PIRATE

PARTY OF WISCONSIN RALLY PIRATE PARTY CANDIDATE FOR GOVERNOR SPEEKS MILWAUKEE, JUNE 29, 2013 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE The following is the advanced transcript for the speech to be given by Francis Klein, the Pirate Party of Wisconsin candidate for governor. Fellow Pirates, friends, and citizens of Wisconsin: Welcome again to the 2013 rally of the Wisconsin Pirate Party. Thank you so much for being here. My name is Francis Klein, and it is with great excitement that I humbly accept the nomination of the party to run as your candidate for governor of Wisconsin! Pirates compatriotes, amis et citoyens du Wisconsin : Bienvenue au 2013 meeting du Parti Pirate Wisconsin. Merci beaucoup d'tre ici. Je mapplle Francis Klein, et c'est avec grand plaisir que j'accepte humblement la nomination du parti pour tre candidat au poste de gouverneur du Wisconsin! Piratas compaeros, amigos y ciudadanos de Wisconsin: Bienvenido de nuevo a la reunin 2013 del Partido Pirata Wisconsin. Muchas gracias por estar aqu. Me llamo Francis Klein. Es con gran emocin que humildemente acepto la nominacin del partido para ser candidato a gobernador de Wisconsin! Now that introductions are out of the way, Im afraid I would rather give my speech entirely in English. Besides, Google translate only works so fast. I would like to tell you a story. I was involved with boy scouts since the age of 8, and I still am. The organization has many dedicated and inspiring people who became a large part of my life as I worked my way through to the rank of Eagle. A few years ago, when I was the senior patrol leader of the troop, I met a young scout, who Ill call Alex. Alex was a young scout with ADHD. He was often horsing around and what he attempted usually ended in a mess. Alex would tease the other scouts, and bother the adults. For me, as the senior patrol leader, and the guy who had to make sure people stayed on task, Alex was a handful. But despite the trouble he caused, Alex never got much real attention for it. Few people took the time needed to listen to him. Alex would be actively ignored by many of the scouts and leaders because they knew he had ADHD, and they just didnt know how to deal with him. Alex made a few friends, but not that many. It was not for lack of trying. The problem with this situation was that Alex felt others were not hearing him. Unfortunately, he was frequently right. He was talked to more than listened to. He felt like a child.

Until, one lucky day, Alex showed up for the patrol leader elections, when few other scouts did. He ran for a patrol leader position. Of his few friends that were there, they all voted for him, and he won. Despite the fact that some of his fellow scouts would say he was doing things wrong, that he was too crazy to be a leader, he succeeded. From that day on, Alex became a different person when he walked into the scout house. He was much more polite and confident, he knew what he was talking about. He came into the scout house and got things done, he helped other scouts with things they needed help with, and he taught lessons to the newer and younger scouts. To all those kids and adults who ignored him before, he suddenly was a person. He had a voice. He counted. And I believe I saw in that scout a change Alex was still a boy with ADHD, no question about it, but he had responsibility now, and he wore it proudly. All because one lucky day, the troop finally gave him the voice he deserved. As human beings, we want to have our voices heard. We want to be a part of the larger community. This is why our nation was founded, and the principle it was founded on: Government BY the people. Our predecessors fought for the right to have a say in their government, to have a voice. Taxation without representation is tyranny. We do not want others controlling the finer details of our lives. That simple idea started a revolution, and a country - the likes of which this world had not yet seen. When Alex was empowered, when he found a voice for himself, a way to participate and be a part of the community, he became a new and different person. This is true of all people. If you empower the person, if you give them a voice, they will create something truly great. One of the potential pitfalls of our government, though, is that we have representatives who occasionally think they are above the masses, that they know what is best for the people and that they will decide what our voice should be. We the people, have had our voice taken away, and not by some foreign power, but by elected officials who probably mean well; people who think that they honestly have the solution to our problems. The president, claiming that national security is paramount, the NSA, saying that external threats still exist, our current governor, claiming that his policies will help job growth. At its most fundamental level, our modern government is still made up of people who hopefully want to help us. But they have already betrayed those who they would seek to help. The recent scandals with PRISM and the NSA have only served to highlight that our government has forgotten how to trust its own people. The secrecy with which our governor and the state legislature hold caucuses, the lies that they tell us, the broken promises. And, in return, we the people have forgotten how to trust their government. If we do not know what is happening in our government, if we cannot find out what is happening, then our voice is absolutely meaningless. There is throughout the people of this country a feeling that our voice falls short, that the two party

system is corrupt, and that we cannot do anything to stop it. Apathy and disappointment in our nation are the only things that a government such as ours inspires. When I speak to my friends about politics, there is one refrain that I hear over and over: We are fed up. Fed up with trusting in a two party system which makes so very many promises, and delivers on so few. Fed up with a system that reeks of corruption, a system where political scandals are normal, and corporate interests always come first. I have seen in so many people this disgust of modern politics. But it does not have to be this way. This city, this state, we reached our golden age in an era when trust, honesty, and face-to-face political discussion were the way of the people, and the way of the parties. And what inspired that honesty? A third party. There is one wonderful thing about this whole situation we find ourselves in. We have hope, and we have the constitution something which is too often ignored, I might add. This constitution, our constitution, does not say that only two parties may rule, does not say that this country is an aristocracy of the elite no. Our constitution says that this is a government that represents and listens to the voice of the people this is a republic. And as members of that republic, we must demand that our voices be heard It is our right. Many of you here may think that third parties will never get off the ground that we can never make a difference in a country where money is the rule of the land, and where larger parties have access to all of the resources. Turning away from the political scene because you are fed up with it is understandable, but politics will never turn away from you. Every decision made in those secret meetings and courts changes the way we function in society. So instead of letting the two party system take our lives, our fortune, and our sacred honor by the collar and throw it to the ground, we need to stand and fight! We, as the people need to say no, no we will not be trampled. Not this time. We can make our voice heard again. Looking to the future, I want as much as any of you to see a brighter day ahead of us. And there is one but its light is growing dim. Im not predicting doomsday, nor a dystopian vision of our world. But I want something better than the secrecy and lies we are witness to now. I look forward to a day where the trust between the people and the leaders of this state and of this nation is re- established. I want my children someday to live and grow up in a state and nation where they dont have to worry about a surveillance drone looking in their windows. I want a world where my children cannot be bombed if for some reason I am labeled a threat to our nation. A world where my children will not be extradited for telling the truth, a nation where government is the part-time job of

 ### On June 29th 2013, The Pirate Party of Wisconsin will hold a public meeting and rally at Red Arrow Park in downtown Milwaukee, 10am 4pm. All interested citizens are invited to attend. Membership is open and any Wisconsin citizen may join the party as a voting member. At the meeting WIPP will announce a candidate for Governor. The Pirate Party of Wisconsin (WIPP) is recognized and affiliated with the US Pirate Party (PPUS) and Pirate Parties International. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pirate_Parties_International The Wisconsin Pirate Party is incorporated as a Wisconsin Cooperative. Each member has one vote and may participate in the annual meeting held henceforth on the weekend before July 4th.

the people, not the full-time job of the landed elite. There are some things in society that are not meant to be specialized. Government should be one of them. I contend that the two party system is far too corrupt to hear our voices. But again, our constitution does not demand a two party system. We as a people have done this before, and can do it again. We can make our voice heard. We can rise up and change the two party system, we can become the catalyst that starts the revolution. You want change? Well, I am telling you now that change is not going to come in the form of a Democrat or a Republican. They have proven that to us time and again. Change, then, has to come in the form of a third party. It is time to let the third parties fix this mess. It is time for the Pirate Party to take a stand. Once you empower the people, the world they create will be truly great. This is what the Pirate Party seeks to do, and this is what I will seek to do as your candidate for governor of Wisconsin. Thank you for your time.