core issues.

• Corporate Corruption
• Attack Govt. Waste & Corruption (in lieu of tax increases)
• Accountability
• Environment
• Energy Conservation
• Education
• Mixed Economy
• Abandon Globalization
• Election Reform
• Separation of Church & State

Of couse, we need to be more specific than "Education." When I find time, I’ll write more about each of these issues. For now, here’s a brief synopsis.

Corporate corruption is arguably the most urgent issue of our era. For we really can’t accomplish much of anything as long as corporations are jerking us around. I’m not absolutely opposed to tax increases, but why is neither major party doing anything to cut the extraordinary waste and corruption in government? We could have our cake and eat it, too, if we just cleaned house.

Accountability translates punishment for all who deserve it, including public officials and corporate executives.

The environment is arguably the most important socio-political issue. From global warming to endangered species, there are many major problems that need to be tackled. Energy conservation goes hand in hand with both the environment and the economy.

The primary problem with public education is what some people refer to as corporatization. It might not be an exaggeration to say it has effectively been privatized. We need to boot Bill Gates and his cronies out of OUR schools.

Neither pure capitalism nor pure socialism will solve all our economic problems. Rather, we should embrace a mixed economy combining the best of both capitalism and socialism. At the same time, the neoliberal policies often referred to as globalization need to be abandoned.

The urgent need for election reform is obvious, as is the need for a return to the traditional separation of church and state.

Specific Issues

Below is a list of ten more specific issues, some of which might seem quite trivial.

• Punish George W. Bush (See Jail4Bush)
• Investigate 9/11
• Give Guantanamo Bay back to Cuba and lift the economic embargo
• Support Hugo Chávez (See Viva Chavez!)
• Hold Billysoft accountable (See Billysoft)
• Release John Walker Lindh
• Nationalize the energy companies, beginning with Exxon
• Pull U.S. troops out of Iraq and Afghanistan
• Abandon Colombia
• Repeal Patriot Act

Accountability is perhaps the least pleasant political issue to discuss. After all, punishing people isn’t a lot of fun (although there are some people I’d enjoying punishing).

George W. Bush drags this issue down even further, because his extraordinary crimes deserve—shall I say demand?—extraordinary punishment. In my opinion, Bush should either be executed for treason and war crimes or sentenced to life in prison without parole.

This is not about the death penalty. I really don’t care if Fifth Republic Party members support the death penalty or not. It’s about accountability, and I have no problem with people who don’t believe in the death penalty, as long as they’re willing to support a life sentence instead. He cannot be allowed to get away with his almost mind boggling crimes.

We need to know the truth about the 9/11 terrorist attacks. And rather than simply shut down that Caribbean torture center that has become such a national embarrassment, why not give it back to Cuba and life our economic embargo in the process? I mean, what have our unending war with Cuba accomplished? What’s the point?

Similarly, this country owes an enormous apology to Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez. I’m not saying the man’s perfect or that his Bolivarian Revolution will succeed. Who knows?

But he appears to be making an honest effort, and most Venezuelans support him. He certainly doesn’t deserve the endless abuse dished about America’s media whores and scum-sucking politicians.

Billysoft = Bill Gates + Microsoft (along with the Gates Foundation and a lot of other crap). The Evil Empire’s crimes are hard to fathom, and it’s way overdue for a taste of accountability.

Whether you like him or hate him, John Walker Lindh (aka "The American Taliban") was railroaded. He deserves to be pardoned far more than any of the crooks George W. Bush has pardoned.

We need to follow Hugo Chávez’ lead and nationalize our major energy companies, beginning with Exxon, which rivals Microsoft as one of the world’s most powerful, corrupt and dangerous corporations. Profiteering bastards.

We can never undo the damage we’ve done to Iraq and Afghanistan, nor can we every truly make up for it. But we must at least pull our troops out of both countries. Similarly, we need to stop using Colombia as a Latin American beach head.

The Patriot Act should be repealed, for obvious reasons.

The Next Step

Yes, I know, that was a pretty brief overview, and there are many questions to be answered.

Should we list more than ten core issues? Should we include specific issues? What issues would you prefer to see listed? And am I following the wrong approach to begin with?

I’d like to list even more issues, then get some sort of form that allows visitors to vote for their favorite issues, as well as list additional issues. I’ll try to have that done by June 1, 2008.